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Published: August 29th 2010
Disclaimer: The following blog and all those hereafter are in no way related to or reflect the opinions of the United States Department of State or the Fulbright Association. They are but the experiences, musings, and observations of a single experience while abroad.
Pozdravy všem z České republiky! Greetings to all from the Czech Republic!
I'm sitting here in the beautiful Old Town of Praha, the capital city of the Czech Republic, one street away from Náměstí Republiky (The Square of the Republic), and about a two minute walk away from the famous Orloj leading to Karlův Most (Charles' Bridge), which spans the Vltava leading the way to Praský Hrad, the Castle of Prague. Before we get started, though, let's back up a little.
For those of you who don't know, I am one of the recipients of the Fulbright scholarship, and will be living and teaching for the coming year in Havlíčkův Brod, a small city in the heart of the Czech Republic, located in the region of Vysočina along the border between Bohemia and Moravia, though on the Bohemian side. I'll be working in two schools, Gymnázium Havlíčkův Brod, a regular high school, and Střední zdravotnická škola a Vyšší odborná škola zdravotnická -- yes, that's all one name, and it basically means Medical High School/College, a vocational type school for those wanting to enter medicine. Now that you're up to speed on that, let's talk a little about the Czech Republic.
Roughly the size of South Carolina, the Czech Republic is the bull's eye on the map of Europe, located directly in the center. The Czechs, however, find themselves in an odd position, as most people think of them as Eastern Europeans (meaning to them: Russian), while they strive to be acknowledged by the Western European Countries as a modern, advanced society, most properly deemed Central European. The same problem is haunting Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary especially...ie those countries formerly in the Soviet bloc. Home to roughly 14 million people, the Czech Republic's capital city is Praha (Prague), and next largest city is Brno. Historically, the Czechs reached their first major peak in the 14th Century under the rule of Charles IV. Leader of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles IV (more properly Karel IV) rebuilt Prague for his liking, making it the beautiful city of today. Following the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, the Czechs were eventually incorporated into the Austrian Empire, and there they prospered, eventually becoming the richest portion of the Empire, though subject to Germanization. They began, however, to fight back culturally, promoting the use of the Czech language instead of German, etc. etc. In 1867, the Austrian Empire became the dual Austro-Hungarian Empire, as Hungary (and thus, Slovakia) was also subject to the crown. The new power of the Hungarians incited a more fervent Czech pride, leading eventually to Czech independence at the end of WWI and the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918 under the auspices of Tomáš Masaryk (Lou Gehrig's son-in-law). Well, in 1938, Hitler conquered the new democracy, and thus they were held under Nazi tyranny until the end of the war in 1945. Freed by the Russians and the Americans, Czechoslovakia fell under the Soviet sphere of influence, and was the last of the so-called Eastern Bloc countries to fall into Soviet control and communism, after which it was of course proclaimed that an "iron curtain has descended across Europe." Thus, the Czechs went from monarchy to democracy to Nazism to Soviet communism (yes, that's important, there are many types of communism) in the span of decades. In 1968, the Czechoslovaks fought back through peaceful protest during the Prague Spring, only to be invaded by Russia and brought back under control until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Thus, Czechoslovakia was reborn, a unified, democratic state. In 1993, however, the country divided peacefully in the Velvet Divorce, creating the two countries of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic (aka Slovakia). In the 17 years since the Velvet Divorce and 21 years since the fall of communism, the Czechs have been slowly rebuilding their country to become stable, modern, and one of the best-kept secrets of Europe. Are you still with me?
Some other quick facts that I've been asked a lot: the Czechs are a member of the European Union (they joined in 2004), but do not yet use the Euro (they've chosen to postpone introducing it into the country until the economy is more stabilized). Instead, the Czechs use "crowns" (Koruna). The Czechs speak (surprisingly enough) Czech! It is a language. It's Slavic in origin, most closely related to Polish and Slovak, to the point that Czechs and Slovaks can talk freely and understand roughly 88% of what the other says...probably more than an American talking to an Australian. It is, however, related to the other Slavic languages, such that a Czech can eavesdrop on a Russian and have an idea of what they're saying (or a Croatian, or a Bulgarian, etc.).
Well, I think you're up to speed on where I'm at and what I'm doing. I hope this hasn't bored you yet. Also, sorry, Professor Youngblood, for consolidating your semester-long course into a short paragraph!
So, here I am, sitting in Prague, putting off going to bed to write to you fine people. I'm here only for the night, and tomorrow my job begins! We have our first orientation tomorrow, only for the day, to learn how the Czech school system works, and also to meet our contacts (for those of us who haven't yet). I haven't yet, we've kept missing each other, but I have one contact on each school who is the English teacher there, with whom I'll be working. Let me recap a little bit, though, and tell you about what's been happening since leaving the US.
