Golden Europe

I visited the Golden Europe Restaurant in Arvada, Colorado, while in Denver to see family this week. It's owned and operated by a family who emigrated from Prague decades ago and is very popular with the Central/Eastern European community here. My students in Bratislava last fall were surprised to hear there is a large immigrant community from the former Czechoslovakia in this western American city. My sister's electrician emigrated from Bratislava in the 1960s and returns to visit every year or so.

Here is the neatly tended restaurant on 6620 Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada, CO 80003 [(303) 425-1246]. Arvada is a suburb on the western side of Denver.

The interior features the traditional lace curtains so familiar in Bratislava, along with decorative beer steins and color photographs of central Europe. That's my sister Janet, who kindly drove me over to the restaurant.

The menu features dishes familiar in the Czech and Slovak Republics, Poland, Austria, and Germany -- schnitzel, bratwurst, cabbage roll, sauerkraut, red cabbage, and dumplings, with chicken, duck, pork, and beef. I had a fabulous apple struddle (strudla in Slovak), with layers of flaky pastry and a whipped cream topping. My only disappointment was the American-style coffee - pale, watery, tasteless. They didn't serve any of the fabulous lattes, cappuccinos, or espressos that I so enjoyed in Europe.

Here I am on this very hot, dry August day in Denver, by the welcome sign at the side entrance to the restaurant.

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Slovak Embassy

I am in Washington, DC for a meeting, so I thought it would be interesting to see what the Slovak Embassy looks like here. It is located on International Court, a neighborhood in Northwest Washington with several other embassies (Austria, Egypt, Pakistan, etc.).

Here is the building at 3523 International Court NW, looking to the north.

Here's another view of the building, looking to the south.

Here is the setting of the Embassy at the end of a nicely landscaped cul de sac. The Austrian Embassy is out of view to the left.

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2008-09 Fulbrighters

The 2008-09 Fulbrighters have just been announced on the web site of the Slovak Fulbright Commission: http://www.fulbright.sk/list.htm

I'm sure that all of us who have had the privilege of being Fulbrighters to the Slovak Republic in earlier years would be delighted to answer questions and help in any way we can as they prepare for this very exciting appointment.

I met some of the Slovak students and faculty who will be spending the next year in the U.S. as Fulbrighters, and it is a very distinguished group.

Congratulations to everybody and best wishes for a successful year abroad!

Slovak publication

I have just received a copy of a new publication in Slovak, which includes a translation into Slovak of my essay, “Governmental determinations of aesthetic value”: "Urcovanie estetickej hodnoty vládou,” Filozoficko-Estetické Reflexie Posthistorickeho Umenia, Studia Aesthetica X., Prešovská Univerzita (2008), 49-54.

It was translated into Slovak by Erich Mistrík, my department head last fall at Comenius University. I am very grateful to him for translating my work and sending me a copy of the publication.

I just mailed copies to the Fulbright offices in Bratislava and Washington, D.C. They encourage us to pursue follow-up activities after our Fulbright experiences, and I think they will be pleased to see this.

Shared Seminar

In spring 2009, I will be teaching a seminar for our students pursuing a Master's degree in philosophy on "Mill's On Liberty," and I hope to include some of my Slovak students electronically in some of our discussions.

Here's John Stuart Mill, whose 1859 book On Liberty, has been enormously influential in shaping our thinking on free speech in the U.S.

In Bratislava, I taught a course I called "Free Speech in Contemporary Democracies," in which we studied On Liberty and examined several contemporary free speech controversies, including Nazi speech, hate speech, pornography, and the Internet. For the seminar next year, I hope to include several of my Slovak students electronically in some of the discussion of those contemporary issues. At a minimum, we can communicate by e-mail, but I'm also looking at ways to enroll my Slovak students as guests in "Beachboard" (our CSULB web-based classroom) so we can try real-time chatrooms and other discussions.

I will be contacting Slovak students and faculty colleagues this fall about participating in the class. I'd be happy to hear from people before then as well.

Review: Slovak National Ballet

My review of the 2007 fall season of the Slovak National Ballet was just published in [Washington] Dance View 25:2 (Spring 2008), 25-29. I'm mailing copies to the company's press office, as well as several other friends in Bratislava. It's only available in print, not on-line.

The Ballet's Press Office kindly sent a wide selection of marvelous photos, and four were printed with my review. I'm posting one here that was not used with the review.

