This story needs little preface, and I'll begin from it's earliest inception, so hopefully there should be minimal confusion. Names of people changed.
CHAPTER ONE
I first signed on to my school's Study Abroad program because I had an incredible wanderlust. I just needed to explore and see the world for myself. Europe was my primary choice as I had always wished to see the continent from whence my ancestor's hailed. Though ancestrally Italian and English I had great interest in Central Europe as well. Most Germany and Italy, but also Switzerland because my friend resided there, and Austria because it is a land of such culture and beauty. The program landed me in the Czech Republic, which I knew little about, but grew to love quickly.
It all begin with a poster. Very typical in design, and making the usual promises; learning, excitement, experience, etc. The whole deal... But I was a film student, and I desperately, DESPERATELY, wanted to experience it. I couldn't wait for next semester, a whole summer! I could hardly wait for this trip, I was dying during the long, hot weeks until my Prague-bound flight. Thankfully, I reached out and took what was mine: A big step for such an... introverted person as myself.
I had little contact or observation with the Film Program, let alone the faculty or the wider film-entertainment industry, but I went all the same. I met first with a tenured professor who was de facto, the head of the film program at my university. We'll call him Holiday. He was not at all what I expected, and yet exceeded even my wildest fantasies about eccentric film professors. After a brief email exchange I engaged him in his office. The first session lasted nearly two hours, can you imagine how unprepared I was for this? A recent transfer in to the program, I had thus far been a student of engineering where everything was curt and matter-of-factly presented, and introduced to this highly charismatic world of performers and artists and socialites. Regardless, the man had the look of any 80-yr-old, the experience of a veteran actor-director, and the energy of an college student, he was terrifying and magnificent.
So, already half-convinced, the dedication of this Holiday fellow further strengthened my resolve to commit to the trip. After receiving surprising support from my parents when I switched majors, they gladly encouraged me to go on the Study Abroad. I was delighted. I had it all, the money to go, the time to prepare, and excite to ensue, and ensue it did. The weeks leading up to it were boring enough, usual small-town woes; little to do, to see, or to think of, but I tried writing a screenplay all the same... to 'prepare' myself for Prague. I had been told that there was very little time to write in Prague, so I though i'd have something to pitch. With my friend I wrote a pilot episode for a sitcom about Satan, not terrible bad, but not at all what would soon be expected of me. I did little else, lounging, eating, or walking the streets, it was all I could do to pass the time. I visited with friends of course, but I had grown bored of all my old hobbies I had cultivated before going to college. Change was needed, this lifestyle no longer suited me.
And then, all at once, it was time to fly. I had packed modestly, one backpack and duffle bag, and five weeks to stay. Not the nicest clothes, but workable. A light enough load to mange by plane, train, bus, and foot. I departed like nothing unusual.
CHAPTER TWO
I arrived nondescriptly enough, quietly, and with little frustration by customs. Funnily, I was informed of a terrible situation of crime and pickpocketing and was somewhat paranoid as I waited for what was believed to be a 'reliable' taxi from the AAA company. I later learned, of course, that Prague is in fact, a safer city than most American ones with incredible public/private transportation to boot. My cabbie was excellent, and got my to my dorms quicker than I expected. I met my first peer there, a Chinese student who i'll name as Tun. Ate some shitty kebab food with him, find out he's a director with great vision and talent. Nice enough, but very... distant. In fact, we has three Chinese students with us; Tun, Jao, and Gallium. They were all very isolated from the rest of us, wanted separate rooms, ate alone, and worked with each other mostly. Jao actually was a very kind and interesting fellow and opened up to us later, but we saw little of him as they all had to leave half way through the program to renew their visas, for which the requirements had changed.
I arrived to the dorms also with another group of disparate students, coming from different universities world wide. A Saudi girl who I flew over from JFK with, and who I somehow became best friends with in one meeting, two Australian girls who were introduced as Kangaroo jack and Crocodile Dundee, A lovely Indian writer girl, and a Portuguese boy from Angola called Thiago. I bought them beer, and we became close friends, though saw little of each other. I later met more people from my group: The two jacks, lovely Jessica, and the 30-something black business woman who we'll call Melissa. All characters in this great performance of a trip.
