The Art of Storytelling

Radio Recently I sat down with Lenka Srsnova-Colombo, the mother of the girl that I tutor in English, to interview her for my radio news journalism class. After the past two months of speaking with her, I realized that she has traveled to many places all over the world and has a fascinating life.
When she was younger she studied in Austria and learned German. Then she visited the United States without knowing a single word of English. She told me about the night when she got off the plane from the Czech Republic and she first tried to find the campus where she was living in Boston for four months and how difficult it was for her to get there. She said she got lucky enough to find a police officer who spoke a little bit of German. Aside from her journeys abroad, Lenka also lived in the Czech Republic for thirty-eight years. She has seen Prague before and after the Velvet Revolution. Now she resides in a flat in Prague with her Italian husband and daughter Veronika. She told me how little freedom her and her family had when the Communist’s were in power. And she also said that she thinks Prague right now is becoming too touristy; the city is losing its mystique nature.
Lenka expressed her opinions of many of the places she has visited when we sat down to talk about her experiences abroad. I found it surprising that one of her favorite places in the world is Asia. She loves their food and just their culture in general. I did not expect her to say that. She also loves Italy as her husband is from there, and enjoys visiting the United States. One thing I find especially interesting is when Lenka compares the United States to Prague and how differently the laws are enforced in America. This is something I happened to notice myself. Another thing I noticed after speaking with Lenka on many occasions is the number of stories she has to tell me. I love to listen to them because they are new and interesting to me. Traveling brings us these stories I think. Seeing new places and meeting new people are the most interesting stories to hear. In this way, I do not think Lenka is just an average Czech person because I think she is more worldly and open to new experiences. Even her mother does not speak a word of English, while Lenka is fluent. However, one symbol of Czech culture that she embodies is her love for Czech beer. She told me that it is the only type of beer or alcohol she will drink, and when she is traveling she is often disappointed. That along with her humble nature brings out the Czech in her.