This is Adrian Ducin in the role of James in La Sylphide. He's a very promising young soloist I singled out for discussion in the review.

I hope my review encourages some American visitors to central Europe to make the trip to Bratislava to see the company.

UPDATE-7/18/2008: I scanned the print review into a PDF file for my summer class, and posted it here: http://www.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/Slovak_review.pdf

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Next year

About one year ago, the 2007-08 U.S. Fulbrighters were notified that they had been selected to go to the Slovak Republic. Among the helpful information we received was a detailed "chain letter" which originated with the 2005 "class" of Fulbrighters, updated by each succeeding class. It was chock full of helpful information about living and working in Slovakia.

This year's "class" is working on an updated letter we will send out to the 2008-09 class as soon as your names are announced. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with any of us now if you have questions. Here's a list of the 2007-08 class: http://www.fulbright.sk/list.htm

More follow-up

The Faculty Center for Professional Development on my home campus is holding a "Lunch and Learn: Fulbright Information Session" on Tuesday, April 22, from 11:30-1:30 at the Anatol Center at CSU Long Beach. I'll be one of several panelists of former CSULB Fulbrighters encouraging more faculty to apply and giving them our perspectives on the experience. For more information, check the center column on their web site: http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/personnel/fcpd/

August 1, 2008, is the deadline for faculty applying for Fulbright awards for 2009-2010. Here is their web site: http://www.cies.org/

Follow-up

The Fulbright Commission asks us to share our experiences when we return home, and I have been very happy to do that. I have warned friends and family that my five months in Bratislava was a major life experience - and I expect to be talking about it for the rest of my life. I also love showing people some of the thousands of digital photographs I took.

My home College of Liberal Arts at CSULB posted some of my pictures from my stay in Bratislava: http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/cla/
http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/cla/people/news/index.html#Vcamp

I gave a talk at the Women's Business Council luncheon meeting of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce on February 21, 2008.

I also gave a talk for the CSULB International Education program on February 27, 2008. The publicity photo they distributed on campus included one of my favorite photographs, the view from my flat. I'm also using that photo as the new background on my laptop, which means that my CSULB students see it at every class when I get set up to show PowerPoint.

I submitted a lengthy review of the fall 2007 season of the Slovak National Ballet for publication later this spring in [Washington] DanceView. They sent me oodles of great press photos. Here's one of my favorites, the "Dancing Marilyn's" from their new ballet Warhol.

Now I'm working on more essays and articles about my experiences and will announce those later as they are completed.

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Trip home

The trip home to California from Vienna took almost 24 hours in real time, with a 9-hour time change. Delta operates one non-stop every day in each direction between Vienna and Atlanta. The trip over in September had been over half-empty, so it was surprising that this one seemed almost full. Another surprise: a long line of young boys in blue sailor suits got on this flight together. Yes, the Vienna Boys Choir accompanied me home. We asked them to serenade us, but they respectfully declined.

This was my last view of central Europe as we took off for the U.S.

One of my favorite indulgences at this stage of my life is using my frequent flyer miles to upgrade to first class on long flights. It does ease the pain considerably - worth every mile. This is the first-class cabin on the 767-300ER, the two-class plane Delta uses for this flight.

Here is the view from my balcony in California. For my Slovak students and colleagues, that four-lane road is Pacific Coast Highway (California Highway #1). That's a peek-a-boo view of the Pacific Ocean and, at the horizon, Catalina Island. Would you believe we have buildings here that are over 20 years old!!

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Vienna airport

I went over to the Vienna Airport Monday afternoon for my Tuesday morning flight. I was worried that a snowstorm or traffic foul-up might make me miss my flight, so I stayed at the airport hotel and did some exploring.

My limo driver was right on time. A native of Bratislava, he is fluent in English and German. This company (Airport Service Bratislava) was recommended by previous Fulbrighters; they use e-mail, speak English, take credit cards, and are very reliable, and I would recommend them highly, too.

I’ve only been here five months, but some important things have already changed. The four-lane expressway that was under construction last September has opened, so we sailed over to the airport with ease. And no more passport checks at the national border at Kittsee, Austria. On December 21, 2007, Slovakia entered the EU’s “Shengen Zone,” as did the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia. This means that these countries are now part of “Fortress Europe.” Once inside, you can pass freely across national borders, just as you might travel from Iowa to Illinois in the U.S.

