Cultural Profile Resource:

A resource for aged care professionals

Birgit Heaney Dip. 19/06/2016

A resource for aged care professionals

Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 3 Location and Demographic ...... 4 Everyday Life ...... 6 Family ...... 8 Personal Hygiene ...... 9 Leisure and Recreation ...... 10 Religion ...... 11 Food and Diet ...... 13 Health ...... 14 Death and Dying ...... 14 Language ...... 15 Cue Cards ...... 16 Disclaimer ...... 16 References ...... 16

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A resource for aged care professionals Czech Republic Culture Profile

Introduction This profile of the Czech Republic cultural community is just one of the many projects undertaken by Quality Aging.

This project aims to provide relevant information for community groups and residential aged care providers to implement “best practice” strategies of care for the older individuals from diverse backgrounds.

This project is about ensuring the needs of older persons from a Czech Republic cultural background are met.

Population trends within Australia are increasingly characterized by a diversity of people, languages and culture. Together with this trend is an aging population, also with a rich diversity of languages and cultures.

Not surprisingly then, that residential aged care providers are faced with growing demands for culturally responsive facilities and care.

This profile aims to create a tool to provide aged care providers with

 An awareness of the cultural and linguistically diverse needs of older persons from a Czech Republic background.

 It also strives to enable the professional capability and progress of staff in the provision of culturally inclusive care; and

 The organisation’s compliance with the Residential Care Standards and National Care Standards as they pertain to the issue of cultural and linguistic needs.

The profile provides beneficial information about a variety of subjects and resources.

This is a guide only and is not intended to replace one stereotype of this culture with another; it is only intended to provide some insight into the culture. Nor does it reduce the importance of you establishing the individual cultural needs of each person as part of your care planning process.

In an effort to continue to provide you with updated information of this profile and improve its contents, we encourage readers to provide feedback by contacting Quality Aging at [email protected]

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Location and Demographic

According to preliminary results of the 2011 census, the majority of the inhabitants of the Czech Republic are (63.7%), followed by (4.9%), Slovaks (1.4%), Poles (0.4%), Germans (0.2%) and Silesians (0.1%). As the 'nationality' was an optional item, a substantial number of people left this field blank (26.0%). According to some estimates, there are about 250,000 Romani people in the Czech Republic.

There were 437,581 foreigners residing in the country in September 2013, according to the Czech Statistical Office, with the largest groups being Ukrainian (106,714), Slovak (89,273), Vietnamese (61,102), Russian (32,828), Polish (19,378), German (18,099), Bulgarian (8,837), American (6,695), Romanian (6,425), Moldovan (5,860), Chinese (5,427), British (5,413), Mongolian (5,308), Kazakh (4,850), Belarusian (4,562).

The Jewish population of and , 118,000 according to the 1930 census, was virtually annihilated by the Nazi Germans during the Holocaust. There were approximately 4,000 Jews in the Czech Republic in 2005. The former Czech Prime Minister, Jan Fischer, is of Jewish ethnicity and faith.

The total fertility rate (TFR) in 2015 was estimated at 1.44 children born/woman, which is below the replacement rate of 2.1, and one of the lowest in the world. In 2016, 48.6% of births were to unmarried women. The life expectancy in 2013 was estimated at 77.56 years (74.29 years male, 81.01 years’ female). Immigration increased the population by almost 1% in 2007. About 77,000 people immigrate to the Czech Republic annually. Vietnamese immigrants began settling in the Czech Republic during the Communist period, when they were invited as guest workers by the Czechoslovak government. In 2009, there were about 70,000 Vietnamese in the Czech Republic. Most decide to stay in the country permanently.

At the turn of the 20th century, Chicago was the city with the third largest Czech population, after and Vienna. According to the 2010 US census, there are 1,533,826 Americans of full or partial Czech descent

The Czech Republic also known as Czechia, is a nation state in bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometers (30,450 sq mi) with a mostly temperate continental climate and oceanic climate. It is a unitary parliamentary republic, has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague, with over 1.2 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the historical territories of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech .

