Academic Life

               Dobry den. For my blog this week, I will be talking about my Academic Life here in Olomouc. In it, I will be talking about the university I’m attending and the classes I’m taking. I will also point out a few similarities and differences between Palacky and the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

                The university I am attending in Olomouc is called Palacky (the 'c' makes a ts sound) University. It is a university that was founded by Jesuits in the 16^th century. It is the oldest university in Moravia and the second oldest university in the Czech Republic. This university has survived the thirty years’ war, the Nazi occupation during World War 2, and the Soviet occupation during the cold war. Today, Palacky University is the largest employer in the city of Olomouc. The university has more than 20,000 students spread across its 8 faculties. These 8 faculties are the faculty of theology, faculty of medicine and dentistry, faculty of arts, faculty of science, faculty of education, faculty of physical culture, faculty of law, and the faculty of health sciences.

Courtyard in the middle of the library of Palacky University

                 So, what is it like attending this University? The first of our classes that I’ll talk about is a Czech language course. This is not a language course that is designed for me to be fluent in Czech by the time I leave. Instead, it is a class designed to help make our stay in this country more pleasant. No one likes dealing with the tourist that keeps saying the same thing a hundred times over while slowly getting louder as if it helps the locals understand more. I would know. Needless to say, Czech is a very tough language to learn, but this class has helped me out immensely. I am learning how to order food as well as words that I should know for public transportation. It has been a lot of fun ordering food and seeing the servers smile while we try to say everything correctly. It usually ends with them laughing at us but knowing what we were trying to say. I’m excited to learn enough to have a basic conversation with a local.

                  The other classes that we take all have to do with the history and culture of the Czech Republic and the rest of Central Eastern Europe. For these classes, we have a lecturer, that is specialized on a specific point in time or a specific culture, come in and give us a one-and-a-half-hour broad lecture over a subject that usually takes an entire semester to learn about. I thoroughly enjoy these lectures because we always get a different lecturer with a different specialty. While I would love to go more in depth, it’s still exciting because every one gets to teach about something they are so obviously passionate about. It is also interesting when a few classes are connected in a few ways and seeing the differences and similarities between these two classes. One of the periods in time that we learn a lot about is the second world war. These are some of my favorite classes because I have never learned about a lot of what I have been told these past few weeks. Back in the United States, it is common to learn about Hitler and the Holocaust, but here, I learn so much more about the rest of the Nazi Regime and how it affected Central Europe. Along with World War II, we are learning about medieval central Europe, the beginning and end of the state of Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union. We are in the heart of Europe, and it is crazy learning about this history in class and then walking around where it happened outside of class.

Picture of Jan and Martin talking to us our first day of class

Picture taken by Dr. Doug Biggs

                  Studying abroad is so much fun that sometimes you forget that you are actually studying. This experience is just so different from what I am used to at Kearney. In Kearney, you have the same class schedule with the same professors every week. The exams, papers, and projects all seem to happen around the same time each semester as well. For me, this is both a positive and a negative. While over here it is nice to do something different every day, I do miss the structured life of a student in Kearney sometimes. Another thing I miss about Kearney is that everything is on campus. Palacky is a university that is almost scattered across the city of Olomouc. In Kearney, it is very easy to find the library, the student union and the administration building because they are all on campus and clearly labeled. Here, you really need to know where your going or ask for directions and a description of what the outside of the building looks like. These are only some of the many differences between the two universities. However, class life is pretty much the same. Lectures, homework, exams are still a part of the classes here at Palacky. Another similarity is that this university has dorms, athletics, student organizations and all of the other typical university accommodations.

Picture of us before our first day of class
Picture taken by Dr. Doug Biggs

So let’s wrap this up. Palacky is a very historic university in a very historic region and it is a lot of fun learning about history here. Yeah. History! Also, Czech language is hard but it really does help and it feels great when I say something right. I just have to hope that everyone is laughing with me and not at me. I’m still loving it here and it looks like it’s just going to get better. Děkuji (thank you)! Na Shledanou!