The "perks" of being a tall girl

Since the first grade, I have always belonged to the taller part of the class. 

During our sports classes when we were supposed to gather in a row I always tried to figure out if I was the tallest one. 

I liked being taller.

Then puberty came.
 I realised that I really was taller than anyone else and for several reasons stopped liking it. 

Most of all, I hated the fact that the small and petite girls evoke the impression of cuteness and that they need to be protected and cared for.

Tall girls, on the other hand, are viewed as strong, independent and tough.

But here is a bit of a news.

We can be fragile, we can break, we can feel let down and we might need a shoulder to lean on or cry on too.

I am 178 cm tall. 

>Just for the record, before anyone asks me.<

Nothing major. 

And yes, there are taller girls out there.

As I successfully got over the bloody teenage years of self-doubt, 

I actually could not care less now. 

Nevertheless, let´s admit that there are some "obstacles".

Trousers
They rarely fit. Before I understood that I better give up on this item on clothes once and for all, it took me quite a long time to realise, that the trousers are forever going to be either too short or simply wrong and unfitting shape.
Unless you wanted to wear them as capri trousers of course, then go ahead...or maybe not.

Skirts
A bit of a tricky business too.
I am sorry to say that, but if you are a taller girl a short skirt would always look too short on you.
A long skirt is no help either, as it optically makes you look even taller, yay, high five!

Dresses
What a terrible fashion wave it is now really...Why is all the clothes made for short people? I have no desire to look in it as if I grew up too much and did not want to give up that dress...or shall I say a shirt?

Long sleeve shirts?
Ugrh...sleeves are always going to be too short, fact, get over it.

The back row
In class / theatre / cinema you have been asked to sit to the back row, because people can´t see.

The table desk
You have at least once accidentaly lifted a table desk when trying to cross your legs under the table.

Mirrors
Yes...they do remind you that you are tall, but you are used to that by now probably...hopefully.
But they have their own way of reminding you even when you can´t see yourself because simply they are just too low.
Yay, well done Union Street student residences! Thank you for letting me know that I grew up a bit too much, appreciated.

Bathtubs
Forever too small.

Buses and planes
Forever not enough leg room. I made it on a bus from Prague to Lofoten Islands in northern Norway, that is a lot of self-discipline and self-control and bloody patience right there.

Hugging
You are always the one having to go lower to be able to hug your friend...both female and male ones.

Family buying your bigger sizes
Excuse me, the fact that I am tall does not mean that I wear XL size, thank you very much.

Higheels
Difficult chapter. If even without them you are taller than rest of your buddies, with them you will seem like an Eiffel tower when you put them on. If you like heels don´t let it get to you.

Dancing lessons
Around the age of 15, almost everyone in the Czech Republic goes to lessons of classical dance.
As a girl, you are supposed to wear higheels.
It is actually fun, you learn to dance Waltz, Polka, Jive and many other dances.
Correction.
It would be fun, if you were not one of the tallest people there, which at the age of 15 does not really boost your confidence. 
Most of the guys that are danced with were smaller and during the dance our eyes would rarely meet, as the level of their eyes would correspond to a place where my neck was (or even lower!!!)...which created a lot of awkward situations as you can imagine.

Dating a smaller person
Of course that there are many women who fully accept and cherrish this.
At the end of the day, you are supposed to love that person for who she or he really is, not because of how tall or small he or she is, right?
Well, I tried that and could not get over it.
Maybe I am just not mature enough, but dating a smaller guy made me feel uncomfortable.
I did not like having to lean down in order to kiss the guy, feeling huge next to him or having the same shoe size.
Pathetic, I know.
It might be just my thing, but I think that prefer to have a shoulder to put my head on...and not just metaphorically.

"Oh, could you fetch that, I can´t reach! Thanks love, good thing that you are so tall!"
Yes...you always reach, but don´t let people abuse you! :)

"Oh, you are so tall, do you play basketball or volleyball?"
Yes, you probably have had people asking you that question in the past, way too many times. And you will be asked again and again and again.
>I actually do play volleyball, to answer your question in advance.<

"Oh well, you will you have to find some basketball player to date."
Don´t you dare complain about most of the members of a sex that you are attracted to being smaller than you. People always come up with clever sentences like this.

And a BONUS.

Here is a small photo collection for you to have a laugh about a life of one tall girl.

>>>

We tall girls all know that moment:

- When your friend looks too small next to you and you look too big.

- When you go a step lower and are still taller than your friend.

- When you rather decide to lean down to make it to the photo frame.


- When you are always taller than the rest of the group. Not only you look taller, but also much bigger.

- When you are the tallest in your family.

- When you for once stand up straight and are taller that everyone else.

- When you put on heels and are IMMEDIATELY taller not only than the rest of the girls, but also than 99,9% men.

