Not a Vacation but Drenched

Exploring a city the second time around has more moments of deja vu than you'd expect. A few friends and I explored much of the city yesterday. It was like reliving a long lost dream. (I came here with Adam and Andrew Peeples May 1, 2004, the weekend the Czech Republic officially joined the EU). Prague is still beautiful, yet it is still VERY touristy and a little bit less exciting this time around because of a few things.

1. I'm WORKING here. Usually when I'm in a foreign city, I'm on vacation. Call me lazy, but after a 60 hour work week, I'm lacking some of the typical drive to be adventurous. Although, I think this is just the case for Prague because we've developed a daily routine. Work, eat, sleep, repeat. I find that I DO feel that energy and excitement when I contemplate visiting Barcelona, Vienna, Bruges, London, Budapest, or Germany. Also, I'm so glad that I've been to Prague and Europe prior to this trip. I'm already becoming a bit numb to some of the charm this city has to offer, and I'd hate for this to have been my first experience in Europe. This is Lisa's (a team member) first time in Europe so she wants to do all those backpacker-type things, yet she is working here and therefore already is developing a different perspective of the city. Also, she's with many of us who have already "been there, done that."

2. I'm here for (at least) 2 months. There's little sense of urgency right now. "Ehh, we'll go check that out next weekend; we're here for a couple months!"

3. It is SO touristy. I struggle to pick out the locals. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places.

4. Cobblestones are cool, but they are cooler underneath the tires of my bicycle in Maastricht.

5. I'm here with coworkers. My team has quickly become my friends, but you also have to realize we work all day and eat dinner together everyday. I expected this, but there's not much opportunity to socialize outside of our team, let alone have private eWu time.

6. Meeting people outside of work is hard. We're not staying in a hostel where everyone is looking to meet fellow travelers.

That said, I'm still happy to be here. Check out the view from the PwC office! :)

We got caught in a summer downpour when walking back to the city from Prague Castle.

I'm not used to the rain anymore cause we had a dry winter in SF this year.

On a side note, there's a small casino connected to the hotel, and I've been playing blackjack the past three nights. Down a few hundred CZK, but it's fun and you get a free beer each time you go.

Groggy Mornings and Different Work Styles

I keep waking up with eyes bloodshot, face poofy, and groggy as all hell. NO, I haven't been hungover every morning. I've been getting 8 hours of sleep too. I guess it's the 9 hour time difference and the fact that I've kept the blinds closed so it's pitch black when my alarm goes off. I've never been a morning person, but this is kinda ridiculous. Maybe I just need to sleep in this weekend.

I find it interesting to compare the different work styles between the New York staff, our London team member, and my West Coast work style. The East Coast team has a very distinct style, even in their coding, that is consistent across all staff, and the West Coast has more variety amongst our staff in the way we code and get things done. Maybe I feel this way because the New Yorkers have all been working together for a few weeks/months already and I'm the new guy. At the same time, there's more to it than that. It's difficult to explain, and I'm not happy with my sad attempt to do so.

We actually work 12 hour days so I don't get to see much during the week except for when we go to dinner, which have all been pretty good. Our hotel, The Marriott, is walking distance to the main square and Charles bridge, so I think once the weekend rolls around I'll be wandering and exploring quite a bit. But from what I have seen, when you allow yourself to rise above and ignore all the tourists and graffiti at street level, Prague just has so much Eastern European charm.

The weather has been great, partly cloudy in the 70's. People said it was hotter last week. I agree with the rest of the team when they say they don't want to be here when it starts getting cold. Being the only Californian, I'm the biggest weather wimp now.

FYI, I talked to my seniors and sounds like realistically, I'll be here till October (at least). I mention this only because EVERYONE has asked me this question.

Apologies for not posting any pictures yet.

Getting Reacquainted with Praha

I arrived in Prague yesterday afternoon after 18 hours of traveling. The flights were easy, the layover was annoying, but I'm used to airports by now. I was totally jetlagged when I got to the hotel and crashed for a couple hours with the Tour de France on in the background. My buddy David from the London office arrived later last night and we walked around and had dinner. I hadn't seen him in about 2 years! You'll be happy to know I had a couple Pilsners, some sausage, half a ribeye, and heavy yet delicious mashed potatoes. The food here is HEAVY and buttery. A far cry from San Francisco for sure! The food is still cheap but not as cheap as it was in 2004.

The only other thing worth reporting is that the PwC office here is suhweeeeet. They have a cafe with a bunch of tables set up on the roof and you can see the whole city and Prague castle in the distance . I already took some pictures before everyone else got in this morning. :) I wish you all could soak up the view and this city with me. I had to close my eyes a few times and reopen them just to remind myself where I am. I could get used to this.