Prague Slet

Czech fashion is pretty damn bad. . . but certain groups circulating around town have been notable even here for their bad fashion sense. Gangs of middle aged to elderly men and women have been filling Prague in the past few days, all dressed in identical, plastic clothing. I have at last discovered what's up. They are all members of Sokol - a Czech patriot athletic organization with chapters throughout the world. Today is the Prague Slet, when these fashion challenged athletes gather in mass color co-ordinated gymnastics.

Given the issues that the Czech people seem to have with the Romany population (according to the Prague Post, Romany women are still being sterilized against their will), and the fact that we have now reviewed the phrase "I am not Czech, I am a foreigner" at least 20 times in my class, Czech nationalism seems to have some rather unsavory racist undertones. The Sokol demonstration on T.V. looks rather like footage from a fascist era.

Czech for the day:
I am not Czech, I am a foreigner* = Nejsem Ceska, jsem cizinka.

*according to my teacher, a foreigner is somebody who was not born in the Czech Republic. Even if you have a Czech passport, are of Czech extraction, or have been living there your entire life, you are a foreigner unless born in the C.R.