The second night, I had been acquainted with most members of the budding group. Da Boyz went out and got real fucked up. Myself together with the Jacks and newly arrived Kristo travelled across Prague to a club some residents might be familiar with, Cross Club. There we drank and drank and drank, but there were few girls and frankly I don't think I had the confidence to even approach them if there were, so we drank some more. A cautionary bit of advice: never do more than one shot of Absinth unless Absinth is all that you're doing. Well, we did exactly that and met the last two of our intrepid film students at Cross Club, Man and Elliot. Man, and experienced photographer and Elliot, a freshman. They loved to blaze and go to gay dance clubs (they were gay). Not much happened, but we all woke up with the worst hangovers of our lives and took most of our initial advil between us that morning. We were promptly led through a 10+ hour tour by our mad professor, Holiday.
The gentleman Holiday, while extraordinarily knowledgable, excited and experienced-I mean he had been going on the same trip for 24 years-was also wildly eccentric, handsy, and otherwise embarrassing to us in public. He was the man we hated to love so dearly AND the man we loved to hate on, but he treated us right and we respected the hell out of him regardless of our shit-talking and his annoying antics. The first week was much of this, tour after tour after tour after tour after tour... It went on forever. I mean, really almost five full days of only touring Prague. To make matters worse Holiday had had back surgery and despite being one of the fastest walkers still alive, would force us to climb a multitude of towers by ourselves. The views were worth it, but we wanted to punch him in the face when he greeted us sweaty troopers at the bottom with his classical catchphrase, "Guuuuuuys, coooOOOOOooool."
Of course, we worked too. Worked hard. Slept 2-5 hours most nights and always worked until at least 2 in the morning storyboarding, writing, or editing our student projects. It was hell, but we all loved it. I know I wouldn't have stopped if told I could. In the free time we had, our group often dined with one another... three separate sub-groups formed: The Jacks and Kristo together as the party-ers, Melissa, Jessica, and Myself as some stereotype or other, Tun, Jao, and Gallium as the Asians, and finally my roommate who i've yet to mention... Michael. A 20-yr-old Bear, Furry, and BDSM-interested college student with high-functioning Aspergers who had a penchant for walking far ahead of the group and going to eat on his own. He would often get up and leave unannounced. A drinking rookie, he also preferred hard-liquor during the day and upon occasion hilariously would order Baileys at 11am, but more about him later.
We really got the lay of the land that week during class as we suffered through these Czech filmmakers shitting on American film, giving us wild advice, and trying to teach us to use cameras. I found that the Jacks and Kristo were always late, Man and Elliot were huge babies who often would not come to class out of boredom and disrespect and even stormed out once (well just Man on that one), that Jessica was an extremely talented editor, and Melissa a very successful and competent business person who often thought herself aloof of the the rest of us. As for the Asians, Tun was a great director and editor who knew exactly what he wanted, but refused to work with anyone, Jao was a talented Cinematographer and Actor, and Gallium loved to shop and sometimes act. For myself, I was the youngest and most inexperienced, had a talent for saying whatever the hell I wanted to, but also for coming up with ideas and being punctual.
Never have I found a group of people more human and more interesting.
CHAPTER THREE
Week two was much different. We had essentially completed our first project and had stopped taking these impossible tours. We explored the city, befriended each other, and also bickered. Truth be told Jessica and Melissa were two really cool women, love 'em both to death, and would do whatever they asked of me. Actually, I developed a big crush on Jessica which lasted for a few weeks. It was all to come crashing down starting with this week though. My depression reared its ugly head and-combined with my lack of filter-created a lot of problems for myself with Jessica and Melissa.
Some of you will undoubtably know much of my depression-related problems, and have probably responded to or at least seen one of my 'Life Advice' threads so you know that I can be pretty down on myself. For those of you just getting acquainted with me to make it short, I essentially have Dysthymia, chronic low-grade depression. Equally well-known, is my ability to say whatever random shit comes to mind. I'm sure you've all seen a wildly random and unproductive Scoopbeard post. Well I was having a bit of a depression attack at the start of this journey and really opened up to Jessica and Melissa about my problems. Jessica basically just went with whatever Melissa thought and Melissa really would not take my shit.
