My Lonely Planet Prague guide discourages me from wearing a T-shirt with the above slogan. Seeing as I do not have such a T-shirt, I encourage you, fine reader, to find and send me one.
I love Lonely Planet guides. (Fact: They are considered must-haves by most Canadian foreign correspondents.) They're so steeped in helpful irony (apparently one should conspicuously carry a Kafka novel in one's pocket while in Prague) and, apparently, anti-communism.
For example: "Kidnapped by communism for 40 years, Prague has returned to the capitalist fold to become one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations."
Hm. Okay.
And then there's this, from my Poland guide: "In Poland, the past is not another country -- in fact, it's just along the road. Although Poland has emerged from the grim, grey decades of communism to rebuild itself as a proud and independent member of the New Europe, there are few places where history feels as close as it does here."
Sounds lovely. (Not being ironic.)
Must remind myself not to joke about how communism could work in theory.
I'm very excited. I briefly considered running around my apartment labelling everything by its Czech and Polish names. And then I talked to my mom, and she pointed out I will pretty much never have to say "refrigerator" in Polish or "DVD" in Czech. I should, however, learn how to say "bathroom" and "where is the...."
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