It's funny how perception of different issues varies from country to country. Take "sex" in Prague. I've made several interesting observations here in the past 3 weeks.
First off, it's European, so I guess it's natural that many of the ads and billboards around the city are a little more risque than the American red states would ever permit. Naked women w/ nipples barely covered, girls making out,... you know, the usual.
I first noticed something here was a bit different though while moving into the apartment I'm renting here, which is subleted out through an accommadation service. I crawl up to the little loft where I sleep, and there's a box of condoms in the drawer beside the bed. How... considerate of them, I guess. Then I turn around and see the pretty explicit sketch of a couple having sex, which I get to go to sleep to every night. (It's hard to describe when I know my mom reads these messages. :-P) But the point is, some people own this stuff, sure. But would you seriously leave this artwork up when you rent out your apartment to strangers for months on end??!!
Premarital sex and pregnancy: Again, this just struck me as odd. While skiing in Kvilda last week, I was asking a friend about one of the professors I had met on the trip. He described her studies, her research for a year in the States, and then how she became "impregnated" by her boyfriend while there and came back to Prague and got married. Not in a gossipy tone, just matter-of-fact news about a faculty member they work closely with here. Unexpected. And then talking to my roommate in Kvilda (prob about my mom's age), I was sharing the recent news that my brother had just postponed his wedding by a month, which is news because the wedding is only 3 (now 4) months away! The woman was surprised that Americans take so much time to plan weddings (I explained that venue and date decisions are often made >1 yr ahead of time). She said "In the Czech Republic, or at least a few years back, most weddings happened because a child was expected, so you did it within a month. That's how it happened to me." Okay, well, thanks for sharing. :-)
Granted, it's not the news itself that is necessarily surprising me so much, it's the fact that it's shared so easily by and about people I barely know.
And speaking of Kvilda, the skiing "seminar" was for everyone in UFAL, along with their families, which for most students meant bringing a significant other. It's a very nice gesture, but again I'm used to a little more separation bw personal and professional. And it's hard to imagine Fred (my 73-yr-old Czech advisor) paying for hotel rooms for anyone and their girlfriends (or boyfriends) at CLSP! ;-)
2 comments:
Are you staying to the summer? There may be some more surprises prepared here for you. In recent years, it started to be acceptable/normal for girls to go without top piece of swimming-suit on normal beaches. On special beaches / in places with very little people it is acceptable not to use swimming suit at all... From my understanding of U.S., they'd probably call police on you in such cases.
Pavel M.
Normal beaches.... in France maybe? Unless there is a hidden Czech coast somewhere that people have been hiding from me. :-P Actually, there are occassional beaches like this in the US, like in Miami, which have no special "topless" designation but noone with authority really cares. There are nude beaches too, though I'm not sure where exactly. Actually, there are entire nudist colonies in some places... it was a recent controversy in the U.S. because there were summer camps for children in nudist families, who were upset that their children might not be able to go around nude there anymore because of a new law. In the end, I think there was a court ruling that high security had to be around to try to keep away pedophiles... something like that. Anyway, it's around, but definitely not mainstream culture.
I'm only here til May 15, so I don't know if I'll catch much of swimsuit-less season. :-) Good to know though.
Hope you're enjoying the blog. :-)
Erin
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