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Written by Eva Raabová and Martin Potužník.
Photos by Jakub Pavelka,
Eva Raabová and Martin Potužník.
Cover by Eva Raabová.
Layout by Martin Potužník.
Typeset by TEX,
File translated from TEX by TTH, version 1.65.
(C) 1999 PROKLOV publishing
Contents.
The Wallachian Open Air Museum in Rožnov...8
Narrow gauge railways of Jindřichův Hradec...11
Czech national presentation...18
Differences in the eating habits...43
The view of the script-writer...52
Introduction.
The idea of organizing an international project arose at the
Short Study Visit in Hungary in February 1998 where the
leaders of our groups Martin Potužník and Peter Keijzer met
each other.
They discussed various possible central topics, and finally they decided that making a video-film would be the most interesting one. Some members of the Dutch group were experienced in filming or in acting, they also had the technical equipment and contacts with an editing studio. The Czech group has realized several theatre performances, and is interested in video-work, too. The script-writer, Alena Nedvědová, who likes to write poems and was challenged by this, comes from the Czech group as well.
The both groups, however, could learn a lot by taking part in such project. We planned to make a "real" film with a script, which suppose a good communication within the shooting team, creative teamwork and making compromises in contrast to experimenting with video-camera that we used to do so far. Besides filming, the project included another activities to eliminate the communication barriers, put the whole group together, as well as learn more about the life in the respective countries. There was also enough space to talk about things that young people are normally talking about, to learn useful words like "beer" or "thank you" in Czech and Dutch, and to have fun together.
To sum it up, the aims of the exchange were to get to know the differences and similarities between Czech and Dutch culture, to experience cooperative work in an international team, its advantages and difficulties, and to motivate the participants for realizing similar activities in the future.
Groups.
As mentioned above, the "Fly With Us!" project was actually an exchange between the Czech Republic and Holland. The two groups differed somehow, and it could be useful to know it because some of the misunderstandings, which we met with, originated here. The main difference was that the Czech group consisted of people who knew each other quite well (a group of scouts), while the Dutch group was built up of members of the youth centre "de Postbrug", Den Helder who were not used to working together as a small group (some of them did not even know the others).
There was a difference in approach to the exchange which issued from unlike working styles of the two groups. The Czech group is used to organizing most of its activities by itself. Everyone contributes by his/her ideas and is responsible for his/her part of the program. So, the Czech participants were glad to participate not only in the exchange but also in the preceding preparations. It was interesting and useful for them. On the other hand, several problems were connected with it: many endless discussions because everybody wanted to get his/her own will, confusion in making decisions, unbalanced program (either hurrying or waiting for nothing) etc.
On contrary, the members of the youth centre in Den Helder choose from activities offered and prepared by the professional or volunteer workers of the centre. They are supposed to be active and to cooperate, but not to discuss the program (it is up to the leaders). So, they did not expect the (often unpleasant) discussions, as well as the Czechs did not expect an apparently authoritative approach of the Dutch leaders. They did not spread nervousness like the Czechs sometimes did, but they seemed sometimes not to listen to the participants' opinions. But it was more a feeling than a real problem. Moreover, we learned much from these differences.
Realization.
The exchange lasted 16 days and was divided into two parts: the Czech one and the Dutch one.
The Czech week.
We travelled around the Czech Republic in the first part: from Rožnov in the northeast, through Telč, Landštejn castle, and Jindřichův Hradec in the south, to Prague. We were mostly filming at these places, but we had some time just to walk there and get to know them, too. By the way, the places where we were filming also enabled to meet with Czech history and/or today's life. We were shooting in pubs, at a castle, in a small village house, in a local train (narrow gauge railway) and in an office.
We really enjoyed a walk in Beskydy mountains near Rožnov, the visit of Telč and its tower, the evening at Landštejn castle and the evening with the Czech national presentation. Some easy activities like painting posters for film promotion, swimming or playing funny games were also nice but it is not surprising.
Unfortunately, we did not have much free time, especially the filming team. We sometimes felt like not having seen enough (for example in Prague) or not to be relaxed. The program was fully structured, which was not mental-hygienic and which obviously did not suit the Dutch mentality. On the other hand, such hasty way of life is perhaps typical for the Czechs, so we can take it for a piece of information about differences between the two cultures.
Moreover, the stress was mainly caused by bad communication while shooting. At the beginning, we spent a lot of time by discussions and almost nothing left for proper film-work and for another activities like games, walks, shopping etc. It is a pity, but perhaps it forced us to try to communicate again and again, and - after few days - we found a compromise solution: something between hard, quality-orientated work and friendly atmosphere. We have learnt that cooperative work in international team was not easy, that it needed much more tolerance, patience and ability to listen to the others than working with people from the same culture.
Naturally, the film-work was not always as annoying as mentioned above. It was often funny and satisfying. We were happy to make a film which was really ours. Some people were even so encouraged in filming that they would like to shoot another film soon.
We finished the Czech week with a walk through Prague and a bigger party later in the evening. We evaluated most of the activities and the group-forming (by a sculpture of our bodies). And, of course, we were eating, drinking and talking a lot.
The Dutch week.
The second part of the exchange was organized by the Dutch group. The journey to Holland was exhausting in sunny weather, so we did spend the rest of the day by lying on the grass in front of our tents. Then we moved to Enkhuizen where we met with three leaders of the Dutch group who prepared the program for us. The next four days, we were sailing the IJselmeer from Enkhuizen to Volendam, Amsterdam, Hoorn, and back to Enkhuizen.
It was very interesting, especially for the Czech participants: we were helping the captain with sails, steering etc, sleeping in tiny cabins, jumping from the board into water and swimming in the waves, and sometimes suffering from seasickness. We visited the towns where we stayed overnight, too. In Amsterdam we spent a whole day there. We saw the Royal Palace, and took part in a city walk with questions (to look for more information about Amsterdam). While sailing, each day two people went to the editing studio to give the film its final form.
But turn the page to the drawbacks: the sailing was a nice relaxation after the busy week in the Czech Republic, but sometimes a bit boring. We could converse with the others, listen to the music, or get a sun-tan, but it was a little monotonous for four days. Thus a table game made by one of the Dutch leaders (a sort of chase with questions) cheered us up and contributed to better atmosphere on the board. Some more activities like this game would also force us to speak more. In our case few people (mainly the Czechs) were tired from using English and solving problems, so they shut themselves off and did not communicate. Also just living on a ship had its disadvantages. Everything was small here, which made same of us feel uncomfortable, and some other people suffered from the lack of privacy.
After sailing we spent one day by scouts in Den Oever where a walk in vicinity was arranged. Unfortunately, nobody really liked it because of very hot weather.
Our project came to end in Den Helder. After the first projection of the film in a concert-room of "de Postbrug" a great farewell party with fried fish, evaluation activities, swimming in the sea and a blues concert took place.
In following, when italic is used, it means that this text was either said (and taped), or written down during the project.
Preparations.
Interesting, funny, but on the other hand very exhausting. We have had to write our projects interesting enough to get money, write the script and prepare the shooting, and to compose the whole program. Obviously, it was done (we got money, there was a program in both Czech and Dutch part of the project, and we even made a film), and furthermore we had a lot of fun, in sequence:
Martin and Peter's working discussions in Hungary, Peter's, Remco's and Mathieu's working visit to Prague, working discussions with National Agencies YFE, working on projects, writing budgets, looking for sponsors, discussing via e-mail, working on a program, looking for the cheapest car-rental-service, collecting information about the other culture, traveling around all the camps and shooting places, sending faxes and phoning all around the world, sample shooting, one more working visit of Martin, Alena and Jacob to Den Helder, changing conception of shooting, and then finally fourteen days of resting during busy program in Czech Republic and Holland.
Great time, wasn't it?
But it was really very fruitful time, and those who were directly involved in these preparations learnt a lot.
One example for all: It was very interesting, how much harder is the distant communication than personal communication. Sometimes, we had to wait a long time for the reply to an important e-mail, which was a little bit stressing, but when we met personally, we always made oodles of work on the instant. And good work.
Reva. Ż
Even despite all the cancelled program prepared by her, a great life-optimist. Otherwise addicted psychologist & sociologist and heavy sleeper. She is going to spend the rest of her life by writing this booklet...
Expectations.
What did we expect of the project? We expected, of course, to make a good project and to learn a lot during the two weeks. But what does it mean in particular? First of all, to see some other country, and to learn something about its culture, habits, and (young) people living there. And perhaps to discover that there are not so many differences between our way of living, or - if there are any - to understand why the two cultures are different and, consequently, to become more tolerant or open-minded. But one could not manage to do it without meeting (real) people , which was the second most expected. And it is always nice to have some friends in other countries, who can rectify your stereotype-like opinions, or to invite you for holiday. Then, for the central topic of the project was shooting, many people wanted to learn how to make a film, or even to make a good film. But not only filming was on program, so some of us wanted just to try what they can do, to do some extraordinary activities which could not be done so easily in everyday life or to do something else than stupid films for promotion activities in de Postbrug. Czech participants expected to improve their English and all of us wished to have a good time together.
What about fulfilling all the expectations? Read the booklet and you will see!
The Czech week.
The Wallachian Open Air Museum in Rožnov.
In this museum, there are gathered all documents on traditional folk culture, on the way of life, on work and habits and arts of the population of the Carpathian region of the Czech Republic. The main goal of the museum activity is to restore and reconstruct authentically the original environment and setting of a Wallachian village and a small town. The wooden small town shows how townspeople (the aldermen, craftsmen, tradesmen and artisans) lived, their living standards and habitation. In the Wallachian village the way of life, of housekeeping and farming, and of supplementary occupations of villagers are shown.
The original Wallachian wooden buildings were preserved mainly due to efforts of a painter and photographer B. Jaroněk. At the Czechoslavonic Folk Exhibition in Prague in 1895, he was so enchanted by the treasures of Wallachian folk architecture that he started a grand conservation project. He founded the museum together with his brother, and moved its first exhibit there - a wooden building from 1770 which was the original Town Hall from Rožnov's square. When he started his project, his strong ambition was to create a living museum. In the spirit of his legacy the Wallachian museum offers a variety of programs.
