The Orientating Begins

Nyu Orientation week is in full swing. Each day this week I wake up to a 2 and a half hour class called “survival Czech.” I now can, hypothetically, count to 100, order off a menu, give someone directions, and read phonetically. Even though it is monotonous I’ve enjoyed learning Czech here because even after the first day we started applying what we had learned. For instance, yesterday we went to a tiny Czech lunch place that had the same feel as a taqueria back home. Using a combination of pointing, telling her I wanted “jedna”, or a number one, I ordered the two open faced sandwiches I wanted. Also, simply being knowing how to say hello, thank you, and goodbye makes a notable difference in the way people interact with you.

I’m not pretty much fluent in Czech, it’s a really easy language.

NYU has provided us with several opportunities to get acquainted with Czech culture. On the first day we had an hour and a half lecture on Czech history given by one of the professors in the program. Jan Urban apparently is a well known Czech dissonant, journalist, and historian and had a very unique view on the history of the Czech republic. He talked about how if you want to understand the present attitude and situation here you only need to study the 19th century on. From the industrial revolution in the mid 1800’s till now the people have under gone several changes of loyalty. What was once the Austrian Hungarian empire, then became Czechoslovakia, then a protectorate of Germany, then ruled by the soviets, then liberated as an independent Czechoslovakia, and then split itself in two becoming the Czech republic. He talked about how the people of the Czech republic have the mentality of a little country and each time they have been had a regime change, they have switched their loyalty without asking any questions in order to avoid a potential dangerous or uncomfortable situation. One of the more random facts that I found interesting was the Czech people have a fascination with western cowboy/Indian culture. Apparently there are many famous Czech folk songs writing about life on the range and the western spirit. During communist times these we used as a form of dissent against the soviets.

This lecture carried over later that night when our RAs wanted to take us out to a fun restaurant they really liked. We walked down the street to a small Italian pizzeria (I am quickly learning that the Czechs like pizza almost more than Americans) and the inside of the restaurant was decorated in the Wild West theme. There were tomahawks and headdresses on the walls, to get to the patio outside you had to go through those swinging doors, and all of the dishes were called things like “eagle heart,” or “he who conquers all.”

NYU gave each student who wanted them free tickets to a cultural event of either: a tightrope walking circus, a selection of operas, or a hockey game. Of course, we chose the tightrope walking. The circus, held in a tent in the park over looking Prague and was doing its last performance in the city. Apparently the director, who is French, had helped to start circ de sole but had then split off to create his own tightrope walking circus. It was amazing. There were five performers who were able to run, do flips, walk on point and high heels, do the splits, and dance all while on a cable less than an inch wide. It was also neat because the background music wasn’t from a tape, but from a live band sitting above us. I think my jaw dropped several times over the course of their performance.

After the tight rope walking some of the RAs, who are Czech students themselves, told us to follow them to this look out spot in the park we were in. Letna Park used to be home to the biggest statue of Stalin in the world, but it was torn down in the 1950’s. Instead, now there is a giant red metronome in its place. After the circus we walked out to this point the statue used to be and you could see the whole city all lit up in front of us. I took some night time pictures and they turned out really well. Standing up there and seeing the city appear in front of you it was easy to understand why the soviet supporters would have placed the statue there, and even easier to see why others would have wanted to get rid of it.

I want to take a moment to describe the dynamic on the tram, which seems to also be a microcausm of the collective Czech persona. Trams are just like trolley cars traveling above ground, they go everywhere, and everybody rides them. To get to the center of town and school we have to take the tram for about 20 minutes. We had been told during a previous “welcome to Prague” lecture that we shouldn’t be alarmed, but the Czech people are much more reserved than Americans and tend not to be as loud in public. At that time I didn’t realize that it would mean that every trip on public transportation would be silent! Every time you talk above a whisper the other people stare you down. Inevitably our normal behavior has led to many many stare downs by Czech tram riders. Also, it’s even like that on the night trams which are used by people on their way to and from parties and clubs. Even after a big night out, its completely silent….except for us. Another noise factor about Prague is that they have quiet hours every night from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. and if you are making noise late a night the neighbors will actually (and apparently, frequently do) call the cops. We haven’t had a problem yet, but I’m sure it is coming. It just seems odd to me that in a decently large city they would have such strict noise ordinances.

Part of the reason I choose to go on this program was because they offered so many opportunities to see Prague in different ways. They marketed their lecture series, outside Prague trips, and learning from the city not just school. Our RA’s are also Czech students who are living with us for the semester. These RAs are completely different from any RA I had at Kenyon because in some respect they have been our tour guides of the city. One night we were just sitting around the dorm talking and Lenka, who is an RA, popped in and told us she was going to a club and asked if we wanted to come. Though they don’t encourage drinking in the apartments, they are all for taking us to clubs, telling us about fun concerts happening around the city, and it seems like they also just want to hang out with us. In fact after we saw the great view of the city some of the Czech RAs we were with wanted to take us to get a beer at a Czech pub. We sat there for about an hour and we taught each other about each country’s respective education system, cinema, and current politics. I felt very intellectual actually. Another way NYU encourage us to learn about Czech culture is by organizing a series of trips throughout the semester to locations in the Czech Republic that you might not actually go to on your own. We were allowed to select one over night trip and one day trip from a list of about 20 possibilities. My friends/apartment mates chose to do a day trip that is in an area with lots of caves, so we’ll spend half the day hiking in the mountains and half the day exploring caves. Then for our overnight trip we’ll go to a small historic village called Cesky Krumlov that is supposed to be “the pearl of central Europe.”

Lots to look forward to this weekend with our first Friday and Saturday night in Prague and then classes on Monday! I’ve also figured out a great way to get to practice in the mornings.