Today is very important for the Czech history. 21 years ago, just a few months after I started Grammar school, Czech people decided they had enough of the ridiculous communist regime and it was the beginning of so called "Velvet revolution" ( piecefull revolution). I remember watching telly that evening and my father telling me, "watch carefully as this is a very important day for us and one day your children will be learning about it at school!". Well, I am not sure if Isabelle will be learning about this in a school here in the UK, but I will make sure she knows all about it.
I was 14 and what did it mean to me? Mostly I was happy I was allowed to study any foreign languages, my passion, and travel around the whole world. I know it was very difficult for older people as they were used to certain life guarantees like no doctor fees, no school fees, early retiring age, and few other, but most young people were happy for the change. Also the freedom of speech was finally here and people didn't have to be scared that KGB would knock on their door!
Here I am 23 years later, living in London, being married to an English guy. I travelled a lot, studied and lived in Sydney for 5 years. Would that be possible before November 17 1989? No! I am very grateful for this and will never forget this very important event in my life.
What a moving post, I think we forget how much things have changed from before the cold war
ReplyDelete