The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire. After the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In

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1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the , becoming the in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Besides Bohemia itself, the king of Bohemia ruled the lands of the Bohemian Crown, he had a vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor, and Prague was the imperial seat in periods between the 14th and 17th century. In the of the 15th century driven by the Protestant Bohemian Reformation, the kingdom faced economic embargoes and defeated five consecutive proclaimed by the leaders of the Roman .

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Everyday Life

The cost of living in the Czech Republic is cheap, with the average monthly salary currently at 26,287 CZK (£870), while salaries in Prague are usually 30% higher than in the rest of the country. As expected, the cost of living in Prague is the highest in the country.

A one bedroom flat in the suburbs of Prague can be rented for around 18,000 CZK (£595) per month with utilities coming in at around 1,000 CZK (£33). Once outside Prague, prices drop dramatically and in other towns and cities, similar properties can be found for up to 50% cheaper. American and Western European expatriates are perceived to be much more highly paid in comparison to the local population. This can sometimes result in their being overcharged for some services such as taxis and accommodation, although successive governments have taken steps to stamp out this practice in recent years.

Relocating from an EU country is relatively straightforward, although new arrivals must register with the Alien and Border Police within 30 days. Expatriates from outside the EU must obtain a visa for stays of up to 90 days within which time they can obtain a work permit (renewable annually) from a local employment office. This is usually taken care of by their employer.

To work as self-employed, a trade license must be obtained from the local employment office before commencing and receiving payment for work. There are many agencies in Prague who will arrange the required paperwork for a reasonable fee.

Once issued, ID cards must be carried at all times and presented upon request by state officials.

Etiquette

Social interaction is not much different from that in other central European countries; compared to that in the United States, it is rather formal. This formality is in part caused by the , which has two forms of the second-person personal pronoun. The "familiar" form is used to address a member of the family, a good friend of long standing, or a child or by a child addressing another child. The "polite" form is used in more formal situations. It is not uncommon for colleagues of similar age in neighbouring offices to use the formal form when talking with each other.

The tendency toward formal behaviour is strengthened by the tradition of using titles. The use of someone's first name is limited to older family members addressing younger ones and to very good friends. It usually takes daily contact over a number of years before people are on a first- name basis. Much less informal contact reinforces the social distance between people. Because Czech apartments are small, invitations to visit and casual dropping by occur only among good friends.

Czechs stand at arm's length from each other unless they are conveying information that should not be overheard. Like other Europeans, Czechs do not show as much consideration as one finds in Britain or in smaller cities in the United States when several people are boarding a streetcar, bus, or train or waiting to be served in a store. Their tendency to get ahead of others may reflect the experience of the socialist years, when people had to stand in lines for scarce goods. 6

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Because there are no significant differences in social equality by virtue of position or ethnic background (with the exception of the Romany [Gypsies], who are disapproved of for allegedly committing petty thefts), the rules of etiquette are alike for all members of the society. Because Czechs emphasize cleanliness, most remove their shoes when entering private homes. They eat in the Continental style, with the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right, and there is no special attempt to converse at meals. When attending cultural events, Czechs dress for the occasion, and young women try to follow the latest styles. Younger people tend to be more informal and self-confident than their elders.

There are important public and private distinctions. In public spaces, one generally does not smile at strangers or make eye contact with them (for instance, in the subway or bus) and should keep one's voice low when speaking.

Privacy is also maintained in homes, so that doors to bedrooms and bathrooms are kept closed.

When shopping in smaller stores, the buyer generally greets the proprietor upon entry, and the proprietor helps the client choose the goods to be purchased. It is less common to have free access in a store, although the growth of large hypermarkets and shopping malls is changing this custom.

