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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Tue Mar 1st 11:41 2005 / #1 |
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Bloody shame that Shaun. Bet you couldnt get a decent cup of tea here either? |
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Will
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[anon]
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Tue Mar 1st 13:02 2005 / #2 |
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Oh dear Shaun. You seem to have experienced mostly all negative points on your trip here. Actually, I've been treated very well as a Brit in Prague. Most Czechs being overtly friendly towards me as well as trying to please. I'm sorry you had a bad experience. |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Tue Mar 1st 13:12 2005 / #3 |
Shaun,
You drew the short end on that trip to be sure.
First, Czechs will make anyone feel uncomfortable if they are of a certain mind, even, and in some cases especially, other Czechs. The whores on Wencelas Square are famous. They hit everyone they can get their thieving little hands on. It is part of the colour of the area. Maybe next time you should try to do a little more research before you come over that way you will not feel so put upon by your experience. |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Tue Mar 1st 13:18 2005 / #4 |
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If you think coming to prague as a brit grants you bad service try going to France and acting similarly. I found the French to have the worst service, and of course there's virtually no chance to speak any language other than French except in upscale restaurants designed for tourists. I know, I know, French is a beautiful language, and I love to hear it spoken, and they have some policy about not wanting to ever speak english, which I respect. But for me as a native english speaker I don't want to travel there ever again until I can speak their language better. Trust me speaking bad czech will grant you much better service than the attitude you'd get trying to speak bad french. |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Tue Mar 1st 16:59 2005 / #5 |
Shaun, your experience was horrible! I suspect, though, that some of your impressions were distorted by the language barrier. The signs on the walls in the hostel don't surprise me, but they were written by foreigners. As far as people laughing at you for being English speakers,
maybe you interpreted that wrong, because deep down, Czechs don't admire any nations more than the Anglo-Saxons ones. Even if they say things to the contrary, it really don't mean it.
During communist rule, Czechs were crazy about Westerners, but since the Velvet Revolution, some Czech think that they will prove they are now part of the West by imitating Western anti-Americanism. The Czechs are also deeply envious and resent the fact that their country is economically so much poorer and so much less important than the
Anglo-Saxon countries. But, English sounds to our ears hell of a lot better than French and English is now the 2nd language, replacing the traditional German (almost nobody is learning French here). So take it from me: Czechs are really not anti-English-speaking countries. |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Tue Mar 1st 17:37 2005 / #6 |
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I would bet most all of the anti-american statements you read scrawled on the walls were written by americans. |
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Tribe
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[profile]
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Tue Mar 1st 18:26 2005 / #7 |
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And don't dis the Clown and Bard. I lived there for a month in a room with 25 others when I first came to Prague in 2000. The place has character. Too much, perhaps, for some. It ain't the Hilton. |
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Shaun
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[anon]
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Wed Mar 2nd 01:23 2005 / #8 |
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Some good comments ppl, Clown and Bard will be dissed as it was so bad. I dont expect much for what we payed but it really was poor. In event of a fire that would be it. Fire escape 3 floors down! |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Wed Mar 2nd 01:28 2005 / #9 |
"but unlike a lot of brits we were going to prague for good dance music and drink and shopping"
Uh huh. |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Wed Mar 2nd 01:28 2005 / #10 |
"but unlike a lot of brits we were going to prague for good dance music and drink and shopping"
Uh huh. |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Wed Mar 2nd 01:57 2005 / #11 |
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it can be tough here, we all know it, i think what you had happen to oyu was something that is very common to prague, and still probably happens to a lot of people on this forum as well. and this is that it is really hard to find out what is going on in prague, and whats actually going to be a good time. no disrespect PTV, but if you are total foreigner and go to look at whats happening tonight theres probably little chance that someone would be able to tell the difference between nebe and radost, this is true of almost every city, it takes a while to find out what you like to do in a city |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Wed Mar 2nd 10:29 2005 / #12 |
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"The Czechs are also deeply envious and resent the fact that their country is economically so much poorer and so much less important than the Anglo-Saxon countries" ..........#5 I guess you really have insight to all things here....huh? General statements such the one you made make me want to hurl. |
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expat
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[anon]
