In Magazine: a third of young Czechs aged 20-30 live with their parents, fewer and fewer families now sit down to dinner together, foreign diplomats put on their soccer shoes to fight racism and Prague City transport brings out its oldest horse-drawn tram.
Photo: S. Braswell / freeimages
Young adult Czechs are in no hurry to leave the comforts of home. According to the results of a poll conducted by the STEM/MARK agency a third of Czech young men and women aged between 20 and 30 are still living with their parents. Hot meals, no rent and fewer responsibilities are the most frequent reasons cited, particularly by men who are slower in leaving the nest than young women. Three fourths of respondents said home comforts – such as mum doing the shopping, cooking and washing, was what kept them at home, and a full 97 percent admitted that they could not manage on their income alone – without financial help from their parents, especially if they had to pay rent. The most frequent reason for taking the plunge is a serious relationship since 50 percent of young Czechs said a partner still living at home was a problem. This despite the fact that over 70 percent of Czech parents say they do not have a problem with their son or daughter having their current partner sleep over.
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Another survey just published shows the humdrum lifestyle of many Czech households. Only 38 percent of Czech families sit down to dinner together and a third of those who do watch television while eating, according to the results of a survey conducted among 750 respondents. Thirty-two percent of respondents said they never meet at the dinner table due to the fact that family members get home and eat at different times. Twenty-nine percent of Czech households do not eat breakfast. Psychologists say this indicates a growing trend of “individualism” within Czech families and a lack of tradition and house rules.
Photo: Sanja Gjenero / freeimages
While the number of girls studying grammar school is now higher than the number of boys in the late 19th century it was still an unattainable dream. Girls were simply not admitted to institutions of higher learning and could only undertake a variety of courses without getting any kind of certificate for their efforts. The first opportunity for girls to attend grammar school – which opened the way for a university education – was 125 years ago – on September 16th, 1890 thanks to the establishment of a private grammar school for girls called Minerva. This was due to the efforts of writer and feminist Eliška Krásnohorská who drummed up public support for the idea and sent a petition to the Austro-Hungarian education authorities. A vast amount of bureaucratic hurdles prevented the opening of a state grammar school as Krásnohorská requested, but a private school enrolled the first female students in the autumn of 1890. Universities opened their doors shortly after and the first Czech woman to get a doctorate in philosophy was Marie Marborová in 1901 and the first to graduate as a doctor of medicine was Anna Honzáková in 1902.
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Foreign ambassadors and embassy employees in Prague are getting out their sports gear again in preparation for a soccer friendly that is to fight racism in the country. Exactly a year ago the ambassadors or employees of eight foreign embassies - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Great Britain, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and the USA - put together an 11-member team to play against the TJ Junior Roma Footbal club after hearing that it was ostracized by all the local teams in the Dečin area. The Swedish Embassy was the initiator of the friendly which the diplomats eventually won 6:5 thanks to a penalty shot. Representatives of the embassies wore T-shirts reading "Show racism the red card" and although 200 locals showed up for the match little has changed in the past year. The team still has no one to play against – with local clubs citing abominably bad behavior and a fight on court which had to be resolved by the police three years ago as the reason for their continuing refusal. So the ambassadorial team has offered to play another friendly and will most likely persevere in its attempts to bring about a breakthrough.
Photo: CTK
Prague’s transport authority celebrated its 140th birthday in big style last weekend with a tram parade through the streets of the city that attracted thousands of people. The tram parade consisted of 40 trams from the oldest horse-drawn model which first took to the streets on Sept 23rd 1875 to the most modern one which is now being tested for operation. The event was attended by Prague mayor Adriana Krnáčová, the councilor for transport and infrastructure Petr Dolínek and the CEO of Prague City Transport Jaroslav Duriš. All three were dressed in period costumes, giving the public a good show. Bus transport in Prague dates back to 1925.
Photo: CTK
Hundreds of people descended on the picturesque town of Knežice, southeast of Prague, last weekend for the fourth annual sheep day celebrations Australian style. The event was organized by the local eco-center which keeps some 200 sheep. They serve as ecological and quiet lawnmowers in the region, for wool and dairy products. The annual sheep celebrations at which visitors can taste the center’s own cheese yogurt and other products have become extremely popular. This year visitors could admire sheep shearers at work, try their hand at producing woolen cloth on a weaving loom or make cheese while listening to the sound of a didgeridoo.
