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Czech republic. Quick introduction. Location and surroundings. In the very middle of Europe Neighbors: Germany, Austria, Poland, Slovakia No sea Lots of mountains Government form: Kleptocracy. Map (roughly):. Map (roughly):. Czech people are:.
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Czech republic Quick introduction
Location and surroundings • In the very middle of Europe • Neighbors: Germany, Austria, Poland, Slovakia • No sea • Lots of mountains • Government form: Kleptocracy Map (roughly): Map (roughly):
Czech people are: • Proud and patriotic (but ready to collaborate with any enemy) • Generous and humble (but ready to take up any opportunity for getting more money) • Respectful and caring (but ready to make fun of you no matter how deep in trouble you are) • Cannibals and ruffians using MS Windows 95
Some cool traditions • Easter – men make whips of wood and whip women, but only before noon. After noon, women pour water on men. • Walpurgis night – witches are burned in fire, then many beers are drank. • Day of Jan Hus – some guy was killed long time ago, so we don’t work on that day. (… there are many holidays like this …)
Measurementunits • Weight • 1 ounce = 28 g, 1 pound = 0.453 kilogram • Length • 1 feet = 0.3048 meter, 1 mile = 1.609 kilometer • Volume • 1 fl oz = 0.02957 liter, 1 gallon = 3.7854 liter • Temperature • 80 fahrenheit = 26.666 celsius
Currency and prices • Our money is called “Koruna”, pl. “Koruny”, CZK • Cash preferred (no Cheque-republic) • 1 USD = 16.5 Koruny (Kč) … • … but, prices are different: • one tankard (i.e. cca two cans) of beer cost 20-30 Kč (less than water in restaurants) • hamburger costs pretty much the same • meal in a restaurants costs about 100 Kč
Czech language • Classified as Slavic language (e.g. Russian, Polish, Serbian) • Mutual intelligibility with Slovak (and Polish) • Some elements: • Diacritics: caron, acute, ring • Declension (applies to most words, affects endings), 7 cases… some words over 200 possible forms • Stress on first/every odd syllable • Formal/informal tense
Czech language (oddities) • Vowel-less words: • Scvrnkls • Čtvrthrst • Smržplnskvrnzvlhl z mlh • plchzdrhlskrzdrn, prvzhltlhrstzrn • Rapid short word sequences • pudlprdlpudr • Unpronounceable Ř • židřežežebř • Long words and sentences using small number of syllables • nenaolejuje-li Julie koleje, naolejuji je já • Slightly ambigous digraph ch
Czech influence • Linguistical: robot, dollar, pistol, to tunnel • Scientifical: contact lenses, Čech-Stone compatification theorem • Cuisine: good beer, fried cheese, sugar cube • Music: A. Dvořák, B. Smetana, L. Janáček • Clothing: Bata Shoe Organization • Sports: Bodyczech, foreczeching
Be aware of: !!! !!! • No AC, no water-fountains, no free-refills, different voltage & sockets, different frequencies for cell phones • Thievery in the streets (people like to steal from tourists) • Tricks and cheats in shops (people in shops like to prey on tourists) • Traffic – pay attention to traffic lights (people in cars like to hit tourists) • Bad presentations (people like me like to scare potential tourists) !!! !!! !!! !!!