As most of you know, my roommate from my year in Austria and good (Czech) friend Libor came and spent half the summer in Rhode Island. It was his first time stateside, and we visited DC, Boston, and NYC, along with all of RI (yes, it took more than an hour!), and a bunch of places in CT. We spent our last few days in NYC, where he was overwhelmed by the buildings, and couldn't believe he was standing 80+ stories in the air at one point (Empire State Building). On Wednesday the 25th, he and I climbed aboard LOT Polish Airlines, destination: Warsaw. The flight was long per usual, but we somehow ended up in a special class between business and economy, where there were only about 10 rows. Our two seats were right next to each other (he was on the window, I was on the aisle), so we didn't have to deal with obnoxious strangers, and we were in the front row so we had extra leg-room and the movie screen right in front of us. It was a fun flight because it was full of people from all the different Slavic countries, especially from Russia. There was one Russian woman behind us who only spoke to the stewardesses in English, and they would only respond in Polish, which she only understood a bit of (see the explanation above). It hit the point that she finally said, "Speak to me in English! I'm not Polish, I'm Russian!" We got a chuckle out of that. Anyways, after eight and a half hours in the air, we arrived in Warszawa, where we had about 3 hours to kill.
While sitting in the airport, we had the most obnoxious group of Canadians behind us. They had that mid-Western accent like in Minnesota, but to the extreme! They all had their name-tags on, fanny packs strapped, and socks pulled up the wazoo...in other words, they were ready to go. I won't bore you with their painful conversations, but let's just be honest, they had no idea what they were doing or where they were going, and were already frustrated that people were speaking in Polish to them and then would switch into English. YOU'RE IN POLAND.
We finally took off, and at about 2pm arrived in Praha, escaping the Canadians (eh) and meeting Libor's cousin and sister, who came to pick us up. We hopped on the bus, then connected to the metro, then to the tram, and (finally) arrived in Libor's cousin's apartment. After hanging out and winding down from the flight for a little, Libor and I went and met a friend of ours from our year in Graz who's from Prague, Veronika, and we sat and had a beer, in true Czech fashion, to celebrate our return to Evropa. Needless to say, by 8 o'clock, we were back at Libor's cousin's, sound asleep.
On Friday, Libor, Lenka (his sister) and I spent a good hour trying to find the Fulbright office here in Prague, but finally succeeded. After "checking in" (and getting my first payment!), we headed to hlavní nádraí, the train station, and I said ahoj to Libor and Lenka, destination: Havlíčkův Brod. I arrived there at about 2pm (seems to be a theme?), and trekked it through the city with all my bags, from the train station, over the river, to the realtor's office. There I met my realtor and new landlady, who, of course, suggested we take a walk over the apartment, meaning I had to repeat the stretch I'd just traveled, since I passed my apartment on the way there. Why we couldn't just meet at the apartment to begin with is beyond me, but hey, it's Europe...
After signing the paperwork, I found myself alone in my very first apartment (minorly terrifying). Let me just say that this apartment is huge. It was advertised as two rooms plus a kitchen. No no no. It's on the fourth (top) floor of what is known in Havlíčkův Brod as the "stone palace" (not even kidding), right on one of the main circles of the city, along the river (Sázava). When you open the door, you're in a long hallway. On the right-hand side is a big kitchen, with two small closets in it. On the left hand side is a toilet. Literally, just a room with a toilet. I had forgotten that Europeans apparently can't pee where they shower. Then, you walk through double doors into a room from which four more doors open out of. On the left are two doors, each to two huge rooms. The door immediately in front is of a small tiled-floored room with two closets in it, off of which is the shower-room/sink. On the right-hand side is the door to the balcony, from which I can see the river and the massive communist era apartment buildings ("panaláky"), which dominate many European cities' skylines. Oh, and the apartment is empty. Very empty. Very, very empty.
Do you remember that scene in "The Grinch?" You know, the one with, "the last thing he took was the log for their fire, on their walls he left nothing but hooks and some wire?" Yea, that'd be my apartment. There is nothing there, people, nothing. Just lots of empty rooms with high ceilings and hard-wood floors, meaning that everything echoes very, very loudly. Well, there was no time at the moment to worry about that, I needed to go to the bank and set up a bank account. My landlady had described the walk to the bank as impossible, being so far away and it having to take so long. After walking for less than 3 minutes (and across more than half the city, not exaggerating), I found the bank. I set up the bank there (much to the amusement of the women working there, who only spoke Czech), and then returned to my apartment, not quite sure what to do. I set out a-wandering, hoping to come across some form of a store where I could buy stuff, and thank God for the Vietnamese. In the Czech Republic, there are tons and tons of Vietnamese, all of whom immigrated and own "bazary," really really cheap (predominantly) clothing stores, though they contain some other assorted items. There just happens to be one such close to my apartment, so I went there and got a pillow and some towels, and then ended up finding a store called Kaufland, the Wal-Mart of the Czech Republic (though a lot smaller and worse quality...imagine that). Anyways, I found a comforter, which was my main goal, and so I set out back to my place, content with my purchases and wanting dinner. I ended up grabbing a few slices of pizza on the main square, then heading back to my place to unpack.
