"Do you even go to class?"
It feels as though I have been asked this question thousands of times. Contrary to popular belief, the answer is yes; we do actually go to class. We may not have what everyone would call a "regular" schedule, but then again this is not what everyone would call a "regular" semester either. It is a semester of experience and learning both in and out of the classroom, which I personally feel is the most priceless form of knowledge. We are attending Palacky University, which is the second oldest university in the Czech Republic. Our curriculum consists of a combination of past and current issues/events in the Czech Republic and Europe, religion related lectures, the Holocaust, Czech language, and of course, blogging. On a typical day of class, we start at 3:00 P.M. with a guest speaker who lectures us on the different past or present events or issues occurring in the Czech Republic or Europe in general. We have lectures ranging from issues involving political systems and Communism, to lectures about architecture in the Czech Republic. I always look forward to these lectures because we almost always have a different lecturer, so we never really know what to expect. I will be honest and say that not every topic is my favorite, so some days these lectures can seem to drag on. When these lectures end at 4:30, we begin our Czech language class. At the beginning of the semester, this class stressed me out so badly. I found quickly that the Czech language is very, VERY different from English, and it is not very easy to grasp. Also, our teacher likes to call on us during class and make sure that everyone participates, so I am always a little anxious to be called out in class. However, as the semester has progressed I have begun to rather enjoy the language class. It also helps that our language teacher is super interactive with us, and incorporates games into our lectures. The Czech language class is only 45 minutes each day, and at 5:45 we start our last lecture for the day. This lecture is usually either done by Jan or Martin, and the topics usually revolve around religious issues in Europe. Every Thursday we watch a Czech movie, in place of Jan and Martin's lecture. Friday's are also unique days as we begin at 10:30 A.M. with Czech language, and a guest lecture to follow. Some days it is extremely difficult to sit through four straight hours of lecture, especially since I am a pretty restless person. However, I usually enjoy the different topics we get to learn about; especially relating to the Holocaust. Overall, the classwork has not been too difficult. The only class we have homework in (besides blogging) is our Czech language class. Our assignments are usually very short and simple, so it is really nice to not have to worry too much about outside classwork. We have had no tests so far, other than a practice test in our language class. We will be having a final over the lectures, and I am incredibly nervous about it. Even though I have been to every class and taken notes, I still feel that there is so much information to study and retain. Especially since our lecture topics vary so greatly. We also do so much traveling in between classes, so it is difficult to focus completely on our studies. Before coming to the Czech we were required to read three different books. We will be tested over these in some form, and that also stresses me out. I read the books nearly three months ago, so I am hoping I can remember enough of the details to do well on the final! I still have yet to get a B in my whole academic career, so I would be devastated to lose my 4.0 while studying abroad. However, as I said before, the knowledge we are gaining both in and out of the classroom is priceless. It is incredible to listen to these various lectures and then be able to actually apply them to the world around us and see the history first hand. I truly feel that this is the best and most effective way to really gain valuable knowledge, and I could not be happier with the academic side of this program.
Guest Lecture
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