From a Fulbright Scholarship to a new home: Three Americans who stayed
As the Fulbright Programme marks 80 years worldwide and 35 years in the Czech Republic, three American participants share why their time in the Czech Republic did not end with their scholarships. From teaching in Frýdek-Místek to researching coal miners in Ostrava and championing Czech classical music in Prague, Ian, Dawn and Bree decided to make the Czech Republic their home.
For a little bit of context: The Fulbright Programme is a US cultural exchange initiative aimed at strengthening mutual understanding. It allows US and Czech citizens to study, teach, lecture and conduct research in each other’s countries, with joint funding from both governments. Although founded in 1946, Czech participation began only after the fall of communism, with the Czech Fulbright Commission established in 1991.
Looking at Ian, Dawn and Bree’s stories, the Fulbright Programme seems to offer more than academic and professional opportunities, opening the door to a whole new way of life. All three shared their experiences of living and working in the Czech Republic, and why they chose to stay. Ian began by taking part in the English Teaching Assistant (ETA) programme at a Czech secondary school, while researchers Bree and Dawn took part in a Scholars and Professionals programme.
Ian: “Falling in love can always cause you to stay somewhere”
Ian completed his Fulbright between August 2024 and June 2025, in Frýdek-Místek in eastern Czech Republic. After a short return to the U.S., he came back in 2026 and took a teaching position at a local school in Frýdek-Místek, independent of the Fulbright programme. Originally from Iowa, Ian has a personal connection to the Czech Republic:
“I was always really interested in the Czech Republic growing up. I worked at the Czech and Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which is there because there was a big immigrant population. My family were actually immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire when it was that. But they were from this region.”
Once you got admitted to the Fulbright programme, was there a moment when the Czech Republic went from being something abstract to a specific and real place?
“Yes, the Czech Republic was something very abstract. When I was working at the museum, I had all of these images of Prague and the Charles Bridge. There were all these scenic, picturesque things. It definitely became more concrete when I got here, started learning the language and meeting actual people. The concreteness was certainly more in the interactions I was having with human beings, rather than just like postcards, pictures, board games, etc. that they had at the gift shop I worked at.”
When you arrived, what were your first impressions?
“I thought to myself: I've landed in some really unique place.”
“I felt serene. I remember standing on the Ostravice River and just looking at the mountain Lysá Hora in the distance, and I just thought it was absolutely gorgeous. I was very happy to be there. When I first arrived, there was some renaissance fair going on, so there were a lot of people walking around in costumes. So I thought to myself: I've landed in some really unique place.
“And then I was very lucky to have colleagues, who really introduced me to very specific things about our region. I actually started playing in a folklore band and I still play with ‘Ondrášek’, which is a children's group. I play the upright bass. Being in the folklore group really opened my eyes to a lot of the Czech Republic beyond just the really positive first impressions that I already had.”
Aside from music, you, of course, also teach at a school. First, through the Fulbright programme, you taught at a grammar school, and later you took a position at a technical school. How did Czech schools compare to those in the US?
“Being in the folklore group really opened my eyes.”
“Last year at the grammar school, the students were very respectful. As an American, it’s very surprising to walk into the room and have everybody stand up for you. It’s just different, and I really enjoyed them, but they’re just teenagers – so, they’re like teenagers anywhere. It didn’t feel all that different.
“I feel like people in the Czech Republic generally have much better general knowledge than many people in the US, where I grew up – especially in very rural areas with some underfunded public schools. I definitely noticed this difference. Since schools in the Czech Republic receive state funding that is distributed fairly evenly, there aren’t the same kinds of underfunded schools you sometimes see in the US. I was really impressed by the education system.
Was there any point that made you think “I want to stay here, this is where I live”? Or did it just happen naturally?
“Last year, I was questioning whether I would continue teaching, but I decided I wanted to stay. I wanted to focus on the language and eventually study here. My long-term goal is to attend Palacký University in Olomouc for a master’s, and then continue to a PhD once I’ve improved my Czech and can study in it. Of course, falling in love can also make you stay somewhere indefinitely, which happened to me last year as well.”
Dawn: “People don't smile with a fake smile here”
Before moving to the Czech Republic, Dawn Norris lived in Wisconsin, where she spent over ten years as a professor at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. She first visited Prague briefly in 2019, before the pandemic, and had been hoping for an opportunity to return. That opportunity came in the form of a Fulbright scholarship, which allowed her to spend nearly six months in Prague in 2023. During that time, she researched how people perceive work, unemployment, and identity, exploring how individuals cope with job changes.
