Precerpt from In with the East Wind: A Mary Poppins Kind of Life - Czechia: A Long Preparation
A Long Preparation
My preparation for most of my fly in-fly out trips was often as little as 24 hours and typically 2-6 weeks. My first trip to Czechia was different. I prepared for that trip in general for 15 years: 1976-1991.
First, in grad school, I took a couple semesters of Czech language instruction but had to stop for Cold War reasons best discussed in a different kind of book. So, my Czech went on hold quite early and for a very long time while still at a rather low level of proficiency.
I also took courses for a certificate in East European Studies and in one course got deep into “discovery” related to Czechoslovakia. I was particularly interested in the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia (known militarily as Operation Danube) in 1968 that followed the Prague Spring, when Dubcek was beginning to bring greater freedoms into the country (Williams, 1997), but I had to stop sharing some of the discovery for the same Cold War reasons best discussed in a different kind of book. Sergei, a fellow graduate student, who became a friend, confirmed the part of the discovery that I presented to my class as a course project. When the skeptical professor questioned me (I had gone to some deep and little-known resources)m he was annoyed at Sergei’s support.
“How would you know?” he asked about one detail in particular associated with the preparation for the invasion.
Sergei’s answer was undebatable: “I was part of the invading force.”
Czechoslovakia in this way buried itself into those recesses of my subconscious in ways that other subjects could. There was emotion involved—and emotions of several kinds: my work being initially rejected by the professor (who was pretty famous in the EE Studies field, the support (and surprise) of Sergei’s confirmation on little known facts, and, then, of course, the nature of how the Czechs handled the invasion in brilliant passive resistance actions—turning street signs to point in the opposite directions, covering turrets with brown paper while invading soldiers slept, and dumping garbage into tanks again while soldiers slept. (Sergei was on the receiving end of garbage once.)
It is interesting that the most informative information often comes from individuals with lived experience and not the history books. Likewise, years later, Shirley Temple Black was in a program I assisted with at the Foreign Service Institute for learning Czech prior to her assignment as Ambassador to Czechoslovakia. She had lived through the 1968 invasion (was on a tour there and had to be spirited out) and so very appropriate was there as ambassador during the Velvet Revolution.
During the Velvet Revolution, I was at the Defense Language Institute, overseeing the Czech program, among others. The instructors actively attempted to find some cosmic connection between 1968 and 1989 and could not. My daughter found it. She had been wearing my charm bracelet with 68 on it (the year I graduated); when she held her arm up, the 68 (becoming upside down) read as 98. I showed her discovery to the Czech instructors: “89 is 68 overturned.” Or, “68 overturned is 89.” One of the instructors knew Vaclav Havel, who at the time was running for president, told him about my daughter’s discovery, and Havel promptly claimed it as one of his campaign slogans, made a poster, and sent a miniature of the poster to my daughter. When he won, the little 4x5 “poster” became her favorite memento of a place she had never been and still hasn’t.
While at DLI, working daily with the Czech instructors, I had the opportunity to revive my old, rusty, and barely-there Czech skills and bring them up to a useful level. I attended the Czech Department meetings, when invited, and that helped reinforce the language, along with one-on-one discussions, handwritten and computer notes, observing classes, and even auditing a course for a while. Once the Czechs realized I really did care to learn their language and culture, they launched into full gear, to my great benefit. They spoke only Czech to me to the extent possible, and they invited me to cultural events.
Yes, after 15 years, I was ready to see the real place. And, fortunately, I had the opportunity—twice—to do that.
Volume 1: ABC Lands
by Dr. Betty Lou Leaver
For more posts about and from this book, click HERE.
For more posts by and about Betty Lou Leaver, click HERE.
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