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Wed Mar 2nd 11:04 2005 / #13 |
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I am not number five, but I will say that in my experience an enormous amount of Czechs have characterized their own people(and themselves) as being envious. If 5 is an expat, he probably came to that conclusion from discussions with Czechs. If he is Czech, he is just saying what many other czechs have said. |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Wed Mar 2nd 11:30 2005 / #14 |
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With that in mind most of the czechs that I know are very proud of their country's history, and the czech people themselves. They may talk about being envious (even though I ve never heard this, and I have many czech friends and family as I am half czech) but I wouldn't say that means that they think their country is a shithole. The word envious kind of says that they are jealous of other countries, they may be jealous of the money that can be made in other countries, and expats ability to come here, and make a load of money speaking their native language in pubs (remember English teachers, minumum wage in this country is 50 krowns, and a good job would be one that pays around 120 krowns an hour). ask any younger czech person what they think of the EU laws regulating marijuana, or smoking in pubs, or their beliefs as to whether the EU is out to screw the czech people you will find that most hate the EU integration because they equate it with an outside force once again ruling their country. I ve heard many say that the EU is going to be like communism all over again (a little over the top in my opinion, but I ve heard it nonetheless) I will admit many of my friends are punks, and lower working class people in this country, but I don't think that totally skews my views as to what they think, and what they do envy. I do find that a lot of them really look up to France for some reason, Germany, ah, no way. England, there are a few that would like to move there, the US, I think many still think the american dream is possible, and I don't shatter their dreams when someone talks about wanting to move there, this is not to say that they aren't against the US foreign policy. Actually now that I reread this I m beginning to see how stupid it is to try and generalize what "they" think. all of us have different groups of czech friends, and I can assure you that just the fact that many of you speak with czechs who only speak English, that you are already dealing with a different type of czech person. All we have to go by is our own personal experience. Imagine trying to paint black people in america based on your views and experiences after living in one american city, and then trying to paint all of them with the same brush, its nearly impossible, and generally the people that do it are trying to legitimise their already preconceived notions. this post is just about my personal experience, I m not trying to act as if it is 100% true of the czech people. |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Wed Mar 2nd 12:44 2005 / #15 |
"England, there are a few that would like to move there, the US, I think many still think the american dream is possible, and I don't shatter their dreams when someone talks about wanting to move there, this is not to say that they aren't against the US foreign policy."
Czechs are scattered all over the world. They love to travel adn live in foreign countries. My father in law as a philospoher of history is fond of the theory that the reason why the Czechs are so "stupid and small-minded, his words not mine, is because the smart ones leave. He was Czech by the way. Many of the younger intelligent and open minded Czechs that I know want to leave the country for a number of reasons, mostly because they are tired of the negative and defeatist attitude of the Czech people. Very few however, if any, actually want to go to the US. |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Wed Mar 2nd 13:10 2005 / #16 |
um, there was just a 2 hour special on czech television about czechs who emigrated to the US a few months ago, the documentary (it was in czech by the way) detailed emigration to the US from the 1880s to present, and there is also a class about the subject of czech emigration to the US being taught at Charles university. To say that "very few, if any, want to go to the US" is just simply not true. sorry.
here's a link to a program of american studies taught to czechs
http://www.americansc.org.uk/Online/success.htm
and here's a book detailing czech emigration to the US from 1850 to 1900
http://www.txczgs.org/harvest.html
On top of that, I would say half of my czech friends have traveled to the US, and many others would like to go, but fear the paperwork and beauracracy of being allowed in. Every post on this forum always has to revert to some sort of anti-americanism dosnt it. Dosn't surprise me. |
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13
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[anon]
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Wed Mar 2nd 13:30 2005 / #17 |
Actually, nearly all the non-smoking Czechs I know personally have told me they would support of ban of smoking in public places. Although, the rest of the "EU integration" thing they don't like it's true.
I never said "Czechs think Czech Republic is a shithole." I said I have heard many Czechs chara terise their people as being envious. Almost to a man, they have told me this. Now, I am not saying that "All Czechs have told me this. There are 10 million some Czechs. I have not spoken of these issues to all of them.
Nearly fifty percent of the HUNDRED or so Czech expats I knew in my hometown(I estimate) want to stay in the US. Many of them have married Americans just to get green cards.
Some of the rest thought/think the US is okay, and some have/had a miserable time there.
I am American. If I say "I am an envious person" it does NOT mean that I envy other countries. It merely means that I believe envy to be a big factor in my personality.
