Last week I talked about the limits of my American smile. Immediately after posting I received a FaceTime call from my family and messages came sprinkling in from Roman, Alex, and other family and friends from all over. Writing last week’s blog, letting myself open up about emotions I kept bottled inside for a couple of weeks, exposing the authenticity of my experience, all of the ups and downs, solidified for me the importance of vulnerability, even from 4,000 miles away. If I am ever feeling bogged down by such a new, and, at times, overwhelming, experience, I don’t need to keep everything inside and navigate any conflicting emotions on my own. I have so many people looking out for me – and my American smile – even if I don’t see them every day. It’s all about, as I have said before, trust.
Now, moving on from last week, today I am writing from Krakow, Poland, a place I have been traveling and experiencing completely on my own – another first for me – my first solo European trip. Before leaving for Poland, I returned to Ostrava to lead my first conversation lesson at the brand-new American Corner, housed at the Ostrava Public Library, for locals in and around the area. I had no expectations for this experience but was completely blown away by how enlightened and hopeful I was when I returned to my flat. I had planned Halloween activities for my students at the gymnasium that did not ended up panning out so I decided to give them a go for this conversation club. I scavenged various Czech grocery stores for whatever American candy I could find and ultimately arrived at the American Corner with Snickers, peanut and regular M&M’s, KitKats, and Twix. Once everybody arrived and we went through introductions, I divided 7 members into two groups, one of three and one of four. Then, I instructed each member of their respective groups to taste one of the candies and try and come up with a sort of pitch for that candy, selling it in the best possible way to ensure that everybody else would want a taste. Everybody’s eyes lit up when they saw the different candies – the activity immediately set a festive and amiable mood for the remainder of the lesson.
What I planned to be only a Warm-Up activity ended up lasting for half of the lesson – each member not only presented about their candies but also interjected other presentations with questions – I just sat back and let this happen and even asked a few of my own questions. I then showed the group the famous art piece, “The Scream” and went around in a circle to each group member and had them come up with a line for a creative story. Again, I did not know what to expect when I thought of this idea but the activity took off and everybody laughed and spoke about a ridiculous story revolving around a pale man who rotted his teeth and lost his hair. I ended the 90-minute lesson with some movie clips from Halloween Town and then a short preview of the musical piece “Monster Mash.” Everybody also asked me several questions about the history of the Jack-o-Lantern, Candy Corn, Costumes, and Trick-or-Treating. And I asked them some questions about Czech traditions – all of which were based more on legends and history.
During this lesson, I met a local, older woman from Ostrava, a primary school teacher from the area, an older man who works in Brno, an exchange student from Spain and a young university graduate. I even scheduled another meeting with the primary school teacher so I can meet her younger students and share my culture with them. The time flew by with this diverse bunch of people and I look forward to next month’s lesson when I share some American Thanksgiving traditions with them.
When in Prague last weekend, I also met a local who just so happened to be a Fulbright alum. We got talking on a tram tour of Prague and ended up agreeing to visit the National Theatre in Prague together in November to watch an opera – an event that has definitely been on my bucket list since coming to Europe in August. In and outside the classroom, I love meeting and conversing with locals – it allows me to branch outside of the safe-zone of my classroom setting and learn how to interact with the community – feels like real-life learning!
As I have explained to my students at the gymnasium, the best way to learn a new language is to practice speaking all the time – and not only practice speaking, but work on training your ears to listen attentively and think in the same language. I want to learn from both my classes at the gymnasium and here during activities like this at the American Corner – while the students from both places are of vastly different ages, I am trying to accomplish the same goals with both groups – I am learning how to best communicate and teach aspects of my language and culture with people who do not hear and understand it in the same way as me. I should not only expect empathy from my students and other community members – I need to impart some myself for this collaborative classroom dynamic to develop fully.
Last point I want to hit is the importance of checking in with those close to you. Before I left for Krakow, I met with Roman at the pub, then had coffee with him in his flat in the morning – I have a running club with one other student, tutor a couple of students after school – all of these experiences tie back to the first point I made – the need to unwind at the start and end of every day and simply flesh out or recap what is about to happen or what has happened and express thoughts about an upcoming trip or trips. Or just laugh about funny and/or special memories. I also joined a yoga class at my gym on Thursday to let my mind rest and even meet some new people while doing so – while in class I realized how little time I give my body for rest and breathe. And it is definitely necessary because my mind easily moves a million miles a minute and won’t stop.
So, these are the moments that give me the energy to keep going and try new experiences – all the while holding onto that smile. Now I am in Poland by myself, hopping between different Airbnbs, navigating Polish buses, streets, and test centers – it’s mentally exhausting but also encouraging for me – if I can manage this trip on my own then I truly am starting to grow throughout this experience. Instead of going home when homesickness hit, here I am in a completely new country with no recognition of anything American or any American and Czech family or friends to experience the travel together. That said, over the past couple of months I have realized that, at times, independence is daunting and it is very easy to assume the worst or to freak out. However, giving yourself time to breathe and think, you realize that you have the people, knowledge and the personality to get you a lot further than you may think. This is definitely true for me and I am excited and interested to see where the rest of this Polish holiday takes me.
As they say here in Poland, do widzenia! Next is November – simply crazy that I am about to start my third month here! Happy Halloween and will be writing again soon!
*All pictures are of some of the major sites I have seen in Krakow.
Redefining Escape 