Today, she lives in Ostrava, where she has been for the past year and a half. There, she collaborates with Dr. Nicole Horáková Hirschlerová on a project studying coal miners and their relationship to work. Funded by the EU, this project allowed her to remain in the Czech Republic beyond her Fulbright placement.
Now well accustomed to life in the Czech Republic, I asked her about her initial reactions:
“I left realising that there was so much more to me than just work.”
“It definitely met all my expectations. I made friends for life, both Czech friends and from the Fulbright programme. There were some things that surprised me about the Czech Republic – it's the everyday differences. For example, how much quieter a large city is in the Czech Republic than in the United States.
“I would say the biggest surprise for me was that I came to the Czech Republic to study the meaning of work and identity, but I left realising that there was so much more to me than just work. Here, I think more than in the United States, people live a more balanced life. Even though they work hard and strive to do good work, there’s a strong focus on staying healthy, engaging in sports, and spending time with family and friends. In the United States, it’s mostly work, work, work, and then more work. So I gained a lot personally.”
Was that part of your research? Did you find that Czechs, in general, really are quite good at work-life balance?
“In my research in Prague, I examined how white-collar workers think about unemployment and the meaning of work. And here in Ostrava, I’m speaking with coal miners, former miners, and a few steelworkers. In both groups, I’ve found that people are very occupationally flexible – their identities aren’t tied to a specific job. Instead, identity is often linked to friendships, work collectives, hobbies, and similar things. When people do have a work-related identity, it’s more about being a hard worker or what they can contribute to society. In the United States, by contrast, identity is often tied to the occupation itself, so people weren't as flexible to re-qualify or retrain when they lost a job.”
What I always find surprising in the Czech Republic is how big a role sports play in everyone’s life. Did you find this, too?
“I've heard so much about sport – even though we never asked about it – that I’ve actually just submitted an abstract for a conference about the role of sport and how it relates to work life in the Czech Republic. I'm hoping I'll get a chance to present some of my findings.”
How do people react when they find out that you're an American who decided to move to Ostrava? Ostrava has quite a reputation in the Czech Republic, even though it is a very nice city.
“People are surprised when I tell them that I love it. They say: why are you here? Can’t you make more money in the United States? And I say: you can, but money isn't the whole point of life, you know. It's about so much more than that.
“People often wonder if I’m staying or eventually going back. I hope to stay. I hope to earn permanent residency, and hopefully, eventually, citizenship. I love it here, and it really does feel like home to me.”
Is there anything in particular that makes it feel like home? Is it because people are friendly? Are they friendly?
“There’s a quiet resilience and strength here.”
“Absolutely. Before I arrived, I’d heard that Czechs have a reputation for being cold and that it would be hard to make friends. But I’ve had no trouble at all! I think people here don’t give fake smiles, which some Americans interpret as unfriendly. What I’ve found is that when someone does smile, it’s genuine. People have been more than welcoming, and I’ve made very close friends and I can trust that it's genuine. That kind of performative friendliness you sometimes see in the United States really contrasts with what’s genuine here. People are direct, and I know where I stand – I like that.
“Why do I feel at home here? Part of it is the sense of being grounded in reality, of not being fake about relationships. There’s a quiet resilience and strength here. The Czech Republic has gone through many difficult transitions, and yet people march on. I feel very close to that. There are many reasons I feel at home: the culture, the food, the work-life balance – all of it.”
Bree: “I found singing in Czech to be a huge challenge”
Bree is both a singer and a researcher, often combining the two in her work. Her journey to Prague began through music. She specialised in Czech classical music during her doctoral studies at the University of North Texas. While her interest in Czech music wasn’t initially personal, it was inspired by Texas, which, as she notes, has the largest population of people of Czech descent outside the Czech Republic. Many families who immigrated there in the mid-19th century still live in Texas and continue to promote Czech culture.
Bree’s first direct encounter with the Czech Republic came when she was cast in a Czech opera by Leoš Janáček and the company sent the performers on a trip to Janáček’s homeland, giving them time to study the Czech language and pronunciation.
