{"id":9651,"date":"2016-09-01T22:44:33","date_gmt":"2016-09-01T22:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/?p=9651"},"modified":"2016-09-21T20:32:56","modified_gmt":"2016-09-21T20:32:56","slug":"flas-notes-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/","title":{"rendered":"FLAS Notes from the Field: Discovering Prague beyond the Tourist Sites"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alison Knight<\/p>\n

University of Washington Slavic Languages and Literatures<\/a><\/strong> M.A. student\u00a0Alison Knight<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0recently returned from studying Czech in Prague on a\u00a0Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship (FLAS)<\/a><\/strong>. When not in class, Alison spent time exploring the magnificent architecture and rich culture of the city. In the process, she came to know a country which is as interesting for its history and art as it is for its people:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3557\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Old Town Hall’s Astronomical Clock. Photo by Alison Knight<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“In the summer in Prague it can be hard to see the city through the tourists. In Prague\u2019s Old Town\u00a0Square (Starom\u011bstsk\u00e9 N\u00e1m\u011bst\u00ed), tour guides find new ways to draw attention to themselves so the crowds they lead can keep track of them, and it’s equally common to have to stop to let a horse-drawn\u00a0carriage pass as it is to give a group of tourists on Segways the right of way. And while I\u00a0can’t\u00a0blame people for wanting to walk over Charles Bridge (Karl\u016fv Most) or watch the Old Town Hall\u2019s Astronomical Clock chime, I was grateful to be living in the far less-frequented district of Prague 6, not only for the opportunity to speak Czech with people in the neighborhood, but also to experience a less curated version of Prague. \"CzechWalking from the dorm to class, I would pass cafes and stores revealing Prague\u2019s active place in our modern, globalized world. For example, I would walk past a cafe in which a camera crew was shooting a film and then towards a shop with Japanese groceries and gifts, all surrounded by the Czech restaurants and small shops that still dominate the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3673\"<\/p>\n

‘The Slav Epic’ cycle No.20: The Apotheosis of the Slavs, Slavs for Humanity (1926). Photo by Alison Knight<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Most of the day in my Czech language program was devoted to classes and cultural activities, including museum visits to view Czech historical artifacts in celebration of the 700th<\/sup> anniversary of the reign of Charles IV<\/a><\/strong> and the work of Czech artists such as Alfons Mucha<\/a><\/strong>. It was an incredible experience to stand in front of the enormous paintings of Mucha\u2019s Slav Epic<\/a><\/strong> and see figures from history like Hussite General Jan \u017di\u017eka<\/a><\/strong> looking down from the towering canvases. But my free time in Prague is when I think the most authentic experiences were had, whether these involved visiting a cat cafe and chatting with the owner, watching a 1960s Czech musical about hop-pickers, or engaging in conversation with a waiter at a particular restaurant about the best place to learn a new language. (We told this waiter we were studying Czech and he informed us that having a beer with natives of Prague would be equally beneficial as studying in a classroom. He asked us to bring our teacher in so he could convince her as well.)<\/p>\n

Some of the most memorable sites I saw in Prague were things I found while wandering on my way somewhere or because I selected a new route randomly. For example, while wandering through the cemetery at Vy\u0161ehrad<\/a><\/strong>, I chose to walk through a smaller aisle of headstones and happened upon a striking grave featuring an iron spider web and a haunting inscription but bearing only the initials of the interred. This left me quite curious, so I looked up the inscription (which was part of a longer poem) and tracked down the woman buried there, who turned out to have been a magnificent poet.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Prague\u2019s famous sites are amazing in their own right and the city has beautiful architecture that is well worth traveling to see, but the city is full of so many gems and unexpected corners that wandering its streets and being open to discovering something new is the best way to experience Prague.”<\/p>\n

