Students for Liberty and Brno: Interview with Jan Škapa

Jan Škapa

My first encounter with Students for Liberty in Brno was sort of random. I was sitting at a local café with my friend and as the night was getting closer I noticed a bunch of people coming in and setting up a meeting in the underground premises of the café.

One of those people was my friend Dave Stancel and I knew that he was a part of some organization focusing on political ideas and liberty. Since I was always interested in those topics I decided to stay and see what all the fuss is about. It turned out to be a lovely night full of both information and discussion. I believe the topic that night was: „Why Scottish Independence Failed?“.

Where is my bread?

„Why are you going to Czechoslovakia on Erasmus?“ Firstly, there are two countries: the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Secondly, why not? When I said I have chosen the Czech Republic as my first option for one year abroad, most of the people stared at me. Others told me that beer is so cheap there: „You are going to have great parties!“ Let me remark that this experience is not only about going to pubs and clubs.

„Tram is arriving exactly at 09.37? That is impossible,“ I said to myself. After two weeks I understood the public transport really works in Brno. Trams, buses and trolleybuses (which were strange buses with antennas for me at the beginning) arrive always on time. Besides that, they arrive each five or ten minutes and night buses drive even during the week. In short, the public transport is effective here. I was used to wait for delayed buses and before coming to Czech Republic I have never taken a tram or trolleybus. And it is still funny when I see locals running to catch transport. Come on, you have another one coming in few minutes!

A (sort of) Guide to the Exam Period

I know it is a clumsy guide – if it is a guide at all

But it helps me pass exams – and have fun, overall.

Living through a semester at university is like running a marathon with an uphill run at the end. You already see the finishing line, but the toughest part is yet ahead - the scary time called exam period. You need to jump through tests, overcome procrastination, study at steady pace and suddenly speed up the night before the exam. Not an easy task to manage! 

So what to do and how to do it during the exams time?

Quality time with Czech family

Being homesick always happens to students coming abroad to pursue their studies. Truthfully, I sometimes felt lonely during the first few months whilst I was thousand miles away from home and was not able to celebrate any special occasions with my family. However, it was a great experience and marvelous time to meet international students coming from various countries, and especially local students who are from other towns but study in Brno.

Undoubtedly, it was a real culture shock to find myself in Brno after arrival at a new place in Europe for the first time. I have encountered the language barrier since most people (apart from university students) used local language. Furthermore, some old people seemed to be cold, and the way they looked at me was weird, as if I was an alien...

Nevertheless, my perception dramatically changed after a warmly welcome from my Czech friends’ family. Firstly, there was a festival in my Czech friend’s village, he therefore invited some friends to join and stay in his house. I felt it was kind of my home since his parents were really nice and they served meals as if we were the members of the family too.

Krojové Hody Festival

A very warm family and beloved international friends

Last but not least, my tutor invited me to her house a few days before Easter. I felt astonished while her whole family was definitely curious about seeing me - a girl from an Asian country. It touched my heart when her grandmother welcomed me to her house, and she prepared typical Czech cakes for me and asked me to come and visit her again. Isn’t it sufficient to assert that not all the Czechs are cold??!!

With a nice grandmother who made typical Czech cakes

Lastly, I do believe that not all humans are the same. We should not stereotype people the first time we meet. We will not be aware of meeting real Czechs unless we have a chance to stay in the Czech Republic for quite long and spend time getting deeply involved with those local people. Moreover, I have learned many things after living in such a great place for over one year. Frankly, I am satisfied that Brno is my second home whilst international friends are my family. Hence, let’s enjoy the best moment we have with people around…J We will never know what will happen tomorrow…!!

Reaksmey Bunry, Faculty of Education

Cultural Pollution of Brno

My evangelical stance on the awesomeness of this city continues strongly. After some more months in this place, I have some new findings and old re-findings. That Brno is a great place to live is usually recognized by the international community. Unfortunately, this fact is still only scarcely recognized by the Czech people I meet randomly.

On a more positive note, this works as a nice filter, if you meet someone who likes it here, you know you have found a good one. A couple of weeks ago Uvoz was announced the most polluted street in Central Europe by a Danish research institute, of which everyone seemed to be informing everyone. This information would be imparted accompanied with a strange satisfaction, as if internationally recognized environmental issues finally proved people right – “I told you this place is a shithole.” The question “Why did you choose Brno?” accompanied by an expression of disbelieve and amazement, still continues to haunt me wherever I go. And a friend of mine, who to be fair entertains himself with a very peculiar form of sarcasm (probably the form of humor that is most prone to misunderstanding in international settings), managed to deeply insult some people by joking around that the reason marijuana is decriminalized in this country is to make the entire situation more bearable. All in all, I concluded another upper cannot hurt the situation.

The proliferation of cultural events in this city is unbelievable and conflicting with keeping up with weekly readings. At any point in time there seems to be at least one festival going on, mostly of a non-commercial, art-loving, critical kind. Apart from these events, in general opportunities to consume culture abound. The city is heaven for film lovers, Art Kino, Scala, the film club in Café Paradigma just to name some. Live music has become more difficult to avoid than to find at this point. For theater non-natives are horribly deprived, which is the case in most countries. If you count eating and drinking as cultural events, I would not know where to begin or when to stop. And on top of that, the above is work-in-progress and just what someone can make of this place in half a year.

Lastly, I would like to say something about the importance of consuming culture in the wild (i.e. outside your bedroom). Enjoyment needs concentration and attention, and the atmosphere of the average café or theater somehow seems to support this. Any kind of attention span is more strongly felt, when someone else next to you holds their breath too. The place I used to call home is a cultural desert compared to Brno, especially for students who have become so culturally deprived they don't even notice it anymore. It is never good to compare, but it cannot hurt either, especially if you have just found out you are living on the most polluted street in central Europe.

Author: Roos Derks, Faculty of Social Studies

This article originally appeared in HALAS, the magazine of students of the Faculty of Social Studies. The original version is available at http://casopishalas.cz/clanek/zobrazit/1782