Q&A with CAC Alumni Carter Shields ('17)
Join us as we ask Carter about his experiences this summer working in the Czech Republic.
Thanks for chatting with us! You’re located in the city of Olomouc in the Czech Republic for the summer. What have you been up to? (And for those of us who are bad at geography, where exactly is that?)
The Czech Republic is in between Germany and Poland and is pretty much the “heart,” or center, of Europe. I’ve been in Olomouc since June 4th working with a non-profit Christian organization called Krízovatka, which, when translated into English, means “Crossroad.” Krízovatka’s target demographic is the youth and the university students of Olomouc and the surrounding villages, so we’ve hosted many different events like frisbee and football (soccer) games. Every Friday night we have “Klubjinak” which is “club differently” in which we host a Christian atmosphere hang-out event to try and counter the pretty intense party culture here.
How did you get involved with Krízovatka?
I knew of Mitch Anderson, the man who runs Krízovatka, because he is one of my home church’s (Pleasant Valley) supported missionaries, but I got here through Harding’s missions program called Global Outreach. They wanted one intern for the summer in Olomouc and I signed up to go.
We’ve seen you post on Instagram about an English Camp. Can you talk to us about what it is and what it’s been like?
English Camp is basically just like summer camp in America, but we also taught English classes twice a day. We went hiking, swam, played sports and just enjoyed nature. We also had a Christian program once a day in which members of the team shared testimonies from their lives that fit with the theme for the day, and it was really powerful.
We’ve also seen you post about learning Czech. That’s awesome! What was that process like? What are some words you’ve learned?
Czech is the hardest language I’ve ever tried to learn; they have sounds that my mouth has never attempted to make before and that makes it pretty difficult. However, I can get by with the basic greetings and farewells, and most importantly, I can order at a restaurant. My favorite word is “Káva,” which is coffee. I would not survive without that word.
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