Back in Prague

I'm back in Prague, enjoying certain things (like parks, architecture, beer and food, rather few cars), hating others (quality of services, behavior of people to each other, reckless drivers).

I was thinking about a post evaluating my overall experience, maybe even a comparison of the cultures. I don't think I can do that. I just want to say this: You need to go there and return back to make a proper comparison.

I will note one other thing. The distances here are incredibly smaller. If you ride a car for 30 minutes outside of the city, you get somewhere. In the USA, it does not even count as a trip. Within such distance, there are literally hundreds of places worth visiting around Prague (not to mention the hundred within!). There are maybe two in San Diego, if you live in the right spot. It takes 45 minutes even to get to the San Diego Zoo.

Cultural differences No. 2.

One Czech cabinet member proposed a law that will make slapping a child illegal. Later, she had to apologize (or "soften her stance") by saying that occasional slapping of a child is OK.
In case you didn't know, it is a "best practice" to sometimes slap your child in Czech Republic*. And as you can see, politician should not even suggest that it should be made illegal. (Physical abuse/violence is of course illegal).
I cannot possibly imagine any politician admitting that occasional slap on the face is OK. Usually, the cultural differences are understandable / comprehensible. But in this case, we are so far away that one cannot even talk about it (in person, it's ok on blog).

* I vividly remember the discussion we had about physical punishment on high school. We ALL agreed that physical punishment were the most pleasant ones. You do something stupid, you get slapped, in 10 seconds (or earlier) it's over and everything is forgotten. However, if you did something REALLY stupid, there was no punishment, your parents were angry for days or even weeks and you felt much, much worse. The "psychical" punishments were significantly worse.
I guess our parents knew that increasing the severity of physical punishment. One cannot hope to expect members of a nation that need to be warned about putting cat into microwave oven to be able to make that distinction. And it probably saves some kids' lives if it is considered totally unacceptable to punish your children even a little. But I know that none of my friends will raise their children in the US. For what is OK back home, you can easily end up in prison here (no, I don't meet weed).

Bird show

We spent lovely Sunday at the local "Exotic" Bird show. I made couple of pictures. The event was quite overcrowded, so when I was trying to take a picture, somebody was often in my way. I saw some lady - owner of one of the stands - to say something about me and taking picture to her husband. Naturally, I though she does not like me taking picture of her birds (I always expect the worst). In fact, she was telling her husband to move away from my view so that I can make better pictures :-)
Quite a difference in cultures. (I remember when I was putting a film into my old camera on a street in Brno, and a very angry lady came out claiming that I'm making picture of her house to rob it later. She had to be mentally ill, because I was not even taking pictures and anyway could not explain to her that I have all rights to take pictures from public land.)

Swimming suit

I came to the US knowing that the Speedo-style swimming suits are not OK in here. If you live with the same belief, I will reveal a big secret: they are ok. They are not typically worn on the beaches (where most people go to the water in shorts and T-shirts), but they are acceptable as "distinctly European". But when you go to the swimming pool, you are expected to wear them (the Speedos). Why? Just try to swim in the shorts and you will understand...