Admittedly, I’m an inconsistent blogger and when I do write it’s usually related to things like strategy, leadership, marketing, and sport. Knowing I don’t have a million readers, perhaps all of my blogs are self-serving and personal, but even if not, this one might very much be so.
30 years ago today, my last days in grade 11 mere days behind me, I got on a plane to the former Czechoslovakia. (I want to address that first – I know I was extremely fortunate to get to do this and I have never lost sight of that. I have been very lucky in many ways in my life, and this is a leading example.) A good friend, whose mother is Czech, had come to me in a Chem 30 class earlier in the spring asking if I’d like to go to Olomouc, Czechoslovakia to teach English to students our age. Thinking it would never materialize, I thought “sure, that sounds fun!” and within a few months our flight was taking off. We spent three weeks in Olomouc, lived in a 500 year old house, helped two students with their English, had a week in Prague, and overall got to experience life in a country less than three years removed from communism.
Driving to Olomouc the night we landed in Prague, we went past Wenceslas Square where much of the Velvet Revolution had taken place. I’d become interested in global affairs with everything that had happened in 1989 and as a 17 year old to be driving past a square central to the movement, it hit me very quickly where I was. The stories I’d seen on TV were suddenly very real.
I’m not here to recount all the fun and crazy things that happened that month. That would truly be self-serving (though who wouldn’t want to hear a story of getting stranded at a beach, planning to walk the 2 hours back to our house and guessing how to get there, while everyone back at home was holding a séance to ensure I was still alive!). Instead, I’m here reflecting on the importance of this month which I’ve realized comes down to three things.
Luck – How did I end up born in Canada and at a time after the two world wars? I’ll never know. But confirming this luck came in hearing one of our hosts recount a story of starting a historical society and ultimately being jailed for 7 years due a communist collaborator believing his actions meant that he was anti-communist. He told this with a quiet smile and sense of calm to have mistaken him for telling a children’s story about a trip to a museum. I knew then a greater understanding of freedom than I’d had prior to the trip.
Global awareness – Not to suggest I’ve mastered that now, but this trip taught me how similar we all really are, no matter where we’re from, what language we speak, nor our background. The people were so kind to us, were patient with my lack of Czech, though I did learn key things like cukrárna (sweet shop/bakery) and pivo (beer) and matched our curiosity about their lives and country with the same about life as a Canadian. These people had been through so much in the previous 60 years, yet they went about things with incredible positivity and optimism.
Toughness – I learned I’m tougher than I thought I was. Overall, it was an amazing trip but inevitably there were challenges and obstacles and I generally navigated them well. While I still work on this everyday, and don’t always succeed, it taught me that there is enough here with me and to relish that, rather than think the opposite.
I think about this trip all the time. The curiosity sparked while there led, I’m sure, to living in Belgium and some of the work trips I’ve been privileged to go on. It gave me more of a reason to see our world for its similarities and to think critically about how people and countries are portrayed. It was an incredible experience and 30 years on, it’s still teaching me.
