VISIONS AND CREATIONS THE CZECHS IN THE EYES OF AN AMERICAN
MATERIÁLY PRO UČITELE
Yes, I’m living here for 15 years and obviously I’m here because I love the place. I found that I was drawn to Prague because there was some…for me there was an energy here that felt like what you want is just around the next corner and then you go around that corner and what you want is just around the next corner. And so I felt it as a motivating place for myself. Also, at that time there were lot of foreigners coming into the Czech Republic and because everything was new, the market was new in every way, people could simply chose what they wanted to do and try it. They were people going into film, starting businesses, all kinds of things. What I found from the local side was a lot of caution. A little bit less willingness to take a leap, maybe take a risk on projects that were being proposed, on businesses that were being proposed. And over time, of course, it started to shift. I noticed it because I was teaching also at university in the United States and here when I first came and I found that in the U.S. because we are trained in rhetoric and having an opinion, everyone is able to express their opinion and even their idea and “this is what I would do if I were making a plan”. But they might not necessarily have the concrete knowledge or the research behind. What I found here was, I was in a room, even in the university, of people who had a lot of knowledge, really, all of the building blocks for what they needed to make a decision but they were less willing to form an opinion or really stand by that opinion and say: “ This is what we want to do and why these are the steps we will take to manifest it.” So I found this when we were working on the festival that I was looking at the spaces in Prague and I said: “ Well, this palace, yes I wanted to be there, you know, we will work on that and , of course, we must be in this building at some point.” And my team was saying: “No way! It’s not possible, it’s difficult, that’s a state building, they won’t be open to that.” And so we had a little bit of tension there. But I think it was a very good tension. It was the tension between – let’s be clear on our vision, this opens us, we want to be there, that’s our goal, we know, - “the steps how to do it, let’s look at it, these are the blocks.” Usually, this doesn’t happen, it’s not open for that kind of event – we can go through all the ways people say no. How can we convince these people, these stakeholders that it’s very good for them to work with us. Especially, since we are a non-profit organization and we’re not offering commercial rent. There’s in some of these building that we want to use, there’s a commercial rent – we can’t make that. And when we started to express to people running these buildings, for example The Czech Museum of Music, we started to get the support from the City of Prague that this was a useful event for bringing people in to the city etc. and culturally this was interesting. So then we went to these palaces and place that were still either run by the city, by the Archive, for example, of Prague and telling them the reason why we do this event, what people get form it etc. and we were really quite surprised. And we were open about that and we said: The city is supporting us, they’ve given us the stamp of approval and we would like to use your building for this and this purpose. Very often, they were open. And so we’re paying rents for our evenings but we’re paying symbolic rents or decreased rents. People were willing to work in part with us. I think that perhaps had the team only been Czech, at that point when we started, they might have stopped that process and said: “Oh, that’s not gonna be possible.” Had it only been myself and the other foreigners who are on the team, we might not have… we certainly wouldn’t have had the skills or the knowledge behind to know how to approach these people, how to negotiate, what the cultural context is behind. So we were successful in this when we put those two elements together.
Bydlím tu už patnáct let a jsem tu zjevně proto, že se mi tu líbí. Zjistila jsem, že mě to k Praze přitahovalo, protože tu byl ten druh energie, ze kterého jsem měla pocit, že to, co člověk chce, je hned za rohem a když za ten roh zajdete, to, co chcete, je hned za tím dalším. Takže jsem měla pocit, že mě to místo motivuje. V tu dobu také do České republiky proudilo spoustu cizinců, a protože všechno bylo nové, trh byl nový v každém směru, lidé si prostě mohli vybrat, co chtějí, a vyzkoušet to. Lidi se dávali k filmu, zakládali firmy atd. Místní lidé na mě působili velmi opatrně. Bylo tu méně ochoty pustit se do něčeho, možná zariskovat v projektech nebo obchodech, které se nabízely. Samozřejmě, v průběhu času se to začalo měnit. Všimla jsem si toho, protože jsem v USA také učila na univerzitě. Když jsem sem přijela poprvé, zjistila jsem, že, protože jsme v USA školeni v rétorice a vytváření názorů, každý je schopen vyjádřit svůj názor a dokonce i myšlenku a „to je to, co bych já udělal, kdybych pracoval na tomto plánu“. Ale ne vždy mají potřebné znalosti podložené výzkumem. Zde jsem se setkala s tím, že jsem byla v jedné místnosti, dokonce i na univerzitě, s lidmi, kteří měli spoustu znalostí, opravdu veškeré stavební kameny k tomu, aby se mohli rozhodovat, ale byli méně ochotní vytvořit si názor nebo si za ním stát a říct: „To je to, co a proč to chceme dělat, a toto jsou kroky, kterými to chceme dát najevo.