I arrived at Tabor Friday evening. I'm going to spend this coming week at this place called CESTA (Cultural Exchange Station in Tabor) for the artist residency. This town is about 3-4 hours away from Prague with the airport bus and the express train. The train was a typical European style one with small

separate compartments with six seats inside each. My three compartment mates were an older gentleman with a cane who kept staring at me, a middle-aged guy with a beer and a crossword puzzle, and a Hispanic woman who was deep asleep. About half an hour later, I noticed that the landscape started shifting. Vast field of green began to extend. It seemed that I was going into the deep countryside. The train went on. I wondered if my compartmates were commuting from the outskirts of Prague to the city to work. So maybe this is like the Marc train from Baltimore to DC...but two of them still didn't get off when I did at Tabor, which was almost two hours later. I wanted to strike a conversation, but they seemed to be all engrossed into individual activities and judging from the train station experience, I wasn't certain if I could communicate with them. A vendor with a name tag came around to sell snacks and drinks including liquor. The Hispanic woman woke up, bought a beer and started drinking it. The older gentleman bought a candy bar. It started feeling more like a trip now. I felt a bit nostalgic remembering long-distance train on the countryside, Japan. Finally, after about 19 hours since I left Baltimore, I arrived at Tabor.