Day 4 started with our trip to Google Czech Republic. Google is a relatively new organization here, with roughly 15 people working for the company which is the second most popular search engine behind seznam.cz, a local server, in the Czech market — this makes it unusual as it is not the dominant organization it is in America. The offices were situated in a larger office complex and had no overarching identifiers, so we immediately got the point that it was a less conspicuous operation (not even a wall logo to speak of!). To the point, Google was not the monster-sized behemoth one from America might expect to find.

We were met by Petr and Filip, two great people, who graciously took us through the development of the company in the local market, as well as discussing what set the market apart from its larger European (and the American) counterparts. Drew Stephens, a Czechmate with an IST degree (newly minted from PSU this May), had many great questions, but in fact we all had a chance to explore their perspectives regarding what it is like to work for such a global firm in the Czech context. To our surprise, Google CZ has been so successful (as a subsidiary, making great headway with less money invested) that it has often been cited as the prototype for expanding the company’s operations in other smaller markets by Google’s directors in the US.  As such, the pressures from the global HQ were never as pronounced as seen in other cultural industries (for example, CT24 spoke of the pressure to keep costs in check, despite being a state station).  We came away again with an extended visit and important insights about developments in the European and Czech telecommunications sector, as well as the strategies employed in these markets in light of contemporary financial and cultural challenges, and they ways different cultural industries deal with different infrastructural challenges/complexities

From there, we met up with Martin L. again, boarding a train for a 35 min. ride out of town to Karlstejn http://www.hradkarlstejn.cz/ a gothic castle dating from the 12th century. While not my favorite Czech castle, it was nonetheless an opportunity for the students to see one of the most visited and important castles in Czech history. It is under reconstruction in some places, and we couldn’t go up into the highest tower (it opens June 1) but it still offered a pleasant day out in the Czech countryside, a nice lunch in a courtyard under the castle itself, and a pleasant walk around the castle with its beautiful views of the surrounding land.

This took most of the afternoon, and we came back to U Akatu to freshen up, before meeting Martin again (and Tana Michova, Martin’s partner and a famous Czech TV personality and long-time friend of mine) for dinner. We had interesting conversations about the communist period in Czech history and the changes that came after, as well as a lovely meal. We all then retired later that evening for a good night sleep as we had another trip to Znojmo the following day and we had to catch an early bus.

That is, except CK and Drew.  They were ready to hit the town and do some dancing. After getting a tip from my rock star friend (Martin Ledvina), off they went at 11pm to discover what the club scene in Prague was like. I would find out the following morning that it was wild and intriguing, with Drew’s experience entailing something of an ethnographic exploration of the the differences between America and Europe regarding club protocol related to dance (how it is initiated, how close it it can be, differences in dance styles, music, and fashion, etc.). It proved to be such fun that they missed the last metro and had to negotiate an alternative form of transportation (i.e. the tram) to get back to the penzion. At 3 am they arrived, safe and sound, and all the more empowered having found their own way back by successfully navigating the language and cultural differences through this enlightening adventure. Hopefully, Drew will post his videos of the evening.

Note: this was a really important event (and one that I would strongly encourage other instructors to incorporate) in that it accomplished what I had hoped, namely that the students would feel comfortable exploring their own interests ON THEIR OWN. Easy to do when one knows the customs and language — not so easy when every move one makes can be humiliating. I have to say that Drew did an amazing job of trying to explore his perspectives and how far he could go beyond his comfort zone. And he did great (he’ll have to tell you what insights he gained from it) but I was really proud on the whole that the Czechmates were into trying to break out from their cultural box. But the trip to the club took it to a new level. Very happy.

The key was that they had a telephone if they needed help, and they weren’t naive, drinking and being ostentatious liked they owned the place and.or asking for trouble. They engaged the scene on its terms and had a great time because of that — as global individuals, not as a PENN STATE mob.

To the Point — I think one thing that often gets lost on study-abroad opportunities is that it should not come to be a PSU semester in paradise, but rather a chance for our university students to move beyond the PSU mentality, and in doing so, strengthen our “brand” globally (i.e. penn state students are great cultural ambassadors who really know how to “be” in the world). My one wish is to break up this type of thinking when one is studying abroad — namely, I would suggest that if you want to study abroad, you should go someplace off the beaten path (stay clear of spain, italy, and the UK) and go solo, really challenging yourself to go beyond your comfort and knowledge zone — you will come back a new, stronger, and better global citizen who CAN be a force for changing the world. Believe me.

For the Czechmates, Day 5 meant a trip to Moravia, the hinterlands of the Czech Republic and the seat of (some might say) real Czech culture. And so it was to be an amazing excursion in more ways than one.

Location: Prague, Karlštejn