The Czech Connection

The Open Gate school opened its gate and heart to welcome students and teachers of DAIS in the summer of 2012. Summer was it in city of Prague, in the warm hospitality of the Czech teachers and students and it gilded our days and smiles as we spent a glorious week in Babice (pronounced Babitsa), a small village around 40 minutes away from Prague where Open Gate boarding school is located. Every day that we spent with our Czech friends strengthened the connection and we all brought back the glitter of Czech warmth with us…

 

 

Day 1

 

At Open Gate School, a specially prepared traditionally Czech vegetarian lunch was waiting for us at their cafeteria. During lunch, a question frequently asked by members of our group was ‘Do you normally start with desserts?’ This was because we were served 4 or 5 dumplings filled with jam and seasoned with chocolate powder. We came to know that this was actually a main course which is often had alongside meat. A rather interesting combination. Although they were delicious, we couldn’t have more than two or three, as they were really sweet, and quite filling. Furthermore, we watched with amazement as young Czech students helped themselves to 8 or 9 of these dumplings.

 

Our original plan for the day was to cycle through the forest to a lake, and then, swim there. However, as some in our group didn’t know how to cycle, the idea was abandoned and we settled for a serene walk through the woods next to the school, conversing with the Czech teachers who accompanied us and learning a bit more about day to day life in Czech Republic.

 

Emerged out of the woods into a small town, we headed to a quaint local open-air eatery to unwind and enjoy the cool weather.

 

We had finally arrived into this unfamiliar part of Europe! A lot was awaiting us, much like the unfolded pages of an exciting novel. We had a perfect opener, well...almost perfect, and now, it was time for us to sleep and adjust our body clocks before venturing out to Prague the next day.

 

Day 2 Sunday

 

Day trip to Prague & shopping at the old town square

 

 

Even though we had an action packed arrival into the Czech Republic, we were yet to discover its capital, Prague, or more commonly known as ‘Praha’ by the locals. And that was why we ventured into this city, prepared for the best, but rather unprepared for the worst. We carried everything, cameras, food, walking shoes... But since we were told to expect a heat wave, we didn’t bother with the warm attire and therefore, we were obliged to endure biting cold winds and intermittent rain throughout our highly speculated ‘walking tour’. But although one might have thought that the rain would dampen our spirits, it didn’t. We were quite blown away, not by the wind, but by the beauty and historical significance of Prague castle, our first destination. We learned that the president of Czech Republic resided in one of the buildings in the castle complex. Furthermore, thanks to our highly knowledgeable guide, we had the opportunity to learn some very interesting historical facts about this castle, some being as bizarre as men being thrown out of the castle windows surviving the fall due to being cushioned by a heap of garbage. Although we were familiar about recent European history as well as the Cold war and the World Wars; looking at real government buildings very similar to those in our history textbooks gave us a very strange feeling - A kind of nostalgia of going back into a past you were never a part of. We next entered the St. Vitus Cathedral next to the castle, which we learned took several years to be completed. It must have been several years of hard work because this was a cathedral I daresay could be compared to those in the Vatican. With magnificently painted windows and pillars stretching to infinity, this cathedral stood there as a work of art.

 

Charles bridge was a different experience altogether. Packed with people, this bridge offered more than one could absorb in a single visit. With a striking view of Prague on the banks of the Vltava River, and a richness of cultural output due to the music and the artists on the bridge, this is definitely an experience not to be missed!

 

 

We understood why Hitler had ordered his troops not to bomb Prague when we visited the old town square. Indeed, with buildings of traditional architecture, surrounding a magnificent church which we learned was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s castle, the old town square of Prague possessed beauty which could even melt the heart of a brute. Thanks again to Hitler’s unfitting thoughtfulness, this town square was one of the very few in Europe which had not been bombed during the world wars, something very rare for European capitals, we were told. While we were there, we exchanged some Euros for Kroners and set out shopping and also tried some of the Czech street food. As our day out was approaching its end, the rain didn’t seem to want to do so. We were soaking, not just with cold rain, but also with an experience so culturally rich I am sure will be very hard to dry off.

 

 

Day 3 Monday

 

On Monday, the first day of attending classes, we learnt various aspects of IB subjects with a new perspective. All of us spent an hour in English class having a fascinating discussion about stereotypes and cultures around the world. The main aim of this exchange was for the students to experience each other’s cultures and take with them different ideas and values. This was perceived during class hours when students from both countries got to interact with each other in a more formal environment. It opened up new discussions about the distinctions and similarities between our cultures. The effort made by the teachers and students to incorporate our ideas and opinions in their classes really shows the hospitality and warmth of the people.