Beskydy mountains.
Beskydy mountains - a picturesque landscape with round mountain ridges, deep forests as well as bright meadows and pastures, where many rare plants and animals occur. It is sought for its beauty (Speechless! Gorgeous! Just wonderful!) and for extraordinary natural and cultural values arisen by centuries-long coexistence of man and nature.
The beautiful landscape was created by cutting and burning formerly large forest areas to make sheep pasture possible. However, the forests still cover more than 70% of the area. But the ecological balance has been impairing recently by, for instance, excessive planting of spruce trees, urbanizing the free landscape, inadequate increase of holiday activities or leaving the meadows and pastures unused.
Telč.
Telč is a nice small town with a historical centre preserved by the UNESCO.
But our first impression was not too great. We came there in the late afternoon, after an exhausting journey from Rožnov. We were all very hungry, and we really needed to take a shower and relax for a while. But the filming team could not afford such luxury, for two scenes had to be shot then. So they drove to the restaurant and worked until it closed. The work was very hard because they were really tired, but the result (the "Lost elegance") was good; it is likely the best scene of the film. On the other hand, the team felt like giving up everything, and a bitter discussion about the timing and organization of shooting within the whole program dragged on till three o'clock in the morning. Fortunately, they finally reached a conclusion and changed things, so that everybody could be content with the program.
The second, non-filming part of our group spent the evening at the Chadima's mill, where we stayed overnight, and in vicinity. They were swimming in a lake, making an artificial man to replace James in tomorrow's scene at Landštejn castle, and amusing themselves by a fashion show (see color supplement).
We visited the town of Telč the following morning. We were walking around the square with renaissance houses and observing the town from a bird's-eye view (from the tower). We also did some shopping. Everybody liked it: Lovely time. Enough time, good. Good conversations. Like a fairy-tale. Cool!
The tower.
A 60 metres high tower abuts against the north side of the St.-Jakub church. A bell-ringer was living inside, in a small flat, still in 1945. There are two bells at the tower, a bell called Marie made in 1550 and a bell called Jakub from 1603. There was a clock already in the 16th century there. According to a chronicle, it was described as old in 1610, and replaced by a new one in 1740. The stairs are made from trees cut down probably in 1521.
Narrow gauge railways of Jindřichův Hradec
Jindřichův Hradec is a historical town in the South Bohemia, known by its great renaissance chateau and picturesque site in the region of forests, hills and ponds. Besides, it is the centre of the most extensive Czech narrow gauge system, still existing in the original form and length. The older of the both narrow gauge railways, 33 km long local line Jindřichův Hradec - Nová Bystřice with Austrian norm narrow gauge 760 mm, was opened in 1897. Nine years later, the 46 km long railway of line Jindřichův Hradec - Obrataň was added. The junction railway construction from Nová Bystřice to the close Austrian narrow gauge railway Gmünd - Litschau, which has been in design since 1902, has never been realized.
For the shooting, we used the first line which has in total four intermediate operating control points enabling train crossing, two stops with loading and three ordinary stops. Home depot and dispatcher seat of both railways is in Jindřichův Hradec.
These railways originated as private, became state property in 1924, and in 1997 it was, in rather bad state, sold for symbolical 1 Kč. Nowadays, there are four pairs of passenger trains a day, on Saturdays and Sundays the fifth pair of trains with steam traction is added.
Diver's competition.
It is always useful to train one's funny-bones, especially while making such "serious" film. For these occasions, we did prepare some funny games.
As you know, a real frogman has to have some basic skills, and that is what "Diver's competition" does measure. We built up three teams, and for each race the team had to delegate his representative (or pair) for the specific skill. It was a little bit surprising, but this competition was taking place on a dry land, and all we needed except frogman's accessories was one pot of water.
First of all, a skilled frogman should be able to use flippers properly. After delegating pairs of competitor and navigator by each team, the task was opened: You have to run through this route with different obstacles with your flippers on, as fast as possible.
After long period of loud supporting and laughing, the results of the first race could be made public. Actually, there were different categories, and every competitor won in one category. It was obvious, that Sanne, with her duck-like run, is the winner of "artistic impression" category, Mieke of "strategy" category, trying to eliminate the disadvantage of long flippers by running backwards, and Coen was actually the fastest one, making almost impossible flying creations while running.
But it was only the beginning, the second race was much harder. For a real diver should be familiar with water-glasses, the competitors in the second race had to run to certain point and back with their water-glasses full of water on their faces. It's even harder, than it sounds. What I investigated by explaining the rules is, that the hardest is to speak while having water-glasses full of water on your face.
And finally, third race was about using "snorchl" (everybody knows, what I mean :-). The task was, again in pairs, to drink one full half a litre dipper of lemonade through the snorchl.
Great fun, wasn't it? For us at least: I have pain in my belly till now! I had a Biiiiig Laugh! See also the color supplement.
Rosine. ¬
Known as "Talking machine", and for her angry face. She is interested in England and shopping, so she really enjoyed the visit of Tesco in Prague. She has a Hungarian father (she was happy to get the Hungarian "klobás" in Czech Republic) and at least two French brothers. In one sentence, if not angrying, a really perceptive international person.
Coen. ®
A lover of metal, who is always in good mood. He appreciated that the project was funny enough. He liked to hide behind the people's backs, and surprise them either by talking with a shrill voice or by singing a metal song.
A problem.
It happened, that Coen met some ugly boys near the kiosk, who used power to get his chips (I'm using gentle words). In camp, this is a problem, you never know, what could happen during night. Jeroen, for being present by that accident, stayed with me, waiting with the owner of the camp for the police to come, while the others went for national presentation. He really did care about the event, he did care about our security, about security of the Dutch people within the unknown Czech Republic. He really helped me. Thanks.
After a detective-story-like action with a car with dim windows, we caught the stranger, who apologized himself and paid for the damage.
Semantic differential.
An activity with a mysterious name. But it can be practical. It can show you if there are any differences or similarities (even not realized ones) among several concepts. It can also tell you something about stereotypes and prejudices in people's minds. It could give interesting results, but it depends on which concepts you compare, and by which means: it is quite difficult to choose the right words to name the concepts and the characteristics which you use for comparison.
We tried to look at some European nations from various aspects (see the instruction and the table below), but nobody knows if the chosen aspects do measure real national characteristics. In other words, it is not sure whether the results are close to reality or not. You can see them here on the picture, but it is maybe a bit indistinct, so some more information could be useful:
- If you put together all the scales, you can see which nations are similar to each other, and which ones are rather distinct. The Czechs are close to the Austrians and Germans, which could be expected. What is more surprising, the Dutchs stand by the Frenchs, even though there is a sort of national rivalry between them (but they are both lazy, outgoing, evening-al and easy-going), and that they are distant from the Germans (it surprised more the Czech people). Another result: The Germans are similar (besides to the Czechs) to the Englishs (both practical, hard-working, angular, morning-al, deliberate, reserved).
- The Serbians, Hungarians and Russians were questionable because we did not know much about them (most of us saw them somewhere in the middle, which was not because they belonged there but because it was the most sure solution).
- Another problem was with the scale sensuous - spiritual, as in Dutch "spiritual" means something else (something like religious) than in Czech.
- The Germans are the most meat-ish people (anyway, all the nations are meat-ish, except the Italians).
- The Czechs are strongly morning-al, the Dutchs strongly evening-al. We experienced it well during the project.
- Finally some differences between the opinions of Czech and Dutch participants:
Constant. ®
A camera-man. He likes to switch clothes with the others, but unfortunately he did not manage to swop a night-gown. He has a bag full of cheese in case he met some intolerant "meat-ish" people. The Czech week was a challenge for him - for how many days is a human being able to get up before noon? He has bought in Prague a crazy CD with "hello" and other sounds like cat's screaming etc., which we were listening to every day on the ship.
Instruction.
Try to rate these nations: German, French, English, Austrian, Russian, Hungarian, Italian, Serbian, Dutch and Czech on rating scales that you will find below in the table. Each scale is built by two adjectives on its poles, and seven points between them (number 1 represents the extreme degree of the adjective mentioned first, number 4 something in the middle, and number 7 the opposite extreme). Your task is to decide which one of the opposite adjectives is more characteristic for the nation (and particularly for its mentality), and how much. Then write the corresponding number into the table (on the other sheet). You may find some adjectives a bit strange. Do not worry about it and write simply your first impression.
Example: You take for instance the Americans for very rich. So, you will indicate number 1 on the scale rich - poor. On the other hand, the Greeks seem to you rather poor, but not extremely. So, you will write number 5 or 6.
Please, do not often use the central category (number 4).
Table. Unfortunately not scanned. In the case of
interest, contact me please.
Alena. ®
Mother of the film. She wanted to improve her shooting (it has been a long time since she acted as a cowboy in a theatre play). She is a very problematic person: she is crazy, stupid, aggressive, proud, silly, lazy, boring, clever, defenceless, sensual, dangerous, heavy, weak, bad...
Mieke. ¬
She likes dramatherapy, but it's vague. Her favorite drink used to be PIVO - beer, but she switched to medovina (or Becherovka?) during the time in the Czech Republic. She is not photogenic!
Beer.
Kytka: Do you like Czech beer?
Mieke: Czech beer, yeah, it's great!
Kytka: Is it very different from the Dutch beer, like Amstel or Heineken?
Mieke: Hm, it's bigger. It's a half a litre, and we have small bottles. But it's good.
Kytka: I thing it's more bitter, too.
Mieke: More bitter, yeah, some beer.
Alena: And less alcohol, isn't it?
Mieke: Yeah, it drinks easier, that's dangerous.
