My favourite facts about the Czech Republic

I love Czech people and the Czech Republic. These are a few facts that I find typical for this country. 

Maybe some of them might be familiar to you as well. Enjoy the reading.

1. Czech vs. the Czech Republic

The official name of the country is the Czech Republic and locals are clearly proud of that. Whenever foreigners call the country Czech, they get promptly corrected that it is the Czech Republic.  I am still not sure, why it is so critical to emphasize that the country is a republic, though locals will appreciate, if you use the full name.

2. Czech beer

Czech people love their beer. The Czech Republic has highest consumption of beer per capita and locals are clearly proud of it. Beer prices are still rather low comparing to other European countries and the taste of the Czech beer is just delicious. One of typical Czech traditions is to go for "one beer" (na jedno) after work. Usually it does not end with just one. 

3. Czech pessimism

The Czech Republic was called as the second most pessimistic country in the world (http://www.gallup.com/poll/163556/greeks-pessimistic-globally.aspx). The truth is that Czech people sometimes create this impression. A friend of mine (a foreigner) wrote an email to his Czech colleague asking him how he is and continuing further with a work related question he had. The answer from the Czech guy was "Hi, I won't answer the first question. Regarding the task...". My take on this one is that Czech people are not used to small talks or nice superficial conversations. Skepticism and expectation of a worse scenario is simply a part of the Czech mentality. But this still does not mean that Czech people are negative, they simply do not want to be positive.

4. DIY country

Czechs are do-it-yourself guys. Historically. the Czech nation was known for their technical skills. During the Austrian Hungarian Empire, Czech country was the most industrially developed region within the empire. During the communism era, it was rather difficult to get any developed tools or machines. Therefore people got used to creating them on their own. Most people at the age of fifty or older built their own house or a cabin - or if none of that - they at least made some home contraptions. Until today, Czechs are still used to do many things on their own rather than to call specialists.

5. Czech humor

Czech humor is ironic, sarcastic and knows absolutely no taboos and locals love it. Many jokes are based on the Czech language and especially on double meanings it offers. Czechs love making jokes out of anything, especially current news no matter how sad they could be. There is no topic that Czechs would not make a joke of. From foreigners' perspective, this might be a sign of disrespect but that is not really the case. Czechs simply love black humor and use it whenever they can.