As I stated in the previous entry, the Czechmates had separate travel plans for getting over the pond: the students were meeting up in Newark to take a British Airways flight as a collective (guided by my TA, Chenjerai Kumanyika (hereafter referred to as CK). I was departing 2 hours prior to their departure — also from Newark — and taking my family over for our bi-yearly excursion with family on that side of the Atlantic. I spent the day checking in with each faction as the moved towards Newark by car and train. In this way, I was able to see that all was going as planned, and CK took the point on this as well; all good in that the Iceland volcano had closed Heathrow the day prior (their connecting airport), but all seemed to be open once again and we had a plan in place in case they didn’t make it or the flight got delayed.

So I landed in Prague on-time and the leader board said they were coming, but delayed by 2 hours; good for me as i had to get my family (wife, 2 kids (4 and 18 months) on a connecting train in the heart of Prague (the airport is on the outskirts of the city), which now seemed much more manageable in light of their pending late arrival. All was accomplished, but I returned to Ruzyne (the Prague airport) to find the CzechMates — settled solitarily on their luggage outside the Arrivals gate – casually waiting for me. Seems the leader board was wrong but no matter — they arrived and waited calmly for me according to plan. A good start.

It was at this point that the trip became real. For me, I’ve traversed this portal some 45 times and the routine is standard and instinctual. Now I had 6 other people to work through it and I had to think outside my internal box so all could negotiate the agenda: Get money exchanged, get phones operational, catch bus to city, negotiate metro, get to bed and breakfast, get settled.

First observation; groups move slower and with different dynamics. Lots of questions, lots of thoughts and observations. Lots of things I had not thought about for a LONG time coming back to me in my explanations. All good in that I was once again seeing the city and country from a fresh perspective, illuminating just how far I had settled into the Czech cultural reality. Intriguing from the get-go in that I felt the magic, awe, and angst I once felt return.

Of course, the group was very calm and collected for the most part, making the negotiations relatively easy. It was the first time most of them had been out of the country and I was actually a bit worried that they would find any of this trip and city compelling. Again, as they began to take in the surroundings, it was clear I had become jaded — but it was dissipating, and that energized me. As we moved across the city, I was eagerly watching their reactions and though tired, it was clear they were taking it all in.

The language, which I slip back into quite easily, was the thing that seemed to hit them all the hardest, as it is a Slavic language and none of them had any idea how to make sense of it (no relation to the languages they had studied). I think it can be best describes as sounding like a mixture of sounds that resemble a mixture of bubbling water and electricity. Took me six months just to figure out where words and sentences ended, but having studied and used it for over a decade, it now comes to me naturally. Can say that my Latin training helped, in that Czech has declensions (7) just like Latin, meaning the word changes its form depending how you use it (i.e. its case). Czech also has no articles (a/the) and the word order is more flexible than English. It also has sounds that are not found in English. So in a word, it is one tough language to make sense of (as an English speaker), but I was impressed by how the students from the start were eager to try. CK, with his musical ear, did the best and impressed all from the outset. Best of all, he was intent on using it from the first evening. And he did so magnificently, giving courage to the other students. It also made a big impression on the locals, meaning that just by trying to understand and be sensitive to the local language, he was doing the right thing.

We got to our Bed and Breakfast http://www.uakatu.cz/ with which I have a long history, namely I got to know the owners when I did my Fulbright Research and stayed extensively with them during that time. They did me right so many times that I have made every effort to help them as well, and in light of the financial crisis which has cut into their business by 40 percent, I was pleased we could fill their calendar for a week. Mrs. Szebinofska (pronounced Shebinofska) is just now learning a little english, so if you are going to be in Prague, I would encourage you to stay here (she also speaks Russian, German, and Czech, like so many Europeans) and offers private and homey accomodations, in an accessible suburb of Prague, which includes a continental breakfast for a small extra fee and all of which gives you a bit of privacy and comfort, as well as a personal connection to the country, that beats any hostel or hotel I have ever stayed in in the city.

Anyhow, it was great to see her and the family again, and all the CzechMates seemed to like the accommodations (private bath, kitchenette, room to hang out, wifi, etc). Being tired, the idea was to get grub and go to sleep, as it was around 8 in the evening and most of us had been up some 20 or more hours.

Upon her suggestion, we went to a restaurant called Coolna http://www.trop.cz/mista/144/coolna-praha-4-michle (see the link at the top for their homepage) which was but 5 minutes and one street away.

And here we crossed several thresholds. I had thought that we would find English language menus readily in Prague; on the first night, I found out I was wrong. Good, in that it put the students in a space that was only slightly uncomfortable (“what are we going to eat if we can’t read the menu?”) but bad in that I became the translator. I’d done this before with my family at my wedding, so it was not too big a problem, and with Czech beers in their hands, their patience was enhanced.

Drinking — another threshold crossed. In the CR, the drinking age is 18. A few Czechmates were under 21 (which is not to imply they had not had a drink or a few thousand before) but for the first time, they didn’t need to have – or worry about — their ID. As the instructor, I had no concern whasoever, in that I had chosen responsible students, we were looking out for each other, and I was there to guide them, if they needed it. They didn’t. They handled it with aplomb and it was at this point where they got a great lesson in how puritan American culture can be.

To the point; I often spent time with my students at Ostrava University (in the 90s) after class continuing the discussions started in class with beer flowing. The conversations were deep, interesting, and compelling on so many levels, and I was truly disappointed to come back to the states where such arrangements were simply impossible. We’re not talking funnels and beer pong  here or drinking till you puke– we’re talking mature conversations augmented by aperitifs. Which is not to say none of us ever drank enough to get sick, but that was neither the point or the prerogative. It was something else.

And the Czechmates got it immediately. The beer and conversations were brimming and they suddenly understood what I had been preaching about in Comm 410 all semester. And they rose to the occasion. We spent the meal covering broad topics about our plans, expectations, observations, and amusing the waitress who was summarily appalled at how we mixed our food choices in ways that would make the Czechs puke (of course, the same can be said about Peanut Butter and Jelly or Pancakes and sausage, both of which can cause Czechs to gag — sweet and salty don’t mix here).

Satiated, full, and tired, we returned to U Akatu to rest up for the next day and our first excursions in the city. I had planned a mix of professional visits, engagements with the culture, and free time, and I was curious to see how it would all work out.

I went to bed feeling like we were on the right track; not assured that all would go well, but feeling that serendipity was on our side. I could not have guessed how right the feeling was to be. Thanks to the connections I had with the locals and their culture.

After a nightcap in the room, we all went to sleep, set to start our adventure well-rested. Fours hours in and I was feeling the excitement to introduce some special people to a culture and some other special people that I loved deeply. And the fact that the former were really jazzed to do so only made me happier.

Lesson learned: know who you are dealing with before you cross the border. I knew I had a special group…. because I had chosen them. Can honestly say I did not know just how special they would turn out to be.

Dobrou Noc (good night)!

Location: Prague