I speak czech. Many of my non-English-speaking acquaintances have said the same thing. |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Wed Mar 2nd 13:33 2005 / #18 |
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What all this America crap has to do with this English guys bad holiday is beyond me. |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Wed Mar 2nd 13:52 2005 / #19 |
Dosn't this forum kind of prove what #14 was saying. We all talk with different types of czech people, so to say that "they" believe one thing is kind of stupid isn't it. There are czech fascists, czech football hooligans, czech intellectuals, czech anarchists, czech artists, working class czechs, super rich czechs, czechs that are half czech half slovak jews, come on. Saying that czechs are "like this" is kind of like saying Americans are all ignorant, or that the British can't hold their drink, or that the French talk too much and never get anything done. To anyone who has visited any of these countries will soon know that this is generally not true. If you are an anarchist and come to the czech republic you will meet a lot of other czech anarchists, if you are into drum and bass you'll probably meet a different type of czech than someone at a bengas concert. Aren't people a little more complicated in their personalities besides just saying. "oh he's czech you know, so he has a really negative attitude" I would bet most of the czechs you hang out with don't really fit the stereotypes that you are trying to paint them with. I ve heard it so many times living in prague for the last 5 years. "yeah, im dating this czech girl, but she's not really like a normal czech" or about males that "he's really outgoing and optimistic, totally not czech at all" Dosn't there come a time when people realize that they stereotype people because of their own preconceived notions that they want to make concrete in their heads generally because of their own shortcomings? I agree with 14, imagine if you said "black people are criminals" or "mexicans like lowriders" sure its true to a certain extent, thats how stereotypes get formed, there is always a bit of truth to substantiate it, but generally they are over generalizations based on the actions of a few that they personally had interactions with. And I think that most people are beginning to see it for ignorance, and not much more.
and please don't say "well I have had this many czech friends, and they are totally like this" Don't you think that the czech people you chose to hang out with may be a certain group, just like a certain group of people in the states, france, or england? some of the people on this forum prove this point, one guy hangs out with punks, one person has a czech father who made statements about czechs, one apparently hangs out with non-smoking czechs, Don't you think trying to generalize all of these people is just getting a little silly at this point? |
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13
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[anon]
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Wed Mar 2nd 14:00 2005 / #20 |
I never said that "All Czechs say this." Again, to repeat, I said "Many Czechs have said this to me." It is true. Many, many, many, an unusually high percentage, I think. I would not say "All people in(any nation) are like this or like that." That is the height of idiocy. You cannot argue with my experience. If every Czech you know emphatically states, "All Czechs are not envious", then I could not argue that they have said this. If "many"(not all) have said the opposite, then I can confidently say "Many Czechs have told me this." Nothing else. Anything else would be conjecture.
Again, for the FOURTH time, I never stereotyped Czechs in general on this thread. I have only related my experience. |
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#5
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[anon]
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Wed Mar 2nd 17:09 2005 / #21 |
#12, yes I do have an insight because I am Czech.
#13, a good comment. |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Thu Mar 3rd 10:31 2005 / #22 |
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#21 hope you feel better now that you are Czech |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Thu Mar 3rd 11:08 2005 / #23 |
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What could this possibly mean? |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Sat Mar 5th 13:56 2005 / #24 |
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I think it means what #19 was saying, people are different everwhere, and have lots of different opinions, and stereotypes generally come from personal experience, to generalise is stupid. |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Sat Mar 5th 18:25 2005 / #25 |
#24, every nation has its characteristics so some generalization is in order, even if not all members of that nation fit those characteristics.
I am sure there are some envious Americans, but it is not typical. There are some Germans with a sense of humor, but not many. There are some
Africans who cannot dance, but most can. Flush PC down the zachod. |
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[ anonymous ]
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[anon]
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Sun Mar 6th 01:22 2005 / #26 |
It is not that Americans--by which I mean NORTH AMERICANS--aren't envious, I think, by contrast, that envy is really frowned upon by NOrth American culture in a way that it isn't here. To be envious in the US is to somehow be shamed. Admitting envy is like saing "I'm a failure there.
I will qualify this generalisation by admitting that American women are much more envious than male counterparts. Not knocking American women, I think Czech women are envious of each other too. |
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yeyu
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[profile]
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Wed Aug 5th 21:58 2009 / #27 |
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I am laughed at a few times by czech girls, i dont know why, either the way i look or the way i look, make you feel really uncomfortable, they just staring at you and pointing you so rudely, i am chinese. some of my friends(not chinese) said czechs have really bad service attitude and they trying to get tips by your willing |
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