My semester in Prague

12.01.26 - von Ane

Hello, dear reader, and welcome to a little insight into what my semester in Prague looks/looked like.

The first few days:

Beginning with the day of arrival, I booked accommodation at the student dorms during the application process, and my arranged arrival date was Friday, the 19^th of September. I was

going to take a 9-hour train ride to Prague, and there was a little mishap somewhere along the way. Trains going in the direction I was going were cancelled. Just great! I hadn’t even arrived, and I was already out of luck. But I didn’t let that ruin my expectations for Prague, or my exchange experience, and besides, I had 2 of my friends with me (shoutout to them). Also, I did a terrible thing and ended up having to travel with 6 enormous suitcases crying emoji. Don’t be like me! I guess I was also just panicking because I was going to sublet my room, and I also didn’t know what to expect here, so I was literally just taking everything. Don't do that! If my girls weren’t with me... I’ll let you come up with worst-case scenarios, so you have reasons to do what I say and not what I did. Anyway, once we arrived in Prague after what turned out to be a whole day’s journey, getting to the dorm was without complications. Can I just, at this point, already say that the public transport in Prague is ALWAYS full? Sunday. Full. Midnight. Full. Always! Which is rather surprising considering that the buses, trams, and metros move every so often (every 5 to 10 minutes usually). Once we finally arrived at the dorms, there was apparently no room reserved in my

name. We were given one of the empty rooms, which, long story short, was in terrible condition. The room was changed as soon as the working week began, to a slightly better one, which I spent the entirety of my stay in. If it’s not an inconvenience for you, and you can, you could look for accommodation out of the dorms, but I quickly got used to my new abode.

Prague is a beautiful city, and I feel like there’s always something to see, even if you’re not looking for it. During the orientation days, we were taken around the campus, which is nothing like what I was used to in Germany. There wasn’t really a “campus” like at the UDE. There were different faculty buildings in different areas. Close, but not really together. At first,

I found it a little inconvenient, but I eventually appreciated the walk from one building to another, feeling like you just decided to go for a stroll before getting into the next lecture. And like I said, beautiful city, so that was good. We also got our student cards during the orientation days, and the office is kind of in the city center, so that was also a chance to see more of the city. We passed by the Astronomical clock, and it was packed. Everyone was taking advantage of the last rays of the summer sun.

During most of the first week, when I wasn’t thinking about my lectures and trying to figure out the different faculty buildings, I tried visiting the city and exploring a little. I visited the Wencelas Square and St. Wencelas day had just been celebrated, I think, on the same day I was there or a few days prior

The museum is directly behind the statues in St. Wencelas square. I didn’t go in and never really planned to because museums just aren’t my thing, especially big ones. I get bored and uninterested after a while, and then feel like it was a waste not being able to see everything. And so, most of my sights were seen from the outside, at least those that were museum-like.

Campus and Studies:

Like I previously stated, Charles University doesn’t really have a campus. It mainly has different buildings on different streets for different faculties or departments. It could be a little hard if you have 2 lectures close to each other and the buildings where they take place are far from each other, but it’s doable. The buildings are not as big as those at UDE, with a maximum of 3 floors, and therefore don’t have elevators.

Most lectures and seminars are 90minutes long and practicals usually last at least 3 hours, depending on whether it’s done as a block or if it runs through the semester. If it says on the timetable that a lecture or seminar or whatever starts at 8am, then it starts at 8:00 and not 8:15 like at the UDE. The university buildings are very pretty and most of them have vending machines. There is no general library of the university, but instead, each faculty has its own library in a building of the faculty, not all buildings have a library (if that makes sense). Most libraries have a quiet and noisy section, and there’s usually a microwave in the noisy section where students can heat their food and eat. Eating in the library is usually only allowed in the loud section, but you can have the classic fruits, snacks or a bar in the quiet section as well. There are also small break rooms in the buildings which are accessible to students and also have microwaves and water heaters and probably coffee machines (I’m not entirely sure of the coffee machines though). Exam dates are usually posted in the student information system (SIS) and ready for registration in December. Depending on the credits of a course, the lectures or seminars could end earlier (December) or later (January).

Extracurricular activities

The university has a sports club where you can register for different activities like tennis,

swimming, etc. The Erasmus Student Network also organizes gatherings from sporting activities to games, parties and weekend trips.

What to see or do in Prague

-Klementinum, Wencelas square, Franz Kafka rotating head, astronomical clock, Charles

bridge, etc.

-Christmas market

-Not really in Prague, but trips to neighbouring cities or countries (Vienna, Hungary are the most popular)

-Many malls and shopping streets in Prague for the shopaholics