5.16.2006

this city is claustrophobic

i was talking earlier about globalization and thinking that the culture is so rich here that perhaps it will be able to combat westernization and exist on its own terms. however, today as we were driving down the highway i had another thought. we passed a couple BIG stores, a best-buy look alike called "electro world" and a home depot looking place called OBI.

**('ran-tan' (a.k.a-random tangent): it's interesting how we try to compartmentalize our thoughts or make connections to comforts and familiarities that we can relate to. i find i've been doing that a lot--'oh, that's like a costco' or "oh that's like this restaurant". it's almost like its never given a chance to exist on its own terms...food for thought.) **

Anyway, my thought was that maybe in this post-communist country, that is trying to figure out its identity, and trying to figure out how to exist within that unique identity, maybe it is that they have more of a distinct history than a continuous culture. and maybe it is an overblown depiction of that history that we see emulated in the buildings and the cathedrals. maybe the prague that is for the people of prague is in limbo somewhere between westernization and the days of the old bohemian country. maybe they are still trying to modernize, and modernize to them takes on a western flavour.

i think that it will be interesting to compare this country to a country like france. for a culture and a continent that is supposed to be so far ahead in style and what not from north america, the czech republic still feels as if its playing catch-up. and not in a 'we're not going to become a western/globalized/modern country' but in a 'we desperately want to be like these other coutries, be it great britain or america, but we're just not there yet'. This is a beautiful country, but i also feel the claustrophobia that kafka conveys in his writing. it is dense. it is crowded. and i really feel that it is in limbo.

Why a country like france would be an interesting comparison: (and i will correct myself when i discover otherwise) the identity of france is firmly established, they haven't been through any violent revolutions in the past while--they are a culture that is engrained. at the same time, they are very modern, but in a different way. and i don't think they fall back on their history to define themselves.

This is such a western biased piece. Maybe I need to travel through some eastern countries...but like i said before, the experience i get anywhere is going to be second hand. I can fool myself all i want into believing that i am living the prague life first hand but the reality is, i am not. And i truly believe that it would be an act of futility to deny the fact that we are tourists. no matter what.

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