not so white-bred

Before we moved here, I expected the worse, just to be safe, I guess. Those who know me well know that's just who I am. If I imagine, elaborately, the worse of all possible outcomes for every situation that could arise, I fool myself into thinking that I will be ready for anything, and thus safe.

So, before we moved here, I imagined my wonderful Czech people and what it would be like living among them... at their worse. How will I feel, I wondered, surrounded by people many of whom are admittedly unabashedly racist, xenophobic, closed-minded, rude and materialistic?

Fortunately I knew I would have my wonderful Grandmother and several close friends, not to mention husband, who are like-minded and whose shoulders I know I can cry on when times get rough.

It's a bit early to tell, but so far I have not seen very much of the crudeness for which I so tried to brace myself. Perhaps these "isms" will surface soon, as I have seen them surface here, but so far they have largely stayed behind closed doors.

Something that has surprised me already is how much more multicultural this metropolis is than I had expected.

On our street alone, which is away from the tourist route, I have already heard at least eight different languages spoken: Czech, Russian, Vietnamese, Slovak, Polish, German, Romani, Lebanese (not sure about this one), and English.

The first time Jonah ran into other kids at a playground, one spoke Russian and the others were Black Czechs. When Jonah and I went to visit my friend down the street, two of her neighbors, who were there and who are married to Senegalese men, had their mixed-race infant daughters there with them. Today Jonah played with a Vietnamese boy in a restaurant at lunch.

Perhaps I have underestimated this part of the world for its degree of worldliness? You think?