What I learned from walking among Czechs

After living in the Czech Republic for about 6 years, I decided to leave the country to follow my dream and start “ein neues Leben in Deutschland”.?

This decision, however, was filled with a lot of nostalgia. After all, the Czech Republic helped to shape me into the person I am today.?

On the brink of my departure from Prague, and while I still have this knowledge fresh, I’d like to outline some of the most important things I learned from walking among Czechs.

1. Everyone needs something to believe in.

Most of the people I met in Prague said that they "don't believe in God". They identified themselves as agnostics. The few religious Czechs I met (whom I can count with one hand) belonged to the region of Moravia.

This observation is in line with the official statistics. According to a publication from The Independent and Statista from 2016 [1], the Czech Republic is the most atheist country in Europe. The latest study from the Czech Statistical Office [2] indicates that 47.76% of the Czech population does not have a religious belief and an additional 30% of Czechs do not specify any religious affiliation. That makes over 70% of the total population!

Coming from a country where 77% of the population declare themselves as Catholic or protestant [3], this was quite shocking. Yet, what I found even more shocking was that most of the Czechs that didn’t believe in God, actually believe in horoscopes. Of course, many people do believe in astrology in my country as well, but I mistakenly thought that Czechia, being a developed country, would have abandoned the beliefs in pseudoscience.

Being a man of science, I found this belief in horoscopes very intriguing... and a bit comical. Whenever I asked Czechs, Why do you believe in this? They couldn’t give me an objective answer. They usually recurred to cliches, such as, “because it is true” or “because it is accurate”, without providing a convincing reason why.??

Only one friend could give me a somewhat objective reason for his belief. He told me that a long time ago there was a study that gathered people that had similar birthdays. The aim of this study was to identify which characteristics these individuals had in common. That was the origin of the horoscope. Now, this explanation is a more plausible reason to believe in it as it’d be founded in facts. By the time of writing this article -however- I haven’t been able to prove the existence of that study.??

I observed that Czech women; in particular, had a higher tendency to believe in it. They usually told me that the daily horoscope was not as accurate; but if I told them the exact date and time of my birth, astrology would give me an accurate description of my personality.??

Contrasting the belief in God predominant in my country, and the belief in horoscopes I saw in the Czech Republic, I can only come to one conclusion: people need something to believe in, no matter if it is religion, the stars, the universe, or fate.

As a corollary: there are some studies that demonstrate exactly that! Observe; for instance, the two maps below [4]. The map on the left shows the percentage of people who believe "there's a God” and the one on the right, the percentage of people who believe "there’s a Life Force”. From the color code it can be seen how Czechs do not believe there's a God, but believe there’s a life force. Thus, there is evidence that they need something to believe in.?

2. Alcohol

With a consumption per capita of 140 liters per year [5], Czechia is the country with the largest consumption of beer per capita in the world. Not only do they brew beer in every pub, but beer is even cheaper than water!?

I came to Czechia as a teetotaler (I know, not a good match, right?). Being a teetotaler in a country where the definition of “fun” and “socializing” is going to a pub to drink beer is rather difficult. In the beginning I felt isolated and with limited opportunities to socialize. I started feeling lonely. This sentiment grew up to the point that I visited a psychologist to get some advice on how to deal with this “cultural shock”. Her advice: start drinking beer. I think she did a great job as a psychologist!??

As hilarious as it may sound, there was some truth to it. It’s like the old Spanish saying, “Donde fueres, haz lo que vieres”, which translates literally to, "Wherever you go, do what you see".??

Trying to fit in, I slowly but steadily started drinking beer, but I still had this preconception:?“alcohol is bad”. For the next couple of years, I thought of alcohol as something inherently bad. Then, one day I decided to confront this preconception by investigating why alcohol had such a bad reputation in my country. I also researched why Czechs did not face the same consequences from drinking as Salvadorans did, despite their higher rate of consumption.?

To illustrate my point, look at the following figures: El Salvador ranks second worldwide in deaths and disease burden from alcohol use disorders [6].??

But when it comes to alcohol consumption, El Salvador falls waaay behind the Czech Republic [7]. ?

So why do Salvadorans have so many problems with alcohol despite their lower rate of consumption? Why do Czechs do not face the same consequences even though they consume larger quantities of alcohol?

The conclusions from a study from the World Bank helped me understand this issue. Quoting them: “Although those in lower income or educational status groups often drink less overall, they are more likely to have lower-frequency, higher-intensity drinking patterns. Overall, these groups drink less, but a higher percentage will drink heavily when they do.”?

My conclusion? It all comes down to moderation. Salvadorians tend to drink less often; but when they do, they get wasted. On the contrary, Czechs drink a lot more often; but in moderate ratios – usually not enough to get them drunk. As an example of this, I had a Czech boss who will have a beer (or two) to accompany his meal every time we went out for lunch. This is something very atypical in El Salvador, where drinking beer is usually reserved for a Friday night.?