“ Setkala jsem se s tím, když jsme hledali v Praze prostory pro náš festival a já říkala: „Tento palác, tam se chci dostat, budeme na tom pracovat a někdy se tam musíme dostat.“ A můj tým na to říkal: „V žádném případě, to nejde, je to těžké, je to státní budova, nebudou vůči tomu vstřícní.“ V tom mezi námi vznikalo napětí, ale myslí, že to bylo velice pozitivní napětí. Bylo to napětí mezi – mějme jasnou vizi, půjde to, chceme tam být, je to náš cíl. Kroky jak toho dosáhnout, podívejme se na to, tohle jsou stavební kameny. Proti tomu stálo – to se obvykle neděje, pro takové akce se to neotvírá – můžeme si tu projít všechny způsoby, jakými lidé říkají ne. Jak se dají přesvědčit tito lidé, tito klíčový lidé, že je pro ně dobře, aby s námi spolupracovali. Zejména, protože jsme nezisková organizace a nemůžeme nabídnout komerční nájemné. V některých budovách, které používáme, existuje komerční pronájem, ale to mi nemůžeme zvládnout. A když jsme začali oslovovat lidi, kteří tyto budovy provozují, například České muzeum hudby, začalo se nám dostávat podpory ze strany magistrátu, protože to byla prospěšná akce, která do města přiváděla lidi atd. A kulturně zajímavá. A tak jsme se dostali do těchto paláců a míst, která provozovalo město Praha nebo například Archiv hlavního města a vysvětlovali jsme jim důvody pořádání takové akce, co to lidem přináší apod. a byli jsme velmi překvapeni. A otevřeně jsme jim říkali: „Město nás podporuje, dostali jsme oficiální souhlas a rádi bychom využili vaši budovu za takovým a takovým účelem. Velmi často byli otevření. Takže za své večery platíme nájemné, ale jen symbolické nebo snížené. Lidé s námi byli částečně ochotní spolupracovat. Domnívám se, že kdyby náš tým býval byl složený jen z Čechů, v tomto počátečním bodě by celý ten proces asi byl skončil a oni by řekli: „To nepůjde.“ Kdybychom v týmu byli ale jen já s ostatními cizinci, možná bychom… určitě bychom neměli dovednosti a znalosti, jak k těmto lidem přistupovat, jak vyjednávat, jaký je za tím vším kulturní podtext. Takže to se nám podařilo, když jsme tyto dva elementy sloučili.
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EXERCISE 1 Discuss and share your answers to the following questions: 1. When you hear the word ‘foreigner’, what do you associate with it? Identify what kinds of attitudes people express about foreigners. Which ones do you agree with and which ones do you disagree with? 2. Are some nationalities more accepted than others here? What are your attitudes about Americans? Discuss why. 3. Do you believe the Czechs have any special national features? What are they? 4. What do you think foreigners abroad know about Czech Republic? Make a list. What would you like other countries and people to know about Czechs?
EXERCISE 2 Are these statements TRUE or FALSE? 1. When the speaker arrived in the Czech Republic, there were not many foreigners around. 2. Shortly after her arrival, she got the impression that the people here do not have enough knowledge to form their opinions. 3. According to the speaker, the main difference between Czechs and Americans when she arrived 15 years ago is that American were trained in rhetoric and expressing an idea and Czechs were not at the time. 4. The main problem she was facing inside her team was that the Czech part of it kept saying that something isn’t possible to achieve. 5. She never pays any rent for using the buildings where the festival is held. 6. She never got the official approval of her activities from the City of Prague authorities. 7. When the speaker was dealing with the people in charge of the buildings where the festival took place, they were mostly open to her ideas. 8. The speaker was successful bringing together new ideas with existing resources because of how they saw the benefit of tourism connected with the festivals Tango Alchemy organized.
EXERCISE 3 Listen and fill in the missing text. 1. I found that I was
to Prague because there was some…for me there was an
2. What I found from the local side was a lot of take a
. A little bit less
here that felt… to take a leap, maybe
on projects that were being proposed…
3. I was in a room, even in the university, of people who had a lot of for what they needed to make a 4. And so we had a little bit of 5. How can we
… there. But I think it was a very good tension.
these people, these
Especially, since we are a
that it’s very good for them to work with us. and we’re not offering
6. The city is supporting us, they’ve given us the for this and this
, really, all of the
.
. and we would like to use your building
EXERCISE 4 Match the following English expressions with their Czech equivalent. 1. Stamp of approval
A) Napětí
2. Convince
B) Stavební kameny
3. Tension
C) Zariskovat
4. Draw
D) Komerční nájem
5. Caution
E) Přesvědčit
6. Willingness
F) Neziskový
7. Take a leap
G) Opatrnost
8. Building blocks
H) Klíčový činitel
9. Stakeholder
I)
10. Non-profit
J) Přitahovat
11. Commercial rent
K) Oficiální souhlas
Ochota
PHRASE BOOK Use the vocabulary list to develop questions you could ask the speaker in a mock interview. With a partner, take turns being the speaker and being a resistant city official who is suspicious of her intentions and motivations.. Role play asking and answering your questions. BUILDING BLOCKS
Colloquial expression that expresses the components or foundation necessary for achieving one’s intention, mission or purpose.
