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.