Amil Khattar is a Fulbright English 
Teaching Assistant. Armed with an MS in Sports Marketing, the founder’s mindset of someone who has launched two companies, the energy of a social media and marketing wizard, the stage presence of a stand-up comedian, and the endurance of an avid runner, Amil brings an impressive mix of talents wherever he goes. In his Fulbright ETA application, he named Emil Zátopek and Tomáš Baťa as his role models, admiring their discipline, vision, and determination. So when the Tomáš Baťa Business Academy in Zlín applied to host an ETA for the 2025–2026 academic year, it felt like destiny had done the matchmaking itself. Amil's secret to integrating into life in Zlín? Saying “yes” to even the most random invitations - a strategy that has earned him countless local friendships, unforgettable experiences, and probably a few stories worthy of his next stand-up routine.
The mantra I tried to live by during my time here in Zlín, Czech Republic is “let’s do random things.” 
Yes, I’d love to come to your house to see your bonsai tree collection; yes, I’d love to help you assemble your new patio furniture; yes, I’d love to come bake Christmas cookies; yes, I’d love to watch your father’s band perform at the local music pub; yes, I’d love to join a dance class with you; yes, I’d love to go curling with you in Brno; yes, I’d love to.
This Fulbright experience in the Czech Republic is certainly a very formative one. You are placed in a small village (Zlín isn’t that small, but it’s certainly less populated than NYC), where you don’t speak the native language, and without anyone you know around you. You go from having all your family and best and closest friends only a stone’s throw away to now being unable to make small talk with the Billa cashier. The united sense of community and abundance of connection you once had is now replaced with uncertainty, unawareness, and confusion. The stark juxtaposition between these two circumstances can be quite jarring: going from absolute familiarity with your surroundings to surreal disorientation.
Photo: My friend, Daniel, and I after assembling his new couch, March 2026, Zlín.
Who will be my friends here? Who will I spend time with outside of class? What will I do on the weekends? Where will I go? Where even am I? The inquiry overflow seems to be incessant during the beginning of the Fulbright experience, but that’s what is so grand about it – you learn to become comfortable in the uncomfortable. You learn to create something out of nothing, and you learn the true difference between being alone and being lonely. And so, this is where my motto emerged.
Before Fulbright, my relationships seemed to be on autopilot. I didn’t think twice about talking to coffee shop barista, meeting mutual friends, or having a conversation with a stranger. But now, in a completely new and foreign environment, every interaction becomes intentional and curated. You practice key phrases such as “how are you?” and “have a nice weekend” because basic conversation is now strained, you rely on universal physical gestures that you hope transcend the language barrier, and you deeply analyze (and sometimes emulate) passersby’s facial expressions…all because now you are forced to be conscious about how you interact with those around you. And that is what was so powerful to me about this Fulbright experience – it opened my eyes to how intentional human connection really is. In a day and age where technology has reduced so much friction regarding communication, when you’re thrown into a new environment with all new people around you, you can’t rely on your iPhone to make genuine, in-person connections – you have to rely on yourself.
Half of the battle is just being open: being willing to do anything that comes your way, saying yes to the next opportunity. Accepting the invite, offering to bring something, sending a note on the schoolwide message board to all teachers inviting them to join you at the pub after school on Friday, even though they are all busy people with families and lives and actual responsibilities. When I first moved here, no one knew me, and I knew no one, so I made it my priority to talk about hobbies and interests with my new community so that I could plant the seeds for future plans. This led to bike rides with colleagues, Thursday night basketball games, coffee chats with students at Kafe na rohu, and cold plunges in the freezing Otrokovice lake: all activities that I like to do and would have sought out myself. From this beget new invitations…invitations to things I never would have done before, or frankly, even knew about that existed: Wednesday night floorball matches, Sunday evening dance classes, food truck and witch burning festivals (two separate events), ski trips with my school. Activities, events, and gatherings that I wouldn’t have known about unless I didn’t show up in the beginning.
The overall point of what I’m trying to say is that this Fulbright experience really showed me how intentional human connection truly is, but also how a little effort can go a long way. You don’t need to do anything more than simply show up – be present, be willing, be yourself. You don’t need to be someone you are not or bend over backwards, just your presence is and willing attitude is enough to start the process. I truly learned how to be open to new experiences – even seemingly random ones – because you never know what might happen, who you might meet, and how much fun you might have. By being open to the world around you, you open yourself up to the world – and I have found that there couldn’t be a more beautiful place to do so than in Zlín, Czech Republic, because of all the people who have opened up their beautiful lives to include me.
