Kde domov můj?

I always found it quite funny that the main verse of the Czech national anthem, Kde domov můj is not a statement – where my home is, but rather a question, where is my home? It seemed a perfect question for a son of Czech parents who immigrated to Britain before I was born. When I was small, I knew that my parents had come from another country to the one where we lived and where all my friends were from, but often found it difficult to understand. “We can’t be there, because some bad things have happened” was the simplistic answer given to an inquisitive child. Yet, at home we would speak Czech and eat mostly Czech food. In fact, I even learned to speak Czech before I learned English. Often, teachers at kindergarten, I’ve been told, would call home to ask what on Earth I was saying to them.

Dominik Jůn

Of course, it didn’t take long for my English to far exceed my Czech. Even today, no matter how hard I try, I still end up saying something that makes someone giggle when I speak Czech. “Do you know what you just said?” Czechs often say to me. Even worse is when I go into a Czech shop, trying to pass myself off as a native. There was one experience I will never forget, where the shopkeepers were convinced I was somehow demented. I had to explain that I was born and raised in Britain, hence my accent and odd grasp of the language – then they laughed understandingly.

I first visited Czechoslovakia back in the communist times when I was around eight years old. I’ll never forget how, parroting what I had heard from my parents, I asked my grandmother “What are these stupid communists, anyway?” She told me to shush and looked at the walls – someone might be listening. I had never experienced anything like that before – enemies in walls, a society where spies could complain to the authorities about you. It was all very unusual. Back then, I was something of a rock star for the other Czech kids. Our clothes, our car, everything about us seemed so fascinating to other Czechs. American chewing gum, cans of Coke and such things seemed like luxuries from another world to Czech kids of that time.

Today, I can’t help feel both British and Czech. Sometimes it is a convenient way to distance myself from undesirable national traits of either country. Other times, it gives me license to criticize weaknesses in both nations, or compare and contrast them against each other. Sometimes, I feel most Czech when I am in England, and most British when I am in the Czech Republic. Thus, the Czech national anthem always makes me laugh when I hear it. Kde domov můj?, indeed.