An interview with my mum from USA .
by Adina Tonder , class V1 . A
How did you get to the Czech Republic ?
When communism collapsed in Czechoslovakia in 1989 , I was studying international relations in Washington , DC . Shortly after the Velvet Revolution , Vaclav Havel and a handful of student leaders came to DC and stopped at our school . I was there . An American student asked Havel and the students what we , as students , could do to help them . The answer … “ Come teach us English ”. So I did . That ’ s how I came to live in this country in 1992 .
How do you like it here ? Sometimes I like it more . Sometimes less . That ’ s how it is when you come to care about a place .
How long have you lived here ?
I taught English here at Gymnázium from 1992 to 1994 . Then I lived in DC for five years . And I moved back to Děčín in 1999 and have been living here ever since . If you do the math , that ’ s something like 20 years .
Where would you like to live more , in the USA or in the Czech Republic ?
That ’ s a tough question . Right now I ’ m happy with my life and I ’ m comfortable here . But I do feel like something ’ s missing . In the long run , I ’ d like to go back to the States . The thing is , once you ’ ve lived in another city or in another country for a while , you ’ re no longer really at home anywhere .
What were you surprised about in the Czech Republic ?
Well , my first grocery shopping effort was kind of an adventure . When I arrived in Czechoslovakia in 1992 , things were a little bit different than they are today . For one thing , every shop had at least one mean-looking lady in a white lab coat whose job was to stand around , staring down customers . And milk came in a plastic bag … and eggs in a paper sack . It ’ s the small differences in day-to-day things that most surprise you when you ’ re in a strange place .