Letter from Prague | All stories

This is my first "Letter from Prague" for Radio Prague and as my father back in Boston, Massachusetts would readily tell you, I haven't written a proper letter since I was in summer camp. So, it is somehow fitting that I dedicate this audio letter to my long-suffering father, although he will once again be denied the simple tactile pleasure of opening the mailbox, finding a letter with his name on it and the special bonus of a foreign stamp and postmark. But here we go.

Last week I attended an international radio conference in Geneva. It was a beautiful spring day and after various lectures and seminars at the European Broadcasting Union, I was glad to go down to the lake for an evening walk, to enjoy the picture-postcard beauty of a neat Swiss city in spring. At the very bottom end of the lake, not far from Geneva's famous fountain that sprays water dozens of metres into the air, there is a footbridge, leading across to the old town and the cathedral. As I strolled across, a street musician, a man in his fifties,

Those of you who listened to Friday's broadcast are aware of the European Obesity Congress, which came to an end in Prague on Saturday. Two and a half thousand experts in the field came together to ask why the world is getting rounder and what can be done to stop this development. Statistics show that the Czech Republic, alongside few other European countries like Greece and Britain, has one of the highest obesity rates in the world. The question that comes to my mind is why and why now? What did Czechs do fifty years ago that they're not doing

Ask anyone on the street whether they think that the Czech Republic has a problem with corruption and they'll give you a definite "yes". And they will go on to give you many examples. You can corrupt a police officer to avoid a high speeding fine, you need to slip someone a few notes on the side if you want a construction permit quickly or any kind of permit quickly, in the past you could buy your way out of compulsory army service or get on the register of new firms in days instead of weeks. You could get a council flat ahead of others waiting

This Letter from Prague is my first as an EU citizen. In fact this is not my only first this week. On Monday I made my first trip abroad as a citizen of a European Union member state. Of all places, I travelled to Brussels.

A week after the Czech Republic joined the European Union, European issues were put on the backburner by most ordinary Czechs in favour of matters of "worldly" importance - namely the 68th Ice Hockey World Championship. A tournament the Czechs won three times in a row, last in 2001. Think the world championship isn't important for European hockey fans? Nothing could be further from the truth!

In around a week's time - on May 1st - Czechs, as new citizens of the European Union, will be able to cross their borders at any point without a passport. Their Czech ID, or obcansky prukaz, will be enough to get them into Germany, Poland, Austria and Slovakia. That is surely something few could have imagined just 15 years ago.

The results of a study released recently show that Czechs are the most liberal nation when it comes to anything to do with sex. Overseen by one of our leading sex therapists, Petr Weiss, the study suggests that Czechs are among the most liberal nations in the world with regards to issues such as abortion, homosexuality, and infidelity. Only five percent of respondents were against abortions; the overwhelming majority believes that it should be up to the woman to decide whether or not to abort. Five percent also rejected homosexuality; however,

Just a few weeks now and we will cross the magic line. On May 1st we will all wake up in an EU member state. Of course, we are entitled to a last minute fit of nerves. The Poles are buying up sugar by the carload, the Hungarians are worried that they will no longer be able to buy full cream milk and we Czechs have been given reason to believe that curved cucumbers are not allowed on the common market.

Perhaps you are familiar with the comfort given by the objects that surrounded you in childhood. I grew up in Canada, although my family was Czech. Old family heirlooms from Czechoslovakia filled our house.