AFRE meeting in Brno by The UK

AD FONTES RERUM EUROPAE Or Following the Cultural Footsteps of Middle Eastern Europe and the Cradle of

Parliamentary Democracy

Report by the UK

The UK group come from St Gregory’s Catholic College in Bath, in the South West of England, about 100 miles from London. Ours is an 11 – 16 school, our Year 9 students are going to carry on the project for the next 2 years, but this meant that they were the youngest group at the Brno conference.

This is their report on a very memorable and enjoyable week spent in the Czech Republic.

At 3.15 in the morning we gathered at Bath bus station and caught a transfer to Heathrow Airport in London.After we went through customs and border control we got on the flight at 7:30.We touched down at Prague at 10; 30am and spent 2 hours in a minibus to Brno, the Republics 2nd city with over 1 million people living there.In the late afternoon we went sight seeing in Brno, which seemed so lively and different.

The building we stayed in was a boarding house it was nice and comfortable, the 3 girls stayed in a room and the 3 boys in another.

The first morning we had to be outside the boarding house for 8am so this meant us getting up at 7am and breakfast at 7.30am.

AD FONTES RERUM EUROPAE Or Following the Cultural Footsteps of Middle Eastern Europe and the Cradle of

Parliamentary Democracy

For breakfast we had a puff pastry roll with ground almonds and dates in it, also bread and apple tea. The puff pastry wasn’t very nice.

We then had to walk with our Czech host students to their school. The building was old, it’s a small school of only 200 students, but they concentrate on the arts, it had a lovely atmosphere and a grand piano in every room.

After we had all settled we went into our groups. We had the choice of history, literature, biology, PSHE and geography. Half of us did biology and half did social studies.

In biology the boys travelled by train to south Moravia where we walked up to a ruined castle where we could see over Moravia, we could see where farmers grew grapes for wine. We also went to the reservoir and had a tour of a Brewery, and a sample of the beer!

The girls went to their classroom and we were made ‘secret spies’, to find out about life in the Czech Republic. We were given envelopes with questions in, our mission was to go around Brno city and find out the answers by asking local people.

That evening we caught a tram to the restaurant, for dinner we had soup for starter and chicken with cheese inside, the food was interesting and different to say the least. We then went back to our rooms and went to bed.

The next days the girls had to be at school for 7.30am, that meant us getting up at 6.30am!

AD FONTES RERUM EUROPAE Or Following the Cultural Footsteps of Middle Eastern Europe and the Cradle of

Parliamentary Democracy

We managed to find our own way to the school we then went up to our class and had a presentation on the history of the Czech Republic. Our group then took us to have lunch. It was so fun, we learnt about each other and where we came from.

After about an hour we made our way to the city centre to do a survey that we had prepared about Europe. It was fun but also embarrassing as lots of older people didn’t speak English but we had our Czech helpers with us.

We also visited the Romani museum of Romani culture and saw the slums that people lived in. We got to see the struggles and hardships these people faced in day to day life.

The museum runs an education programme to help the Romani children to celebrate their own heritage and to encourage them to do better at school.

In a way it was good that this part of Czech life was not hidden from us. The people at the museum thought it would take many years before the Romani people felt at home in the Czech Republic.

That evening we had dinner at a bowling restaurant, that also was a lot of fun to get to know the groups from all the countries.

The next day was an early start, we were up for 6.30am to be on the coach for 7’o’clock. That was the day we went to Prague.

AD FONTES RERUM EUROPAE Or Following the Cultural Footsteps of Middle Eastern Europe and the Cradle of

Parliamentary Democracy

The shops were so good and we spent nearly all of our money.For lunch we had a McDonalds.

After lunch we visited the Royal Theatre and had a really good tour of the whole theatre which was the second electrified theatre in Europe.

We then went on a walking tour of the beautiful city of Prague and saw the Prague Astronomical Clock and watched it come to life. It was raining as we walked through the narrow streets of the city and across King Charles’ Bridge to Prague Castle, it was amazing and so big. It was a lot like Buckingham Palace.