The EU insisted on heavily fortified eastern and southern borders around the Zone; that’s now where the serious checking of passports and visas occurs. Slovakia’s eastern border is with the Ukraine, in what is apparently a heavily wooded, rural area. I can’t escape the irony that, only two decades ago, that Slovak-Austrian border we sailed across today was fortified with electrified fences by the Communists to keep the Slovaks from escaping to Austria. Now the EU is determined to keep the Ukrainians (and many others) from sneaking into the Shengen Zone.

The Vienna Airport is in the midst of a massive reconstruction project, so it’s a little chaotic. The entire Airport is already a free wifi zone, a very welcome amenity nowadays. The NH Airport Hotel is right across the street from the passenger buildings, very convenient.

Austria Airlines is the dominant airline here, but signs for almost all other carriers can be seen, especially in those international alliances with U.S. carriers.

In case you haven’t gorged on enough MozartKugeln, here’s one last chance. They also have a refrigerated cart with SacherTortes. I indulged in one last piece (with cappuccino, what else) at an airport café.

More phone booths nobody is using. But they’d come in handy for Americans arriving with incompatible cell phones that won’t work in Europe.

Yup – they’re everywhere. This one had an interesting variation on the standard fare, the “Almburger hűttengaudi” on a blackbread sesame bun. The “I’m loving it” slogan is translated into nine languages on the containers.

This interesting, but unidentified, art was in the middle of the waiting area outside my gate for the flight to Atlanta, surrounded by benches. Security to the gates was lengthy and thorough. An airline official asked a long series of questions about our purposes in travelling, something they don't do in the U.S. But we never had to take off our shoes for the x-ray machine, which was a pleasant relief!

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My flat

For obvious reasons, it did not seem wise to announce on a public blog where I was living in Bratislava. So I'm writing this in my last few hours on the fabulous high-speed broadband connection in my flat, as I wait for the limo to the Vienna Airport.

Previous Fulbrighters urged that we live in Old Town, which sounded good to me. I love historic neighborhoods where I can walk around and explore, something I miss in California. After studying real estate listings on the web last summer, I settled on a building right in the middle of everything on Hviezdoslavovo námestie. Its proximity to the Opera House at the end of the Plaza was a huge attraction, as I wanted to attend the ballet as often as possible and was wary about getting home after dark.

My building was the gray one here on the right. My studio, facing the plaza here, is on what Europeans call the third floor and Americans call the fourth. The building has a lift (whew!). On the left you see the ugly gray guardhouse used for access to the U.S. Embassy complex, including the buildings left of mine.

All U.S. embassies are apparently on high-alert for terrorists, truck bombers, and who knows what else. Several uniformed guards were stationed around the outside of that guardhouse 24 hours a day. Indeed, one was usually stationed at the entrance to my building. I was told in September by the management that there was some concern my building might be used as an escape route by a would-be terrorist. I was not so worried about truck bombers, but it was nice to know that, after an evening performance of the ballet, the route to my building was well-lit and swarming with guards. And, if a female with an American accent screamed for help, it was nice to think it would get noticed, although that was never necessary.

I had an absolutely spectacular view. Andrew Sullivan's blog has a feature called "The View from Your Window," and he posted this one, looking west to the Castle and St. Martin's Cathedral.

My neighbor on the other side was the Czech Embassy (the building with the blue doors), a newly restored office building, and the German Embassy at the end of the block. Quite the neighborhood!

I did not have a balcony, although many units do in that building. A much larger flat with a balcony was available in September, but with the sinking dollar, I decided to opt for the smaller studio. As the dollar just kept sinking last fall (and still is), that was a good decision in retrospect, although that meant that I did not have room to entertain guests and visitors.

If future Fulbrighters in Bratislava want to contact me privately for housing advice, I would be happy to oblige. I got some great advice from my predecessors, and I'm happy to do the same for others.

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Last lunch

Today is my last full day in Bratislava, so I decided to go out for lunch. Given my love of beautiful historic architecture, the Roland Cafe in Lechner's Art Nouveau building on Main Square seemed appropriate.

I posted some shots of this months ago, but here it is again.

The entry doors at the Roland are stunning - and extremely heavy.

The interior has an historic feel, too. The paintings on the pillars are reminiscent of Gustav Klimt, the great Austrian painter who worked in the era of Art Nouveau a century ago.