Before coming to Europe, I bought myself the necessary adapters, etc. I also bought a power strip, that way I could attach the adapter to it and then plug in multiple things at once. Well, I tried plugging it in...didn't quite work. Remember how I said my apartment echoes? I plugged the power strip into the outlet in my kitchen, and it sounded like a gun went off and just kept bouncing around the walls. There was even a black mark on my counter from the blast! Well, needless to say, the apartment lost power, and after some help from Libor and flipping the power switch in the hall a million times, I still didn't have power. Hello, neighbors! I rang the bell at my neighbors' and met Mrs. Neighbor (I can't remember her name, it had a lot of and ř in it, which spells disaster for a foreigner), but she thought it was funny and was really nice. I then had to disturb Mr. Neighbor who was sitting watching tv in his pajamas, and he showed me how to reset it (or so I thought). Well, wouldn't you know that about a half-hour later I turned on the light in my kitchen and boom! The power in the whole place goes out again. I did what Mr. Neighbor had done and nothing happened, so ring ring ring, once again on the doorbell, flash a smile and say, "Pomoc, prosím!" (Help, please!) This time he laughed and did something else, and afterwards explained to me what he did...of which I understood about 6 words, but I nodded and thanked him. Anyways, come to find out that the electricity in my kitchen doesn't work now, the power goes out whenever I turn on the light and the outlet doesn't work. My landlady was away for the weekend, so I'll have to tell her on Tuesday...yipee.
The problem with the lights going out led me to a new discovery, though. Remember how I sent my apartment was very very Grinchy empty? Well, the entire time up to this point, I hadn't been looking up. I knew the light in the hall worked, and in the kitchen (not anymore), and in the toilet/shower rooms. Now I stood flipping the switches in the 3 other rooms and panicking that nothing was happening and the sun was going down. Well lo and behold, I looked up and realized what the problem was. That's right, there are no light fixtures in the 3 major rooms of my apartment! I couldn't believe it! I didn't know what to do, so just buckled down for an evening in the dark. Luckily, my adapter for my computer worked, so I just watched movies in the darkness (with the light from the hallway on).
Saturday I woke up early and went immediately to buy a bed. Needless to say, I hadn't slept very well since I was on a hard wood floor with a small fleece blanket and a comforter. I ended up buying a bed, and the woman who sold it to me was floored when I told her I would take it back to my apartment on foot. Luckily, the store was only about 100 yards from my apartment, but even so I was parading through the streets with my proudest purchase yet on top of my head (since European beds are longer than American). Thus, my apartment was taking shape: I had a mattress. No box spring, no frame, just a mattress. I went to Kaufland and got myself some sheets, and found a more comfortable pillow, and so now I have something else in my apartment...though it's still very empty. I also bought myself some dishes, utensils, and pans, since the stove is the only thing that works in the kitchen. As all the stores closed at 11, I set out and found a restaurant (yes, restaurant) with wireless internet, so got to catch up on some things, and also got to have a Schnitzel (which was awful, they ain't got nothin' on Austria or Libor's mom). While on the computer, I briefly talked to Mom, who reminded me of the very important need for lamps. Cursing myself for having forgotten (I was too excited about the sun to consider it), I tried to find one and went of course to Kaufland. There, I bought a teeny tiny lamp, but figured it would be good enough to suffice just for the one night since I knew I was coming to Prague today. Proud of myself, I took my purchase to my apartment, opened it up....aaaaand there was no lightbulb. After hiking back to Kaufland, I was excited for my new light...and the lightbulb didn't fit, even though it was the recommended one. Ready to scream, I went to Kaufland again and just returned the whole thing, buying a battery-powered camping lamp instead. Thus, I sat and watched movies last night by lamplight. It's all very Spartan.
I woke up this morning, killed time, then took the train at noon to Prague, getting in at (yet again) 2pm. I found my hotel, right in the heart of the Old Town, and then set out for my number one destination: IKEA! I went to IKEA, bought myself a lamp (though am now wondering why I didn't buy myself 2, they're small and cheap), as well as a little tool kit, and a shower curtain (which is very exciting, since most Czechs shower sitting down, but clever American brought an attachment to hang the shower head up on the wall). Since then, I've been wandering around the Old Town a little, seeing the sites that are the beauty of Prague (it really is an amazing city), and then got dinner at a restaurant right in the middle of the Old Town that absolutely no tourists no about (Libor's cousin introduced it to me when I was in Prague almost two years ago now).
Alright, well, hopefully I haven't bored everyone too much to death, and if you've made it this far down, kudos! I'm too lazy to go back and read through it all, so pardon the mistakes that are probably there. Hopefully I'll have internet in my apartment by the end of the week, so I'll talk to you all from them. Until then, ahoj z Prahy!
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Hillary
non-member comment
Grinch
Nice to see that you can recite Grinch lines apparently on command.