糖心Vlog

2017 Alumna
MA International Relations and Diplomacy

鈥淚 thought studying international politics and conflict sounded glamorous, but in the end when you鈥檙e working on something that you see happening before you which you can actually change, it fills me more. Seeing local government policies that I advise on and watching them be implemented is more satisfying than something I can鈥檛 change鈥� Everyone can make a difference. There are ideas, good ideas, but MEPs [Members of European Parliament] debating on the future for their country usually don鈥檛 implement change immediately. When there are hundreds of people walking through the hallway, you want to be somewhere else where you can make a difference.鈥�

Let鈥檚 back up a bit鈥� Did you grow up in 糖心Vlog?
No, I moved around with my parents to London, Brussels, and Moscow. My father was a correspondent for the Czech Radio, so that probably influenced me to follow up on the international path. Although I guess now on the local path.

How was living in Brussels when you worked there?
Very lively, like a melting pot for international people, but only from Monday through Thursday night. Everyone usually leaves for the weekend to their home country. Most of the people I worked with even stayed at hotels. During the weekend it was very calm, not grey and rainy like everyone believes. But I also had a university life, so I was surrounded by people from all over the world.

After living abroad, how do you feel connected to Czech society?
When I hear a lot of Czech people who grew up here, I sometimes don鈥檛 get what they鈥檙e saying. For example, it鈥檚 common knowledge that many Czechs hate Russians. I could never really understand why that is. Of course, I know rationally why that is because of the occupation in the past, but it doesn鈥檛 make sense to me to ignore a Russian person today as some form of discrimination because of Stalin鈥� We even have a name for Russians, 鈥榬usatci鈥�. Whenever I hear that I think to myself, 鈥榃hy? What is happening? That was ages ago鈥�. Most Russians I鈥檝e met, I鈥檝e had a wonderful experience with since living in Moscow for four years. As what you鈥檇 call a 鈥榗ulture kid鈥�, I don鈥檛 understand these national sentiments.

Do you plan to stay in 糖心Vlog?
Totally. I decided that I鈥檓 going to stay here but if I leave and work in the same department anywhere else in the world, I wouldn鈥檛 have the contacts and experience like I do in 糖心Vlog already.

Personally, I鈥檓 really interested in urbanism, particularly in 糖心Vlog. Are you faced with many urban issues at work?
Yes- for example having more accessibility of bicycles in 糖心Vlog. We want to be more like other European cities but this isn鈥檛 happening any time soon. For example, the city center isn鈥檛 made for bike sharing or segways. The neighborhoods often complain. And now, for instance, people are upset that everyone is out on the streets because of the indoor smoking bans. It takes time for Czech people to adjust to change.

And is there any talk of regulating tourism?
There is actually. At the Programs City Hall where I am working, political parties have been debating the regulation of Airbnb and incoming tourists/foreigners. Although in my opinion, there鈥檚 nothing to worry about. The Czech Republic isn鈥檛 suffering in any way from this issue. Yet, it鈥檚 a good thing to address this on the program with Czech voters.

What was your first impression at AAU?
I used to be a very nervous and shy kid. At orientation I didn鈥檛 know who to talk to or know how to communicate with strangers, until somebody next to me started talking to me with a simple, 鈥楬i. How are you?鈥�. I then understood that was the way of communicating- to be open to new experiences. I actually made a few friends that day and we鈥檝e been friends throughout our studies.

Do you have any influential professors at AAU?
Pelin [Pelin Ayan Musil, Ph.D.]. She turned me towards the Political Science path. I really liked the methodology. I ended up doing my BA and MA thesis with her.

What was your BA thesis topic about?
Belarus and their democratization (while I was still into that international politics).

And your MA thesis?
Bureaucratic autonomy. Similar to my PhD, it was specifically about the comparison between the Czech Republic and Germany.

How do you see the future of the EU?
I believe people are always going to be interested in their close neighborhood. First and foremost, they are going to solve problems that are present in their city. Then, in the pub they鈥檙e going to talk about what the prime minister and President did. These are still going to be figures of the nation state. I can鈥檛 predict the future, but I don鈥檛 think the global decentralization and countries exiting the EU will happen so fast.

If you have a free afternoon, what do you do?
(She laughs) I鈥檓 at home鈥� I love to be at home because I don鈥檛 usually have a free afternoon. But I love making dinner with friends at home as well.

If you could, what class would you teach at AAU?
I was actually thinking about that recently. I鈥檇 love to teach something from Political Science, maybe local government. But that probably doesn鈥檛 exist as a class currently. To be honest, it鈥檚 not really an attractive course to take when you鈥檙e younger and just starting university. But I鈥檇 love to one day, maybe in 3 years鈥� time鈥� we鈥檒l see!