That everyone would like to live in České Budějovice is well known. But what happens when people from slightly further away come and stay? Can what they bring complement and add to native southern Bohemia culture? In this spirit, Milk and Honey decided to interview Chris Steer, English teacher at the University of South Bohemia as well as local musician and sportsman about his life here, his multinational hobbies and how they are received in the Czech Republic.
I have to start with the obvious: what brought you to České Budějovice?
I basically came once as a very young man and never really left. I came in 1992, as part of an international program to teach English in former communist countries. My placement was in Jindřichův Hradec, where I made friends and met a lot of people who are still a part of my life now. I got involved in a lot of fun stuff and music that interested me and just kept coming back until I became a semi-permanent resident and settled in Budejovice. I always liked moving from place to place. I guess I like to think of myself as a modern day troubadour (Trubadúr).
Speaking of which, you are well known amongst students of the Science faculty for combining English lessons with bagpipe music. How do most students respond?
„Nonplussed“ is a word I might use for a lot of them. And „is it the same as a recorder?“ is a question I often get. In general, I think it brings something new to the lesson and to their lives. It’s not like I play it all the time, but I think it’s memorable.
Where did the bagpipe hobby come from?
I started to listen to Bulgarian bagpipe music from one album I was given. Then came my „pilgrimage“ to Bulgaria when I was in my late twenties; it was just a place I had always really wanted to visit. I picked up these pipes and, I must admit, left them in the cupboard for a very long time before I got round to fixing them and learning to play. I learned through playing.
So it’s just Balkan type stuff you play?
It suits these types of pipes. But I think these Bulgarian pipes are more universal than Czech ones. I mean, I could technically play Scottish music on them but it is out of tradition. I prefer to stick with the musical tradition which these pipes come from; Macedonian, Bulgarian, Slavic. I tend to find songs I like on Youtube and then learn by listening. A lot of words seem very similar to Czech but in fact are false friends, meaning something totally different. I get by with some help from my real friends with the lyrics, for example, a Bulgarian student of mine. Plus my knowledge of what I call „Slavsperanto“ – the words and grammar common to many of the languages I work with.
Is “Slavsperanto” your personal invention?
I think the similarities are just very apparent to me, as someone who has learned Czech and has a lot of contact with other Slavic languages, such as Macedonian, Slovak and Bulgarian through my music and travels. Maybe I see the similarities more where native speakers notice the differences. It’s amazing how you can get by with just a basic grasp of one Slavic language in many other countries. There are lots of hilarious and potentially dangerous mistakes to be made of course, seeing as so often similar words mean different things. In general, I think Czechs misunderstand other Czechs often enough. There’s always a hell of a lot of “jak to myslíš?” amongst Czechs, maybe more so than amongst English people speaking amongst themselves. But maybe that’s just when they’re talking with me.
Is there anything you miss about living in a country where everyone speaks your native language?
Talking about cricket to people who know how to talk about cricket.
How did your cricket team, the Budějovice Barracudas, get started?
I noticed that there were a group of Indian guys who often played on the old tennis courts at the University of South Bohemia, so I got talking to them and we started training and eventually formed a team. We play friendly matches, three games a season. We could play more if the team grew a bit, we badly need new players as the existing ones have less and less time. Cricket is a great game, which I think Czechs could really get into. It is not totally dissimilar to baseball, which is much closer to Czech hearts. And a lot of my students seem interested in British culture and mentality. Cricket is a great inroad into that.
But so far Czechs have not shown much interest in cricket?
The main problem is a linguistic one. Czechs hear cricket and think of “kroket” or croquet, which is clearly a much more rubbish sport. The second thing I hear a lot is that “it’s very complicated”. As if that’s a bad thing! What most Czechs don’t understand is that half the joy of cricket is in debating what happened and what’s allowed. The “complicated” rules give you something to talk about; there’s a much richer language for joking and debating than in simpler sports. To me, ice hockey is not complicated but it is also totally uninteresting. I couldn’t watch it for hours at a time. There is a lot more to talk about in cricket.
You’ve been here for more than 20 years; would you say you are fully integrated now?
I don’t think anyone will ever be able to integrate me anywhere, fully or otherwise.
What is it like to be an English Dad raising two kids in the Czech Republic?
I think maybe having teenagers is a similar experience all over the world. Obviously, I wish they treated me a little more politely sometimes, but I think that goes for most modern Dads. The Czech language adds to that though. There is that real split created by the tykat/vykat system, when to use “ty” and “vy”. My kids are capable of coming out suddenly with incredibly formal Czech, very flowery and elegant, when talking to people they vykat. But their daily chat with me could certainly be a little more English. A few more “please’s”, and “would you mind’s….” would be nice. That one is maybe a Dad thing all over though.
So you’ve tried to teach them about both the Czech and English cultures?
I’ve mainly tried to teach them useful stuff. Like Bushcrat, which means tricks for survival in the wild, or what Czechs would call “the nature”. Bushcraft is a happy medium between camping and survivalism. It involves making shelters from natural materials, scavenging food and gathering materials useful for making fires or for self-defence. One year I built an igloo in my garden and slept in it. I’ve made my own snow shoes too. Useful stuff like that. I reckon every English kid like me wanted to be Ray Mears (bushcraft expert and celebrity) when they were growing up. What normal kid doesn’t like messing around with knives and making fires and climbing trees? I’ve tried to teach the students at the University a bit of bushcraft too. For example, I taught my Masters students how to make a fire the natural way, without using matches or a lighter.
How did they like it?
Again, “nonplussed” is probably the word that comes to mind. I did once give an impromptu fire making lesson to a group of Archaeologists who were hosting a “Prehistoric Day” event at the University and couldn’t get the fire started. I think they were pretty happy to have someone like me around.
Natalie Czaban 
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