Hůrky. ®
A village founded in 1634 as a mining settlement. The miners from Saxonia (Sachsen) came to exploit pyrite here. But in contrast to the expectations, the mining was not very successful: the mines were closed in 1690, just fifty five years after their opening. The inhabitants worked as lace-makers then, and sold their products in Austria. The population was mostly German here, so many people were moved out to Germany after the World War II. The village has been going to the dogs since that time. Only such idiots as Martin and Reva are bringing life there. Their house represented Czech village architecture by the national presentation, but it was built by a German tailor Tex in the 19th century.
Czech national presentation.
The Czech national presentation was prepared by Fimfa. She planned to present Czech culture in a creative way - to offer some activities like cooking traditional food, playing typical Czech games or experiencing folk habits to all the participants to choose any of them to try. Furthermore, it took place in a typical Czech old village house in Hůrky. Even though we did not manage to make everything, the evening was very nice.
We started with preparing dinner, as we were quite hungry. So, the girls were cooking bramboráky (potato cakes; potato = brambora in Czech) and tvarohové knedlíky (sweet dumplings made of curds, with apples), and the boys went to a local village pub. Perhaps it would be better not to split the group so soon, but they were both having fun. But the dinner was ready after some time, and the boys were still sitting in the pub. The girls became a bit angry. Fortunately, the pub was just closing, and the boys had to go "home" where the girls waited for them with spoons, knives and rolling pins in their hands to take the Czech national presentation to extremes.
But we became reconciled soon and enjoyed also the rest of the evening the most as possible. We were eating, listening to Czech music, trying to solve some riddles, singing folk songs and talking a lot. For me one of the greatest evenings. Lots of work and lots of fun, love your place (the house). Great food and singing. So we sung a bit, and now we're going to booze! @@
See also the color supplement.
The riddles.
There is a house without any windows. If the householder wants to go out, he must break through the wall. What is it? (egg, chicken)
Rosine: a chick = little baby chicken
Black into the bath, red out of the bath. (boiled crayfish)
Rosine: a dirty person in, a hot person out
Four boys are chasing each other, but none can catch another one. (four wheels of the car) Johan: a windmill
Why does the cock close his eyes while he is crowing? (for the hens to know that he can it by heart) Rosine: so he can hear himself better
What stick is the most heaviest one? (the beggar's one)
Rosine: the one with the most marihuana in it
Oře, oře Jan.
| Oře, oře Jan, | Jan is ploughing, |
| přiletělo k němu devět vran. | nine crows came to him. |
| První praví: "Dobře oře." | The first one says: "He is ploughing well." |
| Druhá praví: "Nedobře oře." | The second one says: "He is ploughing not well." |
| Třetí praví: "Dobře oře." | The third one says: "He is ploughing well." |
| Čtvrtá praví: "Nedobře oře." | The fourth one says: "He is ploughing not well." |
| Pátá praví: "Dobře oře." | The fifth one says: "He is ploughing well." |
| Šestá praví: "Nedobře oře." | The sixth one says: "He is ploughing not well." |
| Sedmá praví: "Dobře oře." | The seventh one says: "He is ploughing well." |
| Osmá praví: "Nedobře oře." | The eighth one says: "He is ploughing not well." |
| Devátá praví: "Dobře oře Jan." | The ninth one says: "Jan is ploughing well." |
Say this by one breath!
Fimfa. ®
A representative of the Czech culture and our connection to nature (plant physiology). She is terribly healthy, strong and loves trekking in the mountains. Otherwise average (a little bit taller).
Kotva. ¬
A shy princess. She wanted to try to speak and understand English, but finally she did not manage. She can sing very nice, and is always smiling when you are taking a picture of hers.
Fly through Prague.
Two friends of the Czech group prepared a tour through Prague (and a nice photocopied material to save our memory). It was planned for Friday afternoon, but we did not have enough time then because of some problems with accommodation. So it was shifted to Saturday morning. But you can imagine how the morning after a busy week looks like: waiting till everybody is awake, till Kytka brings the breakfast (unsuccessfully), till everybody leaves the house, till the tram comes etc. Finally we had only four hours to catch both the tour and shopping. It is not much, is it? Thus, although the walk was fine, the Dutch people were not very enthused about it, as they were interested more in shopping, which everybody can understand. Moreover, Rosine and Bianca did not find the meeting point at time, so they did not know how to get tickets, and went about 5 km uphill to the house, where we were staying. Furthermore, some people were shooting at that time, and they did not see anything but the office (sorry, Sjaak and Mieke). To sum it up: You have to come again!
The lecture.
We were all very interested in differences between the two languages, Dutch and Czech. Alena, for instance, has learnt about five lessons from a Dutch textbook, so she can say quite a lot of useful sentences in Dutch (see below).
Thus, a lecture concerning this subject could be embraced. But the girl, who was asked to prepare it, did not fully understand our requests: she prepared a university lecture with many Latin terms, which she just read, without any improvising and very quickly. Yes, it was too scientific and a little bit boring. So Coen did the same when he was asked to read an example in Dutch: he read ik, mij, jij, jou... and ik werk, jij werkt... by one breath. It was the only funny moment of the lecture.
But it is easy to criticize one's work, the more one's first public appearance at all, and in English on top of it. Moreover, the last part of the lecture, summing up the basic differences between Slavonic and Germanic languages, was quite fresh thanks to many examples.
Basic differences.
1. An article. There is an article (indefinite and definite) in Germanic languages (e.g. a, the in English, ein, der in German, een, het in Dutch), but Slavonic languages do not use any article.
2. Inflection. There are some occurrences of the inflection in some Germanic languages (e.g. I/you/we/they work, but he/she/it work-s in English), but it is nothing in comparison with the Slavonic languages (e.g. in Czech: to je zahrad-a - this is a garden, jdu ven ze zahrad-y - I am going out of the garden, dívám se na zahrad-u - I am looking at the garden, je na zahrad-ě - he is in the garden, dům se zahrad-ou - a house with a garden).
3. Word order. Fixed word order is required in Germanic languages because of the absence of endings (like zahrad-a, zahrad-y, etc. in the previous example). So, for instance in English, you have to put the subject in front of the verb to make the sentence comprehensible. (Jacob saw Alena does mean something else than Alena saw Jacob. ) In Slavonic languages, you can distinguish the subject from the object by the endings, so the fixed word order is not needed, and you can adapt the sentence building to the communicative dynamism of the speech. (It is better to say Jakub viděl Alenu to answer the question Koho viděl Jakub? - Who did Jacob see? but Alenu viděl Jakub to answer the question Kdo viděl Alenu? - Who saw Alena? Then, naturally, the both answers do mean that Jacob saw Alena, even if there is Alena at the beginning of the second one.)
4. Verbal aspect. All Slavonic languages are characterized by opposition between perfective and imperfective verbs, while Germanic languages do use various tenses. The perfective verbs express an event as finished, they denote a complete change of situation. The imperfective verbs denote the situation in its course, as habitual or being repeated, as a property or ability of the subject, etc. (e.g. in Czech Petr napsal dopis - Peter wrote a letter (complete change of situation), but Petr psal dopis - Peter was writing a letter (a course of an event).
| Nuttige zinnen. | Užitečné věty. |
| Goedemorgen, meneer! | Dobré jitro, pane! |
| Hoi gaat het met u? | Jak se vám vede? |
| Dank u, best. | Děkuji, dobře. |
| Ik ben hongerig. | Jsem hladový. |
| Is hier ergens een McDonald`s? | Je tu někde McDonald? |
| Dank u. | Děkuji vám. |
| Na u, mevrouw. | Až po vás, paní. |
| Vindt u het erg als ik morgen kom betalen? | Mohl bych to zaplatit až zítra? |
| Ik ben ook mijn pas kwijt. | Nemám ani svůj pas. |
| Ik ben een diplomaat, | Jsem diplomat, |
| u mag niet in mijn koffer kijken. | nemůžete se koukat do mého kufříku. |
| Dit is voor persoonlijk gebruik. | To je pro mou osobní potřebu. |
| Tot ziens! | Nashledanou! |
Evaluations.
Yes, evaluating was one of the most important activities during the Czech week, but not taking too long and hopefully prepared (by Martin and B2) interesting enough to be funny. Especially all the pictures, artistically created by B2, were great. For some people it was original, but sometimes too long and confrontating, but surely it helped, and it was good for communication.
The Cake.
We used a wedding cake, or "frgál" in Wallachian dialect (used around Rožnov), for the evaluation of the first part of our project, i.e. Sunday, the meeting day, and Monday in Rožnov, with getting to know each other, walking in the mountains, and shooting in the afternoon. There was an empty, unspiced cake and many different spices available. Everyone got his own piece of it, and it was up to his feelings, how spiced he will make it.
Different approaches appeared, some pieces became real art-pieces, some people, on the other hand, spiced their pieces in a really systematic way. For all, Jacob is the best example for this, with time axis running from the center to the edge and predefined meanings of each spice used: pepper for problems, raisins & chocolate for good feeling, sugar for good work-progress, hot paprika for arguments, clove for agreable things, poppy for agreable cool weather, and flakes for bright diversity. By the way, the flakes was really a multi-use spice which, in the contrary to the bright diversity, for B2 symbolized dull and ugly feelings. Yes, some people were so mad about it, that they wanted to make more pieces. Luckily, there were three more left.
What were our feelings about the first day you can see on the ready cake. Would you like a piece?
The football team.
The second evaluation activity, for evaluating Tuesday, the day full of shooting with an exhausting move from Rožnov to Telč, shooting or making an artificial man, night discussion about shooting and program, and sleeping in the attic of an old mill, gave us the possibility to build up a real (football) team.
There was a poster with a photo of certain football team, the glue, and many various faces, cut out from magazines, available. Everyone had to choose the face, which most expressed his feelings about the day, stick it to the member of the team, who best fitted to his position, write down his name, and explain to the others, why is he like that.
Important was, that everything was translated into and from Czech, just to be sure, that everyone understands and can properly express his feelings. Many interesting ideas came out, which were written down by Rosine. Although the involved people liked the shooting, we agreed on that this project does not consist only of the filming. To work together as a whole group, or just to be together and have some fun, is important thing to make all the people happy, and herewith also the filming successful.
