I feel at home in Czechia more than in Israel, says Dr. Yosef Mahagna, a graduate of the preparatory course of ÚJOP and Czech universities ****************************************************************************************** * ****************************************************************************************** Dr. Yosef Mahagna lives in the northern Israeli city of Umm Al Fahm, where he has worked a psychologist and a training centre coordinator at the city hall, has trained students and teachers in developmental and educational psychology, and has run his own private clinic f He also manages a centre for friendly relations with the Czech Republic, which he founded ago. After all, Yosef Mahagna has very strong ties with the Czech Republic, where he studi his free time between his family, his two daughters and two sons, and promoting the Czech conducted the interview in Czech, the language the fifty-five-year-old doctor learned at t at the ÚJOP preparatory programme in Poděbrady [ URL "https://ujop.cuni.cz/UJOPEN-1.html"] What brought you to the Czech Republic 35 years ago? It had been growing in me since I was a kid. Even then, I dreamed of studying abroad, idea although there are plenty of universities in Israel. Czechoslovakia appeared to be one of My father knew a lot about the situation at that time and advised me to go there to study a developed country in the heart of Europe, a rich country among the Eastern European coun started looking at the map and reading about Czechoslovakia myself, and eventually got con Czechoslovakia was indeed the best choice. I had my mind made up, I wanted to go and study Were you also clear about what you were going to study? Yes, I was interested in psychology since high school and wanted to study it, it was a ver field. Of course, I was also worried that it might be too difficult to study psychology ab foreign language. I initially found the Czech language itself very difficult. However, I t of challenge, I had my mind made up and I set off for Prague. There I really found out tha easy language and I started, as they say, to knuckle down. ****************************************************************************************** * Even the dorm receptionist helped me work on my Czech ****************************************************************************************** So, your path led you to the preparatory course of the Institute for Language and Preparat Poděbrady... Exactly. After a week in Prague I went to Poděbrady. That was in 1990. There I took a cour for my field [ URL "https://ujop.cuni.cz/UJOPEN-72.html?ujopcmsid=119:humanities-complex"] psychology, and that's where my abundant Czech experiences began. I spent nine intensive m the time when I didn't know any Czech to the time I was admitted to university. Every day rich and full of amazing experiences. It would take me a lot of time to recount everything a nice spa town that I liked a lot and I like it now. Last year I went there and it was li a treasure. It is a town that is full of joy. I feel at home there, maybe even more than a are very good people living there, very sociable and with good hearts. I got to know them but also on the street or in the shops. Even though they knew that I didn't speak Czech we to talk to me and acted friendly, they wanted to know where I was from, what I was doing t 1990s, in Czechoslovakia, such openness towards foreigners was not commonplace. The enviro Poděbrady castle [ URL "https://ujop.cuni.cz/UJOPEN-98.html"]  stimulated my study efforts I can't forget the lady receptionist at the dorm who always wanted to talk to us so that w communicate in Czech. This way we learned a few new words every day. I spent the best year Poděbrady. Studying there gave me a strong foundation in Czech, thanks to which I was subs start studying at university in Czech. I was selected to study psychology at Masaryk Unive There I continued to improve my Czech language skills. Do you still speak Czech today? On what occasions? I have a very romantic relationship with the Czech language. Even though I graduated a lon I still try to keep it fresh in my mind. When I returned home in 1995, I brought back some related to my field and read them. Since 2008, when I started to have internet at work, I listened to Czech news and also watched Czech TV. I have been reading your newspapers ever more than twenty years. Thanks to all this my Czech is still quite good despite my age and everything. The problem is, I don't have anyone to talk to here. There are no Czechs livin so it sometimes happens that I don't speak Czech for a year. Then the words get sometimes and it is hard to get them out. In order to speak Czech, I got in touch with the local Cze made some good friends this way. Of course, I also travel to the Czech Republic, if only t At the embassy, they now have a new course called " Hezky česky" twice a month designed pr expatriates, but I joined in as well. Czechia is better than medicine ****************************************************************************************** * Czechia is better than medicine ****************************************************************************************** How often and on what occasions do you visit Czechia? I have a really warm relationship with Czechia, I can't live without it even for a year. L something unbelievable. I have diabetes and I have to take medication when I am at home. B in the Czech Republic, I don't take the medication and I don't feel any problems, even my normal. So, I go to the Czech Republic as often as I can, usually at least once or twice a I have my family, my job and many things to do, but I am deeply connected to Czechia and e helps me mentally, physically and socially. I have also made my children understand that i home and will remain so in my heart until I die. How do you promote the Czech Republic in Israel and how successful are you in it? My centre for friendly relations here in Umm Al Fahm helps people who want to go to the Cz to study, whether at Charles University or elsewhere. They contact me with questions about study system, the living standards... I also help people who just want to visit the Czech a very popular place for Israeli tourists. That's why they want to know what the country l is worth seeing and so on before deciding on the trip. Occasionally, I am contacted by peo to trade with the Czech Republic to find out what might be worth exporting or importing. T non-profit, I work there in my free time. When I have time in the afternoons after work, I centre, answering people on Facebook or on the phone. You will find nothing but the Czech Facebook page! Pictures, links to articles or universities... When someone meets me here o first thing they ask me is how Czechia is doing, what's new there... When the incident at Faculty happened, locals called me and asked what was going on. It makes me feel like I am in Israel. I am happy to be such an ambassador. If I have a bad day, I am in tension or I my wife tells me right away, you have to go to the Czech Republic for at least a week. And I go, I come back with a lot of energy and in a good mood. Czech universities are internationally recognised and prestigious ****************************************************************************************** * Czech universities are internationally recognised and prestigious ****************************************************************************************** If some students come to your centre and want to know why they should study in the Czech R you tell them? I will definitely support them to go, because they will certainly like the Czech Republic. country in terms of nature, level of education and people. Czechs are very kind, although first sight. But friendships with them are strong. You can find everything you need in Cze not only completed my master's degree in the Czech Republic, but also earned my PhD at the Social Studies of Masaryk University in 2015. And my degree is incredibly respected in Isr such prestige that anyone who hears that I am a graduate of a Czech university takes their Universities in the Czech Republic are internationally recognised, among the best in Centr in the world. They are of such a high standard that their graduates simply must be compete have studied in the Czech Republic are among the elite here, whether they are doctors, psy lawyers. Therefore, I say that whoever gets there is very lucky. Studying in Czechia is no worth it. Exactly for that reason. And why would you recommend them to prepare for their university studies in Czechia at ÚJO preparatory programmes not only in Czech but also in English. Primarily, it is an institution that welcomes students with open arms. When I first came t people at ÚJOP welcomed me in such a way that I felt like I was at home, among friends. Th for us, they took care of everything on our behalf. We didn't have to worry about anything themselves really just have to come and study. ÚJOP will also arrange your residence permi applications, dormitory applications... Even the study itself and the relationships with t great. At ÚJOP there are helpful and friendly people who give their 100%.