Alright, I’ve
got a little under an hour to get a few thoughts onto the page. So, as you may
remember, this week is part one of two of our Czech intensive. It’s not
unbearable by any means, but it definitely is intense. We have about four hours
of class a day and now we’re also integrating field trips. Today’s was actually
pretty sweet. I’ll get to that in a bit.
We had a quiz
this morning and I am honestly impressed at my ability to learn something and
forget it five minutes later. Petra, our teacher, reviewed the material with us
before the quiz through various exercises and by the time I got to the quiz, I
had forgotten what I’d written. I’m particularly bad at trying to fill in
dialogue and respond to questions, the latter because you have to conjugate the
verb which is something I’ve always been terrible at – just ask Frau D. and
Frau Crowder! I think I stumbled through the quiz and will get a pretty decent
grade on it, but I cannot understand how I ask questions and then promptly
forget the answer. I definitely listen attentively, but it just doesn’t stick.
Truthfully, it’s not just for language either, though I think it’s worse when
I’m trying to think in a foreign language, but I do the same thing for math and
other subjects, just when it comes to those types of subjects, I can work
through the proof on my own. How do you work through a language?
We spent part of
the morning working on our restaurant words and etiquette and then we got to go
utilize them by going out for a meal with our Czech class. As I really enjoy
eating, this was definitely my kind of field trip. I was going to order Goulash
because Petra had recommended it highly, but they were out. Not to be deterred,
I found another traditional Czech dish (Sirloin in a cream sauce with berries
and whipped cream with bread dumplings), but that proved too popular and our
tables ordered all of it, so that three of us didn’t get our meal. I ended up
ordering pasta with cream sauce and a filet of Salmon with lemon. Though it
wasn’t my first choice, it was quite tasty and definitely filled me up – cream
sauce can do that.
When lunch
finally wrapped up and we paid, it was 2:30. I wanted to head back to campus to
look into my readers and sign up for a Czech buddy – someone I could just get
together with and talk over dinner or go and play soccer sometime. CIEE has a
list of them and hopefully I get a cool one. I also thought about volunteering,
but a lot of what we do is teaching English and I’m not sure about that yet, so
I have to think more about it.
On my walk to
campus from the metro stop, I saw this little dog walking around, completely
off his leash, just hopping around in the grass, and then running off to a
different patch. I was looking around for the dog’s owner (it had a harness on)
but he/she was nowhere to be seen. This is definitely not the first unleashed
dog I’ve seen, and it actually seems quite common in Prague for the owners to
just let the dogs wander freely. It’s one of those totally non-American things
that stand out every time. I’m in no way condemning the practice, just that it
would never happen in America and I freely admit that I believe the dogs
thoroughly enjoy it compared to our leashing practice. It is strange to see though,
especially when a dog walks around in front of you and your first thought is the
dog is a stray and you should take it home to take care of it, until the owner
comes up and yells at you for playing with their dog.
While I’m on the
subject of my observations, one thing that I’ve noticed and really appreciated
about the people in Prague is their willingness to help someone out. The city
has a great public transportation system (if a little confusing at times) that
will you get you just about anywhere in under an hour – my daily commutes is
almost exactly thirty minutes. While people do have cars, plenty of people use
the tram, including the elderly and the disabled. I don’t know why, but it
seems to me that I’ve seen more blind individuals in Prague in the first two
weeks than I have in Madison or the Twin Cities in the last couple years,
though that may just be a consequence of where I go and when. Without fail,
someone has guided every blind person I’ve seen onto the tram or metro, helping
him or her navigate the doors and finding them a seat. These aren’t relatives
either, because these people often go a different direction shortly after, but
it’s not a problem because someone else fills in the gap to make sure that the
blind individual gets around safely.
One example that
I witnessed and proved particularly memorable was at a tram stop. I think of
the trams like the trolley cars in San Francisco, though some of them look more
like above ground subway cars than a trolley. The trams stop every few blocks
and often one of the “platforms” is on an island in the middle of the road so
that to get on or off, you have to cross the road. The other day when I was
waiting for my tram I noticed a blind man crossing the road across the tram
tracks. Almost immediately two men hopped into the road and guided the man
across the road before returning and waiting for their stop.
Maybe this isn’t
as cool to other people because it’s a normal consequence of public
transportation, but for someone who’s never lived in a city with a good public
transportation or used it regularly, I’ve never seen this demonstration of
community. Honestly, I think it is more of a demonstration of the differences
between two cultures: America’s which seems to have been built largely on properties
of independence, autonomy and the sacredness of private property and the Czech
culture which is only twenty years removed from a communist state. I know I’m
generalizing a bit and simplifying what I’m sure is a very complicated
question, but at a quick glance, it seems to me as if a sense of community is
present here that is ominously absent in America at large.
And on that
note… I need to get going. Tonight CIEE has put together a bowling activity for
all of us, which should be fun. I know I still haven’t talked about my
birthday at all, so I’ll try to get to that tomorrow – and at least tell you
what I remember.
Na Schledanou!
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