Finally, already just naming the problems poured a new optimism into our thoughts and deeds. We made up a team, and this team went for successful finishing of the project and making the film.
The mountain.
In the next evaluation we evaluated Wednesday with the visit of Telč, move to Osika and the evening at Landštejn, Thursday with shooting in Hůrky and narrow gauge train, making posters, semantic differential, funny games, Jindřichův Hradec, narrow gauge railway trip and national presentation in Hůrky, Friday with one more shooting in the train and move to Prague, and Saturday morning in Prague and the lecture about differences between Slavonic and Germanic languages. We made this as alpinistic teams.
Everyone had to draw his long climb through these days on a shoulder of a mountain painted by B2, which was one meter higher than Mount Everest because our project was surely higher than anything in the world, wasn't it?
It was interesting to follow people remembering their feelings and trying to express them as an alpinistic climb. There were also some teams, which went not only up, but as well down in some parts of the climb, as injured climbers do... Jacob, for example, needed an extra sheet of paper, for on Wednesday morning he started by descending.
But fortunately, after climbs of different lengths, we met on Saturday, all the teams very near the peak of Mount Fly With Us!
The circles and the sculptures.
The last evening of the Czech week, the "celebration", was nice time hopefully for all of us. The most demanding part of the project with all the filming was behind our backs, and we finally had more time just to be and talk more with our new friends.
But first, some final evaluating was done. First of all, there was a paper with the name of the activity and a big circle sticked on the wall, one for each activity we did (not only shooting, or diver's competition, or walk in the mountains, but also the travel to Telč etc.). Everybody, who wanted to comment certain activity, could do anything in the specific circle. To draw something, or even to stick something there, or just write down something. We are using these comments throughout the whole booklet, in the respective chapters. They are in italics, so you can easily recognize them.
These activities were really interesting for most of us, so we discussed the evaluation problematics and carrying out the project a little bit more.
We liked the evening: Very cosy, well arranged. Liked the games with sculptures, don't want to think about tomorrow - ride home (from the circles). There is no need of further description of this evening, the more, that we, the drivers, went for sleep early.
Our group.
This sculpture was made by Annelieke, and here you are her comment to it:
OK. I don't have the explanation for everybody. I mean together, if somebody happens to stand in front of you, or whatever...
I start with Jacob and Alena, because I think they were the first ones the Dutch group got to know. And because they are often together, they should stand together.
Then Martin came along, as a coordinator, and he was doing his coordinating job, I don't know, to make clear everything, and also he was the main part in getting peace together, a big part.
Behind Martin is Jeroen, I think, because I wanted to make Martin a bridge between Jeroen and Jacob, that's actually it. I think just like something to connect the two, although they are standing together, but not too close, should be there, and that is Martin.
In front of Martin, there is standing Reva. Because I think she should stand in front of him. Not because she is small, but it is like the saying that behind every guy there is a women, this is like in front of every guy there is a women. And she is always bringing the silent joy in, and it keeps things going on.
Close behind Reva is Sanne, because I think that these two had a silent part in getting things together. The calm, quiet - the glue. You know what I mean. They always could quieten people down, they were always there. They have this in common.
Now I really do not know. OK. Behind Jeroen, there are standing Constant and Johan, the camera-men - they are lying actually. Ger and Mieke and Jeroen, I think that they know each other, and they can help each other. A small group within the group, that's them.
Next to Reva, should actually be standing Kytka, for me the main guy. He was also bringing the joy: The diner is ready! For me that was him, being enthusiastic about everything. I think he really kept the move and everything going. That was really important.
In front of Kytka, there are Coen and Rosine. Coen was for me about the same as Kytka. Like being funny all the time. I think that is one of the main things that you need to make the group going. And they are in front actually just because they are probably more in front than they want to be. Probably because Rosine is always making remarks about Coen, I put her next to him. I think they like each other a bit more than they want to admit. And B2, I actually did not know where to put him, but I thought he found his new friend, so I put him next to Coen.
I put Fimfa at her place next to Kytka, she had a little bit different task, but I wanted to put her next to him. James is standing next to the others camera-men, and inbetween the two directors. And I put Kotva next to him, because they are always together, and maybe a bit behind Jacob and Alena. She is really a quiet person, but when I heard her sing, it was like loud and beautiful and strong, so that's good that she took the chair.
Sjaak is more a corner person, who is obviously there, but more in the background. He is really needed there. Bianca is standing in front of him, at the side, because she really does not like to stay in the center. I think that the same holds for Katka, she is very silent, and I think it's good, that Alena is standing behind her.
And I think I said everybody. Is that enough explanation?
And I want to stand next to Alena. Maybe I could stand next to Mieke, who I know very well, that's maybe my place, but I want to stand next to Alena.
Annelieke, according to the tape
Annelieke. ®
A noble dame and a tattooed, free girl in one person. She lives in Nijmegen, the only(?) hilly town in Holland, and is very proud of it. She is a vegetarian and smokes and drinks a lot. But she is not bad!
Sjaak. ¬
The most important and reliable gear wheel in our project machine. But it broke out couple of teeth even to him. A guru in fire fighting on the board. A lover of beer, pizza, music and motorcycles!
Martin. ¬
Leader of the Czech group, strict and disagreable. He knows everything better than the others do, and is close connected with the bureaucracy of EU which he respects more than real people. His Dutch has a South African accent. The Czech spiritual father of the project.
James. ®
He was thrown from the tower. But he did not become exasperated and enjoyed the project and camera-work, though. He is looking forward to EU very much!
Jacob. ¬
Father of the film. He wanted to experience cooperation with other nation, but nobody of us could understand him and his conception. Perhaps because of his systematic character and close relationship to computers. He will hate money after the project because he did the Czech money administration.
Travelling in the
Czech Republic and
in the Netherlands.
Here you are two maps to refresh your knowledge of geography. You can see here, among others, how we travelled during the exchange, and you may recognize some historical sights we have seen, too. We travelled quite a lot, so we could see many interesting things. But it was sometimes exhausting: not only the move from Rožnov to Telč, but especially the journey through Germany, which is not pictured here, as it would take the most space on the page. In whole, we travelled about 1000 km in the Czech Republic, one way across Germany is also about 1000 km long, and in Holland we travelled a bit as well, but we sailed more.
The Dutch week.
Lytse Hylke.
We spent the first four days on a ship in Holland. The ship was called Lytse Hylke, and it was built in 1907 as a sailing ship. In 1930 all the sails were taken off, and the engine was added. It was used then as a cargo motor-ship. Age, the present-day captain, bought it in 1970 and rebuilt it into a sailing ship to transport passengers. But he left the engine there. And why is it called Lytse Hylke, what does it mean? They were nine brothers: Age and eight boys more. Their father's name was Hylke. And his first-born grandson was named Hylke, too. But they called him Lytse Hylke, Little Hylke, not to mistake the grandfather for the grandson.
There was electricity on board and water as well, just like at home. There was a 6.000-litre-water-tank, which is normally sufficient for five days. But we spared the water (by washing our bodies and hair in the sea), so we used up only 4.000 litres of it. We were also surprised how nice furnished could such ship be. There were small but comfortable beds, a sink, a chest under it, a little waste bin, and a mirror in each cabin. Then a large living room (even with a CD-player) and a kitchen with a gas cooker and all the pots and pans, glasses, cups, plates etc. And finally three toilettes and two showers with both cold and hot water. It was really very nice there.
The ship had four sails. The very first one, just ahead of it, was called jib. Then we had fog, the main sail, and mizzen. When the fog is up, and you want it down, it is called fog off. Unfortunately, the joke is not going by the other sails. The main sail was going up by two ropes, and it was running by a winch. When we were aggressive, we could lose our aggressivity by the winch to turn it, as it was quite hard to do it by a strong wind. Only two sails (the main sail and the fog) had a gaff on the top. When the sails were up, we could switch them. It had to be done by sheets. But it was quite heavy for one person to do it. The main sail could be switched easily by five people. We were told that if we were trying to switch the sail, and it was too heavy, and nobody was nearby to help, we should just let it go and run away. That was about the sails. The left side of the ship was called port, the right side starboard.
Then we were warned not to stand in the ropes. It could be very dangerous if one wants to switch the main sail, and another one has his feet caught in a rope loop. We were also asked not to drink alcohol during sailing. Otherwise we could catch ourselves too, or fly overboard.
Written according to Age's speech on the tape.
Sailing.
Did you know what kluiver, bezaan, fok and groot zeil mean before our project? I didn't.
But during five days on the board of Lytse Hylke, I discovered many beauties of this sport (or activity, if you want). I think, all of us really enjoyed the days of sailing, it was wonderful and I'd like to say thanks to the captain Age. We could admire nice towns and IJselmeer as well.
Lytse Hylke was about 30 metres long; it was ketch (sailors' term), because the back mast was smaller than the front one.
It had five sails (from front to back): the flying jib (létavka), the jib (kluiver, kosatka), the staysail (stěhovka), the main sail (groot zeil, hlavní plachta) and the mizzen (bezaan, besan). The two last ones are also called spankers (vratiplachty) because they have two yards (ráhna).
I liked all the work with sailing; I could try steering, work with blocks (kladky), or cruising (křižování). It was a great feeling, when you were steering that long, big ship.
We could do some other activities on the board: talking, lying in the sun, taking pictures, and jumping into the water. When we were anchored, we could swim or try canoe sport. But canoeing was a little bit short for me and Martin because we made a submarine from the canoe. Poor Age...
Some more information about sailing are included (for the Czech people) in the book Minilexikon k dějinám lodí a námořní plavby, Radomír Pleiner, Naše Vojsko, 1994.
Fimfa
The table game.
After a short walk through Enkhuizen, we went back to the ship and spent the evening there by playing Remco's special table game. Two teams, the Czech one and the Dutch one, competed in answering questions many concerning history, arts, music, sports and geography. By a good answer, the team could move its bottle to another field to try one more question, by a bad answer, the other team got its chance. The point was to collect color circles for a good answer at each of the six corner-fields and to bring them to the end-field, where the last question was waiting. Then question was when Remco was born.
