Life Changing Experience

My time with CIEE has been quite a journey, but in a way that I know will change my life! I feel that in their third year, CIEE has worked very hard to get out all the kinks with the visa application process. Understandably, getting a work visa (especially on time) is difficult enough. However, I felt that no question was stupid enough when it came to my pre-departure preparation and I thankfully got my visa approved before I even traveled to the Czech Republic, which apparently was a first for the program.

When I arrived in Prague my luggage was lost and our program supervisor was diligent from the start with support. I cannot say enough how wonderful she is. Sometimes I feel that she is working TOO hard because she is always there to translate something in Czech or help us get our utilities sorted, even to answer travel/transportation questions.

Due to some unfortunate family circumstances back home, I will say that I was hit hard with culture shock the first two months. But I think it was 100% a mental block that I knew I would eventually get over, and just had to force myself to try at the language and everyday life a little bit harder than I was. You need to have an open mind to be a part of the program. After a couple months, my mindset and overall comfort has changed completely.

I was placed in a school that is seriously perfect for my interests as a teacher. There were definitely some communication issues at the start and it took quite some time to get settled into a routine and to understand the expectations that were had of us but I know that the rest of this year will be wonderful and can only get better.

My piece of advice is that you have to be proactive and be willing to have an open mind. A lot of the participants came to Prague without a place to live (our school either did not provide accommodations or it was our choice to find our own) and the apartment hunting process here is really stressful especially on top of being in a completely foreign country. The staff helped us as much as they could, but it was pretty tough. You have to understand that ultimately, things will work out in the end, because they have to!