Tuesday, February 1

[Concert]
Sleigh Bells
8:30 p.m. at MeetFactory

Thursday, February 3

[Activity]
Ice skating
Meet at Male Namesti 2 at 5:30 p.m.

Friday, February 4–Saturday, February 5

[Overnight trips]
Cesky Krumlov
Karlovy Vary

Sunday, February 6
[Party]
Super Bowl Pre-Game
8 p.m. at Absolutni Bar

For more upcoming events, please visit the Monday Missives Blog and Prague.TV.

Plush Krtek dolls and other toys are available in many stores. Courtesy photo.

By Nancy Ryerson

If entertaining stories of your time abroad will not be gift enough for friends and family back home, take a walk through Prague’s holiday markets and shops and pick up these gifts for everyone on your list.

For your parents: Bring back a small bottle of Czech mead (medovina in Czech). Often served hot, this drink made of fermented honey, water, and other spices is sweet and tasty.
Where to find it: Most Christmas markets around Prague. Try the market at the Namesti Miru.
Price: About CZK 150 ($7.89) for a half-liter bottle.

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Taťána le Moigne, country director for Google's Czech-language mirror, spoke to NYU students Nov. 16.

Text and photo by Cassidy Havens

Search Google.com for “NYU” and you get a lot of pages from the main campus in New York City, but you have to dig pretty deep before you find a link to the study-abroad program here in Prague. Do the same search on Google.cz, however, and the local program is the sixth result.

The difference between the two Googles is the make-up of search results. When users search with Google.cz, they receive results which are skewed toward the Czech Republic and the interests of people who live there.

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By Modupe Akinnawonu

Old Town and the Vltava as seen from Letna. Photo by Modupe Akinnawonu.

Prague is one of those European cities that is simply breathtaking when seen from above, even on the dreariest of days. If you’re looking to take your own postcard-worthy photographs of the city, there are many places where you can get an elevated perspective. Here are just a few:

Letná Park: Letenské sady is an expansive park downriver from Prague Castle along the Vltava’s left bank. One of the best views is from in front of the Hanavský Pavilion.

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I’m thankful for finishing my film shoots, and for getting to have this experience abroad. – Andoni Elias Nava, NYUstudent

I’m thankful for my health, for friends and family. I’m thankful for cheap beer, good wine, gorgeous Czech men, and this city, this beautiful city. – Andrew González, NYU student

I’m thankful for DJ MuZach. I’m thankful for the great group of people we have here. – Lauryn McCarter, NYU student

Czech comedy Občanský průkaz by director Ondřej Trojan, now in theaters.

With less than a month left in the semester, students shouldn’t go home without viewing some of that famous Czech cinema. Several local cinemas — such as Kino Světozor, Kino Aero and Kino Bio Oko — show Czech films with English subtitles.

If you want to know more about upcoming Czech releases, check with the Czech Film Center. You can also rent scores of Czech classics on DVD from the NYU library or from Radost CD and Video.

Prague's National Theatre. Courtesy photo.

Never think you’d become an opera buff? It’s possible in Prague. Students can see the opera for only CZK 50 — about $2.75. Simply show up at the box office of any of Prague’s three opera houses with your student ID half an hour before the performance begins. The seats are excellent and extremely cheap, costing adults around $50 or more. Locations, schedules and other information can be found at www.czechopera.cz.

Candy Shop, an installment by street artist Pasta Oner, part of the Metropolis exhibit at the DOX Center for Contemporary Arts.

By Nancy Ryerson

The walls of the metro station are covered with graffiti. A barbershop offers “soul cutting,” and a doughnut shop gives a complementary weight loss pill with each pastry.

No ordinary metro stop, Metropolis is an exhibit of graffiti and street art at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in the Holešovice borough of Prague. The exhibit features artists Cryptic 257, Masker, Pasta, Point, Skarf and Tron, all of whom seek to capture city life and street art within a re-imagined gallery setting.

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Na zdraví!

Desítka (noun) DEH-seet-kah

Dvanáctka (noun) DVAH-nahts-kah

You’ll commonly encounter these words in pubs and restaurants when ordering beer. Desítka is a 10° beer, which has slightly less alcohol than a dvanáctka, or 12° beer. You may also frequently encounter 11° and 13° beer.

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Slavia fans cheer on their team.

By Nancy Ryerson

A Czech hockey game is easy to get swept up in — the fast moving puck, the unintelligible Czech chants, and of course the free-flowing pivo make for an enjoyable, very Czech evening. Regardless of whether you’re a long time hockey fan or just associate the game with Canada and wild post-game brawls, a Czech hockey game is an experience everyone should enjoy before leaving Prague.

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