To explain it more in-depth i'll have to say right off-the-bat that this falling-out is mostly my fault exacerbated by Melissa's idea that she was always right. Neither of us are perfect. It's hard to touch on everything that was said, but after making an ass of myself a few times and apologizing a few times things came to a head when I told her to "shut up", which she took very poorly and basically got on my case about how disrespectful I am and how successful she was. She was right in that it was wrong, rude, whatever, but I couldn't listen to her tell me how awful was and how I needed to respect her... She was my friend and here she comes talking to me like i'm some sort of subordinate, it still infuriates me. In that moment I found my passion for life. I told her, "You fucking listen, when I love something, I fucking do it, and that's all you need to know." and stormed off. The next few days I didn't talk to her, I didn't do much of anything. Jessica wouldn't really hang out with me unless I was helping her finish her last-minute project, and I was feeling a bit drained. So I swallowed my pride and apologized once again. Melissa refused my apology, blew it off even. I took in stride.
Things got more complicated. We had just pitched our final projects and I was working on Melissa's, I had already contributed a lot to the concept and was actually really pumped to work on it. It was going to be the best one, I knew it (and it was!) I assumed, of course, that she was going to be professional enough to work with me (a big part of her numerous scoldings of me were how I needed to be professional... something like that anywyays), but come our final pitch meeting I find i'm not even mentioned, that i'm being replaced, and my ideas cutout. I knew it might happen, but I was pissed. So. I went over her head. After class I politely explained the falling-out, that it was my fault, and that I wanted my own project... or more specifically, the same project that I thought I could do better. If she was going to cut me loose I was going to ruin her. Seriously, I was prepared to not sleep for two weeks to make the best fucking student film FAMU had ever seen. In the end, they gave me the chance to. It was slim, but if I could impress them next class I was going to do it. Even if I didn't get the project, I was going to show them that I fucking cared about film and that I was the one who had all the passion.
Around midnight that night, boiling with sadness and hatred, after having been storyboaring for hours-I had gone though so many ideas... I actually settled on something original (as suggested by Jessica who thought that doing the same project, but better was pretty low [which it was]) that was intended as an apology to Melissa for my behavior-She demands to be let in to my work space and has a 'talk' with me. it was one of the most awful things i've sat through. I'm almost crying because I don't know why to say, she's fucking ripping me to shreds and hitting me right where it hurts. Really fucking putting me down. Also i'm so fucking angry at her, it's all I can do to give these little meek answers to her accusations. Finally, I think, "Fuck, her project is the best bet I have on impressing this teachers." So once again I swallow my pride and fucking apologize to this person. She also apologizes. It was insulting. She told me she though I should be on drugs, that I needed to learn to grow up and learn to work with others, and that I need to get my shit under control. She then basically said, "Sorry, for not being aware that that is how kids your age work."
I mean shit. I didn't even know I how I felt... I just went to sleep. To flash forward to the end of the program. literally all criticism of the film would have been null had we stuck to earlier scripts where Jessica and Melissa didn't fucking take my suggestions out. So I got my moment of revenge and I-told-ya-so and we rekindled our friendship some though it was tenuous most of the time.
CHAPTER FOUR WARNING: Very personal information bout me here, also sexual stuff (nothing obscene or guideline violating, and i'm including it because the story really can't be fully understood without it. It can be spoilered upon request however)
Week three was free and open. Bored, angry, and lonely my sexual frustration had come to a head after years of feeling inadequate, afraid, and insecure about sex. Most of that changed when I went to university, but I was still a virgin, and I was really just in a bad place this week. For those o you unaware, Prague is also a powerhouse of the sex industry. So my desire to explore ALL aspects of Prague, being fucked up in the head, and that little fact, I went to a brothel.
Actually, I went because I heard it had a BDSM dungeon (Scoopbeard plot twist) and that very much turned me on. I chickened out of that when I got to this place though, and slept with a normal whore. That's all it was. I won't get in to detail, but it made realize a lot of things. On one had, that sex REALLY isn't everything, and on the other, that sex is pretty great. Also, a whole emotional transformation for me, which i'm still figuring about, but boy do I feel so much more comfortable in my own skin now. I'll leave the rest to you. If you have questions you can message or even email me and i'll be glad to answer.
Also this week we travelled to Karlovy Vary (this might have been week two actually) for the Czech Film Festival where we saw a movie about a son's journey to reunite with his father against all the odds (entitled 'Babao' I think?), that was fun. We felt so close to where we wanted to be. On stage, being nominated for a film, all dressed in tuxes and dresses. It was magical. later we travelled to Cesky Krumlov where I picked up some touristy souvenirs and saw The 3 Musketeers in the famed rotating theatre on the town heights. Also there was a pretty kickass castle.