The game was funny, and not stupid. Everybody liked it. The chase was almost equal, but one team had to win, of course. It was the Dutch team. And what was interesting, the Dutch people were good in music questions, while the strengths of the Czech people were the classical subjects like history and geography.
Captain Age and his family.
The captain lives on the ship, even in winter. He is not sailing at that time, of course, but studying to get a licence for a cargo ship. He has been living there for about seven years. Lytse Hylke is his first ship, but he experienced sailing on other ships, as well. Last year, for example, he went to Chicago on a traditional Norwegian ship. It was very big, so that 8 people were needed as sailors, 2 persons in the kitchen, and it had about 50 passengers. Then he went back on a ship which looked exactly like one of the ships of Christopher Columbus.
The main ruler on the ship was the dog. It was called Frieda.
Comments to sailing.
Alena: We are on the ship. The gate has been opened recently. We are now steering somehow. Do we pass through the lock? Reva has a goose-flesh because of the wind. We use the engine to get out of the harbour, otherwise we are sailing.
Reva: What should I tell you? I don't know. My head is swimming a bit. After the whole day on the ship.
Alena: It's better to lay down and close your eyes. You don't feel like that then.
Age: We were in Switzerland on holiday. It was very nice, the mountains, everything. But after a week I felt unwell, sick at the stomach, you know. And I looked forward back to the sea.
Reva: On the ship, it was the best the last day: the wind was not so strong and the sun was shining, so that you could sit on the board. Or we simply got used to it?
A discussion.
A discussion, which turns over to some particular difficulties we met, and tries to find why. A discussion, which could be interesting for any people who are going to realize similar project, the more if it will be a Czech-Dutch exchange.
Martin: I tried to explain to the Dutch leaders what
was going on in the Czech week and how it went. They were
interested but only for five minutes. Then they told me
OK, give me the list with the four groups. They don't
care!
Rosine: They do care, but not in the way you want them.
Martin: They don't want to listen to what I'm telling.
Sanne: They are listening, but only in private. And it's also a personality thing. And the program is also different. When we are sailing, we are free.
Rosine: Yes. And that's not what you want.
Martin: Yes. That's not what we want.
Rosine: But we in Prague...
Martin: It was too busy, I know. We did not manage to make free time.
Sanne: Actually, we did not want to shop in Prague, but we wanted to be allowed to. It was the whole thing. We felt like seeing the castle and everything, but you would need at least a week to see it.
Rosine: I think that Remco and Mathieu want us to get up so early tomorrow morning just to avoid such delays as on Saturday in Prague.
Martin: If there is such agreement, I will get up. It is no problem for me. But you know, they did not tell us. So I have no idea when to get up.
Rosine: For me this is also a problem. I don't know anything about their whole program.
Martin: I even asked them, please could you tell us something about the program. They did not plan to do it.
Rosine: Yes. They wanted it to be a surprise for us. That's the whole problem. And you feel like knowing everything what's going on. But it's the same thing as it was in your country. We wanted to know what's going on, and you thought no, it should be a surprise.
Martin: No. I always told you.
Rosine: Yes, but something you didn't want to explain too much.
Martin: I did, but I couldn't explain the whole program with all details in one moment. I tried to, but the people were interested only in one thing, which was next on a program.
Sanne: And the things are changing.
Martin: There was such a plan to make the breakfast at eight, and after that fifteen minutes just to sit down and talk about what is going on for the whole day. But you know, with your Dutch group it was not possible. Everybody was sleeping, taking shower, and so on.
Rosine: Yes. That's why you should have a person, I think, even though it's not very nice, to say why are you in shower now, we told everybody to be here at eight, so out of the shower.
Martin: OK. Give me such person and I will be satisfied. You see, I'm not a leader in this sense.
Rosine: Just ask in a newspaper: Group of Czech people is looking for communist sergeants...
Martin: A good feeling of well done work will be your award...
Sanne: But also the delay with filming was...
Martin: Yes, it was really bad. But I think we finally managed to solve most of the problems.
Rosine: Yes. Are you taping it, by the way?
Martin: Yes. I'm going to use it.
Reva: About the filming. There was a plan to have a bigger discussion on Monday before the first shooting. And Jeroen only said I need Alena and Jacob and Sanne and I don't know for the first scene, and that was all. I thought it would be a talk about the people's emotions, about their expectations. It could help us to avoid a lot of problems.
Rosine: I think the thing about the discussions was that the Dutch group sees discussion as something... there are questions or thing that have to be solved. But the only thing happening seemed to be each side is defending their own ideas, but not trying to find the solution. And that's why the discussions are going on for hours and hours and hours. And the people are becoming irritated. Then we knew soon who was thinking what, the only thing was we had to find something that both groups would be satisfied with. But it's also personality question. Me, I did not think there were so many problems. Everything just went wrong somehow. Not wrong in a bad way, but just the time. I think the whole thing was that everybody wanted time for themselves a bit. Just to relax.
Reva: Yes. We planned to work hard in Monday afternoon and in Tuesday, and then to relax at the Osika campsite. But the journey to Telč also took too long and the crash of the mood came earlier than we expected.
Rosine: And I must also say that few people of our group were very easily irritated. By no reason. Especially in Prague, I could kill some of them. You see that were only little things that are not the end of the world, but it makes me feel like that. But maybe it's me. I don't know. And you can write that down, Martin! Don't use any names. Because I don't mean all these things to be nasty about the people, I'm only trying to understand them.
Sanne. ®
A typical Dutch tourist, with a practical bag etc. She drinks red wine like the other Dutch girls, while the Czech girls prefer white wine.
Mathieu. ¬
In Czech transcription Matěj which pronounced means door-mat in Dutch. He is taking too long to sit on loo. It belongs to his image.
He found out that usually there is not the key at Czech toilets which would be very strange in Holland. He helped Remco to help us to survive the sail.
Remco. ®
A real sea-dog who helped us to survive the sail. And a person who can tell long stories about every brick of the Royal Palace. He does not want to be average, and goes for the maximum. He is quite successful in fulfilling this wish - he is about two metres both high and wide.
Amsterdam.
Het Koninklijk Paleis.
In Amsterdam, a visit of the Royal Palace was arranged to see that one can admire not only windmills and narrow houses built of red bricks, but also some monumental buildings in Holland.
Remco took the guide role with pleasure, as he is really crazy about the Palace. First of all, he showed us a model of the centre of Amsterdam, just to persuade us that his passion for the Palace is nothing strange: such magnific building deserves deeper interest. It is even bigger than the church standing nearby! Then we went to de Vierschaar, the Tribunal of Justice. This room was only used for pronouncing the death sentence, so it was decorated very morbidly. We were so shocked that we did not want to see anything else after visiting it. But Remco did not care and continued the tour. We went through de Burgerzaal, the Citizen's Hall, representing a miniature universe, to several rooms furnished with Empire style furniture. We also saw an exhibition concerning court music. On one picture we could see a great ball taking place in the Citizen's Hall, the room with all the maps on the floor, and the statues all around. Almost unbelievable. By the way, there was only a large area of Germania pictured on the map of central Europe. No Czech lands or anything like that. Surely, we saw many portraits of Dutch kings, as well. It was interesting that a queen who came to Holland from Spain or France (I do not remember it by now) was so unhappy about the Dutch windy weather that after fourteen days she had to go back home. And what to say about today's queen of Holland? She is not living in the Royal Palace, but she is staying here if she comes to Amsterdam, and welcoming guests, of course. Therefore some rooms are constantly reserved for her. Normally she lives in the Paleis Het Loo near Apeldoorn, which is a copy of the Palace of Versailles. A part of the guide to the Royal Palace you can read in the color supplement.
The ties.
After the visit of the Royal Palace we went to Vondelpark , a large park named after a famous Dutch poet from the 16th century (none Czech knew him, which was quite discreditable). We were almost running, for we were in a hurry. But we were all (especially the Czechs) very interested in everything in Amsterdam, for instance in a strange round bike with six seats, or in a flower market. It was the most popular flower market in Amsterdam, so Kotva wanted to see it (she studies botany and is enthusiastic about flowers). We joined her, of course, but we started to do some shopping soon. Martin and Kytka bought two awful ties, dark blue, decorated with many pieces of yellow Emmenthal cheese and a mouse. You know, they wanted to represent Czech Republic as real gentlemen. But they did not manage, as Remco came, a bit angry: I told you just a brief look, and no shopping, the group is waiting for you etc. So we had to run much more faster than before to catch the start of next program, a game.
The game.
The group was divided into two halves that competed against each other. Each of them received a paper (actually three papers) with questions that should be answered during a walk through Amsterdam. A description which way to go was included. It was prepared very well, lots of hidden historical monuments were chosen to pass by, and to discover something about them. We saw, for example, monuments of Mr. Vondel and queen Emma, an orthodox church, house-signs related to Den Helder, a clinic for alcohol addicted people, many bridges, some modern buildings, an artificial hill, the National Bank of Holland, a big synagogue, and the City Hall with a special device which measured how high the sea level reached.
It was nice, but maybe too long. Everybody came to the pub, where the game ended, very tired. And some people were fed up by the numerous mistakes (intentional mistakes?) in the description or even by the game itself. It was pity because they did not enjoy the walk at all. But everything turned for the better: everybody enjoyed the evening in the pub later on.
How to buy a cheap bike in Amsterdam.
We met a young man with a red bike while we were walking through Amsterdam. He asked us if we did not want to buy a bicycle. For 60 guilders! It attracted our attention, we found it so funny that someone wanted to sell a bike to us. And he started to bless it. What a nice red color! The most beautiful red color in the whole world. And we said 60 guilders was too much. And suddenly it cost 45 guilders. Then Jacob tried if it worked, and the price sank to 35. What a soft seat! As if made for you. The most beautiful bicycle... We were really hesitating, we liked it. So Jacob said 25. And the man replied 30, which was in the middle. We could do a good business. But then we realized: What would we do with a bike on the ship? And the man started to show us how small the bike was, how perfectly it would fit into the cabin etc. The best bike to have on a ship. Then it cost 20, but we did not want it, though.
