Czech Exchange Trip

On the 12th of March, 2016, in the early hours of the morning, eight nervous students and two teachers boarded a flight to the Czech Republic, ready to spend two weeks in an exciting new place, getting back in touch with the friends we had made in October, and learning about a culture completely different from our own.

For the first two days of our trip, we lived with our host families, some of us living with students we had already met before, and some with students that we were meeting for the first time. In our enthusiasm, even the most mundane things about daily Czech life, such as the slate roofing that covers nearly all small buildings in the country, or the trams that thread through the cities, surprised and excited us. The manner in which our friends led their lives, too, was a novelty: everything from being comfortable walking around the city and travelling across the country completely alone to simply the way in which they go about their mornings at home was different, differences that we wouldn’t have expected given the similarities we were able to find in our personalities and theirs.

Our astonishment only increased when we moved from living in their homes to staying at their boarding school, the Open Gate Primary and Grammar School. Virtually none of us had ever lived in a boarding school environment, much less one situated in a small European town where the students ranged from being extremely culturally aware to barely knowing anything about India. Thus, we learned not only from the events we took part in, but also learned a lesson in independence as we spent a week living, for the first time, all on our own.

As for what we did: from touring nearby cities and trying local treats, to teaching nursery school kids how to dance to Bollywood music, we spent our trip learning about Czech culture as well as teaching about our own. In Prague, we visited an Easter market to try local dishes such as the trdelnik, a type of sugar-coated pastry, and learned a bit of Czech history as we stood in Wenceslas Square, where Jan Palach burnt himself in protest of the communist invasion in 1969. In Kutna Hora, one of the oldest towns in the Czech Republic, a UNESCO World Heritage site, we visited the Sedlec Ossuary, a small church decorated by bones, and tried Czech cuisine at a small café.

One of our days, perhaps the most tiring and informative of them all, was spent building a playhouse for village children. We started the project from scratch, even planning how the house would be built and taking apart wooden pallets to repurpose the wood for the house. Another day was spent with the students from Open Gate’s primary school. We visited their classes and conducted fun activities, such as teaching them to write their names in Hindi, through which we hoped to teach them about India. One of our most enjoyable experiences of the trip was getting the chance to participate in their “Morning Oasis” activity, where they started their day by reading and singing. To our surprise, the song they sang was a Czech version of our own Hum Honge Kamyaab! Later that day, we were able to introduce the students of Open Gate to some Indian cuisine, and cooked a number of dishes from different parts of India, while our Czech friends cooked us some of their own favourite Czech foods.

We were lucky enough to get the chance to participate in a special event at their school, Tolerance Day. The aim of the event was to improve the students' cultural awareness by having speakers representing major world religions come in and teach the students a little bit about their respective religion. Bhuvam Patel and I were asked to be the representatives for Hinduism, while Ms. Kavita represented Christianity. As the presenter for Hinduism, while giving my presentation, I found that I was able to learn more about the way in which India and Hinduism is viewed abroad, and from the discussions we conducted after our presentation, I found that I could gain an insight into the Czech mentality.

All in all, the Indo-Czech exchange trip was one of the most enjoyable and educational experiences I have had. Not only did I get to experience a new culture and lifestyle, but I also got to learn more about myself and my own culture by contrast. It will always be a highlight of my life in the IB, and I hope that the memories and friends I made will stay with me forever.