After looking round we then got back onto the coach and made our way back to Brno, stopping off for supper at a gas station.

The next day was our last as we were going back home to England. We only had the morning to see all our friends and say goodbye. For lunch we went to a nice little pizzeria, the pizza was lush but we had to eat it on the way to the airport as it was not ready in time for us to eat there.

We stopped off at a supermarket to buy some last little presents. Then after a short drive to the airport we were on our way home to England.

Social History

AD FONTES RERUM EUROPAE Or Following the Cultural Footsteps of Middle Eastern Europe and the Cradle of

Parliamentary Democracy

Part of the Project was to learn about the history of our host countries.

In the Social History group that the girls took part in we learnt about the history of the Czech Republic since World War 2. It was a sad history but it seems like there is a happy ending.

We looked at the experiences of an artist Peter Sis, who wrote a book called The Wall, about growing up behind the Iron Curtain.

Our group made a presentation to the school assemblies on Remembrance Day, November 11 th. It was to help people realise that in-spite of our histories people in Europe are able to live in peace with each other.

This is the script we used to tell the story of the history of the Czech Republic since World War 2.

Living in FearThe country had been taken over by the Nazis.Times were terrible. Jews were being rounded up and taken to the concentration camps.People lived in fear, near to starvation for 4 years.

Then came liberation, except it was not the British or the Americans who came to their rescue – it was the Russians.Instead of freedom the Czechs became a state within the USSR – behind the Iron Curtain.

It was the days of the Cold War.Years of control by the Communists, the East against the West.The people of Czechoslovakia were caught on the wrong side.

As tensions between the West and Russia increased, borders were closed, travel banned, even listening to the news of the rest of the world was blocked.

Communist symbols and monuments appeared everywhere.The Czech government took its orders from Moscow.

The Communists took control of schools, indoctrinating the pupils.

AD FONTES RERUM EUROPAE Or Following the Cultural Footsteps of Middle Eastern Europe and the Cradle of

Parliamentary Democracy

Children were encouraged to report on their families and fellow students.Parents learnt to keep their opinions to themselves.

Telephones are bugged, letters opened, there are shortages of almost everything, people stand in long lines.

Then bits and pieces of news from the West began to slip through the Iron Curtain…The Beatles, Elvis, the Rolling Stones – everything from the West seemed colourful and desirable.

But in Czechoslovakia long hair was the sign of Western decadence – police had orders to cut it.

In January 1968 a new Head of the Communist Czech government is elected, Alexander Dubcek. Things began to open up.It is the Prague Spring.Censorship is lifted. People get permission to travel – a first taste of freedom!

Then on 21 August 1968, 500,000 troops of the Soviet Union invade.The Czech progressive government is sent to Moscow for “re-education”.It is all over – Russian tanks are everywhere.

AD FONTES RERUM EUROPAE Or Following the Cultural Footsteps of Middle Eastern Europe and the Cradle of

Parliamentary Democracy

The Iron Curtain descends again.The Secret Police provoke riots so that the government can exercise tighter controls.Phones are bugged again, mail opened, people watched.

But banned books are secretly translated, copied and circulated.

2 students set fire to themselves in Wenceslas Square in Prague – “to wake the nation from lethargy”.But very few people dare to stand up and criticise the government.

People are followed, monitored, harassed, imprisoned, deported and tortured.But they dreamed of being free.

Then in the mid-1980’s even the Soviet Union realised the need for openness and the ideas that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall spread through Europe.

One country after another became free.

Poland 1989, Czechoslovakia 1989, Hungary 1990… Romania, East and West Germany re-unite and the Soviet Union breaks up.

It is 1991 and the Cold War is over.

Then and Now

AD FONTES RERUM EUROPAE Or Following the Cultural Footsteps of Middle Eastern Europe and the Cradle of

Parliamentary Democracy

We went to Prague ourselves the next day and walked down Wenceslas Square to the Memorial of the two students who burnt to death in protest against communism.

