I miss Prague. I miss the city. I miss the night rides in trams, where
you're trying not to fall asleep or someone would immediately steal your
iPhone. I miss that you can smoke everywhere and get a beer for 30 crowns/1
pound. I miss the omnipresent homeless people asking me for change while
waiting for the metro. I miss the confusing bureaucracy of Charles University. I
miss spending half the day waiting at the student’s department to get a small
piece of paper in 5 seconds. I miss SIS, the most annoying thing in the world.
But I love it here.
Sheffield Hallam University, where I'm trying to somehow get my masters
in Cultural Policy and Management, is the 3rd biggest university in the UK.
After (not particularly successfully) studying English and American Studies for
a year, I thought no essay assignment could surprise me. I was wrong. English
Skills in Cultural Communication (oh dear, how I loved the course) was nothing
compared to this. The basic idea is; no tests, no learning by heart, you're
academically mature enough to find out the useful information yourself and we
challenge you to deal with them properly. Luckily for us, our university
library is a high-tech sanctuary open 24/7 (compared to the Jan Palach Library
quite impressive). The first month here I felt like Alice in Wonderland. Czech
universities can only dream about the facilities we have here. Not only the
library is awesome, we also have a lovely gym, employment or accommodation
centre and tons of other (for an Eastern-European student with rose-tinted
glasses on) fascinating things. I am rather not talking about the students
residences which look like the most luxurious apartments in Prague. I am
definitely not going to talk about the local student information system, which
compared to SIS is a sci-fi miracle. A miracle. On the other hand the food in
canteens tastes basically the same, which is a shame.
People keep asking me about culture shock. Guys, this is not Japan! The
only unusual things are; driving on the wrong side of the road and using wrong
type of plugs, also the obvious habit of drinking only black tea with milk.
Most of us have been to England, so I don't even need to mention these (rather
stereotypical) things. What strikes me more is English political correctness
which does however disappear with a few pints of ale/stout/lager (do not call
it beer, please) and the "health and safety" obsession, which
sometimes grows really bizarre.
Overall I love England, and I love my university. You need to pay a
tuition fee here, but it reflects on the fact how well the system works
(although it is not flawless of course). I don't want to give out wisdom here,
but Czech teachers could learn from the British ones in terms of attitude
towards their work and the students. British cuisine could, however, learn from
the Czechs by avoiding Yorkshire pudding in any form.
- Eliška Černá