The man said: You have been wasting my time! And look at the tires! You have worn them down! I could offer the bike to other tourists twenty times! Twenty more bikes! I could sell all these bikes! He showed us some bikes which were just parking there. And he wanted us to give him 9 guilders, which is worth 15 minutes of his work. And we told him 1 guilder maximum. And he said at least 5. But we did not have any coins, anyway. And he said, a ten-guilder-note would be good enough. But you know, it was too much for us. So he asked us to bring him something to eat. Some special food. And Jacob took the bike and went to the shop.
While he was looking for the food, the man and his friend were harassing me. How long have I been together with Jacob, and if I like sex. What should I say? And if I am content with Jacob, or if I wanted a real man. I answered that the main thing is whether the woman is a real woman or not. And he asked me if I prefer women. And I replied I am not lesbian. So he took me by the hand to try if it is mild. Finally, Jacob came with six hot chicken wings, and rescued me.
Alena and Jacob, from the tape
Average height of Dutch people.
What is interesting about the Dutch people? That the average height of an average Dutchman is higher than elsewhere in Europe. It is not clear now... As if the average height of an Dutchman in Holland were higher than the average height of an Dutchman staying elsewhere. But it is like that: the average height of an Dutchman is higher than the average height of an not-Dutch-man. From Europe, of course.
Alena, from the tape
Hoorn.
Hoorn is one of the oldest harbours in Holland, founded by the East Indian Company (VOC). We will have a little walk now, and imagine the harbour full of ships, shouting people with bags on their shoulders with pepper and other spices, with coffee. It was the century when potatoes came to Holland, the 17th century, and so on, so on, so on.
This statue represents Mr. Coen, captain Coen, one of the first generals of VOC, because VOC was founded in 1602. He founded Batavia, now Jakarta. You can see here one motto of his: "Don't desperate". Another one, which you can find on some monuments, is "Stand by your faith". But then he had mottos like "Always kill all of your enemies" or "It is good to avoid the competition by killing the opponents". The members of VOC were not only tradesmen, but also pirates, you know. And that was the reason why they made the ship boys of captain Bonteco heroes, they were brave and not as contradicting as their captain.
This building, in the corner of the square, is de vaag . They put all the goods brought by the ship there, and it couldn't be sold until it was weighed up. Because of the taxes.
And this house is now a museum where you can see the culture of this part of Holland (West Friesland). Before, it was the place where the leaders of VOC of this part of Holland were sitting. If you look at the corners, they put there two old cannons as a decoration. Holland was in war for two hundred years, not constantly but in several wars, and at the end of all those wars we had so many cannons... Now, we have a canal from Amsterdam to Den Helder. That is a canal about 90 km long, and every 20 metres one cannon is standing there, as decoration, too. But about 15 years ago, some people discovered it - it is something that people forget easily - and tried to dig it out.
You can see here some decorations, some baroque elements or classical elements. You are used to baroque or renaissance buildings in Prague. But in Holland, they are very seldom. It is hardly any decoration, and that is because the time of baroque and renaissance was not going very well in Holland. Everybody was sitting on his money. In the 16th, 17th century everybody invested that, and in the 18th and 19th century everybody put the money to the bank and just waited.
Remco, from the tape (the typists are sorry for eventual mistakes)
Restaurant Bohemen, Appelhaven 26, Hoorn
Fimfa met Martin and Reva somewhen in the evening, and told them about a Czech restaurant which was nearby. They all three went there to have a look and to read the menu. But the owner came out, hearing some Czech, and invited them to drink a cup of coffee together. And he was talking and talking. For he knows both the Czech as well as the Dutch people, it was really interesting:
He: I have been here for twenty years.
Fimfa: For twenty years! You must speak Dutch very well. We find it difficult.
He: It is, but just at the beginning. I couldn't say any word when I came.
Reva: How did you learn? From a textbook?
He: From the TV, and newspapers. I didn't have time to go to school.
Fimfa: It's a very nice place here.
He: And good for fishing. There are many eels here. The best ones from the area of IJselmeer... We are the only one Czech restaurant in Holland.
Fimfa: Really?
He: One must be mad to do it.
Martin: What do you think about the Dutch people? The ones from our group are always making breaks to have some coffee...
He: A Dutchman, if there is a coffee-break, is going to have his coffee even if he is holding a released hand grenade. He will throw it away and drink the coffee. Coffee is a national drink in Holland. And they have the best coffee in the world.
Fimfa: We took them to Beskydy, to see some mountains, and they were quite tired after a short walk. They didn't expect it to be so up and down.
He: There is a hill near Limburg here, and they call it mountain. I was in Krkonoše mountains in the Czech Republic, in Špindlerův Mlýn last winter. We were hiking to the source of Labe, and I thought we wouldn't meet anybody there. But suddenly a group of Dutch people appeared in front of us...
Fimfa: We showed them also the Open Air Museum in Rožnov. And we had lunch there. Some typical Czech food. Cabbage, sausages and pork meat. They mostly liked it.
He: I had a girlfriend from Rožnov. Dana Janečková. It was a big love.
Fimfa: And they tasted medovina there. They found it very nice, and Czech beer as well.
He: Dutch people like everything what flows. And the more the cheap it is.
He: It will be a hot weather tomorrow.
Reva: That's great. I can't stand the wind on the ship.
He: But it's good, the wind. The air is always fresh here. Always when we come to the Czech Republic, the air there is so thick, I mean the smog, that my eyes are red soon. And I have a headache, really. And the terrible stink. I wouldn't live there even if I were given three houses. But if I knew how hard the life in Holland would be, I would never emigrate. I worked in factories for the first three months, as I couldn't speak Dutch. It was horrible. And I did on the side, illegally. All my bags packed, waiting for the police. Then I got a place in Den Oever, as a cook. And then I got the residence and work permit. So now I feel compassion for the young Czech people who are here without papers. They are sleeping in cars, they have nothing. No work, nothing.
Reva: How many Czech people are there in Holland? Do you know?
He: Not many. Lots of them are illegally here now. They are working mostly on ships. In the kitchen, behind the bar etc. They found the job through an agency. For the first three months the work is legal. But they don't earn much, about 1 200 guilders per month. And they are working for the whole day long. A girl came to me this morning. She had a toothache. I drove her to my dentist, but she wasn't insured. It will cost her a lot. 400 guilders. I don't know why they are coming to Holland. My Czech friends have each two houses, two cars, they go to Spain every summer, and they don't work much (he is exaggerating). It's typical Czech, not to work much but to take all the advantages of being employed. The Dutch people are saving. That's why they are going to Czech Republic for holiday. Everything is cheap there.
Reva: Hoorn is beautiful.
He: Yes, it is. And the harbour is nice. They say one of the most beautiful harbours in Holland. But I can't compare it.
Reva: We like the houses in Holland. The narrow, slanting houses.
He: There are two reasons why the houses are not upright. First, they are built on the new land, received by draining the sea, which is wet and sometimes not able to hold the houses. Second, the land was always expensive here, so "clever" Dutch people bought only twenty square metres of it, and built their houses wider in the upper floors, so they could have forty square metres. But it wasn't stable, you see.
End of the tape.
Den Oever.
We were lucky to be back on the firm footing after four days spent on the ship. That was why we were looking forward to Den Oever. But, unfortunately, the town disappointed us a little.
We took part in a walk in vicinity which was prepared by a local scout group. We received a sheet of paper where the tour was described and some more information about the region, its landscape and culture added. The region is called Wieringen(?), which comes from a Frisian word meaning high. It is quite strange, for the land is there exactly as high as the sea-level.
We went to the sea to admire typical Dutch landscape, and feel the fresh air, but the weather was so warm (look at Jacob on the picture, he got crazy of the heat!) that we did not admire anything but the "wonderful" artificial beach: a place of fifty square metres full of children lying on hot sand. We were curious why they did not swim in the water by such weather. And we found out soon: we went into the sea, and we could go thirty metres, forty metres, or even farther from the coast, and the sea was still knee-deep. So we decided to return to the house.
We should be shown some bound wooden constructions, and how to make them, but the scouts even did not demonstrate the one already standing there (see the picture). They simply did not try to get in contact with our group. So we amused ourselves by arranging some rope-games, singing and hall-football.
Dutch specialities.
Stampot.
This is called stampot and depending on which vegetable is going in it, it has different names. It is something stampot. So this is andijvi(?) [ondajfi], so it's andijvi stampot. Normally we eat it with speck, that's špek in your language, and smoked sausage, but we sometimes also eat it with mince meat. And we put it next, and you can choose what you want. But because we have a large group of people, we stir everything together. - So stampot is potatoes smashed with vegetables. - Yes. And it's traditionally eaten in wintertime because it's nice and hot and it's very filling. - And what does stampot mean? - Pot is the pan. It basically means it's an easy dish you can prepare in one pan. And stamp means to mash it.
Rosine, from the tape
Nasi.
It originates from our Indonesian colony. It consists of rice together with spices and vegetables, mostly onions, and meat. Normally we use pig meat or chicken. But this is some sausage. It is typically holiday meat. It's Peter's favourite, it's called smack. And it's a bit spicy, but it's very nice.
Rosine, from the tape
Differences in eating habits.
As expected, some problems with food arose during the project. They mainly originated in differences between Czech and Dutch eating habits. Czech people are used to eat three times a day, that means breakfast and two meals (at noon and in the evening) which are both quite heavy and often warm. Dutch people, on contrary, eat their breakfast later, so they take a bite at noon, and an early (seen from the Czech point of view) dinner is their only warm and nutritious meal.
