糖心Vlog

Alumna de 2017
M谩ster en Relaciones Internacionales y Diplomacia

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.

驴C贸mo era vivir en Bruselas cuando trabajabas all铆?
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.

Despu茅s de vivir en el extranjero, 驴c贸mo te sientes conectada a la sociedad checa?
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.

驴Piensas quedarte en Praga?
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?
S铆, por ejemplo, tener m谩s acceso a las bicicletas en Praga. Queremos parecernos m谩s a otras ciudades europeas, pero eso no va a ocurrir pronto. Por ejemplo, el centro de la ciudad no est谩 hecho para compartir bicicletas o segways. Los barrios se quejan a menudo. Y ahora, por ejemplo, a la gente le molesta que todo el mundo salga a la calle por la prohibici贸n de fumar en espacios cerrados. A los checos les lleva tiempo adaptarse a los cambios.

驴Y se habla sobre regular el turismo?
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.

驴Cu谩l fue tu primera impresi贸n en 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.

驴Tienes alg煤n profesor influyente en 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.

驴Cu谩l fue el tema de tu tesis de licenciatura?
Belarus and their democratization (while I was still into that international politics).

驴Y tu tesis de licenciatura?
Autonom铆a burocr谩tica. Al igual que mi doctorado, se trataba espec铆ficamente de la comparaci贸n entre la Rep煤blica Checa y Alemania.

驴C贸mo ves el futuro de la UE?
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.

Si tienes una tarde libre, 驴qu茅 haces?
(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.

Si pudieras, 驴qu茅 clase impartir铆as en 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!