@Perun, that's all fair and square. First of all, yes, our countries are rather similar and I wouldn't think you personally would feel the difference much. But then again, my amazement came also from the fact how
small we are, unlike Germany; the contrast makes it fascinating for me.
However, not even everywhere in Germany it's completely the same. I've had the experience myself, but never could put it into words: A friend of mine, who actually walked on foot from Czechia to France (to apologise to Saint Therese of Lisieux - long story, it somewhat makes sense in context), has told me of this feel (and actually wrote it in his book) - I never realised it before, but the feeling was there - especially when he was walking through Germany through some of the states that are historically Protestant in nature (and therefore more... iconoclastic in theory), he suddenly felt really lonely. The countryside was quite beautiful, but something - the invisible influence of human hand that since the baroque period has been trying to create the perfect area where everything is connected with everything and everything has its place, the ponds, the tree-alleys, the vineyards planned so as to allow you to notice this here and that over there and the chapel on the hill and the winding road to elsewhere; the vineyards aligned so as to see the summer cottage, the tree with the calvary giving you a point to see the straight line between that and the stone cross at the fold of the hill, the tree-alley seemingly endless... - was missing.
Because there's a spirit to the place and the country you grow up (especially if you tend to like it). I think that in the book he wrote it something along the lines of
"No small calvaries on the corner of the field under a large oak, that would hold the massive, crushing sky above in place so as not to oppress me in a way I for quite a while couldn't really understand, but felt all the same."
I'm not saying one or the other is better, there are even people who find the beautiful, but barren and savage Irish countryside in
Calvary (2014) to be the prettiest thing ever. No judgements, just personal preference. Heck, I myself want to see Antarctica, which is as alien and barren and hostile as it gets.
Which nicely fits into the second part of what you're saying: It's all about what you really look for, just like you say.
I'm not searching for the exotic; it might be amazing and I'd definitely enjoy it, but to me, the magic is in searching for the extraordinary in the ordinary.
I'm a hobbit in that regard, I like it simple (unlike my art, sometimes) and I also approach this spiritually - I'm trying to realise the unity, the communion of the particular people in that place, the past generations, the current ones, the future ones. The fathers, the grandfathers, the nobility and the serfs, the game-keepers, the grandchildren, those long dead and those that would possibly never even be born etc. You might say on the contrary that this is just as fascinating with historical sites that are much more exotic (and the mystery thereof - it definitely is a thing a lot of people have told me), but it doesn't really work for me in that way.
I'm a "xenophobe" that way - Just like with for example Japanese art, movies and anime - when the known and recogniseable fades and it all becomes alien, I have a hard time connecting to that. It is probably just as well resulting from the fears and panics I had when I was younger - that I would somehow break my mind and sanity and get completely crazy, to the point of not seeing what others are seeing ... and get alienated in a world that's completely foreign. Strange things do not have a huge appeal to me. Sometimes, in the right circumstances, but not in general, not just like that.
That's of course much bigger deal than mere foreign cultures and exotic stuff, but I certainly need to feel the "genetic lines" so as to feel cozy, pleasant, surprised by joy.
Me and wifey have seen further places, indeed, (the furthest was Sri Lanka) but yes, we are always yearning for a home. Where our life, our personhood, our relationships, our experiences were all formed.
It might be similar with personalities, some people need to get to know other people all the time and push for that and some turn inwards. There is a lot to discover either way.
So yes, this probably should have been a caveat. Czechia is not the most unique place ever and a lot of people might fail to see her charms. That's fine and I hope - as usual - that if my contribution could have helped, it did, if it couldn't, at least it did no harm.
And sure, Germany is also very beautiful. In fact, I say that even German language can be really beautiful - I always use the Queen of the Night aria to demonstrate
"Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen,
Tod und Verzweiflung flammet um mich her!
Fühlt nicht durch dich Sarastro Todesschmerzen,
So bist du meine Tochter nimmermehr!"
That has edge, that third line there is extremely poetic (at least I'd say so), it all has this almost philosophical outlook.
Yes, sometimes there's so much beauty in the world it would seem like you can't even handle it. (And no paper bag and no
American Beauty). Beauty heals. Beauty can bring salvation.
Pulchritudo salvificabit totum mundum, "the beauty will save the whole world", says Dostoevsky through Myshkin's mouth. I'm more than sure that he's absolutely right.
Sorry for the convoluted and clunky post, but expressing your inner sentiments and sometimes ineffable yearning within, let alone not in your mother tongue is toiling, as a lot of you definitely know.
www.commondreams.org