This same week we started filming. For you lovely film people out there we got to film INSIDE OF the Estates Theatre... AAAAAAAAH!!! OMGOMGOMG!!! THE. ESTATES. THEATRE. Where Amadeus was shot. It was beautiful and production ran smoothly, though I had my issues with Melissa. We got to go backstage, the whole works. It was amazing, our crew was great, and our actors excellent. It all just came together... and the best part? We filmed this the opening night of the production of Don Giovanni, we were outta there only a few hours before the opera started. We saw the Opera the next night and it was glorious too.
So I really enjoyed the stress of being on set. That's probably weird, but being stressed out and worried about this made me really feel like we were doing something good, something RIGHT, something excellent. So I fell in love with film, there is now no doubt in my mind that I want to write and direct films for the rest of my life.
CHAPTER FIVE
Week four was fun for me. I had reconciled with Melissa and Jessica (though I no longer liked Jessica in a romantic fashion), and we all got to go to Berlin and Dresden for the weekend. LISTEN PEOPLE, DONT BE ONE OF THOSE ASSHOLES WHO GETS ON A TRAIN WITHOUT A RESERVATION!!! GET YO EURAIL PASS, AND GET YO SEAT RESERVATIONS. Seriously Europe, what an absolute shit show. I completed my transformation into a lovely day drinker on the journey, and got to experience German night life. Man and Elliot got to go to Berghain (I think that's how it's spelled, super famous club in Berlin), and we all saw lots of shit in museums and more crazy tours.
INSERT: We also travelled to Terezin with Mr. Pepe Lustig this week. Such a terrible place, I started writing poetry again it was so emotional. Mr. Lustig on the other hand is amazing. A great writer and film maker, his father (also Mr. Lustig) also wrote many books. The magnificent bastard came to out screenings too!
When we got back it was editing time. As a writer there was little I could do, so I mostly drank and ate, and drank some more. For you beer drinkers, Lobkowicz is the best Dark in Prague followed by Kozel. After editing was complete we travelled to Vienna, Salzburg where I began my fascination with Lederhosen, and Munich. My time was spent equally touring museums and palaces, drinking dark beer, eating schnitzel, and perusing Lederhosen. The last night in Munich we all got fucked up together to celebrate. Interesting to see how differently people react to being wildly intoxicated.
That was a fateful night. I went up to Man's room to smoke with him and my roommate and Melissa as we had done in the past, but he was running pretty low on weed. he had described to me how he would smoke then blow the smoke into my mouth to conserve, which sounded kind of right, but I was pretty sure he just wanted to kiss me. By the second hit we had already kissed. Melissa had left and we sent Michael back with Elliot, we both knew what was about go down. I kissed the shit out of that man, and he I. One of the more intense make out sessions i've had. We came within a breath of ripping each other's clothes off, but we knew Elliot was coming back so we stopped. I got my head together and left, Man wanted to follow me back, but I told him that I didn't wanna have sex with him that night. I don't know if I did or didn't, but I was so drunk and high I felt like it wasn't the best time to explore more.
The next morning we greeted each other awkwardly and avoided eye contact. He left earlier than I did and so I really haven't seen much of him seen. Once for class and that's it. We left on the late train back to Prague and I said nothing.
Following the nine hour train ride through hell where we sung literally a whole musical (Les Mis) we had to attend the screening of our films with the whole faculty along with a columnist from The Guardian and Mr. Pepe Lustig himself. They loved them... The best to come from my university's students in years, and, AND, to think they had liked the one I worked on the best. The one I wrote (co-wrote, Jessica is good at editing screenplays too), simply amazing. FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE. JUST ONCE, validation of my effort. Glorious, I didn't cry, but I felt so internally happy.
Finally, we supped with the faculty one last time on a tour boat up and down the Vltava, such wildly interested people, I love all of them. To provide a little exposition, out of the 12 people we began with, only five were on that boat. One jack had taken ill and left, the Tun, Jao, and Gallium flew off, and Man and Elliot were bastards who thought they didn't need or want to attend. It was a lovely graduation ceremony and I will never forget it.
END
Anyways, I've said so much and yet, have left so much untold. It's almost 2am here so I will post this now and update it retroactively as I see mistake or continuity errors or things i've forgotten to add in. There's a lot.
Any questions people?
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Topic: Scoopz' Wild Ride: A Central European Adventure (Read 786 times)