The result was that the Dutch group found the eating times in Czech Republic irregular (it was almost impossible to prepare all the warm meals in time on the camping gas cooker), and the Czech people were hungry in Holland (one small croissant served at noon was really not enough). Dutch people usually do not eat their own traditional food, they prefer Italian or Mexican food. Czech people like it as well, but they like also Czech food, which is totally different (a lot of potatoes, pork meat and hardly any fresh vegetables). Maybe that is why the food in Holland was tasty for everybody, while some of us were really not crazy about Czech food.
Stroepsodijches(?).
That's a very old-fashioned kind of lolly. It's made from a kind of sirup. And that's it! I like it because I always like sweet things.
Rosine, from the tape
Katka. Ż
Always tired from the grip-work, but she liked it! She speaks English only a little, and our interpreters often forgot it. But she has made progress. She became a vegetarian during the project (she even did not eat the Kytka's special meat-cans).
It's important to be on a tape.
I've got nothing to say, but I will say something because I think it is important to be on the Martin's tape.
I enjoyed the project, that's the whole thing. I have to think about evaluation now. And we are walking now to the Mathieu's house. There we are going to eat fish. And we have one philosophy: Fish must swim.
That was my story. So is it on a tape? All right.
Constant, from the tape
Fried fish party.
Fried fish party at Mathieu's parents' place was the last day after-first-night activity, i.e. celebrating the successful finishing of the film and evaluating the whole project.
We sat in the garden, talked much with each other and with other coming people, e.g. from Den Helder's local newspaper, and were served with fish and good mood as a side-dish. See also the color supplement.
Evaluation theatre.
Later, the evaluation theatre took place. We were divided into four mixed up groups, and each group had to enact their feelings from the whole project, each in a little bit different way: either as drama, or theatre, or in humorous or "free" way.
It could be really embraced, but due to a little bit confusing instruction, not directly dedicated time and also a global fatigue (also from the English), most people were not really enthusiastic about it. Moreover, not all of us were sure if it was worthy enough as a real evaluation. At least if not discussed after in the group.
Nevertheless, the performing itself was really nice, and both actors and public enjoyed it. And, maybe, we were also all more relaxed after the successful end of the project. You can see more pictures in the color supplement.
A poem.
A little bit different was this poem, conceived as evaluation by the leaders of the Dutch group, written by Rosine and read by her together with Ger and Sjaak. This is a transcription from the tape - sorry for some little not-understandings.
As a nation of traditional seafarers
We decided to take a bus.
Actually there were two buses
Who cares, not us.
In the Czech Republic
Going from place to place
Making the film about the fly
And always the camera in the face.
Seeing beautiful historical sights
And on the road we had some little frites.
The country was very beautiful
But our schedule a bit full.
Discussions took place nearly every day
Because there always was something to say.
Within all participants' confusion
We finally came to a positive conclusion.
We learnt a lot about each other's culture and traditions
And learnt to express our inner motions.
Flies were everywhere in the group
On our backs and in the soup.
After finishing filming, acting and discussing
We got back to start busing.
After a very, very long trip
We arrived to Holland to exchange the buses for a ship.
Sailing the IJselmeer from side to side
And for everyone a cabin for the night.
The Czechs learnt to do things Dutch
But sometimes the difference was a bit too much.
With the result of the exchange we were very proud
Because bad bits we had just edited out.
An exchange is like soup in a very big plate,
very nice, but sometimes there is a fly in it, which is not so great.
Thank you everybody for your cooperation
Hopefully this exchange will bring us closer to a united European nation.
B2. ¬
He has found a suitable job for himself. He wants to be a homeless - professional. It is important to know about him that he is investigating people, especially around coffeeshops. And as homeless he has got enough possibilities to do this investigation.
Ger.
A crazy cultural-worker / musician / producer - labelmaker / painter & creator and a real family-man in one person, born in Brasil and spending the rest of his life on Texel-island. Always makes jokes, even in hard moments. But leading the Dutch group was probably too hard for him - look at his gray hair.
Johan. ¬
A KGB-spy. Be careful, he carries his video-camera always with him. If you want to know more about him, order the 60-page-Johan-Smidts-manual.
Peter. ®
Known as "Attila the Hun", real professional. Aware contradicting him. But finally, later in a pub, he becomes a nice person. The Dutch spiritual father of the project.
Jeroen. Ż
A very promising prospective director. An adoptive father of the film. Interested in Czech politics and Kung-Fu (in all other aspects real Dutchman).
Shooting.
You can find some detailed information about shooting on
the following pages. It is quite long, as shooting was the
central activity of our project, and lots of emotions were
connected with it, as well. We decided it would be better to
write down only some notes or comments to it, which
were taped during the project, because everybody has still
now his own opinion of filming, and an unbiased,
objective view is almost impossible. Then Alena, our
script-writer, was asked to write something down. She points
at several problems we had to solve, so her text is quite
pessimistic. But the result of our work, the film itself, is
not so bad. And that is what the part applied to the first
projection describes. You can also see the part of the original
script below. And finally, many thanks to all the
actors from Alena.
Comments to shooting.
Jeroen about his position of director: For me it is not having power. I'm trying to make it work, and I'm responsible for a big part of the project to succeed. And at that point, I want to make it. So that's not because I want to make it that much.
Martin: I assisted at only one shooting, the "Sleeper", Thursday morning in Hůrky. I would like you to know, that I really liked the atmosphere by shooting. All the work, not easy due to problems with camera, shooting the night, etc., was done in nice, relaxed climate, with no stress. Even if hurrying, nobody felt uneasy. I really liked that buying gingerbread, translating for James and making coffee.
James: It's quite difficult, to discuss everything in English.
Alena: Fimfa, I'd like to ask you how you like the project. You know, we had to cut out some of your roles in the film. I see, it is not easy to give a role up. Do you like the project, though?
Fimfa: I don't mind not acting. I haven't expected to get a role, I'm not extremely enthusiastic about acting. But I regret that I asked a friend to teach me the sign language, she was very busy at that time, and we did not use it. And the scene could be interesting and funny.
Reva: And I regret that I wasn't able to explain to the group that the Tuesday, when we went to Telč and should shoot three scenes, but in fact we did only two scenes, will be a really hard day. I tried to tell you that we are supposed to work as much as we can, not to relax, and that we will have enough time just to lie and do nothing on Wednesday. But, you know, the sun was shining too much and the journey took too long, or we were simply not able to get over our laziness. One scene had to be thrown away then, and we even didn't manage to play the meditative and interactive game to get more information about the others and to put the group together. Maybe it's not a laziness, it's true that the Dutch people aren't used to working like that. But it couldn't be a problem to try to do their best just for one day, even for them. I don't mind eliminating the game I prepared, I'm not conceited. But it could help to create a better group atmosphere.
Shooting in narrow gauge railway.
Jacob: How many times did I say it? About six times, didn't I?
Kytka: I think so. What is your voice, now? Because of speaking very loud six times.
Mieke: Like laughing.
Alena: But first time you laughed by yourself, didn't you?
Mieke: Yeah, when I start laughing, it's acting, and maybe I'll laugh because of my own laugh or him or whatever. It's my own laugh.
IN THE PAPER EDITION, HERE IS A PART OF ORIGINAL SCRIPT INSERTED.
The view of the script-writer.
Filming was hard work. The Dutch people were different, the communication had language barrier, and every person had his own opinion, his feelings and ambitions. But I expected the work to be even harder.
At the beginning of my work on our film I was asked to make very precise script. To write every detail to avoid making it on the spot. I made some idea of the film, the draft of the script. It was quite easy and I wanted to make the dialogues. But Martin was very dissatisfied. So I was trying to make something to fit into his demands. Reva, James and Jacob helped me with the ideas a lot. James wanted to help me with the form but our visions of the script were too different. Jacob spent many days with me putting the ideas and dialogues from my head into his computer. Martin also asked us to write there how to shoot it. This was very difficult work for me. Now I know we were making storyboard what the cameraman does normally. So here I can point at one big mistake we did: The work was not distributed between Czech and Dutch group and big part of my work was thrown away and done again in the right way by Johan, Constant and Jeroen in pressure of time during filming. Of course because the Dutch group was formed one week before we met. While the Czech participants were preparing the programme and filming, organizing the accommodation and transport, the Dutch people did not know if they would participate. They had organizers for this work. I am proud of my group because we got along on our own. That is one thing, but the other is that I did not appreciate how it worked in Dutch group in time. This was another big mistake of our communication.
We started filming in Rožnov by one easy scene with lazy sarcastic waitress acted by Fimfa. It was like a jump into ice-cold water because our roles were not clear. There were too many people on the spot. Peter's magic triangle working scheme seems now very funny to me. In two hours we found a way, how to work, though there were some tensions. Second shooting was complicated because of problems with the owners of the pub and making illusion of night. We have not used what we shot because of bad quality. Than we filmed in Telč where the people in restaurant were very friendly and Annelieke with Coen acted excellent, but cameramen and directors were too tired. So big discussion started about the positions again. I think that changing of directors and cameramen was good for that situation to let them have a rest enough and to fill the ambitions of more people. Maybe it is not good for quality...
We also argued about the importance of the film in project. Really exhausting. We spent a lot of time with evaluations. We had to loose some scenes because of the time. I was quite open to change the script, but I wanted to have there some logical connections. I am not sure if some people understood what I meant. Maybe the connections and context are not clear enough. I think it would be better if we took an already, by a professional, made script from an already dead author (for not to make him sad by our work). I wanted some people, who lost their roles by these changes, to play in the rest of the scenes, so I changed also casting.
During shooting the castle scene the atmosphere was not very good. My imagination was too clear, I advised too much, the others differed in their opinions. It was very complicated and in this stupid moment Jeroen ask Jacob to shoot it unprepared. It really was not nice, but Jacob did it and it was the first time he had an opportunity to be as useful as he wanted. There was a fight on my mind all the time: to do my best, to be everywhere and to defend and represent what I wrote in the script, or to leave it and only to answer questions. This time I left the spot but I am sorry about it. I had prepared it in my head. I did not participate even on next shooting. But I decided to direct the scene in the train with James as a cameraman. In the film it is the very end. I really enjoyed this work with him. Yes, he did that stupid mistake with the camera (switched off when filming, switched on when preparing for two shots) but I am satisfied with the result. I think Czech and Dutch group started to separate more and more from this moment. We did not have to work so hard together anymore. Editing was fine. It was cut a lot and it helped the film to be dynamical. Especially adding the music was effective.
