“Czechs are unique” / “Cesi jsou jedinecni”

Katie is my blogging buddy (you can check out her Makingthishome.com blog right here) and she is also an American married to a great Czech guy  named Martin. He was kind enough to write his little reflection on what it means to be Czech to him. I hope you will enjoy his writing as much as I did:

CZ: Katie je moje blogarska kamoska (jeji blog se jmenuje Makingthishome.com) a je take vdana za super ceskeho kluka Martina. Martin byl moc hodny a napsal nam kratkou esej o tom, co to pro nej znamena byt Cechem. Doufam, ze se vam to bude libit tak, jako se to libilo mne:

Being Czech has been a major element in defining the person I am becoming. When I met my wife, Katie (an American), I convinced her to spend part of a summer with me in the Czech Republic teaching local kids English. I believe that this experience taught both of us a lot about my character as a Czech. When we are young, we generally think that everyone is more or less like us. Our time with these children showed me just how unique Czechs are and how very much I live life with Czech values. I understood the Czech students and people around us–both in language and ideas about life. I felt comfortable interacting with the locals and enjoyed visiting small shops to pick up supplies for class. To my delight, the meals at camp were traditional Czech food. I would generally be found in line for seconds when the meals included any kind of knedliky, and when they didn’t, the cooks would save me leftovers from the meals before.

We went on all-day hikes. The students came to class prepared to learn; they never protested assignments. Being at Czech language camp helped me realize how unique my Czech heritage really is. My wife to be, on the other hand, was generally in a state of culture shock.

She was used to working with American children who weren’t so diligent. I had also assumed that everyone liked Czech food; she had a tough time adapting to the heavy food. But as every Czech finds with the case of carp at Christmas–what some consider to be delicious, others would prefer to avoid.
She subsequently checked out a book from the library about Czech culture, and as she read, she would point out traits I wasn’t even aware of in myself that were specifically Czech like the way my family celebrates birthdays or that I have no middle name. The book is called “Czech Republic – Culture Smart!: a quick guide to customs and etiquette”
. If you are Czech and interested in understanding why we do things the way we do, I’d recommend this book. Even more, my wife felt like she was finally able to “make sense” of our Czech ideals after reading it. Of course I couldn’t finish writing to all of you without saying, “Go Czech it out!” Corny opportunities for jokes make being Czech all the more fun.