Installment #2 for the ESI newsletter, which has maintained its worldwide circulation of about 25.

- Elliot

For those of you who do not live in Prague, you may be thinking: What does the NATO summit have to do with me?  I live in Ostrava/Sokolov/Friydlant, and the pastoral bliss of my teaching experience can only be disturbed by goats chewing on my hanging laundry, not an international organization.

As the French say, au contraire.  The NATO summit will have Czech Republic-wide ramifications, and it is up to me to tell you how to meet the challenges of this very important meeting of politicians talking about political-type things.

Possible Problem: George W. Bush, or some other member of the US delegation, asks you to the big after-summit blowout at President Havel's house, and you don't have a thing to wear.  Possible Solution: As long as whatever you're wearing doesn't have anti-American slogans plastered all over it, you should be fine.  Don't bother me anymore with these piddling problems.

Possible Problem: You are on your way to teach (or on your way to the train station for a trip to Italy, for those of you whose schools are kind enough to let you off work during these days) when you are mistaken for a terrorist and taken into custody.  Possible Solution: Now this is more like it.  The first thing to do is NOT to scream "America is the devil!" even though this might seem like the natural thing to do in these circumstances.  No, you should show your passport and quietly explain that you are an American citizen and brandish lots of American money to prove it.  If that doesn't work, you can always point somewhere off in the distance and shout, "Holy Cow, what is THAT thing!?!" and then run away when your arresting officer looks.

Possible Problem: A very important Icelandic (you can't get much more North Atlantic than that) government official's flight has somehow been re-routed to Friydlant, and he/she knocks on your door to see if he/she can stay at your place while the transportation bugs are being sorted out.  Possible Solution: Well, you could put out more towels, for one thing.  And if you're interested in Icelandic foreign policy, now is your time to sit down and have a little heart-to-heart that could have some real influence.