STYLE

American teacher in Ostrava

Thomas Healy is a teacher of Language and Literature at the Ostrava International School He hails

from USA but has been living here for about 14 years already. Here is what he has to say about his

experience:

Where are you from exactly, how are the people of

that area, do you perhaps have any special memories growing up in the area?

Well, I was born and raised in Silver City, New

Mexico, about two hours from Nowhere and thirty

minutes from Nothing. It’s a really beautiful place,

but growing up I didn’t appreciate it much -- it’s pretty

unique, because, if you leave town on the north,

you will find mountains, forest, rivers and creeks, or

what’s left of that anyway, and if you leave town on

the south you find yourself in an alkali desert, with

practically nothing to offer at first sight. It was crazy

to see snow in the mountains and then drive an hour

south and have 25 degree heat. But it felt normal

growing up. It wasn’t until I left that I discovered that

is not what most people experience growing up.

It’s a strange area, there’s a lot of ethnicity there,

50% white people, 50% Mexicans pretty much, and

maybe some left over Native Americans from when

the Apaches lived in the place. People tend to divide

down these lines. They try to maintain the outlaw

feel of the city’s history -- Billy the Kid lived there for

a while, it was once Wild West. I didn’t really like

the culture, I didn’t understand it a whole lot. It’s

a very small town mentality -- you had to divide into

identity groups, and I didn’t like that, so first chance

I got, I left.

Why did you decide to go to the Czech Republic,

what is your story?

Ah, well I just kinda fell here. I lived in California

for six years, I went to university there. Over there

I did an exchange program, spending a semester in

Finland. That was the first time I had been ‘across

the pond.’ While in Finland I did a lot of traveling,

I went to Russia, the UK, Ireland, all around Europe,

but I didn’t make it to the Czech Republic at that

point. I fell in love with Europe, for the first time

I felt comfortable, the mentality here just suited me

so well.

When the exchanged ended, I couldn’t wait to

come back, so after college I saved my money and

went to Prague, because I hadn’t seen it yet, and

I could afford to live there for a while. I got my TEFL

certificate (Teaching English as a Foreign Language).

My goal was to get that and then travel around the

world getting to know different cultures. I didn’t just

want to be a tourist, I wanted to actually get to know

places, like I had in Finland. It worked for a minute;

I taught in China for a few months, and I had a job

lined up in Russia, but bureaucracy got in the way

there, so I stayed here. I didn’t mean to, but after

I got the TEFL certificate I had a job in Český Těšín,

and I had lots of friends there, so I didn’t mind

staying really. Then I hopped around for a bit in the

region, and now I have a wife, two crazy kids and

a pretty permanent job, and it kinda looks like I’m

gonna stay now. I can’t imagine going back to the

States, at any rate.

Full name:

Can you tell us what you think about your life in

Ostrava, what is it that you like about this place?

Well, I think that my life is the same as it would be

anywhere else where I would have a 9-5 job. I wake

up in the morning, trying not to wake up my one-yearold son, usually unsuccessfully -- actually, more often

than not anymore he wakes me --, then I go to work.

I commute to work, I take a bus, you can actually do

that in Europe, unlike in the States.

This is a really unique place, man, there’s a mindset in

this city that I’m not quite sure exists anywhere else

-- you’ve got the mining and the steelworks history,

roughneck, hardcore, working-class attitude, which

usually would have an anti-intellectual leaning, but

here, the miners are proud of the high culture, and the

artists are proud of their miners. There seems to also

be a love for culture here, some of the best theatres

in the country are based in this city -- and that’s not

my opinion, they have been given awards. And there

is a huge music scene. I mean, Colours of Ostrava,

I cannot think of another place that would look at this

old derelict steel mill, and say: ‘Let’s put a music festival

here, let’s put an art gallery there and a cafe there, let’s

not abandon this part of our culture.’

People here are wonderful, and I don’t care what

Ostravians say about themselves, that they are grumpy

and unfriendly, all that is balderdash, Czechs are some

of the friendliest and most loyal people I have ever met.

There is an honesty here for who we are, and

optimism of who we can be.

Nationality:

What do you think about the Ostrava International

School’s attitude towards learning?

I wish I had had a schooling environment like this.

I hated high school, it wasn’t too far off from what

you see in American movies -- there didn’t seem

to be a purpose to the learning, but at our school

(TOIS) we have to think a lot more about what we

are doing. We are not just a mill to get people in and

out, so they can get another degree, so they can go

be bored for the rest of their life. I think we are trying

to engage students with the learning experience,

a global understanding, and a deeper exploration of

who they can be as people, not just as students. It’s

not about getting all the answers on the test right; it’s

about learning how to think.

Thomas Michael

Healy

Age:

39

United States

Hobbies and interests:

Reading, learning new things,

listening to music,

modern tabletop

gaming, mixology

Moravian-Silesian region:

Horní Bečva and

Ostrava

Favorite Czech Food:

Svíčková

Text:

Adam Koneval

Student of The

Ostrava International

School,

IB programme

Foto:

www.is-ostrava.cz

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