Alison\u2019s participation in this ten week Czech language program was made possible by a\u00a0Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship (FLAS)<\/a><\/strong>, which pays tuition and a stipend for travel and living. Qualified graduate and undergraduate students of every major are eligible for FLAS fellowships to study abroad and also at UW. Learn more about the FLAS program and how to apply\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alison Knight University of Washington Slavic Languages and Literatures M.A. student\u00a0Alison Knight\u00a0recently returned from studying Czech in Prague on a\u00a0Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship (FLAS). When not in class, Alison spent time exploring the magnificent architecture and rich culture of the city. In the process, she came to know a country which is<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":414,"featured_media":9778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,16,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-news","category-student"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFLAS Notes from the Field: Discovering Prague beyond the Tourist Sites - The Ellison Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FLAS Notes from the Field: Discovering Prague beyond the Tourist Sites - The Ellison Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Alison Knight University of Washington Slavic Languages and Literatures M.A. student\u00a0Alison Knight\u00a0recently returned from studying Czech in Prague on a\u00a0Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship (FLAS). When not in class, Alison spent time exploring the magnificent architecture and rich culture of the city. In the process, she came to know a country which is\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Ellison Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-01T22:44:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-21T20:32:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/09\/Old_Town_Square_-_panorama_3-1024x305.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"305\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Lyon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Lyon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/\",\"name\":\"FLAS Notes from the Field: Discovering Prague beyond the Tourist Sites - The Ellison Center\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/09\/Old_Town_Square_-_panorama_3-750x223.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-01T22:44:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-21T20:32:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/#\/schema\/person\/1fd0edbc35fbe419d1963f5229cbbb6e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/09\/Old_Town_Square_-_panorama_3-750x223.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/09\/Old_Town_Square_-_panorama_3-750x223.jpg\",\"width\":9775,\"height\":2910,\"caption\":\"Prague's Old Town Square\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"FLAS Notes from the Field: Discovering Prague beyond the Tourist Sites\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/\",\"name\":\"The Ellison Center\",\"description\":\"Center in The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/#\/schema\/person\/1fd0edbc35fbe419d1963f5229cbbb6e\",\"name\":\"Philip Lyon\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c8f59c7c5be5bfb85fed43e8cabef08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c8f59c7c5be5bfb85fed43e8cabef08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Philip Lyon\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/author\/plyon\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"FLAS Notes from the Field: Discovering Prague beyond the Tourist Sites - The Ellison Center","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"FLAS Notes from the Field: Discovering Prague beyond the Tourist Sites - The Ellison Center","og_description":"By Alison Knight University of Washington Slavic Languages and Literatures M.A. student\u00a0Alison Knight\u00a0recently returned from studying Czech in Prague on a\u00a0Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship (FLAS). When not in class, Alison spent time exploring the magnificent architecture and rich culture of the city. In the process, she came to know a country which is","og_url":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/","og_site_name":"The Ellison Center","article_published_time":"2016-09-01T22:44:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-09-21T20:32:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":305,"url":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/09\/Old_Town_Square_-_panorama_3-1024x305.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Lyon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Lyon","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/","url":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/","name":"FLAS Notes from the Field: Discovering Prague beyond the Tourist Sites - The Ellison Center","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/09\/Old_Town_Square_-_panorama_3-750x223.jpg","datePublished":"2016-09-01T22:44:33+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-21T20:32:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/#\/schema\/person\/1fd0edbc35fbe419d1963f5229cbbb6e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/09\/Old_Town_Square_-_panorama_3-750x223.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2016\/09\/Old_Town_Square_-_panorama_3-750x223.jpg","width":9775,"height":2910,"caption":"Prague's Old Town Square"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/flas-notes-field\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"FLAS Notes from the Field: Discovering Prague beyond the Tourist Sites"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/","name":"The Ellison Center","description":"Center in The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/#\/schema\/person\/1fd0edbc35fbe419d1963f5229cbbb6e","name":"Philip Lyon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c8f59c7c5be5bfb85fed43e8cabef08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c8f59c7c5be5bfb85fed43e8cabef08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Philip Lyon"},"url":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/news\/author\/plyon\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/414"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/ellisoncenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}