All it was interesting experience. But I am happy it is already the past. It took too much time of preparing works. I like creative work but next time I would like to cooperate with smaller group of people who have more similar priorities. And who would understand me easier.
Alena
The first projection.
Even though the film was not finished yet (the subtitles, for example, were still missing), an imposing projection of it was arranged in Den Helder. Not only some other members of the youth centre were invited to see it, but also local-press-people and few representatives of the Town Hall.
First of all, Peter had a short speech about the whole project to introduce it to the not involved people: We will now see the end result of fifteen days of hard work. A lot of emotional things happened during this fifteen days. I have the impression that the first week, the Czech week, was quite hard, and the week in Holland was more relaxing, and I think that everybody can agree with me. I have seen the film in advance, and I personally think that the whole group did a great job. The film is not long, it's only ten minutes, but you can see that the cooperation between the both countries was good. Yes. Even Jacob did good job. My suggestion is first to see the film, and then I'd like to thank few people.
After the projection, Peter asked Mieke to say thank you to all the participants and to give each of them a rose. Mieke: This rose is for Jeroen, the director.
Two interviews.
Alena: Peter, how do you like the film?
Peter: I think it's a good story.
Reva: Can you understand the story? Isn't it too chaotic?
Peter: No. I think you can easily recognize some parts of it - you can recognize the fly, you can recognize some other things.
Alena: And is it possible to recognize that, for example, the boss is the cruel aristocrat from the first scene? Is it clear?
Peter: I don't think so.
Alena: That's a pity.
Peter: You remember more the lady in the restaurant, and the homeless. They are more typical characters.
Alena: I see. It's a pity that we haven't shot more details to make the spectator recognize also the less characteristic persons.
Peter: But I think that you can be proud of yourselves.
Alena: Thank you.
Jacob: It's a pity that people who were not
involved in the project can't recognize some details, but
the film as a whole is perfect, and I like it. And the music
is also great. It wouldn't be a film without music. And it
is Alena's work, and Johan's and Kees'.
Jeroen: So, do you like it?
Jacob: Yes.
Alena: Now we have to do the subtitles, and sometimes the music is like úúííeíí, just to clean it.
Jeroen: Yes, the subtitles. We really need it. And it could be some more music in it. And some sounds too. Like Coen in the restaurant, he should shout louder.
Alena: But I think we did our best.
Jeroen: Yes. If we consider that we worked only for two weeks, actually one week, and that it was our first movie, I think it's well done. And I'm glad you like it.
Jacob: And do you like it, too?
Jeroen: Hmm... yes. I wish we had more time. And I really would like to do it for second time.
Jacob: After years, the same script, the same people, the same project...
Alena: Oh! It sounds horrible.
Jeroen: I think it could be done better, but I'm content with the result.
Editing.
We started to edit the first scene, the "Increased in number". I liked it, it turned out well.
- Did Kees comment anything? - He didn't dare, I thing. He more asked. He is great. He is asking and advising. For instance, he analyzed the shot, explained what was good, what not so much, and how to do it better, but then he said: the decision is up to you. I like this approach, it's perfect. We decided according to his advice in most cases, anyway. And sometimes we told him some details why we shot it like that, and he said OK. And what was the best in the studio, they did not speak Dutch at all. Sometimes Jeroen forgot it and asked Kees in Dutch, but he answered him in English again. For him it's not a problem to thing in English, and to speak, or whatever. I thing it was really bad that they were speaking Dutch while shooting. Even if they only needed to discuss some technical problems in three minutes, and you had nothing to say to that, it was disagreable. You didn't understand them. Maybe it was the reason why the work in the studio was so great.
- Tell me now something about the scenes to know it in advance, for tomorrow.
- The "Increased in number" looks like in the script. Several shots were cut out, when she is coming and leaving, for example. But what's bad that you can't hear her question in the train at all, Sanne's. And you can't recognize her. - If she can close the window? - Yes. You don't know that she is speaking English. - Isn't it possible to tape it ones more and add it into the scene afterwards? - I asked Kees the same question. It would be very, very difficult. The sound of the train is very loud, and you couldn't retain it while adding another sound. And you would identify very easily that the sound of the train is missing. But it wouldn't help anyway, to see the sequence. Kees said that you can't recognize that it's the same person. - Maybe if she had the same cloths. - And she didn't? - It was after rain, she had a pullover. And she had a T-shirt before. - We should have been careful about it. - Moreover, you can see only her back all the time. She is reading the newspaper.
Then we did the "Lost elegance". Perfect. But I had to make the most difficult decision I ever did: whether to keep a scene between the "Lost elegance" and the "Homeless" or not. Kees said it would be strange, a homeless at the end of the first scene, then a totally different setting, and after that the homeless again. But I thought it would be too long, the two scenes with the homeless one by one. The spectator wouldn't notice that it's not one scene but actually two. It would last three minutes, which is one third of the film. So we kept the scene in between, but we didn't accentuate the homeless in the "Lost elegance". He looks like a man in the background. A good compromise.
Then the "Office". There is a problem with focusing. - Hm, when we shot Kytka in detail, a little.
- And what about the scenes that had been edited before? - They are cut out a lot. It was right, what Kees said. I had to agree with him. He said: the hardest thing is to kill your own baby. If you have a great shot that you are proud of, and somebody comes and tells you: it's nice, but what did you mean by that? And it's really hard to cut out a beautiful, but useless shot. For example the fight upstairs in the tower. Not even one second is it now.
And another thing. There aren't any flies in the film. - Not even the one in the train? - No. They should be everywhere, and it would be strange, only one fly. You would ask why the fly is there. - So it's not about flies, now. - It's about a fly in the soup. - That's a pity. It was a good idea. - Kees said it would be better to shoot details of the flies in the soup. That's what you had been repeating all the time: details, details, details. But Jeroen said that we would shoot it at least two weeks. If we only had two video-cameras! I mean not to shoot with both of them at one moment, but to have one just by hand. To shoot some details, or documentation.
And it's good, according to Kees, to make clear that it's another pub by having an establishing shot there. We put the facade of the hotel there. Constant or somebody shot it just for pleasure, so we had it. Then the "Homeless", it's quite harsh. When Coen became angry, he almost ran, spat out a toothpick... Kees said if you want to show that somebody is really irritated in a film, you have to make a quick cut. He said: You have to do puf! puf! puf!! So it's there, the puf! puf! puf!
- Aren't they waiting for us? - Hm, it's half already. Let's go upstairs.
Jacob and some other Czech people, from the tape
Kytka. ®
An old lady from Peru who gave birth to twenty children. When her village was attacked by American tourists, she exchanged coca for a camera. Now, she is enthusiastic about taking pictures. This is a self-portrait of hers. Otherwise he is a great cooker and owner of the Kytka Catering Co. With the food, he was always a rock in a desert.
Bianca. ®
A quiet and calm grip-person. She missed wind in Czech Republic, the Czech people missed trees in Holland.
Everyone was tired. ¬
Tired, but happy.
Special thanks to:
Youth For Europe program for financial support,
Czech and Dutch National Agencies YFE for their help,
EU-taxpayers for paying taxes,
"De Postbrug" youth centre and Peter Keijzer for arranging the program in Holland, especially the very nice sail, providing technical equipment and popularizing our film within Den Helder's region by a Hollywood-like presentation of it,
Junák (Czech scout association) for inspiring to undertaking such crazy activities as international exchanges,
Hotel Kora, Jeneč; de Postbrug, Den Helder; Hostinec U Janíků, Rožnov pod Radhošťem; Hotel Černý orel, Telč; Landštejn castle; JHMD (local railways of Jindřichův Hradec); Martin & Reva, Hůrky; and James & Zeneca a.s. Prague for lending rooms for shooting,
Regular guests for doing background-people,
Kees for a big, BIG help with editing the film,
Mr. Kuchař for computer-editing-work-consultancy,
Mr. Šulgan from Preserved Landestate of Beskydy for the nice walk in the mountains, and a lot of information about local nature,
Martin & Reva for offering their house for the Czech national presentation,
František & Myška for the guided flight through Prague,
Ms. Řezníčková for the lecture about Slavonic and Germanic languages,
Reva's parents for accommodation in Prague,
Captain Age and his family for the great sail, and for not being angry when we sank his canoe,
Scouts from Den Oever for their hospitality,
Mathieu's parents for fried fish party,
Laura for a positive promotion of our project in local newspaper of Den Helder,
Petr Lášek for a positive promotion of our project in Čas videa, Czech amateur-video-magazine, and
All the other involved people.
Epilogue.
It belongs to good breeding (and, of course, we are all
well-bred) to bring things to their end. Thus our project
had its end, and this booklet should be finished, as well.
Do not cry, you can read it again if you want.
But let me first say few words to conclude it. Summing up the "Fly With Us!" project, we can be really content with its results. We have made a good film; it is maybe shorter and less artistic than we wanted, but it is good, though. We think it is very important that the film fell out well - it was a glue that held our group together. If it was not sticky enough, the group would be fuzzy. Fortunately, it was sticky, but sometimes maybe too much. It provoked a lot of discussions and arguments, but it also brought us closer to each other, and helped to create an atmosphere of international cooperation and tolerance. And when we saw the edited film in Den Helder, we were fairly surprised with it. We did not expected it to be so great after all those difficulties. It is always nice to create something, but it is much more satisfying to create something that also other people could be pleased by. Hopefully, it is the case of our film, too.
So, the exchange surely was not a waste of time. We managed to do great things together, and we have also learnt a lot, especially how to practise international teamwork in reality. It sometimes was not easy, but we mostly had good time. Hopefully, it can be seen in this booklet.
