The initial surly service soon became perfectly acceptable for me, and how nice it is that you don’t have to fight your way to the bar to get a beer. You soon become adept at negotiating the deli counter and asking for your 100g of ham off the bone, and if they do smile, it’s like a bonus on top of feeling proud of your success with Czech.
New Czech Order
Times change and there are more than two types of rice available in the supermarkets, fresh milk comes in cartons instead of plastic bags, the all-night snack bar at Masarykovo Nadrazi becomes a pizza take away, the grilled chicken bar at Narodni Trida becomes a gyros place, the hot dog and chlebicek stands at Narodni are knocked down and more shopping centres and offices are built until it feels…like home. Oh no!!!
Where did the Czech Republic I came to all those years ago disappear? The Czechs going hell for leather to catch up on lost time. No time for Skvarky and Svickova, they’re into fish now. Well, they like salmon.
They buy black Audi 4x4s because they’ve forgotten that they wanted to be different from the Russians, but succeeding all the same. (What Moscow socialite would be seen dead with an Audi? Merc or BMW surely). But at least it’s black and is equally capable of bringing Jecna to a grinding halt again, of not quite clearing the tram tracks at IP Pavlova. Long gone the rows of Skoda Skoda Skoda. No sign of the Tatra or Trabant. And each year they change the timetable. Add another minute to the time the tram takes to get to town, just to keep it running on time.
Staying put
So is it time to leave this town? A place I’ve lived longer than any other. Well, if somebody can name me a better place, I’ll be on my way, but I consider my week’s holiday in 1993 to be the most fortuitous thing that ever happened to me. If happiness is success then mine is all down to finding a beautiful, fun, safe city and staying right where I am.
I’ve found my hole and I don’t remember the last time I had to suffer a tourist asking how long I’ve been here. To them, I am beyond their contact. I can enjoy my city without them. I woke up one morning from unsettling dreams and found myself changed in my bed into a monstrous Czech (with poor declination skills).