Thank you for the explanation.  Now I understand my faux pas.  And you are correct.  The Czech Republic will probably always be "Eastern" in my mind ... Yes, because for so long we used the term to mean "mysterious underdevoloped oppressed country Americans weren't allowed to visit" not a proper geographical designation.  How could I have missed that?  Well, thank you for enlightenning me.

BTW, this just underlines my desire to have a nice informative map of Europe linked to the front page here.

Now.  I have friends who insist that Finland can be considered part of Scandinavia.  What's the proper designation there?  


Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire