Prague Journal

Monday, October 18, 2004

I had signed both Rick and me up for Czech languages classes, which were scheduled to begin this evening. Rick received an e-mail confirming his place in the beginner’s class; I received an e-mail informing me that the intermediate class had been cancelled due to under-enrollment. I know that the beginning class will be too basic for what I need, so I need to either be more disciplined in practicing Czech myself, or find an alternative class.
I had an appointment this morning to visit Radek Kacin, the young assistant professor in the Informatics department at VŠE whom I had met during the Fulbright orientation last month. Radek will be in the US next semester (January through June) at George Mason University as a Czech Fulbright Scholar. He teaches information technology at VŠE, law and economics at the College of Public Administration and International Relations, a new private college that he helped found, and has done some company consulting regarding information-systems interface, which is really change management. So, perhaps he will be another case-study collaborator!
When I mentioned to Radek that the Czech language class that I had signed up for had been cancelled, he immediately looked up the schedule for classes held at VŠE for their foreign exchange students. There are several classes, all of which meet twice a week, although they are all taught at the south campus, which is a bus-ride from the Chodov metro station nearly an hour from the city center. So, my plan for tomorrow is to check out one of the classes and see how it suits my needs and skill level.
Rick and I arrived at the classroom building for his language class after the office had closed, but I decided to sit in on the beginning class with him. Although I can certainly use the pronunciation and vocabulary practice, the class would be a review of basic Czech phrases and grammar, most of which I know.
After the class we went to the Chinese “Happiness” restaurant near the Hradčanská metro station and had a tasty meal, although not quite a good as the stir-fry curry that Jitka had made for us on Sunday afternoon.

posted by JWinn @ 10:45 PM