The Czech Dream

When I first arrived in Prague in mid-July, I remember taking an initial stroll through town and thinking that things seemed pretty much the same. Perhaps I was in a jet-lagged daze or maybe I simply wasn’t looking too hard, but my first impression was, “Wow, I feel like I’m back in 1997, but without the familiar faces.” While there is some truth in that statement, I’ve realized rather quickly thereafter that boy have things changed in Prague!

Before any of my old Prague pals worry, the super deep metro escalators that double as bomb shelters are still very well in place as are the super fast engines that move the escalators. You’ll also be happy to know you can still catch a ride in an old Soviet produced metro car, but they are being gradually replaced by new models from elsewhere in Europe. As for the diet, rohliky (simple rolls in the shape of a crescent usually eaten for breakfast) still rule the Czech breakfast routine, but now you can actually get coffee to go. I know this might be hard for those of you who have never ventured outside of the USA, but the idea of coffee on the go and doggy bags (which you can also now get in Prague) are very new to most of the rest of the world. Last Saturday I discovered a place called “Coffee Heaven” at the bottom of Wenceslas Square that has enough seating area to make most Starbucks look more like a coffee stand. They even offer a host of different Czech coffee cakes, but no real muffins are to be found. That’s okay though; I know a blueberry muffin or lemon pound cake has my name written all over it back in the States. For now, I’ll savor every bite of my scrumptious Czech plum cake.

It’s so funny and odd to say this, but it really began to sink in, just how much Prague has changed, when I decided to watch the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean – Deadman’s Chest” at a theatre called Dom Slovansky on Na Prikope (a main pedestrian thoroughfare). Little did I know when I set out that night I’d be heading to a spanking new and VERY fancy (“shi-shi”) shopping center carved out of an old building or two on the lively main Prague street. I remember back in the days of ’97 catching a flick in Kino Lucerna (actually I think a group of us saw Evita with Madonna and Antonio Banderas) with creaking seats and curtains that made for an ambience circa, oh, I don’t know, maybe 1970? Sitting in my swank bucket seat in Dom Slovansky, I really felt as if I could be in Edgewater, NJ or Alexandria, Virginia at some United Artists or Regal Cinemas. As an American who is sadly accustomed to chain malls and restaurants, despite my aching back I really liked the charm of watching a movie at Kino Lucerna. But, the nice thing about Prague, at least for the time being, is that you have MANY choices as to where you want to watch your movies. I can still visit Lucerna or several other smaller, older, quainter theatres or I can hit one of MANY multiplex cinemas. It’s really rather crazy. Perhaps I should give the Czechs a lesson or two from my former bank debt days. I fear though that the future might hold a few less theatres; probably fewer art houses. I’d venture to say the number of multiple will remain steady.

But getting back to changes in Prague, I took my friend Fredi from Albania up to Letna park (near the metronome) to have a beer and see the view from this beautiful green Park up top near Prague 6 district. My Viennese friend Dominik introduced me to the beer garden there one evening after literally bumping in to each other grocery shopping at Kotva (“a traditional” department store in existence during Communist days). We spent really lovely nights first walking up the steps from the bridge and then sitting out on the picnic tables under the trees and stars sipping a beer or two with our mutual friends Anna and Dani and Dominik’s visitors from Austria on occasion. Back in 1997 Letna, as far as I remember, really wasn’t what I’d call full. Yes, there were and still are the nice tennis courts where I used to imagine the likes of Martina and Ivan working the courts in their day (Note: That is purely my own imagination at work though; I have no idea whether or not they actually played there). And, yes there were always several groups of people fraternizing over beer and pretty often other substances, but there were always free tables. To get to my point, what Fredi and I experienced that night was proof to me that the middle class is alive and well in Prague (I can’t comment on the rest of the country). There were guys playing street hockey, there were roller bladders on all the little pathways, there were young couples with baby strollers out and about, and the beer garden was completely packed with the surrounding grassy area also quite full. Fredi and I staked out a piece of ground and enjoyed our beer and sausages in wonder of the lively crowd and very evident economic prosperity all around us. People were out having fun, enjoying their leisure time, not looking overly worried or burdened. I’m not trying in the least to give you the impression that Czechs don’t like to have fun (that is the farthest from the truth); rather, I’m simply trying to impress that a considerable middle class has taken shape. Czechs in Prague seem to be doing quite well, enjoying their new found wealth, and opting for leisurely venues. No longer is Prague a city where expats are the largest segment dropping hard currency; now it’s a city where Czech consumption has skyrocketed. Economically speaking, Prague has definitely seen tremendous progress in the last 10 years. But just as we see in our great capital city of Washington, DC, there still remains homelessness and poverty; beggars are strategically present on many corners in the touristed areas of town. And reminiscent of Moscow, St. Petes, and my days in Poland, you’ll for sure cross the path of some inebriated person, who seems to be drowning their sorrows and/or disenchantment.

But to top off this discussion of the middle class and growing consumption, consumerism and leisure, the other night I watched a movie called Cesky Sen, “The Czech Dream”, about the power of advertising and changes in the Czech Republic since 1989. Caught up by the idea of Czech hyper-consumerism, a couple of film students came up with a senior thesis idea of making a film about the advertising campaign of a new hypermarket, Cesky Sen. With the aid of a grant from the Ministry of Culture, they procured the services of Hugo Boss, an ad agency called MARK BBDO, and a marketing research company. The end product is a documentary about the conception of their idea, engagement of their marketing and advertising partners, the actual marketing scheme and the now infamous day, May 31, 2003 when a couple thousand Prague residents of all shapes, sizes, and ages came out to an open field for the grand opening of Cesky Sen, but it doesn't really exist (It was all a grand charade). Interspersed in the film are interviews of Czech families that are very earnest in sharing that shopping is a relaxing and favorite pastime, something in which they take great, great pleasure. For one young woman, she whined and fussed so much after her mom took her for a 6-km hike that her mom felt sorry and succumbed to her wishes to go shopping at the British retailer Tesco. If that’s not telling enough, when asked what the new hypermarket should be called focus group participants offered the following as possible names: “Oneness”, “Cornucopia”, “Harmony”, and “Get All Your Wishes”. There were definitely more, but I think you get the drift.

This display of hyper-consumerism is not just particular to the Czech Republic I’m sure, but it’s an especially stark depiction of the present day in contrast to the queues of Communism, in which people stood in line for hours to purchase a kilo of bananas (if bananas could even be found). I really hope I’ve enticed you to seek this movie out. It is a particularly thought provoking study of our human nature and the power of an idea coupled with gifted marketers. It will make you laugh I assure you! One of my favorites characters is the stocky self-professed fisherman and joker who works at a non-disclosed supermarket who claims near the end that this experience has made him decide to vote against accession in the European Union. Oh, and then there’s the theme song of Cesky Sen, which is chock full of goodies such as "It will be a nice big bash. And if you got no cash, get a loan and scream I want to fulfill my dream!" And there’s the mom in the parking lot who sings a poignant rendition of some traditional English song sung in round called “Hey ho” (… Hey, ho, nobody home, no meat, no drink, nor money I have none..”). Her two little girls join in. Okay. I’ll stop. If you can find it you should definitely watch Cesky Sen: http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/specialy/ceskysen/en/