Hello everyone and welcome to my study abroad journey!
I am going to use this platform to share the stories and experiences I have while studying abroad in Prague. Hopefully it will be exciting and adventurous and who knows? Maybe even a little bit funny! I’ve already been in Prague for one month so I will mostly discuss my stories from here on out but for today, let me start with a little bit of my encounter getting here.
It started with a German man… Now I don’t know about you but whenever I fly I am always slightly worried about putting my seat back. I had never really thought about it but then a while back my mom was telling me about how people were buying “seat blockers” to prevent the person in front of them from putting their seat back. (Don’t worry all of you airplane recliners, they are illegal now!) So since then, I have always been hyper aware of the person sitting behind me and how they might react to my seat reclining ever so slightly in their direction.. Suffice it to say, I still do it albeit my nerves but not without hesitation!
So here I am, on my flight to Prague and I finally decide to take the plunge and put my seat back after dinner. The timing feels appropriate. And so, I begin my descent when there is suddenly an ear-blasting shout from the man behind me- a scream of exasperation followed by exaggerated hand motions and German cries. The whole plane turns around to see the commotion and, of course, a flight attendant sees the whole ordeal and approaches him and my own beet red self. She tells him swiftly that “She is sorry sir, but she is allowed to do it.” I turn to face him to find a row of three Germans glaring at me. (Do you know how it feels to be stared down by three Germans?? It is unnerving to say the least!) I say as calmly as I can, ( though I know my face is a clear giveaway to my embarrassment) and in front of about twenty passengers plus the three Germans, that I was sorry and I will put it up for now but I will need to put it back down again soon. I felt it important to maintain that putting it up did not mean I would give in to his fuss. I also felt unnecessarily stubborn at the flight attendants apologizing on my behalf because is reclining a seat really something I should be apologizing for? He grunted in response and I turned back in my seat, hoping people would forget the incident. I certainly wasn’t going to.
For someone who hates the limelight and just cannot deal with uncalled for attention I was mortified. But, my stubborn self refused to give in because I felt it was my right to recline the seat I payed plenty of money for on a very long plane ride if I wished to do so. I would not lose that right just because of a big grumbler behind me. He could do the same if he wished. And so, about an hour later, inch by inch and with much trepidation, I lowered my seat. Sure enough, our grumbler remained quiet and, despite fearing I might die from the holes being burned through my seat by the glares I was sure I was receiving, I shut my eyes and drifted off. And my friends, despite my fear of being murdered on a plane, I woke up to find myself in Prague, where the next story takes place!
**DISCLAIMER: I realize in retrospect (and trying to give the man the benefit of the doubt) that there may have been hot coffee involved in the seat reclining incident that spilled on the man when I put my chair back but that doesn’t make for a good story now does it? So I left it out due to its unclear nature but in case you ever find yourself on a plane unsure if the shrieker behind you is justified, maybe check to see if any damage has been done and apologize accordingly!
Here are some pictures of the pretty cotton candy sky on a (different) flight of mine back to Prague. (Sorry, I was in the aisle seat the first time and couldn’t take a pic!)
The luck of Lilah 