Why is the Czech Republic known for beer and tall people?

[stickythighs]

I'm mostly of Czech descent. Here's what I've read and heard about the country from multiple sources:

Czechs drink copious amounts of beer

My mother says this. My father told me this. Almost every single website or message forum about Czech culture I've ever seen mentions this.

---------

Czechs tend to be tall​

Several people at the myspace Czech forum have claimed that Czechs tend to be tall. My parents both told me that Czechs are average height for white people. I suppose Czechs tend to be tall compared to, say, Asians and Latinos.

I am only 5'1".

------------

Czechs don't smile much​

They say that if one smiled when the Czech Republic ( or maybe the country was called Czechoslovakia then) was part of the Soviet Union, people would wonder what you might have in your house that you're smiling about. And it could encourage someone to break in your house.

--------------

Czechs don't work as hard as Americans​

That's what they say at myspace.

----------------

Czech women are beautiful​

I don't think that Czech women tend to be more or less pretty than the average woman of other nationalities. I think that people do this "our women are the prettiest" for every nationality.

 

[Gokul43201]

Do Czechs also write in excessively large, bold characters?

I think it would be easier on the eyes if you used a closer to normal font.

 

[Andre]

I'm not Czech but I have a lot of Czech friends. My observations.

Czechs drink copious amounts of beer

That's what they say, they invented it (Plzen) but their consumption is certainly more modest than for instance the German.

Czechs tend to be tall​

Not really. I'm taller (5'11") than the ones I know

Czechs don't smile much​

Smiling is less of a European tradition. Most don't smile much. If they smile, or laugh then there is a reason for it. They laugh a lot.

Czechs don't work as hard as Americans​

No, They work only when there is a reason for it.

Czech women are beautiful​

Certainly

 

[Monique]

And the point of the thread is?

 

[rootX]

And the point of the thread is?

I thought
he concluded that Americans deserve Czech women more than their men.

 

[hypatia]

I've never heard any of this, and it really doesn't matter to me what people post on myspace, or what others say about stereotyping nationalities. It does not seem fair to me, for all the hard working, smiling Czechs would disagree.

 

[Saladsamurai]

Yo, Czech this out. Czech it while I rzech it. Czech please! . . . I forgot what I was doing now.

 

[Evo]

You have to have some purpose for a thread, you didn't state what you wished to discuss.

Do you have a point you wish to discuss?

 

[lisab]

Stickythighs, if I hid you in my closet, I would be cacheing a small Czech .

 

[stickythighs]

You have to have some purpose for a thread, you didn't state what you wished to discuss.

Do you have a point you wish to discuss?

Evo,

My point is I want to know what the characteristics of Czech people are.

 

[stickythighs]

Stickythighs, if I hid you in my closet, I would be cacheing a small Czech .

You would be cacheing a small Czech-American.

 

[Monique]

Evo,

My point is I want to know what the characteristics of Czech people are.

I think you can only find out by going there, characteristics are very subjective. I can tell you characteristics of Dutch people vs other nations, but that wouldn't give you a fair idea how we really are.

 

[Astronuc]

Here is a site with some history of the Czech Republic.

http://www.myczechrepublic.com/czech-history/great-moravian-empire.html

and there is this article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Slavs

That part of central Europe is a blend of Germannic and Slavic peoples.

This map shows some tribes (primarily Gepids, Burgundians and Vandals - all of whom moved into western Europe under pressure from Huns and Alans in the 5th cent) in the area.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Roman_empire_395.jpg

 

[Jordan Joab]

Looks like a list for every country on Earth.