Letter from Prague | All stories

To someone who has lived in this country for some time, it comes as no surprise. I'm talking about the results of a recent survey carried out by the Faculty of Social Sciences of Prague Charles University and a polling agency. The findings are the following: Czechs prefer to bypass official procedures and try to solve both their work-related and private affairs through friends in the right places.

Last Sunday I had my first beer of the summer. Which isn't bad going for the middle of April. By first beer of the summer I mean my premiere pivo outdoors in one of Prague's great beer gardens, the existence of which is one of the many attractive features of life here.

Working in a radio station makes you so dependent on news-sources and technology that it comes as a bit of a shock to hear that many people are leading full and happy lives without the Internet. A poll just out indicates that one in two Czechs - or 53 percent of the population to be exact- have no experience with it what-so-ever. One in seven say they want it to stay that way.

The little village of Dolni Nemci, close to the town of Uherske Hradiste in Moravia, has a new hero. His name is Jan Riha - a pensioner who asked a question that triggered debate and may eventually spell the end of the political career of a senior member of government.

There's no doubt that Ma vlast - or My Country - by Bedrich Smetana is the most popular piece by this composer among Czech as well as foreign audiences. The whole cycle of symphonic poems is played mostly on special occasions, such as the opening concerts of the Prague Spring festival.

Any English speaker living in a foreign country has at some stage or another encountered some fairly dodgy English translations. Every ex-pat I know has a funny tale to tell of notorious translation cock-ups, most commonly found in hotels and restaurants.

A while back my former editor-in-chief overheard that in my off-hours I had gotten into a new sport, at least newer in the Czech Republic: he scratched his head when someone mentioned what it was called. Spinning? Spinning what? he asked. The first thing that came to his mind was an old crone spinning on a loom like in some old Czech fairy tale. Not that long ago, six or seven years, spinning - or indoor cycling as it is also known - was mostly unheard of in the Czech Republic: now you won't find a gym that doesn't offer several rows of bikes and

Over a week ago, an international jury announced in Prague the winner of a tender for the project of the Czech National Library's new building. The jury decided unanimously that the project will be realised by the Czech-born, London-based architect Jan Kaplicky. The new library is expected to welcome the first readers in 2011 and the costs are estimated at over 2 billion crowns (93 million dollars).

There was something in the paper this week about how used clothing stores in the Czech Republic have had their day: there are so many bargains to be had elsewhere now that Czechs are turning away from once ubiquitous secondhand shops.

Czechs love crazy competitions. Don't ask me why, because I have never heard of any sensible explanation. Maybe they just like the challenge involved. They are prepared to stuff themselves sick with dumplings, speed-drink gallons of beer or walk backwards for miles just to get into the Czech book of records. February 14th was Valentine's Day - and of course the challenge presented was obvious - who could resist the temptation to break the existing world record in kissing?