impressions

First off, no I will not be doing my Morgan Freeman impression for you all. This post will strictly be in reference to my cultural, emotional, psychological impressions of Olomouc and the Czech Republic so far. It's actually more like a journal of some of my thoughts and experiences, so these impressions will probably evolve over the course of my time here or perhaps change entirely. Therefore, I will try to write these kinds of posts periodically to provide updates and additions. Here are just a few things to start off:

1. Environment

First up are my impressions of being in a place with such rich history and having evidence of it all around. I really feel like having such old and beautiful architecture has affected the feel of these modern cities and towns in a lot of ways. Obviously, the buildings here are much older than most in the US, but that history and the fact that they're so well maintained not only provides easier navigating around the city (because there are so many interesting buildings and landmarks) but also seems to affect the quality of new building or, in most cases, refurbishment of the older structures. Simply put, I'm used to a modern building style which, most unfortunately, holds absolutely no beauty or craftsmanship because it's all built with the cheapest materials for the cheapest price to hold the most people and usually to last a very short amount of time. And its but ugly to look at. It's very different here in that most buildings are beautifully designed and crafted, and very old so they've clearly lasted a long time. They have character that they impart into any business or human that chooses to reside there and I think in some ways they positively affect even newer buildings which seem to have a little more time an effort put into them. In some places in Prague there is an amazing mixture of new buildings that bend and mold themselves around the old ones. It's nice to see this cooperation that allows for the beauty of the past to remain present (cheesy, but I'm going to stick with it).


2. Dogs

This is a dog ignoring me.

I can't help but gawk at/be jealous of all the dog owners in and around Olomouc. Dogs are EVERYWHERE and all the owners show off their adorable dogs so that everyone else goes and adopts one too. I heard a statistic that 40% of humans in the Czech Republic have canine companions which is really digging at my dog-lover soul. They seem to be for the most part incredibly well-trained (by American standards). Many owners don't even leash their pups, but the dogs stroll alongside them generally ignoring passersby. And if they do wander ahead a bit they come right back if master calls. Many are quite friendly though and will stop and look up at you with giant saucer eyes until you involuntarily lunge to pet them until your both in a furry stupor (too much? I don't care.). It just seems like great treatment of dogs to me since they are being frequently being walked and cared for and not being couped up in a house or a yard somewhere for most of the time.


3. Czech Beer

Technically, this is a beer from Dresden but you get the point.

I hate to say it but I really love the beer here more than in the States. It's delicious, incredibly smooth making it so easy to drink, and dirt cheap compared to beer in America (if you go to the right places that is). Honestly, I'm beginning to think the low cost contributes about a third of what makes a beer taste so good, but it's damn good on it's own and I would probably buy my favorites if they were available in the US. Speaking of favorites, here are mine so far (limited to only Czech brews): the Staropramen pivo is very popular and served just about everywhere which is great, and the Rychtar 11 pivo is also great but I've only found it in one place so far, for a short time I believed that I liked Gambrinus but I was informed by a Czech local that I was wrong about that (in a slightly more colorful way) so I might as well take his word on that. There's also a rumor about Czech beer worth mentioning. I first heard it before my trip and a few times since: "Czech beer (pivo) leads to a longer life, doesn’t negatively affect your body shape, can alleviate menopause and is so pure that it’s impossible to get a hangover from drinking it." It seems pretty outlandish but I've not yet proved it wrong so I guess the jury's still out!



As I said before I'm sure many of these impressions will evolve over the course of my time here or perhaps change entirely. I think one of the trickiest things about being dropped into a new culture is not getting hung up on first or even second impressions. Coming from an entirely different set of circumstances can easily compromise one's judgement about a place or the people in it. This has been something that I've had to put some self reflection into as I catch myself making snap judgements. I am very lucky to be here and experience how other humans live and think.

Thanks for reading, and be on the look out. There should be another post very soon about my recent trip back to Prague and hopping the border over to Germany for a spell.

All the best,
Trav

I know you're all wondering now, so here's a video of my Morgan Freeman impression:

I know, I know. I look a lot different on Youtube.