- When you are taller than your high-school headmaster.

- When you awkwardly lean towards the other person trying to decrease your height.

Launching

I am a dreamer...a hopeless kind.

And I do worry a lot, almost constantly.

I always think of the worst case scenario and try to prepare myself for it, so that I would get hurt as little as possile.
 On the other hand, I still dream about the naively bright and shiny future (however I do not manage to protect myself against the disappointment well enough if it does not go as dreamy as imagined).

Also, my mind is always preoccupied with all thoughts possible.

 You might argue...yeah well, that is what it is supposed to do...dahhh.

But to me...the thoughts can be heavy and overwhelming.

And

I am one of those people who need to talk about them, I somehow cannot process them myself calmly and quietly.

I found out, when writing my first blog that it brings me an incredible relief not having to carry the thoughts around in my brain all the time.

However, as you might know, my first blog is rather themed and I did not wish to disrupt the continuity of my memories with unrelated blah blah.

So that is why you are reading these lines on a new blog.

Purpose?

I am going to be submitting here, whatever will be preoccupying my brain cells that, as the matter of the fact, need to be concentrating on writing a bachelor thesis instead.

A wee request for you!

I realise that on most of the issues I will be writing about I will be having rather one-sided point of view. But, I want...no...I need to know your opinion about them. 
I always want to know more, I want to learn more.

So please tell me, what do you think about the topics and my arguments and why do you think that. 

What makes me proud that I am Czech?

Since I came back from Scotland I do have a big issue being happy, or even ok with being "home".

There are so many things that bother (and bug and frustrate and upset) me about "my" country and "my" people.  At the same time I realise that I have been very critical in the past. 

However, before I tell you why do I occassionally feel proud that I am Czech, let me think about this for a while:

          What makes you and me Czech? 

• Is it the consumption of "our" beloved liquid bread - beer  (which I hate) that is not even owned by Czechs anymore?

• Or is the the consumption of "our" řízek and štrůdl (which is also is also a traditional German food)?

• Is it the way that we celebrate Christmas...a purely Christian tradition when most of "us" do not believe in God anymore and actually we have the highest number of atheists in Europe?
• Is it the place that I share with "my people"...people that can be so mean, ignorant and negative that I have a hard time relating to?
• Is it our language that many people make mistakes in writing, the language that absorbes new English words daily and is predicted to die out?

• Is it the space we live in together and polute and destroy at the same time?
• Is it our history, that is being so badly taught at schools by underpaid and bitter teachers?

• Is it the traditions that are being ignored every year more and more?

You know what? 

It amazes me, how proud Americans are of their nation and how shamefull it sometimes feels to be Czech. 

What happened to us? 

Why do we feel a bit of a resistance saying...I am actually from the Czech Republic, when meeting new people. 

Why to we wave our flag mostly only during the international sports tournaments? Is it only then when the football or hockey team wins a game, that we feel proud that we are Czech, because "WE won"?

As for my point of view...The sport games do not do it for me.

On the other hand, I do feel proud of Czech people that made a difference. The Czech people that made a difference for other people.

When I was small, I never really aspired to be a pop or a film star. 
I actually wanted to be famous, so that I would be able to make it to the bank notes. 

Not because I would like to see there my face. 
It was because I knew that those people made a big difference for the Czech people. 
They devoted their lives so that our country would flourish, our language would be preserved and our politics would go on the right track. 

Those people I am proud of, I am proud that they were Czech and they make me proud that I am Czech too.

> When listening to music of Bedřich Smetana, I can hear the river Vltava flowing through the capital city Prague.

> I am proud that such a beautiful music that Antonín Dvořák composed, when I hear those tunes I am so incredibly proud of him and overwhelmingly proud that he was Czech and I am Czech.

> I am proud of Ondřej Kobza, a guy who started a project Piána na ulici  which places unused pianos in public places where everyone play it and eventually the anymosity that unfortunately rules among people gets broken down slightly.

> I am proud that Alfons Mucha decided not to make commercial work anymore and with his painting abilities capture our history on gigantic pieces of art painted on sails.

> I am proud that Jakub Schikaneder. Just look at his painting, that melancholy, sentitivity and unique atmosphere of Prague in the 19th century breathing from his paintings are irreplacable.

> I am proud of Otto Wichterle, thanks to whom people wear contact lenses instead of glasses.

> I am proud that when listing the Czech people that I am proud of I can go on for a very long time.

But hang on...were they even Czech?

 Some one them were born at a time, when we were still a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 

Some of them were born in Czechoslovakia. 

Even I was born in a country that was called Czechoslovakia.

Do artificial borders set by authorities create who we are as a nation and are supposed to feel for, share, connect with and relate to?