Living in the Czech Republic changed my views about alcohol. I don’t think of it anymore as something inherently bad, but I am wary of the excesses.?

3. Relationships and Sex

Another challenge I was confronted with upon my arrival to the heart of Europe: sex and the Czech approach to it.?

When I first connected with a Czech girl, I was super happy: she was white, had blue eyes, a cute face, a slim body, she was well-educated, spoke 3 languages including my native language...What else could I ask for? But my happiness soon turned into chaos when I found out she was dating me non-exclusively. At that time, I viewed this as cheating. Thus, I was devastated and immediately ended the relationship with her. Many of the assumptions I had about relationships were then crushed. I found out that in the developed world, exclusivity is something negotiated and agreed upon and that there is such a thing as DTR: “Define The Relationship”. Yet my sorrow didn’t end there. It continued when I found out more about the Czech relationship culture: that there is such a thing as a “Dating Market”, that ONS do not only happen in movies, that girls can also behave like boys and separate the physical act of sex from the emotional side of a relationship, that the Czech republic has the second highest number of pornstars per inhabitants [8], that Czechs have –on average- 9 sexual partners in their lifetime [9], that Czechs have a percentage of divorces of 44% and has been higher than 30% since 1975 [10], and so on and so forth.

All of this was, at first, a pill hard to swallow.?

Coming from a conservative family and still believing in the concept of 1 partner for a lifetime and the very sought-after ideology 'til death do us part’, seeing all of this was an immediate shock. And I have to admit, I was afraid. I feared being cheated. I feared that I wouldn’t be able to find a suitable partner with whom I’d feel secure in a relationship.?

I was submerged into chaos and I had no other option but to endure it.?

However, I didn't give up. After a couple of sad, other turbulent, and other rather "positive/amicable” breakups, I learned how the "system" works. I learned to take the lead in relationships and have the DTR in a timely manner. I learned that having more than one sexual partner can sometimes be beneficial by allowing you to identify what you really like and who you are compatible with. That; despite being the “most liberal nation of Europe” [11], Czechs also have a limit, considering 10 partners too promiscuous [12]– after all, there is a positive correlation between the number of sexual partners and unwanted pregnancies and STDs [12]. I learned to be more tolerant and more accepting. And I’m no longer afraid.... or at least the fear is not paralyzing me anymore.??

Thanks to the influence of the Czech Republic, I am now a more open-minded person.

4. Third Worlders?

The last lesson I’d like to point out about my time in the Czech Republic is the difference between first and third worlders.?

I was born and raised in El Salvador: A country with an HDI of 0.675 (2021) and number 125 out of 191 countries in the world: unproudly a third world country.??

While growing up, I believed everything foreign was better, especially from places like North America, Europe or Japan.?I believed that European; or even generalized 1st worlders, were better than third worlders.??

And objectively speaking, some of them are. While living in Prague, I found out that Europeans study two foreign languages at school - and sometimes even three. Activities such as swimming lessons, ski/snowboard camps, and sport camps are available at school as an integral part of their educational system. They also have ballroom dance classes and some of them even travel abroad on exchanges during their school years! The opportunities to learn new skills are vast and the quality of education is the best humans have.?

In comparison, the education that I received was filled with many gaps. I did not learn a second foreign language at school nor did I learn how to swim. Sport camps happened quite seldom or were too expensive for my family. And going abroad during my studies was something unimaginable since not even my mom had ever traveled abroad - and in general, study exchanges are not common in El Salvador either.

Seeing these deficiencies in my education made me feel bad. Every time I sat next to a European, I thought of the many things they could do that I couldn't. And I felt, in some ways, inferior... and a bit useless... and a bit unworthy.

But then I learned to recognize that these deficiencies were not intrinsically my fault, but now it was my responsibility to fill in the gaps in my education. "Now that I live in Czechia", I said to myself, "I have access to all the resources, the knowledge and the education. It is therefore my responsibility to take advantage of it, to make the most of it".

I identified the gaps and the deficiencies in my education and I started addressing them, one by one. I learned how to swim. I learned a second and a third foreign language. I learned ballroom dances. I even went on a student exchange!

I realize that many of the differences between first and third worlders emerge from the lack of access to quality education and the lack of opportunities that are available in and provided by a first world system.

Today, I still feel bad, but not for myself anymore, but for the people who are fortunate of being born in the first world, yet are not taking advantage of the opportunities given to them. They take these opportunities for granted, thus, not making an effort to better themselves... That's very sad.

Overall, I’m very grateful with the Czechs for opening the doors of their country to me. For educating me and allowing me to experience a different lifestyle.

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From every expat I hear the complaint “you’ll always be a foreigner in that country”, “you won't ever fully integrate” or “you’ll always be the black sheep”. But my experience was quite different. Czechs opened the doors of their country for me: They took me in, educated me and ultimately treated me as one of their own. And for that I can only say, “Thank you”.?

Dear reader:?If you manage to read this far, please let me know your opinion of the topic in the comments below. If you are a foreigner living in the CR, share your experience below.