Every country has its own meals, traditions, and specifics. This article presents you with some interesting fact about Czechia that might surprise you.
Even though Vietnam is more than nice thousand kilometres away from the Czech Republic, Vietnamese form the third most numerous national minority in Czechia. The tradition of Vietnamese migration to the Czech Republic started between 1956–1967 due to the agreement between Czechoslovak and the Vietnamese government. Vietnamese men travelled to Czechoslovakia to enhance their qualifications. The time they should have spent in Czechoslovakia was limited, but after the year 1989, when the communistic regime ended, a lot of Vietnamese decided to stay because the economic situation in Czechoslovakia was better than in Vietnam. In addition, some other Vietnamese came to Czechia later illegally from countries such as Bulgaria, Poland, Russia or Hungary. The generation of Vietnamese who stayed in Czechoslovakia after the Velvet Revolution was the first to start families and find their own business here. Since then, people can buy groceries, clothes and other stuff in Vietnamese shops or markets.
The most popular Vietnamese marketplace Sapa also known as Little Hanoi is considered to be the heart of the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic. You can find the biggest wedding place for a typical Vietnamese wedding there. Besides, there are many shops and stands offering different kinds of goods and restaurants with traditional meals and drinks prepared according to traditional recipes.
The second generation of Vietnamese is now integrated among Czech young people, and the only difference is in their appearance. People from the second generation are often nicknamed bananas – yellow on the outside, white on the inside. They were born in the Czech Republic, and Czech as well as Vietnamese is their native language. Moreover, many Vietnamese children have their own 'Czech grandparents' who helped to raise them, taught them the language and introduced them to Czech culture.
Another typically Czech thing – or more precisely, a group of people is called Skaut. Scouting is a worldwide phenomenon that is very popular and widely spread in Czechia. Its goal is the education and self-discipline of children and young people. Czech scouting however is a specific national form of the international phenomenon. Czech scouting associations have been active in Czechia since the year 1912. Nowadays, the biggest scouting society with more than 64 00 members is Junák – český skaut.
Czech scouts organize expeditions to nature, scout camps, and other activities for young people. Apart from that, there are public events for everybody. One of the most popular traditions of Czech scouts is carrying the light from Bethlehem. Scouts travel from Bethlehem (or Vienna to where the flame is distributed by plane) to Czechia, usually by train and carry the fire to Czechia to distribute it to Czech families on Christmas. The light is in a flame lighted annually before Christmas in The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and it should bring peace.
Another important Czech society that participates in free time education of Czech children and adolescents is called Sokol. Sokol has more than 160 000 members, and its goal is to improve the physical condition of its members and promote sports and active life. Its tradition is even further in the past than Scouts' since Sokol was founded in 1862, and it started to be active shortly after the official establishment.
Even though Sokol is originally a Czech society established in Prague, nowadays the organization is active in 1000 villages and cities in 18 countries in the world.
Even though Czechia is a small country, there are a lot of special people, organizations and traditions. Apart from the aforementioned curiosities, I would like to mention The Czech Hiking Markers System, one of the world's best tourist markings. It is so easy and cheap that other countries such as Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Peru, Philippines and many others started using it as well. So next time a colourful mark gets you to the final destination on a hike, you can thank Czechs for that.
