You Think Life’s So Easy Here, Don’t You?

Hi Everyone,
The title is a joke that my husband and one of his colleagues use from day-to-day at their office. I’m not sure what it means exactly…well, not sure what it means at all (!!!), except that it appears to be a somewhat ironic type of saying that is typical in the Czech Republic! The Czechs have a very different type of humor than what we are used to in the US. Czech humor seems to be ironic/black/a little bit sarcastic, and they are able to also see the comic side of themselves and their culture and country…in other words, they don’t take themselves too seriously…well, at least not all the time! I’m only just beginning to understand, and slightly appreciate this Czech sense of humor!

My husband also uses this saying “You think Life’s so easy here, don’t you?” with me, too. At first, it was very maddening—“Of course I don’t think Life is so easy here”, I would tell him! He would say it just to tease me. But I didn’t see it that way at all! Life is not easy here, or anywhere else, for that matter. I’ve experienced some tragedy in my life (as have most of us on the planet Earth)…and just look at the headlines in the news…food riots, oil prices skyrocketing, the current economic situation which has hit everyone around the world, etc.! No…I don’t think Life’s easy here or anywhere! So, his statement/teasing would drive me crazy!!!!

Well, to combat this saying that he is so fond of, I first decided just to ignore him when he said this to me. That didn’t work as Czechs are notoriously stubborn and persistent…so I finally got wise and said, “No, Life’s not so easy here…it’s a pity!” When I said that the first time, my husband was so shocked…and then he laughed. Finally, I was catching on to this Czech humor a little bit! And I finally was able to surprise my husband and tease him back!

Now, this sentence is not so irritating…it is just a nice game we play every-so-often to make one another laugh. This type of teasing is very common in the Czech Republic….once you begin to catch on a little bit, many doors begin to open for you just into the Czech culture and psyche. It is nice to begin to understand this just a bit; I’m looking forward to being able to understand more and more…and make some progress into this onion of Life in the Czech Republic! Life is really not so easy…here…Believe me!!!

You all have a great day!

God bless,
Sherry :0)

http://czechoffthebeatenpath.googlepages.com
© 2008 by czechoffthebeatenpath