It's Pronounced Yir-Zhee!
By Kamal Sunavala
It is a strange
feeling to be writing about the Czech community abroad.
All along I have been writing about Czech
and expat experiences while living in Prague. Now I am
doing the opposite. Writing about the Czech experience
abroad.
Sitting in the comfortable office of the
Counsellor of the Embassy Jiří Bruna, I felt transported
to the Czech
Republic for a precious brief sixty minutes. A warm, forthcoming
and active man, he helped me to reconnect with the Czech
community here in the UAE. Those who have read my previous
articles for Tongue-in-Czech will understand why I feel
compelled to embark on this adventure.
A humorous, dapper gentleman who was surrounded
by all kinds of posters and books and CDs representing
Czech culture
abroad, he happily entertained my questions and reminisced
about the land we both love. A native of Prague, he
understood immediately what I missed about that city and
agreed that the lack of culture and history as we know
it is the first thing to smack one, really hard in the
face. Donning his diplomatic garb in word and manner, we
began hesitatingly with talking about how Czech professionals
were drawn to the UAE and why locals have increasingly
made the n CZ their destination of choice. But the first
mention of pivo and svíčková sent us
both hurtling down memory lane. He admitted, much to my
delight, how
much
he misses the hospoda culture, not so much for
the pivo,
but for the sheer joy of sitting out and watching the world
go by and connecting with people who talk about so many
different things and yet all of them are easily understood.
Whether it was the beauty of the Krkonoąe Mountains or
the smelly trams in summer or the surly old woman behind
the counter at the local potraviny or the stunning
Staré Město.
Having been in the Middle Eastern
region for ten years, Jiří has learned to appreciate this
most open of all Arab
countries where the expats in fact make up the majority
of the population. He appreciates how it co-operates in
successfully bringing Czech culture here through music
and films. The music foundation set up here for classical
music encouraged Czech children to keep alive the memories
of Dvořák and Smetana. The Czech film week allowed its
natives to enjoy their films from home, appreciating the
sound of their language in an exciting medium. I am hoping
Želary and Pupendo make it to that list. (Are you listening
Jiří?)
He revealed to me that the Czech community was widely
drawn to this country because of financial reasons and
job opportunities. So much of the talent from the business,
financial and medical fields has come here to set up shop
and from what I see, are living a life they could only
imagine for themselves in Prague or any other part of the
Czech Republic.
I could go on and on about the things he said to me but
brevity is the soul of alert readers.
What I will say at the end of this piece are two things:
Díky moc for the pivo, Jiří!
To the guy who answered the phone at the embassy: It's
not Jee-ree, it's Yir-Zhee!
Read Kamal's Tongue-in-Czech stories
from Prague.
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