Cultural Stereotype

“Ice-Hockey fanatics” - quite true! Most Czechs are obsess with Ice hockey mainly international. Many are willing to use their “days off” and cheer for Czech national team abroad at World Championships and Olympic Games. And many more put their Czech jerseys on, put flags on their cars and go watch matching at big screens at public places, or sport bars. It is a bit of fever every time there is a big game.

“The service at Czech restaurants is terrible and staff is rude” - it can happen, you should have no problem in average restaurant in Prague. If you can avoid the super touristy spots and be prepared that if your waitress is a bit older, she/he might not speak English so well - therefore there might be some misunderstandings. If you will say Dobrý den (hello) and prosím (please), the staff will be much nicer. Also it is not so common in Czech Republic to “modified” orders like in America for example. So they might be a bit surprise when you want to change the side dish, cook meat differently and want almond milk - but this should not stop you ordering what you want!

Czechs are cold - Yes in most part they do, but to hang out with their friends :) It take Czech person a bit longer to “warm up” and strange people do not usually start a conversation on the street with each other (unless you have a baby, cute dog, you are pregnant, or something happen you can complain about). But (speaking about Prague) in time of meet-ups, couch surfing etc. Young Czechs are much more open than the older generation.

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Family

Values

Marriage. For much of the twentieth century, the selection of a spouse has rested with the young couple. Before World War II, socioeconomic standing and education were of considerable importance in the selection of a husband or wife. Middle-class men usually did not marry until they were launched in their careers, typically in their late twenties or early thirties; women usually married in their early or middle twenties. More recently, men have begun to marry earlier. There are no legal restrictions on who can marry except for marriages between close relatives. The number of legal marriages in 1996 was 5.2 per 1,000. This number is low because the percentage of young adults in the age range 15–29 is among the lowest in the world (because this is also true for the 0–14 age group, the low number of marriages is expected to continue). Relative to the low marriage rate, the divorce rate of 3.2 per 1,000 population is quite high.

Czech newlyweds prefer to live separately from their families, but because of housing shortages in the larger cities, that goal is not easy to attain. Both spouses usually work unless a very young child keeps a mother temporarily at home.

Domestic Unit. The typical household unit is the nuclear family, consisting of husband, wife, and children or stepchildren. Because of the housing shortage, a widowed mother of one of the spouses may be included in the household; she is a valuable addition to the nuclear family if the young couple has children because she can provide child care while the mother works. In the Moravian countryside, where people own family houses, parents commonly live with their adult children. Typically, when Moravians build a family house, they include space in it for their parents.

Attitudes to Residential Care

Residential care is seen by elderly people as the last option and other in-home support programs will be accessed to prolong independence for as long as possible. For many older people leaving home and moving into communal living arrangements is equivalent to losing their independence. It is traditionally expected that children will look after their parents’ needs. However, people who have lived in Australia for a number of years may no longer have an expectation of family involvement in his/her care.

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Personal Hygiene

Schedules and choices surrounding the following personal hygiene activities greatly affect the person’s sense of self, pride, dignity and confidence.

Bathing There are no particular customs in bathing; most Czech people prefer to shower daily.

Dress “Czech are bad with fashion” - in most part yes. You can see some crazy dressing styles around the Czech Republic. If you want to recognize Czech person in foreign country look for rain jacket, sport attire, socks in sandals and backpack

Grooming Men and women look after themselves and are concerned about how they look. Women will prefer to wear makeup, jewellery, nail polish, perfume and have neat hair, that is be well groomed. Men tend to use cologne/aftershave, clipping nasal and ear hair and trimming nails etc.

It is important that the hygiene preferences of each person are established as part of the care planning process.

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Leisure and Recreation

The entertainment options for expatriates are varied and plentiful, especially in and around Prague. There are top-notch stage-plays, opera performances, and first-class concerts in addition to regional cultural and sporting events. You will also find jazz clubs, discos, art exhibits, poetry readings and live entertainment at an assortment of nightclubs.

Foreign- language (primarily American) feature films are shown (often with Czech subtitles), and there is a monthly film club that shows Czech films subtitled in English.

