David Zajicek is spending the second semester of school year as a senior at MLHS
Name: David Zajicek.
Age: 18.
Grade: At Mountain Lake Public High School (MLHS) he is a senior. In the Czech Republic he is in third grade out of four grades in his high school.
Sponsoring organization: Nacel Open Door.
Home city/Home country: Perstejn in the Czech Republic – located northwest of the capital city of Prague, close to the border with Germany.
Home parents/siblings: Parents, Milan and Brigita Zajicek and a younger sister, 13-year-old Veronika.
Host parents/siblings: Currently living with host parents, Tom and Marilyn Fast and siblings, Aaron, Andrew and Anika on a farm northwest of Mountain Lake.
Hobbies: Playing the saxophone, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, reading and being with friends.
School/community activities you will participate in while in America: He is a member of the Senior High Band and the Senior High Jazz Band, and has plans to join the track team. He is thinking about trying baseball and maybe even football because those sports aren’t played in the Czech Republic.
Compare your home school to schools in America: The first thing David noticed is that in high school here, students have the same classes every day. Back in the Czech Republic, classes every day of the week are different. At his home high school, there are more types of classes. In total, he was studying around 15 different subjects when he left the Czech Republic. As David notes, “It is visible that scores here are mainly based on homework, what is unthinkable in Czech, where the majority of homework has no real influence on your final marks.” He goes on to say, “There are more differences, but I think a lot of them are just because of different thinking and ways of doing things here in America.”
Tell us about your home city/country and how it is same/different as compared to the host city in which you are living: David’s hometown of Perstejn is a suburban village located on a little flatland that is surrounded by mountains with forests. Some of the buildings in the village have stood there for more than 400 years. In the forest, there are the ruins of an old castle that is first mentioned in a book from the 14th century. Explains David, “Here, because your country is newer, the oldest buildings are about 200 years old. As well, when looking at the roads in America from above, they mostly form perfect squares, while in the Czech Republic, the roads look more like snakes because of the mountain and rivers.”
Have you visited America before? If so, where – and do you have a favorite spot; if not, where would you like to visit?: David has never been to America – until now. He is interested in visiting San Francisco, New York City, Boston or New Orleans – and Washington, D. C., Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles. “I guess I’ll have to spend more than just a half a year here,” admits David.
How do you view America and/or its citizens: “I have only been to Minnesota, so it is hard to say in general. But, Americans seem friendly, hard-working, intelligent and good companions,” states David. “A lot of basics of democracy of the Czech Republic (In November 1989, the country of Czechoslovakia returned to a liberal democracy through the peaceful ‘Velvet Revolution.’ On January 1, 1993, the country peacefully split into the independent Czech Republic and Slovakia) were taken from the the Constitution of the United States, so it is interesting to see the origins of our system of government.”
What do you want Americans to know/remember about your home city?: “Everyone will remember whatever he or she finds interesting,” says David. “So, whether they remember that we are surrounded by mountains or that we have the ruins of a castle, it is up to them. But people will now know that the Czech Republic exists – and we are not part of Russia or Germany.”