Since I couldn't sleep I wrote a sequel to 'What do we talk about, when we talk about Croatia?'. So, let's go:

6. Croatian mentality is hard to describe, as it is the case with every nation in the world. Namely, every nation is composed of individuals who have their own habits and characteristics - some of us are lazy, some hard workers, some of us are materialistic, others are more spiritual, some speak several languages, others struggle with standard Croatian, etc. When it comes down to Croatians, we tend to be quite proud of our country (sometimes even to the point that some Croats tend to claim that our country is the most beautiful in the world although they have never been anywhere south from Dubrovnik or northern from Graz in Austria, let alone on the other continent). It is true that we are blessed with a lot of natural wonders, and on such a small area (ca. 56 000 square km) we have three different climates – continental, Mediterranean and mountain climate - something that is, besides in Croatia, seen only in Slovenia and France among European countries.

Croatians generally like to be well dressed and manners are important, and (although generally, they are hard workers) if they could afford it, they would most likely spend their whole life drinking coffee, harmlessly gossiping. Education is very important in our society, but according to PISA examinations it is also a weak point as pupils in elementary and high schools are under a lot of pressure since the system as a whole is a bit outdated and conservative, especially when compared to forerunners Finland or Estonia.

Anyhow, unlike in most western countries, a relatively high percentage of young people tend to stay with their parents even after they finish education and start working, which is something that is not frowned upon (if you are under 35 at least ).

7. Economically, Croatia is a relatively rich or relatively poor country, depends on the perspective. Like most European countries we have public education, health insurance no matter if one works or not, but the wages are still rather low compared to our western neighbors. The average net salary (in Croatia people always tend to speak about net salary, not the gross one) is around 1100 € in Zagreb, but significantly lower in other parts of the country. Because of the Homeland war (1991-95), a lot of industry was ruined by the aggressor or by our own white-collar criminals through money laundering so we are heavily dependent on tourism which makes almost 20% of our GDP.

Since we have become a member of the EU, many young people moved to the West, especially to Germany and Ireland.

8. Most Croatians are avid sports followers, especially when it comes down to football, handball, water polo, and tennis as we are somehow very good in these sports. As someone said when our national football team didn't win the World Cup: „They may have not won the World Cup, but they have won our hearts.“. We do really have excellent sportsmen and sportswomen in almost any sport that is traditional for this region, being that skiing or handball.

Ok, girls and guys, it's 6:29 already here in Croatia and I am going to make myself some coffee as I have no intention to go to sleep now. I know I promised to write ten things that shape the Croatian identity, but I'll give you the opportunity to ask me in comments about what other two topics should I cover.

Bye, T.