My new view. I can look out over Brno and I have a balcony! 
The Wieliczka Salt Mine, nowadays practically on the southeast outskirts of Krakow, has been worked for 900 years. It used to be one of the world's biggest and most profitable industrial establishments when common salt was commercially a medieval equivalent of today's oil. Always a magnet, since the mid-18th century Krakow's Wieliczka salt mine has become increasingly a tourist attraction in the first place. Today visitors walk underground for about 2,000 m in the oldest part of the salt mine and see its subterranean museum, which takes three hours or so.
Nine centuries of mining in Wieliczka produced a total of some 200 kilometers of passages as well as 2,040 caverns of varied size. The tourist route starts 64 m deep, includes twenty chambers, and ends 135 m below the earth surface, where the world's biggest museum of mining is located with the unique centuries-old equipment among its exhibits.
Occasionally concerts and other events take place in the Wieliczka mine’s biggest chambers.
There is a sanatorium for those suffering from asthma and allergy situated 135 meters deep underground in the Wieliczka Salt Mine.
UNESCO has entered the Wieliczka Salt Mine in its World Heritage Register.
It was very cool to see all of the caves and carvings and to be that deep in the ground! The salt purifies the air and Tonje and I swear that our skin was smoother after being down there!
Pictures to come!
Myma wanted to know if I was eating okay. It's hard to cook like I used to, on just a hot plate with a mini fridge. Plus, I only have a few pots, no pans or even correct utensils to cook with! But, I've gotten tired of eating out with the heavy Czech food. I've been experimenting while my roommate just laughs at me. She's used to small kitchens and hot plates! I will learn and adapt soon. 
Tonje and I went to the Ballet last week! There was a performance of Swan Lake. We decided to dress up and act like elegant ladies. Key word there is 'act'. During the break we were drinking Coke out of a bottle and scarfing down Snickers bars. We were hungry!
Tonje and I had been planning all week to go to the spa on when we were in Budapest. The spas in there are world famous. These spas are thermal pools and baths for medicinal purposes. There are a few spas in the city but we went to the biggest and oldest one, Szechenyi Bath.
So Saturday morning we made reservations for 30 minute massages and pool access, all 4 of us. I could already tell that this was going to be an adventure. Tonje and I left the boys and went to the spa early because we had to get suits. We had an option to rent suits, but, ew, no. The bathing suits cost just as much as our tickets and we had to buy towels and flip flops. Also, the suits were absolutely hideous and too small for both of us. I was already uncomfortable but these suits just increased that. I had the first appointment so I set off to find the massage room. I walked around, showed my ticket to every attendant I could find, went through ev
ery single pool room like a lost tourist. Finally, with some help, I figured it out. I walked into the massage room expecting something…completely different. The room was huge with about 20 cubicles for privacy. I handed my ticket to a very large man who I assumed was just the attendant and he led me to my cubicle. And then signaled that he was my masseuse. Greg very accurately described him as the Hungarian Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movies. Huge and hairy, but very professional. The massage is basic; legs, back and arms. At first I was extremely uncomfortable and debated leaving but then I said to myself that this is Hungarian Spa and thousands of people do this every year. It’s an experience that I might not have ever again. And let me tell you, it was amazing. This masseuse found knots in my back that I never knew were there.
After my massage I waited for everyone in a heated pool. When they were done (Greg had the same masseuse that I did, I don’t think he enjoyed that), we hopped around to the different pools, saunas and steam rooms. For a day at the spa, it was exhausting.
Tonje and I in the outdoor bath.
This is the building that I will have the majority of my classes in. At Masaryk University, colleges are called Faculties. Like, back at the University of Florida I was in the College of Liberal Arts. Well here I am in the Faculty of Social Sciences, FSS. No one pronounces the individual letters, just Fssssss. The building is beautiful and from the early 1900's. There is a cafe in the basement level and a huge open room in the middle of the building. Soon I will take some pictures of the inside. When you come and visit, I will take you on a tour!
The way classes work for Masters programs is different than undergrad. I'm taking 4 classes that meet once a week on Mondays and Tuesdays. Then I'm taking a Czech class that meets twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays). It sounds easy and unproductive but the amount of reading and writing I will be doing will take up a day for each individual class. And since the classes only have about 10-15 people in them, I can't skimp on the readings. Then for each class I will be preparing presentations. In one class I will have to give 4 different presentations plus my papers, exams, commentaries and doing the reading and attendance. The other classes I have to give 2 presentations at different times of the semester. Then I have to have a response to the readings prepared for each class meeting. Masters Programs are more of you teaching yourself than having an instructor follow your every move. Exams consist of 5 questions and you have a 20 page booklet to answer them (you can bring more if you think you'll need them). I will be able to take all of my exams before Christmas break and I will have some papers to send in in January.
The Making of Europe:This course introduces students to the development of Europe since the 17th century (i.e. of the so-called modern Europe) as a unique project based on very broad processes; therefore, it primarily aims at outlining the trends constituting social background of this development - nationalism, colonialism, secularisation, technological innovation and so on. At the end of the course, the students shall be familiar with social thinking and habits that occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries, with the power conflicts that constituted the bases of the modern European states, with the 19th century as a breaking point both with regard to power constellation, and to general shifts in European societies of the time, and also with both world wars of the 20th century as - in a sense - the climax of the previous processes. At the end of the course, student should be able to interpret the notion of European state system history and to explain its internal periodization. Student should be able to compose main trends of economical, societal, intellectual, and political development. Student should be able as well to compare changes of European domestic and international politics since the Peace of Westphalia till the outbreak of the Cold War.
Radicalism in Europe: The goal of the course is to introduce students to the study of radicalism in Europe. At the end of the course the students shall be capable to differentiate within the most important forms of radicalism, to trace and compare their ideological backgrounds and to characterize their organizational structures. On the other hand, students shall also be able to evaluate, criticize or compare state policies against antidemocratic and violent forms of radicalism.
Crisis Management Operations: The course provides students with the understanding of military crisis management operations of the United Nations (UN), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU). On successful completion of the course, students shall be able to characterize the concept of crisis management and to compare its application by the above mentioned organizations. Students shall be able to understand and evaluate the main principles of UN, NATO and EU crisis management operations, their historical context and institutional background. Next to it, they shall be able to summarize significant crisis management operations cases and to outline the participation of the Czech Republic in crisis management operations.
International/Transnational Organizations and European Politics: Through this course, students will be able to analyze important international and transnational organizations with a specific focus on European politics. Moreover, students will be able to utilize their analytical skills in this area of research. At the end of this course, students shall be able to characterize the most important international organizations and their involvement in European matters, to outline the role of transnational actors, i.e. non-state organizations that establish cross-national relations, to examine the basic theoretical framework of international organizations, and to interpret the theoretical aspects of international organizations in general and the European Union in particular.
So while only having class 2-3 days a week sounds nice, it is a lot of sitting in the library reading, writing papers, making presentations, office hours with professors. And the fact that it's too cold to do anything outside!
