A nation of jumpers

We could buy a lot of trumpets, cimbaloms, bagpipes, guitars, flutes, organs, violins, saxophones and there would still be enough left for basses and drums. All that would be needed is for every citizen to sacrifice two hundred crowns and our musical culture could live on it for a number of years. There is a saying that „every Czech is a musician“, so it should be easy to convince people to participate in such a project. But we also say that „if you can't jump you're not Czech“. And following the current situation surrounding the Liberec Nordic Ski Championships, the Czechs prefer to jump up and down on tribunes than playing instrument.

That is at least what the report coming from the state coffer administrators shows. While the Culture Ministry needs to operate with CZK 8 billions this year (out of which one billion will be given away to various churches and other religious organisations), the 14-day-long event near Ještěd received more than CZK 2 billion from the government and the Liberec region. Each of us paid CZK 200. Even those who watched in suspense the battle for the gold medal in the 15 km classic race between Lukáš Bauer and Andrus Veerpal – just like the author of these lines – cannot be pleased by that fact.

Absolute happiness

The latest survey by TNS AISA agency shows that two in five Czechs either don't do any sport or exercise a couple of times a year. We do not move, we get…