I had a traditional Slovak dessert, jablkový závin -- hot apple struddle with a baked honey pear, sauce, and ice cream. Oh my. . . And cappuccino, of course, with the little chaser of carbonated mineral water. I understand Starbucks is scrambling in the U.S. to protect market share, in the face of an onslaught of high-end coffees from McDonald's. If McDonald's is bringing some of their European expertise to the U.S., Starbucks is in for some very serious competition. Here's an idea: could you find a way to serve the mineral water chaser with cappuccinos and lattes in the U.S.?

In the last-minute department, here's a shot of the beautiful exterior doors of the French Embassy on Main Square. Originally built in 1762, this was once called the Kutscherfeld Palace and was the home, briefly, in the mid-19th century of the great Russian composer and pianist Anton Rubinstein.

There are so many things I didn't find time to visit. I've been here almost five months - where did the time go!! I hope I'll be able to visit again some day and see these things, as well as my colleagues at the University. A few examples of what I didn't get to:

• Trenčín castle: This town of about 50,000 people is a two-hour train ride northeast of Bratislava. The castle, a few blocks from the train station, is one of the largest and best-preserved medieval castles in central Europe. Here's their web site: http://www.trencin.sk/en/12513
• Eva Jaczova Dance Conservatory: The Slovak National Ballet does not have its own school, but its director and many of their principal dancers studied at this school in northwestern Bratislava. The Conservatory is doing something right, and it would have been fun to visit.
• Bratislava Mosque: During a discussion of Slovak diversity with one of my classes last fall, I asked if there was any Muslim presence here. I had not noticed anything, certainly nothing like the traditional dress that is so visible on the city streets in London. Some students said they thought there was a small mosque here. With a little googling, I discovered a listing for one out in the northwestern area of the city, near the dorm complex I visited. That makes sense, given the University's recruitment of international students. Alas, it looks to be a good 8-10 block hike from the termination point of the nearest bus line. I would not have entered, of course, but I was curious to see its size and confirm its existence.

Another time. . .

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Last minute

I shipped two boxes yesterday and one final one this morning from the main post office. My packing is under control, so I took in a few more must-see sights in Old Town. It got up to 50 today, but with light rain, it was not ideal for last-minute sightseeing.

I often pass Šafárikovo námestie on the tram, so I wanted to explore the neighborhood and get a few pictures. The square is in the southeastern area of Old town. This is the Fontána Poézia ("poetic fountain"), installed in 1958 under the Communist regime. It seems surprisingly risque for that era -- the kind of statue John Ashcroft would want to cover up.

The Administrative headquarters and law school for Comenius University are located on the southwest corner of the square, so this tram stop is normally swarming with students.

This Art Nouveau building is on the southeast corner. With a little googling, I discovered that it dates to 1902, but can't find any other information about it.

Another beautiful Art Nouveau building is just to the north of the green building, but I can't find any information on it.

Here's one of these surprises that I just love stumbling onto - a recent contemporary statue, smack in the middle of the sidewalk (on Dunajská, just south of the big Tesco store). This honors Július Satinský, who died in 2002. He was reportedly a popular actor, comedian, and radio host who suffered under the Communist regime and was celebrated later in life.

Here's a small surprise, but still delightful. Look at the two little statues guarding the entry doors of this otherwise perfectly ordinary apartment building on Gajova, east of the Blue Church.

Beautifully restored buildings are no surprise here. This is an office building for the UniCredit Bank, on Dunajská.

Unfortunately, it's also no surprise to see a horribly decrepit building adjacent to a beautifully restored one. Here's the bank's next-door neighbor. You just wonder how long it will take for somebody to restore this.

One final non-surprise, the headquarters for the national railway system, ŽSR, on Klemensova a block east of the Blue Church. It seems the government buildings here are either beautifully restored historic gems or dreary slabs like this one.

Back to packing and checking for election results from Nevada and South Carolina. I hope the skies are clear tomorrow for my final day in Bratislava!

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Final marks

Today was my last day at the University. I was touched by the many people who visited to wish me well and the little gifts they surprised me with - a beautiful book on the history of Slovakia, a bunch of fresh daffodils, hand-made crafts from the Folk Art Center. They are all deeply appreciated, and I shall treasure them and my memories of teaching here.

I also visited a presentation of the final project of one of my aesthetics students for her "Magister" (Master's) degree. Maria (in the back right) is the teacher completing her degree, with some of the children. She developed a marvelous children's art education project that demonstrated the sophisticated interdisciplinarity and active learning long promoted by the Getty in Los Angeles.