An excellent source for listings of these events is the English-language weekly newspaper, The Prague Post, and the monthly issue of Prehled (in Czech), which publishes a very detailed schedule of cultural activities and events.

The Czech Republic has exciting opportunities for the outdoors enthusiast. Over ten percent of the country is devoted to national parks and protected natural areas. Bicycling, caving, rock climbing, horseback riding and golf are all readily available.

Skiing is very popular, and there are numerous outstanding ski resorts to choose from. Both downhill skiing and cross-country skiing are widespread winter sports.

Canoeing is a popular pastime on several rivers, notably the Luznice, the upper and Sasava. Other watersports include windsurfing and sailing on some of the many natural and man-made lakes in the Republic.

A routine needs to be established with each individual relating to their personal preference.

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Religion

Religious Beliefs. Christianity was brought to the area of the Czech Republic during the ninth century by missionaries from Germany to the west (the rite) and the to the southeast (the Eastern rite). The missionaries of the Eastern rite were the brothers Constantine (later renamed Cyril) and Methodius, natives of Thessalonica in Macedonia. They arrived in 863, invited by Rostislav (or Rastislav), ruler of the Great Moravian Empire, and devised the first Slavic writing system, in which they published parts of the Bible in a Slavic language that was intelligible to the local population. The arrival of the Magyars in the middle Danube area near the end of the ninth century and their subsequent raids to the north led to the disintegration of the Great Moravian Empire and weakened the influence of the Eastern rite. By

the time a bishopric was established in 973 in Prague, Roman Catholic missionaries had prevailed and Latin had become the liturgical language.

A breach with Rome took place during the first half of the fifteenth century as a consequence of the reform movement begun by Jan Hus. After Hus was burned at the stake in Constance in 1415, his legacy became a lasting aspect of the national heritage. It was reinforced in the middle of the sixteenth century by the attempts of Ferdinand I, the Holy Roman emperor and Bohemian king, to bring the population back under the influence of the Roman Catholic Church. After the army of the Bohemian estates was defeated by Ferdinand II in the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, Catholicism and Hapsburg rule tended to be equated as symbols of foreign oppression.

Precise numbers of the members of various denominations are not available; approximate percentages are Roman Catholics, 40 percent; Protestants, 4 to 5 percent; Orthodox, 1 percent; and uncommitted, atheists, and agnostics, 54 percent. Many Czech Catholics tend to be lukewarm in their faith. Moravian Catholics are more committed. Religious sentiments have always been more strongly felt and expressed in rural areas. Since the end of , strong secularist tendencies have been evident. The forty-one years of communist rule (1948 to 1989) further undermined religious practices and expression: Those who regularly attended religious services were discriminated against in terms of professional advancement. After 1989, a resurgence of religious beliefs and observances became noticeable, especially among young people.

Before World War II, about 120,000 Jews lived in the . Except for those who married non-Jews and the relatively few who were able to emigrate, most Jews—about 80,000—died in Nazi concentration camps. After the war, only a very few of those who escaped the Holocaust returned.

Religious Practitioners. The Roman Catholic Church has archdioceses in Prague, founded in 1344, and Olomouc (Moravia), founded in 1777. The archbishop of the Prague archdiocese is the only Czech cardinal. In addition, there are six dioceses headed by bishops: four in Bohemia and two in Moravia.

The Protestant churches (in Czech usually referred to by a term translated as "Evangelical") are small, less hierarchical, and diversified. Among those registered in 1995 were the Baptists, Czech Brethren, the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, Methodists, Pentecostalists, Seventh-Day Adventists, and the Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession. Other denominations include the Czech Orthodox Church, the Old Catholic Church, the Unitarians, and the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic.

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Rituals and Holy Places. Catholic churches or chapels are found in even the smallest communities. Other denominations and religious organizations have church buildings only in areas where a congregation is large enough to support them. Smaller groups gather for worship in private homes or hold meetings in rented quarters.