 

 

We got an opportunity to have an interview with some of the students, which gave us a forum to get to know each other’s personalities, families, future goals and hobbies. It amazed us to know that each of us had so much in common even though we were from different parts of the world. Music, for example, is a universal language that we all spoke!

 

In the evening we prepared for the Food Festival, which was to be held the next day. We made the marinade for the chicken tandoori ourselves. The process was a lot of fun and we learnt about working together in a team, group cooperation, dividing tasks between ourselves, and getting all our cooking done in time. We also learnt how to clean up after an impromptu food fight!

 

Afterwards, we visited the students’ café, a small place where the Open Gate students themselves served coffee, soft drinks, and some food. One thing each of us noticed was that the entire place was a student initiative. Artwork covered the walls and students enjoying themselves at the end of the day surrounded us; the place had a great atmosphere.

 

Day 4 Tuesday

 

Local Retirement home, Clearing the Forest, Intercultural Cooking Festival

 

Divided into 2 groups for the day, we had to decide whether to visit the old-age home or help the students of Open Gate in clearing up the forest

 

 

There is only one word to describe our visit to the old-age home: humbling. As soon as we entered the gate, two grannies with warm, smiling faces welcomed us in; and the smiles just kept pouring in after. We were all very apprehensive about whether they would ask us questions or not but they really opened up to us. We were worried that the language barrier would be a problem, as they did not speak English. However, thanks to three students from Open Gate who were our translators (one of which goes to the old age home every week to read to the elderly) things went smoothly and better than expected. Questions about our daily lives, culture (in terms of art, languages and food), our grandparents and our experiences here; they really guided us well and hopefully we were able to give them a vivid picture of our country and its beauty. They made sure to tell us that they were here by choice to make their children more independent and were not forced to come and live in an old age home; that definitely touched our hearts and made us reflect on our own culture where the situation is different.

It was apparent that the caretakers and the director of the old-age home work really hard to make life comfortable for the people living there. On the car-ride back, we looked back at moments like these in our lives that come so very rarely and really make us more sensitive towards other people and their culture.

 

Day 4 Wednesday

 

The second group that went to clean the forest instead of visiting the old age home assumed it would just be a walk in the woods, as we did not expect to find any garbage in a place as beautiful as this one. Divided into groups consisting of both Open Gate & DAIS students, and armed with protective gloves and a huge black garbage bag, we started the walk. We were quite surprised to find the little pieces of plastic and other garbage strewn along our way. The students at Open Gate clean the forest every month, and they are very enthusiastic about the initiative. It made us realize that such an initiative could be taken in our city Mumbai, and be very useful if we were equally passionate and conscious about our surroundings as the people of this beautiful country are!

 

 

When we returned from the day’s work at the old age home/clearing of the forest, we immediately began preparing Indian food. We believe this was extremely important in terms of a cultural exchange because the differences between the food we have in Prague and in India are vast. We prepared tandoori chicken, paneer, and sevpuri. Tandoori chicken and paneer represented the spicy and tangy tastes of Indian food, while sevpuri was a delicious representative of the food culture unique to Bombay. None of us has spent much time cooking before, and certainly not on such an extensive scale – we were cooking for a hundred people. We started from scratch, preparing the marinade ourselves and arguing over measurements. Adding to the chaos was the fact that we shared the kitchen with the Czech students who were also preparing their traditional dishes for the event. Both sets of students were definitely worried about the outcome of the evening – but our hard work most definitely paid off in the end. Working together and cooperating to finish each task was difficult – but we were rewarded in the end as we watched everybody enjoy the fruits of our labour.

 

visit to Kanopishte and spooky Prague by night

 

 

