Fulbright Reality Czech

For three weeks now, the Czech Republic has closed its borders. Our US grantees were strongly urged by the Department of State to leave the Czech Republic and return to the US. For us, but especially for our grantees, it was a heartbreaking and a very emotionally-demanding time. Most of the grantees did not manage to say proper goodbyes to those they worked with and befriended in their cities. So, now, we share their Facebook posts from the past days, as well as reports from the colleagues who enjoyed working with them. Warning: you may get emotional!

By Miriam Siroky (Fulbright Scholar’s daughter) Dear Diary, Today was quite an average school day. To be honest, I didn’t want to get out of bed, but I was excited to see my friends. I slowly got out of bed and ready for school, but I really didn’t really want to go outside, and started to imagine: “If only there was a zip line from my bed to the classroom…” I really have nothing to complain about, since my whole commute takes less than oneminute by foot. Only when I sleep over at a friend’s house do I have a reason to complain about how long it takes to get to school, and it only makes me grateful to live so close to school. As my feet drag me through the two doors of the school, I start to question why I’m not in bed still, since it’s only 8. As the second door opens, I go straight to my locker, where I change my shoes, and put my jacket inside. After exiting the locker room, I head up the two flights of stairs to my classroom, where I see my friends! About a minute later...

Last week was full of sudden decisions and twists in the lives of our grantees. Many of them had to pack up at short notice to go back home according to the changing announcements. One of them was our ETA, Alec. Read his moving farewell. text by Alec Travers (Fulbright English Teaching Assistant) As previously mentioned, due to worldly circumstances (see: Pandemic), I’m writing this farewell letter earlier than I was expecting to. My originally planed 10 months in the Czech Republic were cut short a few months, however, I would not like to further dwell on that missing time, but rather share appreciation and gratitude for the incredible 7 months I was so fortunate to have. It’s now been a week since my arrival back home to Roanoke, VA and in that time I have been trying to formulate the best farewells I could extend, to try and encapsulate my thanks to so many people and things that shaped my Fulbright experience. To Tabor: Tabor, you are a beautiful city. Your cobblestone...

In the last few days, the Czech Republic has been experiencing major changes day by day. Every day, the government is tightening measures to win the stuggle against the coronavirus. There are closed restaurants, most shops, but mainly schools and universities. Our grantees have faced a major challenge this week. To go or not to go home to the USA. In this post we are sharing some of the touching confessions of our grantees who have been faced with the big question of whether to stay or to go in recent days. Read about Alanna, Anya and Jubilee's decisions in this post. This text was written by Alanna Powers (current English Teaching Assistant) Family, friends, students, and everyone in between:  The past 24 hours, have been, without a doubt, the hardest of my life. If you’ve been keeping up with the news, the Czech Republic is closing its borders on Sunday, allowing only citizens and those with long-term residency (that’s me) the option to stay. No one will ha...

Napsal Mgr. Jan Tomáštík, Ph.D. z Přírodovědecké fakulty Univerzity Palackého v Olomouci ze Společné laboratoře optiky, který momentálně působí na Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University v Blacksburgu ve Virginii. Otevírám rozespalé oči a rychle vyhrávám nekonečný souboj s budíkem. Díky tomu neprobudím mou ženu, která si díky medikaci pospí trochu déle. Snažím se chytit trendy života ve Virginii, takže si z krabice sypu americké vločky do amerického mléka a v americky obrovském dvoupatrovém bytě se připravuji na další den vědátora v USA. Pracovat ve vědě má i své nevýhody – prokletí, že nikdy nevypnete mozek a nikdy nemáte doděláno. Ale velkou výhodou naopak je, že máte práci jako hobby, a vaším denním chlebem je vždycky aspoň špetka nového poznání. S vědou se navíc pojí cestování. Dříve díky konferencím a tréninkům, nyní díky vědecké spolupráci jsem už pobyl v Británii i na největším teleskopu na planetě v Argentině. Cílem vědce musí být neustrnout a nestagnovat ...

by Madison Kambic (current English teaching Assistant in Ostrava) I had the privilege of attending one of the strangest culture-bomb events I have ever seen in my life. What is Masopust? The way my Czech friend-of-a-friend explained it to me was this: it’s a three-in-one festival in early spring. It’s a combination of Czech Mardi Gras, a welcoming of the spring season, and the beginning of a “fertility” period. I hadn’t planned to attend, but I found myself in Prague with an invite and nothing else planned for that day. I arrived at the festival with a few other Fulbrighters; three scholars and myself as an English Teaching Assistant. Also joining us was a group of NYU students and their Czech professor, Matej, for the festival. What first got me curious was the amount of people on the train to the festival. We were only travelling three stops from a smaller Prague station, but the train was  p a c k e d with people. Almost everyone was wearing a costume. There was...