Remember to Take the
Adaptors!
Preparing for A Sabbatical in Prague
Richard Sapon-White
OLA IRRT Presentation
April 20, 2007
Oh My, I’m Going Abroad!
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Fulbright Fellowship in
Prague, Czech Republic
for 4 months
7 month sabbatical in
2005
One month prep, 6
months in Prague
Take the whole family!
Preparing to Teach
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Different cultural expectations in
education
Language barriers
Developed 2 classes from scratch
College teaching abroad: a handbook of
strategies for successful cross-cultural
exchanges by Pamela Gale George.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1995.
“Strč prst skrz krk!”
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Important to understand culture and
language – even though teaching in English
The Coasts of Bohemia – recommended
reading from Czech Fulbright Commission
Colloquial Czech
Made friends with Czech at OSU
Examples in lectures reflected Czech culture
Learning about Czech Libraries
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Searched Library Literature for articles
on Czech librarianship
Searched the web (especially IFLA’s
web site)
The more you know in advance, the
better you can communicate
Communicating with Czech
Colleagues
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Czechs are busy people
Difficult, intermittent, long silences via
email
Be persistent!
Keep asking the same questions
Keep asking the same questions in
different ways
Preparation of Course
Materials
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Asked for – and received – permission
to work on prep during last months at
work
Reserved a month of sabbatical for prep
Most prep occurred in Prague anyway!
Moving to Prague
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Useful publication from Czech Fulbright
Commission
Banks, computers, schools, phones,
shopping, housing, etc.
Electric plug adapters
Contact with former Fulbrighters
returning/returned from Prague
Purchased cell phones, printer, boom box
from returning Fulbrighters
Housing
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Czech Fulbright
Commission and
others: go through
realtors!
Looked at info on
web
Tried to elicit help
from locals
Used a realtor
Schools for the Kids
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International schools too expensive
Czech Fulbright Commission: can enroll
in public schools for free
Contacted school run by Jewish
community but receiving government
funding
Food
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Vegans with wheat sensitivity
Czech diet: sausages/hot dogs, cabbage,
dumplings, beer
Seventh Day Adventist health food store and
restaurant
Small health food stores scattered around
Prague
Larger supermarkets carry some health foods
and American products
Web to the Rescue!
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Lots of information
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Local info: housing, shopping, maps
Language and culture
Email
Banking
(Skype)
Help at Home
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Friends came forward to
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Mow the lawn
Forward mail
Keep an eye on the house
Alerted police about our absence
Phone, water, garbage pick-up on
“dormant accounts”
Other Business While Away
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Chose to not rent our home
Paid bills via the web
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Made arrangements in a month in advance
to make sure it worked!
Alerted credit card companies and bank
of time abroad
Don’t Forget to Enjoy the
Journey!
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2 guide books:
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Dorling-Kindersley guide to Prague
Guide to the Czech and Slovak Republics
Sections on money and banks,
shopping, health care, phones…
Lists
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Sept. 2004: 4 page list of things to do
Jan. 2005: 4 page list of things to do
And Finally…
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We arrived in Prague
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Without an apartment
Without a school for the kids
Without my lectures prepared
But
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We had a realtor
We knew about schools
I had syllabi for my classes
We could speak a little Czech
Famous Last Words
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Network with friends and colleagues
here and abroad
Start as soon as possible to prepare for
your trip
Enjoy the process and your time
abroad!
Dekujeme za Pozornost!
Richard Sapon-White
Catalog Librarian, Oregon State University
richard.sapon-white@oregonstate.edu