“I have to say, from the very beginning, I found singing in Czech to be a huge challenge. I had never sung in a language I had absolutely no exposure to. As an opera singer, I connect with my roles through the language – through understanding the poetry, the syntax, and all of that. So I told myself that I had to get really good at Czech. I worked really hard and started learning other Czech music to help prepare for the role. And the joke was on me: the more I learned, the more I fell in love with Czech music. And the rest, as they say, is history.”
I read that for your Fulbright scholarship, you worked on an anthology of Czech art songs. Is that right?
“Yes. So, my doctoral work was actually an anthology of Czech arias for soprano. My Fulbright work was a continuation of similar work, but on the art song side – that is, pieces not from operas, but composed independently, usually for voice and piano, and to be performed in more of a chamber setting.
“My Fulbright project involved researching and uncovering music that hadn’t been performed in over 100 years.”
“And the reason I wanted to focus on art songs is that there’s such a wealth of beautiful Czech repertoire – some of it still known and performed internationally, but much of it hardly performed at all, even here in this lovely country. I wanted to bring back works that are beautifully composed, and often set to extraordinary poetry.
“I worked with pieces by composers like Vítězslav Novák and Josef Bohuslav Foerster, who were among my favourites, as well as lesser-known composers like Emil Axman, who wrote remarkable music that few have had the chance to hear. My Fulbright project involved researching and uncovering music that, in many cases, hadn’t been performed in over 100 years. I aimed to bring it off library shelves and into recital halls.
“At the same time, I created resources to make this music more accessible to other singers, especially those who don’t speak Czech, by providing translations and phonetic transcriptions.”
So, you had to become a Czech linguist in a way?
“Absolutely. As part of training as an opera singer, you study diction and phonetics to be able to sing convincingly in other languages. That was a side of the studies that I was always particularly drawn to. I connect very much with the music through the language.
“I connect very much with the music through the language.”
“As a result of focusing on Czech repertoire and wanting to really do it justice, I began to learn Czech in about 2019. I dove deeply into Czech phonetics. During my doctorate, I was also able to pursue some linguistics studies alongside my music, which was hugely helpful.
“Czech has such a unique rhythm in the scheme of European languages of the time. Many Czech composers had a tricky time discovering a way of composing that really fit their language and that wasn't just forcing Czech text into the moulds of German or Italian rhythms.”
You also teach Czech phonetics to other signers. How do you even begin to explain the language?
“I was very fortunate to work with a fabulous teacher, Martin Vodrážka, a baritone and vocal pedagogue based here in Prague. He helped me understand, as a native speaker, how he understood singing in his language – not just the correct articulation, but what makes it sound natural and conveys the meaning and syntax of the language. Working extensively with him allowed me to understand Czech singing from the inside, and I could combine that with my phonetic work.
And I built on that knowledge by teaching and sharing some of the methods I learned to properly articulate Czech diction and to make it sound as native as possible.”
As an American singing in Czech in the Czech Republic - how do people react?
“I think many of the reactions I’ve received have been very positive. A lot of people are curious about understanding what would bring an American who has no Czech roots to want to in many ways dedicate her life to this music – at least a significant portion of it. Many have been very touched and receptive For a lot of Czech musicians I’ve encountered, it seems like an affirmation of the value of their national heritage and the Czech musical tradition – which, compared to countries many times its size, has left a musical legacy of remarkable scale and staying power that Czech composers continue to build on.”
You’ve performed many roles in Czech operas. Do you have a favorite? Is there a particular piece you enjoy most?
“That's a very difficult question. I love to sing Janáček and I love to sing Dvořák. They each have their own elements that make them special. I'm preparing to sing Dvořák's Rusalka in April in California. But this week I've got the chance to sing the final performance of Jenůfa (by Janáček) In the Silesian Theater Opava. It's a role that I find immensely touching. So, I might have to say Jenůfa is my current favourite, but Rusalka is a close second.”
And for the future what are your plans? Do you plan to stay in Prague indefinitely?
“Well I've been fortunate that my singing career in the last couple of seasons has taken me to many countries around Europe in addition to the Czech Republic. But I absolutely feel that Prague is my home and I love the musical community here. I love the many different cultural offerings here and the beauty of the city. My husband and I have built such a great network here that I don't see us leaving anytime soon.
Was there anything that surprised you in the Czech Republic?
“It's easy to think that Czechs are cold. When really that couldn't be further from the truth. When you have the chance to interact with Czech people in the right environment, they are some of the warmest most accepting and caring people. The artists I've worked with here have poured their whole life and self into their craft. And that's something that inspires me and is beautiful to witness.”
