For the past 17 years, Glen Rock has been hosting a foreign exchange program to the Czech Republic for a week. Students who attend are provided a host in the form of a senior student that lives in Kutna Hora, a city in the Czech Republic. After exploring everything that the country has to offer, students switch roles and Glen Rock students host Czech students! This is the opportunity of a lifetime that I just recently got to take part in, and my expectations were not only met, but they were exceeded.
The city of Kutna Hora is a wonderful dive into ancient architecture. The streets, buildings, and traditions are all hundreds of years old and preserved with public diligence and enforced consideration.
Only a hundred feet from my bedroom window was a church made around 650 years ago, next to a bell tower created just 50 some odd years after. Go farther into the suburbs of Kutna Hora and you can visit the Sedlec Ossuary, also known as the Bone Church. This ghastly sight incorporates real skulls and bones to detail the walls, create chandeliers, and form elaborate patterns across everything. Walking around in these monstrous buildings can make one forget just how tiny the country is, which is comparable in size to South Carolina. I got the history lesson of a lifetime packed into one week.
In Prague, the churches only become more abundant and more elaborate. The Prague astronomical clock is a sight to behold, so much so that when its creator Mikuláš of Kadaň finished its creation, he was blinded so he could never recreate it. Other historical facts like this were quickly explained to us, showing just how knowledgeable our hosts were with their home.
The most important aspect of the trip was the cultural immersion, considering it changed my outlook on my conscious and unconscious behaviors. Czech students tend to be a lot quieter than Americans, as well as a lot more reserved. They are more hesitant to participate in formalities with strangers, they are very strong on manners and values, and they love respect. It was fascinating to see these traits in almost everyone we came across.
Their meals, habits, school system, and home life was very different from our own. Their highschool was large and elaborate, with their class schedule changing drastically day by day. After school, they spent a lot of freetime walking around with friends, which is a pastime I got to enjoy for the first time in a while.
This trip was a wonderful opportunity to dive into a life so different from my own. We got to try all different foods, bone broth, duck, dumplings, and pork knuckle. We got to try some of their usual recreational games, go-karting and getting coffee. At home, I got treated incredibly well and was fed more authentic Czech cuisine. I had one of the busiest weeks of my life and was left with many crucial takeaways from this trip.I regard it as one of the best decisions of my life and I implore all future students with the same opportunity to take it!