ENERGY
The term is used escoterically to describe biofield emissions of the life force with may or not be scientifically measured. Sometimes referred to as qi, kundalini, or prana in other systems.
NON-PROFIT
An American term that is the equivalent of the Czech NGO (non-governmental organization).
STAMP OF APPROVAL The term is used metaphorically, taking its expression from administrative procedures where approval of something was manually performed by using an official stamp. In this sense, it does not need to be a literal stamp. It can be by sponsorship, proclamation, or even email.
EXERCISE 5 GROUP DISCUSSION 1. DISCUSS: Have you ever stayed in a foreign country for more than a month? If so, where was it and what did you gain from it? If not, would you like to have such an experience? Where would you want to go? Discuss why you have some preferences for visiting other countries over others. What kinds of future experiences would you like to have living, working, or studying abroad? Do you agree with the statement that ‘nothing is impossible’. Do you think this is a culturally-based expression of optimism attributed only to Americans? Discuss what kinds of attitudes or stereotypes that can be found in Czech Republic have about other cultures. 2. DEBATE: The EU supports the mobility of different nationalities to other countries across the member states for work and study. Currently, there are approximately 240.000 foreigners currently living in the Czech Republic. How does the country benefit from their presence? Does it also bring about any troubles? What issues are connected with it? Discuss the policy’s benefits and its disadvantages. Prepare a debate across two groups, one arguing for supporting mobility, and the other arguing against it. 3. REFLECT: The speaker said that one of the reasons she was drawn to come and live here was that there was a special kind of energy that was motivating for her here. What does she mean by using the word ‘energy’ in this statement? How is it different from other forms of energy that you may be familiar with? How does Czech history and its myths support her statement? Do you have any similar experiences?
EXERCISE 6 GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX TEST 1. The speaker said the following sentence: “Had it only been myself and the other foreigners who were on the team, we might not have… we certainly wouldn’t have had the skills or the knowledge behind to know how to approach these people…” Had it only been myself means the same as: A) If it were only myself
B) If it had been only myself
C) If it has been only myself
2. Transform the following sentences starting with the word HAD A. B. C. D.
If it hadn’t rained, we would have gone for a walk. If he had studied harder, he might have passed the exam. If I had had the money, I would have bought it. If they had known it, they wouldn’t have come.
3. Translate the following sentences starting with the word HAD. A. B. C. D.
Kdyby mi nebyli ukradli peněženku, byl bych ti ten dluh už dávno vrátil. Kdybys tehdy nebyl líný, mohl jsi vyhrát. Kdybys nám včera nebyl pomohl, nebyli bychom to dokončili včas. Byl bych přišel dřív, kdyby nebyla taková zácpa v centru.
4. Create sentences using the following vocabulary words: Stamp of approval Convince Tension Draw Caution Willingness Take a leap Building blocks Stakeholder Non-profit Commercial rent
WHILE YOU WATCH EXERCISE 2 1. FALSE, 2. FALSE, 3. TRUE, 4. TRUE, 5. FALSE, 6. FALSE, 7. TRUE, 8. TRUE
EXERCISE 3
1.
I found that I was drawn to Prague because there was some…for me there was an energy here that felt like
2.
What I found from the local side was a lot of caution. A little bit less willingness to take a leap, maybe take a risk on projects that were being proposed…
3.
I was in a room, even in the university, of people who had a lot of knowledge, really, all of the building blocks for what they needed to make a decision…
4.
And so we had a little bit of tension there. But I think it was a very good tension.
5.
How can we convince these people, these stakeholders that it’s very good for them to work with us. Especially, since we are a non-profit organization and we’re not offering commercial rent.
6.
The city is supporting us, they’ve given us the stamp of approval and we would like to use your building for this and this purpose.
AFTER YOU WATCH EXERCISE 4 1K, 2E, 3A, 4J, 5G, 6I, 7C, 8B, 9H, 10F, 11D
AFTER YOU WATCH EXERCISE 6 1. B 2. A) Had it not rained, we would have gone for a walk. (or ‘had it been sunny’) B) Had he studied harder, he might have passed the exam. C) Had I had the money, I would have bought it. D) Had they known it, they wouldn’t have come.
3.
A) Had they not stolen my wallet, I would have paid you back a long time ago. B) Had you not been lazy, you could have won. C) Had you not helped us yesterday, we would never have finished it on time. D) I would have come earlier had it not been for the traffic jam downtown.