There were several places of pilgrimage—all Catholic—where the devout used to travel every year to attend a mass commemorating the local saint. Most of those sites were of only regional significance, but a few were known throughout the country. For example, pilgrimages began in 1647 to the church at Svatá hora a hill above Příbram in central Bohemia. Beginning in 1990, pilgrimages were resumed in eastern Moravia. Many of these yearly ceremonies have turned into events resembling country fairs and are attended by thousands of people. An example is Matthew's Fair, which takes place on the outskirts of Prague every spring.

You need to establish each person’s religious preference and link them into a local minister of that religion.

Important cultural and religious days can be found in the Multi-Cultural Events Calendar

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Food and Diet

Food in Daily Life. The traditional Czech diet may be considered heavy, with an emphasis on meat, potatoes, and dumplings and the use of substantial amounts of animal fats, butter, and cream. Meats— primarily pork, beef, poultry, and organ meats such as liver, kidneys, brains, and sweetbreads—are frequently prepared with gravy and eaten with potatoes or dumplings. Soups are an important part of the noon meal. Potato and tripe soup are favorites, as well as beef or chicken broth with tiny liver or marrow dumplings. The most commonly used vegetables are carrots, peas, and cabbage. Salads were eaten only seasonally until recent years.

Czechs have always enjoyed sweets. The most common are fruit dumplings (made with plums or, in winter, preserved apricots) served with grated farmer cheese and bread crumbs browned in butter, with sugar sprinkled on top. Dumplings often are served as a meal. Popular sweet baked goods include buchty, small, roughly rectangular yeast buns with a filling of jam or preserves; koláče, small cakes made of white flour with an indentation on the surface for a filling of poppy seeds, plum jam, or sweetened farmer cheese; a semisweet cake made of yeast dough and baked in a fluted tube pan; thin pancakes spread with jam, rolled, and topped with powdered sugar, small raised pancakes, and apple strudel.

The national beverage is beer, some good domestic wines are produced in Moravia. The domestic plum brandy is called slivovice.

Especially during the past ten to twenty years, marked changes have occurred in the Czech diet. More fresh vegetables are eaten year-round by those who can afford imported food; vegetable shortenings, oils, and margarine are replacing animal fats; and a variety of mixes are used to prepare soups and dumplings. What people eat today is greatly influenced by what they can afford: good cuts of beef and pork are expensive, but poultry is much more affordable.

Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions. A typical Sunday dinner menu continues to be svíčková. fillet of beef marinated in vinegar and spices before roasting, served with a rich sour- cream sauce and almost always accompanied by dumplings. Also, popular for special meals is roast duck, pork, or goose with dumplings and sauerkraut. On Christmas Eve, nearly the entire country eats the traditional breaded and fried carp, and on Christmas Day, roast turkey is found on many tables.

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Health

The extensive use of medicinal plants was replaced during the first half of the twentieth century by the use of synthetic drugs. Many of these drugs are produced by a well-developed domestic pharmaceutical industry. Czech medicine has always followed the course of Western medicine and kept up with modern advances.

Health spas using thermal mineral waters and/ or mud or peat baths are numerous and popular. Some are world-famous, such as Marienbad and Karlsbad. Karlsbad was well known by the end of the eighteenth century; members of the European aristocracy often visited it to regain or improve their health.

Health insurance was widely available before World War II. Under communism, free health care was provided to all citizens, but its quality varied. Most Czechs would agree that the system was abused. Medical waiting rooms were crowded not only with people who had good reason to be there but also with those who wanted to leave their places of employment to take care of private matters such as standing in line for items in short supply. Free health care continues to be available, but the system is monitored more closely. To avoid long waits, patients who have the financial means often see private physicians.

In general, health services in the Czech Republic are much better than the world average: the number of persons per physician is one of the lowest in the world, and the number of hospital beds per capita is among the highest. Equally impressive is the infant mortality rate of 6 per 1,000 live births. Life expectancy at birth is 70.5 years for males, and 77.5 years for women (1997). The major causes of death are diseases of the circulatory system and cancer.

