I don't do well with crowds. I like small groups, 5 people max. I like intimate, stimulating conversations with people to learn everything I can about them - their family, their hometown and what brought them to wherever they are today.
I'm also the kind of person that craves relaxed nights in with a bottle of wine and a good movie. Or a Friday night to just decompress.
I like drinking and hanging out with friends, but after a while, it does get to be overwhelming. Especially when you see the same friends for 30 days straight, and you end up going to the same bars/night clubs week after week.
Truth be told, I think a part of me is over that hump of partying till the wee hours of the morning every weekend. My first two weekends in Prague, I stayed out Friday and Saturday nights until about 6 or 7AM both nights/mornings. It. was. brutal.
All I wanted to do tonight was relax and watch movies, but instead I forced myself to be social and spend a few hours drinking some beers with my new friends. It was certainly a fun night, but by 1AM I was exhausted. I need to be productive this weekend (thanks to homework that consists of a grammar exam on Monday, a lesson plan on Wednesday, a grammar presentation on Wednesday, and a 10 page paper due on Monday). I also want to spend this weekend going to some museums and actually doing fun touristy stuff downtown. Without a massive hangover.
Truth be told, as much as I love my life in Prague, I miss my girlfriends back home. I miss our Sunday brunches and our Saturday nights drinking wine and playing Phase 10. I miss having friends around that I really connect with, because most of my new friends are a lot younger than I am, so they are still in that 'lets party every night' phase, and I've certainly grown out of that. Sure, I like an occasional bender, but not when I have a weekend full of homework and the desire to explore my new city.
Sometimes I just feel like I'm getting too old for this. Except, I feel guilty because I'm in Prague and it's beautiful and the bars never close and I feel guilty if I don't go out on a Friday or Saturday night with my classmates.
After graduation next week, I think I might just hop on a train and go to Paris or Italy for the week.
I just need a mental break from everything right now.
