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Dan's PR class (the woman wearing the hat is the Latvian
president's press secretary, who was a guest speaker. I
gave her the ASU cap as a gift)
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It was the first day of classes in early September and I arrived
promptly for my opening lecture in room 351 of the University
of Latvia's Social Sciences Department. I had been rehearsing
my opening comments for days and was pleased that a large group
of students was in the room as I arrived.
"Labrit," I began, wishing the class a "good morning"
in their Latvian language. I then introduced myself and began
explaining why an American had come all the way to a small country
in northeastern Europe to teach classes. "I'm here so that
we can learn from each other," I said. "The Fulbright
program is all about building bridges between America and other
peoples around the world." I looked around the room and saw
several students nodding and smiling. I was on a roll.
Just then a hand went up from a student in the back of the room.
"That's nice," she said. "But this is a class in
German literature."
It was not the auspicious beginning I had wanted. As it turned
out, two classes had been assigned to the same classroom at the
same time, not an uncommon occurrence at the University, as course
schedules and student registration are not computerized. It took
three weeks - and moves to two other classrooms -- before it all
got straightened out. Fortunately, I had been warned at a Fulbright
orientation session last summer in Washington, D.C., to be prepared
for this type of confusion, so it didn't catch me totally by surprise.
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Dan at the University of Latvia's Social Sciences building.
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Administrative snafus aside, the year was tremendously fulfilling.
My faculty colleagues were quite welcoming. And despite being
warned that the students sit in class stone-faced and silent -
a common stereotype of eastern Europeans -- I have found them
to be responsive and participative. Some of them struggle with
English, but most speak it well enough to understand my lectures
and the course material.
Interestingly, more than half of my students currently have paying
jobs in the journalism and public relations fields. One of my
students is an anchor and correspondent on one of the national
network TV news programs. Others hold jobs at the largest newspapers
and PR firms in Latvia. The journalism field has basically been
rebuilt from scratch since Latvia gained its independence from
the Soviet Union ten years ago. And the PR field here is still
very much in its infancy. As a result, it's much easier for students
to get working experience in the field than it is back home. Salaries,
though, are extremely low.
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Dan conducting a seminar for Latvian broadcast journalists
at LTV.
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I conducted seminars for journalists at LTV and LNT, the two
major television networks in Latvia. I presented an overview of
the American television news model and some tips on how to produce
a better newscast, based on what I have observed from watching
newscasts in Latvia.
In public relations, I conducted a seminar in news media relations
for the staff at Consensus PR, the second-largest PR firm in the
country. At the request of the U.S. Embassy, I also consulted
with the PR staff at the Latvian Ministry of Defense, which was
faced with a difficult communications challenge concerning the
building of a controversial military radar installation in the
eastern part of the country.
I also had the opportunity to present guest lectures for journalism
students at universities in Valmiera, Latvia and Kaunas, Lithuania.
I wrote an article about Latvia as an attractive destination
for tourists that appeared in the Travel section of Phoenix "Tribune"
in February. I gave a copy of the story to Kaspars Ruklis, the
press assistant at the U.S. Embassy, and he showed it to a reporter
with the Baltic News Service (BNS). To make a long story short,
the reporter wrote an article summarizing my story, and it appeared
it "Diena" and "Neatkariga," two of Latvia's
largest newspapers. Apparently, Latvians are very pleased when
their country gets positive press attention abroad.
Riga is a charming city of about 800,000 residents with interesting
architecture, lots of parks, wide boulevards, museums and a medieval
"Old Town" area that is a labyrinth of cobblestone streets
and buildings that are several centuries old. In fact, last summer,
the city celebrated its 800-year anniversary.
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Amy and Dan Fellner in Riga's Old Town.
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My wife Amy and I have enjoyed Riga's vibrant cultural scene,
having attended performances of the ballet, opera and theater.
I also went to numerous ice hockey games, the country's national
pastime. I became so fascinated with Latvian hockey and the amazing
devotion of its fans, I wrote an article on the subject that appeared
in the "Baltic Times," the English newspaper serving
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the cable TV system in
my apartment had a sports channel that carried the 2001 World
Series games. So I was able to root for my beloved Arizona Diamondbacks,
although it meant not getting much sleep for several days, as
the games didn't begin here until 3 a.m. When Arizona scored the
winning run in game seven, it was about 6:15 a.m. and Amy and
I screamed so loud, I'm sure we woke up all of our neighbors!
I am looking forward to returning to Riga for another semester
on a grant renewal in the fall of 2002 with my wife, Amy, who
also has been awarded a Fulbright grant to teach at the Riga Graduate
School of Law.
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