Buy banana in Czech: fail!

I went to a big supermarket on my lunch break to buy a sandwich and a banana. When it was my turn at the till, the cashier said something too advanced for my Czech skills, and looked at me. She then confiscated my banana and put it to the side! I asked if she spoke English, but she didn't, but with a few stumbling questions in Czech, I managed to learn that I should have gotten a sticker for the banana by the fruit section. I felt a bit embarrassed when I had to walk away without my banana!

I later found out that in some shops the customers weigh fruit and veg themselves, and then get a sticker with the price that they attach to the item. Apparently this is not uncommon in eastern Europe, but I've never seen it elsewhere. Maybe a good idea since it saves some time at the till when the items don't have to be weighed there.

A dog nation

In Czech, every second person seems to have a dog. And it's not the dangerous fighting breeds that are too common in London. It's dogs of all shapes and sizes, often wagging their tails happily. So far I've seen dachshunds, poodles, airedale terriers, irish setters, yorkshire terriers and a host of things I'm not sure what they were. It's fun to see when taking a walk!

Mr Driving Licence

I had to go to the doctor shortly after arriving in Czech. I had my czech health insurance number, but the official card was still being printed.

I went to the doctor with a czech friend to back me up when my language skills wouldn't be enough. The doctor seemed very professional and quickly diagnosed me. I was asked for my passport, but since I didn't have this with me, my non-czech driving licence was accepted.

The doctor printed out papers for my sick leave and gave me a prescription. We thanked and hurried out to get to the pharmacy before closing time. When I got home, I looked at the papers for my sick leave. Under the heading for name, it said "Körkort Sverige" - literally "Driving licence Sweden"!

Observations

• the doctor was as friendly and helpful as any of the best doctors I've had in the past. No saw was pulled out and they didn't try to amputate anything on me :)
• in my opinion, getting the name wrong of your patient in this way is a complete no-no. Interestingly, my czech wife feels it's an easy mistake to make. Her argument is that if I was given a Chinese driving licence, then I would probably also assume that the largest words were the name. Maybe I would, but I would ask the patient to show me the name on the licence or at the very least, I would confirm that I got the name right. This point could be related to the one below (doctors are always right in Czech).
• in western countries, we respect doctors because they've spent a lot of time and effort to go through medical school. But we also know that med school is no IQ measurement and that doctors are humans that make mistakes. In Czech, there's an attitude that doctors are like oracles. To question their wisdom would be frowned upon. This is a stark contrast to how western patients often question why a treatment is necessary and what the alternatives are.

A western perspective

So, I have recently moved to the Czech Republic. Until now, I have only lived in "western" countries. In this blog, I'm planning to gather observations of Czech as seen through my western eyes.