Death and Dying

Death and the Afterlife.

Serious church members, whether Catholic or Protestant, believe in an afterlife. Even lukewarm Catholics frequently arrange for a dying family member to receive the last rites before death.

In the past, the dead usually were buried in a casket and their graves were provided with elaborate headstones. Over the last fifty years, cremation has become the accepted practice, but in rural Moravia, burying in the ground still predominates.

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Language

The main language spoken is, not surprisingly, Czech. The Slovak language can also be often heard, as there is a sizable Slovak minority and both languages are mutually intelligible. Czech people are very proud of their language, and thus, even in Prague you will not find many signs written in English (outside of the main tourist areas). Many older people, especially outside the large cities, are also unable to converse in English, so it's good to learn some Czech or Slovak before your arrival. However, most young people speak at least some English, as it has been taught in most schools since 1990.

Most Czechs speak a second and often a third language. English is the most widely known, especially among younger people. German is probably the most widely spoken second language among older people. Russian was taught very extensively under communist rule, so most people born before c. 1975 speak at least some Russian (and often pretty well). However the connection with the communist era and the Soviet led invasion in 1968 (as well as today's Russian-speaking criminal gangs) has given this language some negative connotations. It is also not very useful with younger people, as it is not, despite the common misconception, mutually intelligible with Czech (beyond some similar words and simple sentences). Other languages, like French or Spanish, are also taught in some schools, but you should not count on it. People may also understand some basic words or simple sentences in other Slavic languages (Polish, Serbo- Croatian, etc).

The Czech and Slovak languages are very difficult for English-speakers to grasp, as they, like their sisters, can be tongue-twisting languages to learn (especially Czech) and take time and practice to master, especially if you're not really familiar with the other Slavic languages, including Russian. However, if you can learn the alphabet (and the corresponding letters with accents), then pronunciation is easy as it is always the same - Czechs and Slovaks pronounce every letter of a word, with the stress falling on the first syllable. The combination of consonants in some words may seem mind-bogglingly hard, but it is worth the effort!

The Czech language has many local dialects, especially in Moravia. Some dialects are so different that they can be sometimes misunderstood even by a native Czech speaker from a different region. However all Czech people understand the standard Czech (as spoken in TV, written in newspapers and taught in schools) and should be able to speak it (but some are too proud to stop using their local dialect). Some of them are even unable to speak standard Czech but write it correctly.

Czechs have different writing style, and the Slovak language is softer. The vocabulary is similar, with occasional words not understood. The younger generation born after the dissolvent of Czechoslovakia are growing apart and have problems to understand each other.

YOU need to be aware that just because they could once speak English, does not mean a) They necessarily spoke it fluently or extensively OR b) They have retained these skills as he/she aged OR c) That it is their preferred language.

Speaking English can be tiring to the elderly – as they are engaging in a translation-type of process. Many elderly people revert back to their native language as they aged.

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Cue Cards Quality Aging has cue cards that you may find useful and assist you in communicating with a person that speaks a language other than English

Disclaimer The information herein is a synthesis of information from a range of sources believed to be reliable. Quality Aging gives no warranty that the said base sources are correct, and accepts no responsibility for any resultant errors contained herein or for decisions and actions taken as a result and any damage from these decisions or actions.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Republic

http://www.everyculture.com/Cr-Ga/Czech-Republic

https://www.gapyear.com/countries/czech-republic/languages

https://res.cloudinary.com/greenwich-2000- limited/image/upload/c_scale,dpr_1.0,f_auto,q_auto,w_auto/czech-republic

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/guides/guide-to-czech-republic-etiquette-customs- culture-business/

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-major-stereotypes-people-have-about-Czech-Republic- and-to-what-extent-are-they-true

http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-czech-republic-leisure

http://www.diversicare.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Polish.pdf

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