On either side now the city is alive and thronging with tourists.The shops are full of Western goods. There is M&S and Tesco’s, H&M and Starbucks. We ate in McDonalds, down the road is KFC and Ben & Jerry’s.

The tourists are from the UK and China, the USA and rich Russians.

It seems a whole world away from the history lesson we had from our Czech hosts.

But there are 2 things that stick in our minds.

Actually some people, the older generation, still think of Communist Rule as the Good Days – it was certainly better than being at war and under Nazi occupation.The infrastructure improved a lot; people had housing – although they mostly had to live in tower blocks of flats. The trams and trolley bus system was introduced so you could get about easily and the Health Service improved.

But this was at the cost of personal freedom and the younger generation put a greater value on that.

When we got on our plane on the Saturday it was less than a 2 hour flight home, but in those 40 years of Communist control in Czechoslovakia it was a whole world away.

AD FONTES RERUM EUROPAE Or Following the Cultural Footsteps of Middle Eastern Europe and the Cradle of

Parliamentary Democracy

Attitude to Europe surveyThe other important contribution we want to make to the Guide is our Attitude to Europe Survey. We wanted to find out what young people in particular felt about their place in Europe. We devised the survey in school before we came. There were 10 questions we asked.

The 10 questions were designed so that we could gain a spontaneous response from people in the street. Most of the people we surveyed were Czech.

Since this survey was conducted in English we quickly discovered the age range of people able to understand and speak English and to establish where they learned the language.

Most of the people willing to answer the survey were aged under 40. The largest number were in the 15-25 age range.

A significant number of respondents learned English at school.

Question 2 asked respondents to name as many European countries as they could in 2 minutes.

Most people could name 10 or more, with some being able to name many more, up to 27. We were impressed with the knowledge of Europe that people displayed.

Question 3 asked for the first thing they thought of when they hear about different countries. The countries included England, Hungary, Poland, Turkey, Germany, Spain.

The responses to these questions were broad and varied, some reinforcing the stereotypes we share in the UK.

E.g. Spain – bulls (2), Flamenco (2), sun and seaHolland – windmills (3), cheese (3), flowers (2), weed (2)!

Many countries suggested football to our respondents, but not more than once for any country.

Several countries suggested political activity including strikes / demonstrations.

AD FONTES RERUM EUROPAE Or Following the Cultural Footsteps of Middle Eastern Europe and the Cradle of

Parliamentary Democracy

A surprising number of respondents said they thought of Hitler for Germany (5).

Question 4 asked what they were most interested in about Europe with a choice that included news, sport, weather, history. Of those people that answered more were interested in the weather than news / politics. The highest score was for history / culture.

Questions 5 – 7 asked about travel in Europe.

Most of the respondents had visited at least 3 European countries, some many more, up to 12.

Those they would like most to visit included England (4), Spain (3), Italy (2) and a number of Northern European countries e.g. Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia.

The countries outside of Europe most people wanted to visit included Australia, New Zealand, North America (7) and South America (3).

Question 8 asked what brings people of Europe together. History, culture and tradition were most often stated, although a number of people responded “nothing did!” (3).

Questions 9 and 10 asked if it was a good idea to have a common currency: most agreed and a common language: most agreed.

We were very pleased that people took our survey seriously and helped us with the answers. People were very friendly and interested in giving their opinions.

AD FONTES RERUM EUROPAE Or Following the Cultural Footsteps of Middle Eastern Europe and the Cradle of

Parliamentary Democracy

We want to find out if people in our other partner countries will think differently and if they find it more difficult to understand English. It will be interesting to compare the survey results from all of the countries.

We intend to conduct the same survey with people of similar age groups in our home city to see what people in England know about Europe.

Thank you everyone

We had a great week we saw new things we made new friends and went to amazing places.We did new things and explored a country new and exiting to all of us.

We look forward to the chance to welcome you all to our home city of Bath in the UK next year.