International student interview CULS — Egypt

iZUN: What do you think about the Czech Republic?

I think it is a good and beautiful country with many different projects and there are a lot of advantages in public transportation, espetially in Prague.

iZUN: What is your opinion about the ČZU university?

I like the way of studying at ČZU. It has a good laboratory, the internet is pretty fast and almost always available and the fact that there is not as much stress with the exams because even if you fail for the first try, you can success for the second or even for the third one. Those you can use either to improve your last performance or because you had an inconvenience due to personal or health reasons.

iZUN: Does the government donate the local education in your country?

Yes they do. We just pay like a small fees of about 900 CZK per semester.

iZUN: Are there any differences between the university system here and in Egypt?

Well, there are few of them. For example the one for which I am glad to study in the Czech Republic than in Egypt is if you fail the exam test once, you have failed forever. There is no second chance. You don't have the opportunity to re-done the exam.

iZUN: How do you keep your culture alive here in the Czech Republic?

There are a lot of Arabians and Egyptians here. We can meet as often as we want. In Prague there are few places specially for foreigners where we can practice our own cultures. That includes food, religion, meeting new people or old friends etc.

iZUN: Do you like Czech beer?Unfortunatelly I can not tell you anything about it. Because of my religion I don't drink alcoholic beverages at all. But I have heard it is very tasty.

iZUN:  What do you like the most and less about ČZU?

From what I like the most could be the structure, everything is so well organized, you have an excellent equipment here. And from what I do not like are the dogs in the campus. Everything else is great for me.

iZUN:

iZUN: Do you have Czech friends?

Yes, I have Czech friends. It can be a huge help and advantage.

iZUN: Tell us something about yourself?

I like going to the gym, to green open areas. I always search for some friends to go with but even alone get a book and read it outside - only in the summer of course.

iZUN:  

iZUN: Can you think about a specific time when you needed to adapt to change and what steps you took in order to be successful in it? What was the outcome?

At first it was difficult being here in the Czech Republic, because when I was in Egypt, I used to be awake all day and night, people have shifts for day and night, so if you go out at 3:00 a.m., you can get anything. Here I was shocked because when I got to Marianské, they closed at 4:30 p.m. In order to adapt well, I had to start programming myself so when I had to buy something, I would try to make sure to do it in day time.

iZUN:  Why did you choose ČZU?

I chose ČZU because I did my bachelor at Egypt on an area concerning agriculture in my country, and I wanted to do my Magister degree in that same area.

iZUN: Why did you choose your course? Tell me about what you have learnt?

iZUN: Because I choose this course, because water in private companies in Egypt is a problem for consuming, working with it etc. I have learned that it is also a big problem in the whole african continent and how this problem is being solved through time and the methodologies. Can you tell me something about your city?

I am living in a small city which is 35 minutes from Cairo, people are friendly, shops are open day and night, you can't get bored in my city or in Cairo. You can go at any time of the day for shopping even at 3 a.m. Transportation is difficult with a lot of traffic that is the worst thing there.

iZUN: What types of food do you eat there?

We have the Kushadi.

iZUN: What facets of this experience at the Czech Republic have been challenging you?

Everything is difficult at the beginning, trying to stand up to the fact of being away from home for the first time in my life. Being in the city at the beginning without arabians, not finding any arabian shops with special ingredients for traditional foods, they sleep here so early. It was really different from what I've been used to.

iZUN: What is the general perception of the Czech Republic in your home country? Are those perceptions correct? In your opinion, what are the Czech Republic´s greatest strenght and weaknesses?

In my country, there are a lot of vehicles and motorbikes, that have been made in the Czech Republic, they even say CZ and people still say it is they are the best motorbikes they have ever used. In my opinion, its strenght is on transportation and well about the in the weaknesses, the fact that the majority of people are not able to communicate with English.

iZUN: And finally our traditional question. What do you think of poultry cages?