I spent part of the day signing the "index" books that each student has to record coursework with final marks. These little books look like passports with extra pages, something I've never seen before as a way of tracking courses. I left all my student records with my department chair, just in case any questions come up in the future. I understand that the University is installing an on-line system for entering grades, something we have now at Cal State and love for the convenience for meeting this traditional responsibility.

I made a quick stop at the Fulbright office this morning to drop off my final report and say good-bye and especially "thank you" to the wonderful staff. I also had a delightful meeting with a vice-dean and my department head to share some of my experiences and impressions of teaching at the University. Very busy day!

I am now seriously busy with final packing and especially shipping. It looks like it will take four Slovenská Pošta boxes for all the things I need to ship back to California. Thank goodness the main post office is open seven days a week!

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Telephone booths

Last fall, the Slovak Spectator reported that the Slovak government requires all mobile phone providers to install telephone booths. The providers object that almost nobody uses telephone booths anymore. It appears that all of my students and colleagues, as well as most of the people I see on the streets of Bratislava, do have their own mobile phones (as they are called here, not "cell phones," as we say in the U.S.).

I decided to start paying attention to telephone booths. After almost five months here, I have never seen anyone in central Europe using one. But I did notice that they add an interesting design element to the city streets and started collecting photos. Here's a sampling.

T-Mobile Slovakia has saturation advertising all over Bratislava. Here they are installing their mandatory phone booths outside a branch office of the post office.

Clunkier ones are under the New Bridge by a major bus transfer point in Bratislava.

It's hard to miss the bold colors on phone booths in Budapest.

Nobody uses phone booths in Salzburg either, but here are two in the tourist area, just in case.

This airy design is on a shopping street in Vienna.

Prague has rather boring phone booths. It's a good thing nobody seems to need them there either.

Perhaps the mandatory phone booths don't make sense, as the providers contend. At least Europe had the good sense to adopt a uniform signal system (GMS) for all mobile phone providers. The U.S. ended up with two incompatible systems, depending on which provider you select. My Sprint phone doesn't work in Europe; fortunately my T-Mobile Dash does.

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Luxury cars

The Czech-made car Škoda has the largest share of the overall car market in Slovakia, with 20% of the market and everybody else in single digits, according to the Slovak Spectator. According to my utterly unscientific observations in Bratislava, the most popular luxury car is Mercedes, both private vehicles and taxis, which seem to favor the smaller C-class car.

Plenty of BMWs and Audi luxury cars can be seen in Bratislava, too. These Audis are parked permanently in front of the Radisson, to whisk away guests of this 5-star hotel.

In the priority reserved parking at the Ministry for the Environment, Audi and BMW seem to be favored. This very elegant building is in a prime location at the edge of Old Town, a block from the Danube. Too bad that nobody is setting a good example with an ultra-small gas-saving car here.

Mercedes has an all-purpose store next to the German Embassy, with Mercedes jackets, souvenirs, motorcycles, and a cafe and sushi bar. I took this in October, when it was still warm enough to sit outside. (I noticed a store like this in Vienna, too, but didn't get a picture.)

I have seen some advertising for Lexus, but don't remember ever seeing one on the streets here. And if anybody here drives the famous American luxury cars (Cadillac, Lincoln), I have never seen one.

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Veilings and Unveilings

One building in the U.S. embassy complex has been under wraps in recent months for some restoration work.

The coverings came off a few days ago and it looks very spiffy, with what appears to be a fresh paint job.

Here's what it has looked like in recent months while the work was underway. These construction drapes are a very familiar site in Old Town, with so many older buildings being restored.

I went out for a walk today in between marking final exams. Some interesting blue-and-gold curtains, red carpets, and kleig lights are being installed at the historic Opera House. A production of Dvorak's opera Rusalka premieres here on Monday, so perhaps that's what it's about. At least, I assume those curtains are temporary!

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Tupperware

American brands are so common here, I'm not surprised anymore to see them. But Tupperware has a special niche in U.S. pop culture. After WWII, when women were urged to go home and pursue traditional families, Tupperware parties in the home became a popular way to earn a little extra money.

Here's a Tupperware truck I spotted last fall. I don't know if they use the house-party model here, but it is apparently still a world-wide brand, judging from the company's web site. As usual, the Slovaks favor small, energy-efficient vans.

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