It was yet another grey morning as we set off on our trail through the local forests. We were about to embark on a tumultuous 7 km walk to the Ricany railway station through the almost enchanted woods, which surrounded the Open Gate campus on all directions. Huffing and puffing, and well… admiring the beauty of our surroundings we finally arrived at the local railway station. We were about to visit the Kanopishte, a 13th century chateau, which is more famously known as the last home of the Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand II. After a rather serene train journey, which traversed through the verdant Czech countryside, a rather unfriendly shower greeted us as we walked up to the chateau. The castle was adorned with magnificent relics of a bygone era of nobility and grandeur, decorated with the corpses of none other than 12 Indo-Nepal tigers, cheetahs and bears among other prized collections of the great Franz Ferdinand and his family. Of particular interest was the quaint chapel within the castle, which as our queer guide claimed… is still used for weddings and baptisms. After what seemed like a fascinating time travel session, we were pleasantly surprised to have discovered that we would indeed be taking the bus back to the Open Gate campuses and would hence forgo the rather arduous trek. After a brief reprieve within the campus, we set off once again for a rather incredulous, bizarre yet intriguing tour of some of the spookiest sites within Prague. Claimed to be one of the most haunted cities in Mainland Europe, Prague provided us with numerous undiscovered and unheard myths, which have perpetuated into commercialized ‘spooky tours’. And yet, it promised to be a most intriguing introspection of the drains, labyrinths and alleys of Old Town Square. Despite the ludicrous claims of our amicable tour guide, we were unable to spot any exuberant spirits of the great Mozart nor any other signs of high level paranormal frequencies in the forms of suspended orbs or otherwise. But roaming the streets of Prague at night with our classmates under the watchful eyes of our teachers was certainly more than we could have hoped for!

 

Day 5 Thursday

 

Day trip to the Coal mines, Kutna Hora, Swan Lake

 

 

Our exchange programme would be incomplete without a cultural display of what Czech Republic has to offer. Hence, going to the ballet was the perfect way of experiencing Czech culture and seeing a classical dance form that is very different from the ones in our culture. Prior knowledge of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake composed in 1875–1876, definitely enhanced our entire experience of the ballet; however, the execution of the simple concept is what blew us away. The use of subtle colour imagery and symbolism guided the storyline and the characters of the dancers. The well known melody of Swan Lake was danced to with perfection by the leading ballerina, and the two main danseurs embraced their characters which made this experience magical for us. The smooth and soft movement and the complete embodiment of their characters is what made this performance seem effortless. The performance swayed from an atmosphere of hysteric laughter, to romance, to dark foreshadowing because of their beautiful storytelling through dance. After an intense discussion with our teachers, we realized the beauty of literary pieces and the myriad layers of symbolism hidden within them. As students of English, we were amazed to find that there are many classical literary works that can be revived and given a new perspective and told in different ways.

 

Day 6 Friday

 

Oaza session at the primary school and the Blue Van festival

 

Our day began with a visit to the Open Gate primary school. We were warmly welcomed by the headmaster, Mr. Luke. Our first visit was to the 4th grade class, where we attended their Oaza session, which involved a song in Czech, followed by an Indian folk tale story and ended with the same song in English. Once we were done with the song, we interacted with the children, where we spoke to them about Indian food, clothing and entertainment and answered all their questions about our country. It was extremely heartwarming to see their interest in our culture and background. We also learnt a great deal about the children of the primary school, as their questions revealed their curiosity to learn about a new country.

 

 

This visit to the 4th grade was followed by a short visit to all the Primary classes where we briefly introduced ourselves, our country and our cultural background. As we were dressed in Indian clothes, we could actually demonstrate to the students what Indian costume looks like! We also answered their questions, which ranged from which city we come from to what typical Indian food was like. Although we spent a limited amount of time with the children, it opened our eyes and made us aware of the wonderful learning environment that shaped the minds of the children. On the whole, their interest in Indian culture as well as us made us feel extremely welcome and comfortable and taught us about not only the students but also their amazing learning atmosphere.

 

The rest of our day was spent at the Blue Van festival held at the school. Preparing for this festival involved choreographing a dance as well as learning it, and hence, we learnt the lessons of team work and team spirit while having a lot of fun on the way. Sanjana, Urja & Sautrik performed to a Bollywood dance number and even had the audience join them on stage. Nishuti also regaled the audience with a song, which was met by a huge applause. It was an apt conclusion to our time spent with them in school as we ended with an experience of the school’s annual day cum typical Czech fair, and got to witness the talent of the Open Gate students of all ages, right from the primary to senior school!

 

Day 7 Saturday

 

 

This was an extremely important day as we met our host families, who warmly welcomed us into their homes. We learnt a great deal about lifestyle and family values in the Czech Republic, which played a big role in our understanding of Czech culture. Also, we spent an entire day with our host students, and saw Prague through their eyes as they took us around the city themselves. It was a great conclusion to our holiday as our hosts and their families acted as tour guides so that we could see as much of Prague as possible during that last day. Although touring Prague while staying at Open Gate School was an insightful experience, all of us believe that spending some time inside the houses of our hosts, seeing the way they live, and being a part of their everyday life at home with their families was a chief part of the cultural exchange that took place over those ten days. In short, it was a perfect ending to an amazing trip full of learning and new experiences.