Tuesdays at Toby's

This post was scheduled at the perfect time. Five weeks into my study abroad experience, I am most definitely not a tourist. At the same time, I am not a resident of Prague either.  I am sure that every NYU study abroad student is familiar with the feeling of guilt as “tourist mode” gradually gives way to daily routine. I am no exception. The mundane, however, still offers an experience of foreign life.

Simply living abroad offers opportunities to learn that one would never encounter at home. The best example of this is my routine on Tuesday nights. Every Tuesday, I make a point to visit the hostel up the block for trivia night. In many ways, this is the center of my week because it is the best opportunity to remove myself from the  infamous “NYU bubble.”

I came across trivia night by chance. While many of my more adventurous friends were willing to try night clubs and rowdy bars, I tried to ease myself into the abroad nightlife gradually – by exploring the quaint village pub. Since then, Sir Toby’s has become a staple of my Tuesday, and I have become a staple for them.
The environment is unique, not because there are any radical decorations, but by the very nature of hostels. In hostels, the average guest turn-over is less than a week. This means that every Tuesday, I meet an entirely new group of people. The trick is that they don’t know that I am a regular. To them, I mingle as if I am simply a traveler passing through.

Travel friendships tend to form very quickly. There is very little time for deep exploration, and the introductory small-talk is plentiful. “Where are you from?” “Where did you just come from?” “ How do you like Prague?” and “Where are you going next?” often get the ball rolling. From there, conversations generally happen naturally – or they don’t, and you simply move on to another person.

I often lament that I have not met any “genuine” Czech person on my trip. What Sir Toby’s lacks in Czech natives, however, it makes up for in diversity. Every week is an international exhibition! There are the standard Anglo-American travels (US/UK/Australia). More interestingly, there are the continental travels. People from Scandinavia, the Low Countries, or the Iberian peninsula, who all speak perfect English, make excellent conversationalists.

What inevitably starts out as mundane small-talk eventually grows into an academic exercise. Whether it is mandatory conscription in Sweden or the history of medieval Netherlands each week presents  each week I learn something new. I am generally genial to my newfound friends. Only one week did I confront a Dutch woman’s Anti-Americanism by reminding her how the Marshall Plan rebuilt Europe.

On a side note, one of my favorite topics of conversation is the high school history curriculum in travelers’ countries. It is no secret the incredible power that they wield over their nations’ self-identities. As an America, I am especially interested in the way they are taught to view America.

Reflecting on all of my “Sir Toby’s experiences,” I now realize that although going every Tuesday should count as “mundane,” it has invariably enriched my abroad experience.