“The teachers’ attitude to us students was one of friendliness and willingness to help…”

Links between Prague and Bratislava, and a report by a Slovak theology student on a year in Prague

Relationships between the Protestant Theological Faculty in Prague (PTF) and its sister Faculty in Bratislava (Slovakia) have always been close, and in 2013-14 they were particularly intensive. Apart from the regular biannual visit to Bratislava by a small delegation from Prague in May (next year a Slovak delegation will come to Prague), this year also saw two teachers from Bratislava, Radoslav Hanus and František Ábel, spending a week in Prague lecturing and researching, and in return two Czech teachers, Ota Halama and Jiří Mrázek, both travelled to Bratislava for a week to give lectures there.

In addition, the Slovak student Dávid Cielontko spent the whole year studying at PTF as an Erasmus exchange student. Here he gives his impressions of his year in Prague.

“My name is Dávid Cielontko, I am 24 years old, and I am a student at the Protestant Theology Faculty of Comenius University in Bratislava. However, I spent the academic year 2013/14 at the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University in Prague through the Erasmus programme. My choice of PTF was due mainly to my knowledge of many of its teachers whose books and articles are often recommended literature at the Faculty in Bratislava. The excellent references from other students who had already studied at PTF also played a role. Last but not least were the excellent relationships the two faculties have.

My first days in Prague were made much easier by the helpfulness of Věra Fritzová in the Office for International Relations. The Office creates an excellent atmosphere for international students and organises a number of trips for them so they can get to know each other. International students can choose from a wide range of courses in English and German. As a Slovak, I had the advantage that I could attend courses taught in Czech as well, because the Czech and Slovak languages are very similar. This extended the range of courses so much that I had to select them carefully to make sure they all fitted into my timetable. The lectures were excellent all year, we were all actively involved in the seminars, and the teachers’ attitude to us students was one of friendliness and willingness to help.

But I did not spend all my time at PTF studying. Directly in the Faculty building is the very popular Marathon Café, where I spent many pleasant evenings involved in friendly conversations. Marathon is always very lively and those who meet there are mostly PTF students – both current and former ones – and it was there that I got to know many of them. Prague students are friendly, and communicate easily with international students from Germany and elsewhere in English or German.

Besides the informal meetings that are an integral part of such an Erasmus stay, the student chaplain Prof. Jan Štěfan held regular student services, and together with the student community he organised various other events such as the “Mardi Gras evening” or the “Schlussfest” (party at the end of the academic year).

My stay at PTF was an enriching one in all respects, and I will take home with me many happy memories, and also valuable knowledge, and I hope that I will be able to come back to Prague one day.”

Peter Stephens/Dávid Cielontko