Czech Mate - 7/6/09

Today, Dr. Memon left. She taught one class this morning, then passed the gavel over to Andrew Roberts, a senior lecturer in the UK. His opener was pretty silly. He seems like a really down to earth guy. He used to be a police officer in London, then had to retire after an eye injury. Now, he teaches crime and law courses. We discussed the relevance of privacy. He presented us with multiple situations where privacy may be considered an issue – whether or not privacy was violated. Some of the scenarios were silly – taking photos at a nude beach and posting them on a website, or… stumbling into a friends room and finding interesting personal items, among others. Essentially, it was quite interesting and sparked some serious debate among my peers. Everybody had a different opinion. After discussing the situations, I recalled an interesting situation at ASU (Naturally, something else to give ASU a bad name) where a few students stared taking photos of young women walking down Palm Walk on main campus and posting them on a website called: palmwalk.com. The website has been removed but the young men were ultimately suspended from school. (Check out the article, here!)

CVCP has a wicked schedule planned for us this week. We were released from class early today so that we could make it to the Mozart show. We trammed it over to the theatre and saw an instrumental presentation on Mozart. The theatre was absolutely gorgeous – a truly authentic musical theatre. We sat in the balcony of the theatre and had a wonderful view. 

We were all completely exhausted, but the experience was amazing. They asked that we get dressed up for the occasion, so we all arrived in our best digs and felt like little ladies and gents. The show lasted about an hour. After finishing up, we decided to walk around the city center for a few hours. We (about 7-9 of us who have started hanging out together) decided to park it at a restaurant in the square. We paid waaaay too much for a few drinks, but it was worth it nonetheless. The City Center is the huge square with shops and restaurants, bar, and totally amazing architecture. Each little street expands into smaller areas with more shops and bars and bistros. Huge clock towers buoy the square – simply adding to the charm of the city.

I’m loving how close I’ve already become to these people. There are over 90 in the entire program – 45 in my group, CLP (Crime, Law, and Psychology) and we’ve all developed into a little family. We’re all totally sarcastic and totally goofy. I simply love that we’ve gathered here from all over the world because of a passion we all share. Although we’re all totally driven, we’re all willing to have a good time as well. It’s a very refreshing experience, and it reminds me how much I love my field, a simple reminder that I’ve taken the right path.