the general opinion among foreigners seems to be that czechs are standoffish, arrogant, and impossible to understand as a culture. perhaps to people from countries where human interaction is generally more open and warm, the differences are strikingly obvious. myself coming from a culture that isn't particularly famous for its kindness to strangers or even to its own, i can sort of understand this (mis)conception and the truth and reasons behind it, the way i can understand why czech verbs conjugate the way they do, but still have no feeling for them. yet i hear disappointingly often from friends who have lived here for longer than i that i will probably never find any close friends among the czechs. of course this is a bullshit thing to say, but still, i wonder.
sometimes i think it is easier here for students who have no intention of ever belonging here. people who, coming here, don't feel nostalgia for a time and place they never lived in. but i sit on a strange fence between understanding a little and understanding nothing, and it is the combination of one glimmer of hope for the future and the bitter pain of being different that startles and confuses me. dear prague, please don't break my heart.
Hmmm... That's interesting... I haven't had such experience with the Czechs... I mean those who I talked to were friendly and just grest, but I didn't try to make really good friends with them... On the other hand, making FRIENDS (in the Russian sense of the word) is difficult regardless of their nationality... It just has to be the right person, I guess... Anyway, don't let me get too philosophical)
ReplyDeletei haven't had such an experience either. but that's what i am saying, i think we don't notice it as much, you know?
ReplyDeletesince i came here, i have wanted to hug every czech person and tell them how much i love them. if this was socially acceptable, of course. it may not be visible in their manner, but it's in their streets, their museums, their architecture, their literature and their illustration. they are something wonderful. i can't complain that czechs are standoffish and don't want to be my friends, because i never really made an effort to be close friends with any! i might as well be standoffish, arrogant, and impossible to understand! :)
Heh-heyyy Luka has a green one of these get me on pweaseeeee!
ReplyDeleteBTW the teddy bears REALLY cute!
ReplyDeletethese are about 5 times smaller than luka's froggy but much more precious because you can hold them in your palm. of course i will be bringing you prezzies!
ReplyDeletemmm... this idea of hugging everyone and telling them how much I love them sounds very familiar))) been there, too))))
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