Ahoj everyone!I'm an in Italian student, studying in New Zealand. I have to report on the Czech Culture for my International Management course and I was wodering if someone could give me a hand. Particularly I'd like to know what may render czech people anxious (what might cause anxiety, fear, irritation, impatience, suspicion, awkwardness, defensiveness)...everithing from smoking in public spaces, spit on the ground, talking about certtain topic, not being punctual and so forth. This might sound to you a little bit weird...but this is what I've been asked!!! mnohokrát děkuji
When you don't remove your shoes, when you go into house/apartment When you say Czech republic is in Eastern Europe. When you are too loud in public.
I would say, from my experience, that Czechs are afraid of making mistakes (something which is unfortunately "taught" in schools here), and are afraid of making fools of themselves in front of others (being silly, etc). Again, this is just my experience and my perspective as a late-30's person...
But you probably do it where they recognize you - same with me once the people in the store have seen me a few times but the first time in, obviously looking like a foreigner, picking up the basket and giving a nice "dobry den" helps a lot.
discussing intimate feelings or fears and public display of affection. And people who smile too much.
I dare disagree. I don't think neither PDA or smiling too much makes us anxious. Sure, there are always exceptions like that couple making out sitting just in front of you in the tram where you don't have much choices where to look at. Or someone wearing a fake smile (by the way, some call it "an American smile") all day long and/or behaving way too friendly when it's pretty obvious it's just a facade. On the other hand, I get quite uncomfortable when certain people always talk about their God and how much they like Him and whatever. I believe one's ideology (whether it's Christianity, Islam, vegetarianism, communism, obsessive devotion to a soccer team, ...) should be kept as private business and people shouldn't talk about it much unless being asked. No offense, but it's really like that for many of us, I guess it's regional difference.
I have the opposite problem here - my normal, relaxed facial position does not include a smile. In fact the edges of my mouth rather droop looking like a slight frown. People (even stangers) are always telling me "Smile!" - I could just punch them :evil: - I'm not unhappy, I just don't have a silly grin.
Wow, that's strange. One of my husband's biggest complaints about USA is that religion, money, & politics are considered taboo in polite conversation. He says it's ridiculous how Americans think it's inappropriate to discuss religion, money, and politics like its private business and should be kept to one's self. He said that Czechs don't care about that and will discuss it openly and freely without becoming uncomfortable. Perhaps when it comes to discussing religion, you are more American than Czech. :wink:
There is two diferend things "discuss something" and "allways talk about something" - the first one is ok, the second is pretty annoyng...
Maybe it's difference between discussion (aka talking opposite personal opinions about topic without restriction) and sermoning? But I'm only guessing, I don't know many Americans personaly. Maybe it also depends on class, state, age etc...
Thanks so much guys for your discussion....it's been of great help! My report on Czech Republic is improving day by day....thanks again!
I wouldn't mind discussing religion (if it's even possible because as we all know, logical reasoning and faith don't mix well together). I mean shoving his/her faith right into my face*, half of the topics leading to his/her love to God and praising him. I understand that people can be in love with God just as they can be love with a real person and both kinds can be pretty annoying sometimes (the latter particularly during the first enchantment phase), talking about their beloved ones all the time to all who are willing to listen and even those who aren't. * I'm an atheist (does NOT mean I'm a communist) and I find some of the statements related to religions funny and/or weird, but some are just offensive to me. And one more thing that makes some of us anxious: when we see a foreigner approaching us, we are well were that our ability to speak another language leaves a lot to be desired and yet we will have to embarrass ourselves (again) when trying to speak English using our horrible Czenglish. Of course, I guess I'm the only one on this forum like that, but such experiences are not generally uncommon among Czechs.
Petře, 90% of the time when a Czech says "please excuse my English, I don't speak very well", they are usually advanced speakers. This is what I was talking about in my earlier post - Czechs are so uptight about making a mistake that they let it affect their confidence. Please - don't worry about your English! A semi-related story - I teach English at my local (Czech) primary school, mostly 9th graders. When the kids start razzing me on my Czech, I tell them in no uncertain terms: "The day that you speak English as well as I speak Czech, you can criticize me....until then....STUDY!" But I do hope it's a good example to them to see that I am 100% comfortable speaking Czech, even though it's not perfect - they may giggle a little at my grammar, but I think the point is made...
This clarification appears as strange to me. Is there a trend in your area of the country to accuse atheists of being communists? I've never heard of that. I want to say that if I've personally offended you in any way, I apologize. I've always tried to hold to the belief that God should never be forced on any one which is why I support the removal of prayer in public schools. I don't recall ever beginning a topic on religion unless I've had a legitimate question. However, I know that I don't shy away from those topics when they are brought up. I admit, there has been several topics on religion on this forum, but I believe its by the choice of those wishing to partake in such discussions. There are also several posts about hockey or soccer, of which I have no personal interest, so I simply refrain from participating in the discussion. I, in no way want to offend you, but I would like to ask in all humility that in light of the fact that some people do enjoy discussing religion and it's differences, please allow them the freedom to have such discussions with out taking personal offense. If I've miss read your posts here and you were not referring to topics on this board, I apoligize for assuming that you were.
What a wonderful discussion. My wife and I leave for Czech in two weeks (first time) so this discussion is quite apt. Since I am trying to learn Czech, it will be me who is very anxious about speaking; I am trying to indoctrinate myself to speak and not go mute in the presence of a native Czech speaker, even if just speaking the polite phrases. Practical question about these small baskets in small stores. My wife likes to browse (of course). Do you pick up a basket even if not necessarily buying? Glenn in FL: haha, my face is the same. Apparently I look grim if not smiling and always have, though I'm far from grim. Maybe I should move to Czech and fit right in.
Some time ago it was not allowed to browse without a basket. Now it's much more common, I often do it. But in smaller shops or smaller cities, the personnel may not be very happy about it. Sometimes you may even read "Vstup pouze s košíkem" meaning "Entry with a basket only"
No, there's no such a trend. I meant this for foreigners, some of whom seem to think these two are equal (well some seem to think that we all living in Eastern Europe are commies). There's nothing to apologize for. I've managed to avoid all numerous religion-related topics on this forum anyway as my English is not up to the level necessary for in-depth discussion. Re: baskets/carts in shops I believe you're still supposed to pick up shopping basket/cart in most of the shops. As Karel_lerak wrote, some even have signs telling you to do that. In some shops they even don't have baskets, only carts - if I'm in such a shop going only for one thing, I don't take a cart and I've never had any problems with that. I still remember how it was in samoobsluha (something like small supermarket) prior to 1990. If you came to some of them during shopping rush hour (read: pretty much anytime after working hours), you first had to wait in the queue to get the shopping basket/cart before you could get inside - so to get in without a shopping basket was unthinkable, because you would be jumping the whole angry queue. Waiting in queues was just one of the curses of shopping during communistic regime, in a samoobsluha, it could look like this: 1. Waiting in the queue to return empty bottles (pretty much all beverages including milk were sold in returnable glass bottles). 2. Waiting in the queue to get a shopping basket. 3. Waiting in the queues in various sections of samoobsluha (vegetables, cheese/salads, sweets, meat). 4. Waiting for check-out. Optionally, after shopping you could've also waited for coffee grinding machine (we used to buy coffee beans and then grind it in the store), or the device checking if the eggs are all OK.
I think ta means the government/local authorities in the first place, but how comes it's the same in the USA? One would've thought the people would complain when it's a private company employee and even more when it's a government/local authority clerk being paid by their tax money.
