Brave students, Funky office spaces, Lunch at a pub, Consulting in open space, Tea houses, Fewer Czech classes

Of the 12 students who came to class the first week, only 6 returned for Week Two. It seems that asking them to read an article in preparation for class is so foreign that it convinced half of them not to continue. Apparently most of the students go to every class the first week and then select the ones they want to keep. There are many professionals from the community who teach classes here and so students have no rumor mill to help them decide who to take, since the turn over is so high among faculty. Nevertheless, I was surprised that so many wanted to avoid any regular assignments. The norm seems to be that they attend lectures, passively take notes, and take exams at the end. I really can’t teach that way, so I am happy with my "Brave Six."

Actually I may also have some part-time students take a different version of the class, for fewer credits. The regular students, it turns out, can take it for 2 credits or 3 credits. The part-timers can take it for 1 credit or 2. I designed a version that seems fair to me, so the part-timers have comparable work for comparable credit. That redesign took a bit of my time this week. It is hard to believe that this type of negotiation and revision is happening two weeks into the semester. They can register until the end of March, so maybe six will not be my final number. “Flexibility” is my new middle name.

I had a meeting at Ogilvy PR. Their building is really cool. It used to be a soft drink factory and they kept the central open space where the machinery was. Now it is open meeting space. Half the space has a raised floor and many groupings of funky, overstuffed, used furniture and mismatched tables. The raised space is not all one level. There are different “rooms” at different levels. The folks come from their offices on the first and second floor surrounding the open space, and grab a table and chairs for creative or formal meetings. Nifty. I wanted to take pictures, but it felt intrusive. When I go the next time, I will feel more able to ask permission and take some.

I met with the managing director, a young Czech woman. She had several ideas of how to get me involved in corporate social responsibility and corporate philanthropy activities. If I can help corporate giving officers make a better case for their work, so their companies will be more supportive, I will feel that I have done something really important for civic society here. We talked about the possibility of my giving a seminar for the Ogilvy staff, meeting with the giving officers for a couple of different companies, and perhaps doing a fund raising seminar for some nonprofits. I was a good afternoon.

After the meeting I went to Czech class, which, of course, was horrible. But I was late, which meant the pain was foreshortened. Tonight I had a meeting that run so late, I didn't get to go to class at all. I smiled all the way home.

I found a real Czech pub in my neighborhood. My Dad would have refused to go in because it is in a basement and has several rooms that wind way back into the epicenter of claustrophobia. The menu was all in Czech, but luckily I was with a Czech speaking colleague. The waitress seemed annoyed that she had to interrupt what she was doing to take our order. The food was all meat and potatoes. Nary a vegetable in sight. The place had all the indicators that the books say are clues that you have found the real deal. Cool!

I met with two nonprofit organization officers, one yesterday and one today. With one I met in the middle of a "common room" at their office. All her staff was wandering in and out as we discussed various management issues. I met the other at a Tea House. I love the way business is done here. The networking is really great and I am meeting fascinating people who are right on the cutting edge of the establishment of a new kind of society here. Both nonprofits are involved in building civic society by helping establish public discussions and forums for the exchange of ideas. There is no tradition of working as groups here, and it requires extraordinary effort to bring people into political discussions about things like a new park project in their neighborhood, or the establishment of a community center. The movers and shakers again all seem to be the younger-than-40 crowd.

The university is also populated by young people. When the communist regime fell, all the university professors were immediately out-of-date, since they necessarily had a Marxist perspective. New branches of the university opened. Young faculty, many still working on their credentials, took over. The department I am in probably has an average age of 35. In the past 10 years the Faculty that my department is affiliated with (sort of like a college in our system) has grown from 20 to 80 people. Management infrastructure apparently lags the fast growth…as does space.

Karen asked for more photos of my apartment, so I’ll try to post some. It is BIG, although there are only two rooms plus the bath. I am very pleased that I splurged on it!