Czechmatediary

Tell us your story… What led you to come to the US?
I came in August 2001 to visit my friend as well as to work as an au-pair. I also wanted to get to know this country a little better, learn English…the usual stuff. Originally, the plan was to stay just for a year and I have been here for 6 ½ years now:). I live here by myself, my whole family still lives back in Czech. At first I had started attending a local college to take some ESL courses, which turned into getting my GED and I have been currently finishing up a second year of the Business Management program here and I love it.

How is the Czech community in Atlanta? Was it easy for you to find new Czech friends?
I have met a lot of great people here. The Czech community in Atlanta is pretty big. We have a Czech supermarket here, Czech restaurant, as well as a Slovak restaurant. You can also find a lot of Czech stuff to do here. Bunch of Czech artists come here on a regular basis, bands like Olympic, David Koller, Daniel Landa, Zdenek Izer, Kabat, Sisa Sklovska, Jaromir Nohavica and more. The possibility of me seeing all these people perform is probably much higher than if I were still living in Czech.

Do you miss home? What do you miss the most?

I am terribly homesick. Of course, I miss my family and my friends the most, but I also miss sidewalks :).No one ever walks in Atlanta. Since everything is located so far apart from each other, we have to drive everywhere. It’s been getting better, but the walking/driving situation is still not great. I just feel like there is not much of a human contact going on here, because everyone is locked in their cars all the time…So, to summon it up I definitely miss sidewalks, the human contact with people on the street and the Czech bread. I have never gotten used to the American bread, so now my daily menu has no bread in it.

What do you like about the American lifestyle?

I love Czech so much! The lifestyle is definitely easier in America, but everything has its pros and cons. What I like the most about the US is the ability to travel everywhere. I love to travel and America has the best conditions for it. I have visited a lot of places already but the places-to-go-to list is still quite long…

Are you finding yourself forgetting the Czech language?

Fortunately, we have a bunch of Czech books and movies that circle among us. It kind of works like a “common library”. If someone gets a new Czech book then he lends it to everyone else. And it works the same with the Czech movies. Also, thanks to the internet, one can watch the Czech TV and listen to the Czech radio all day long. The internet allows me to be in a close contact with my family as well as with my Czech friends. I really admire those people who immigrated here in the past and kept contact with their relatives only via regular postal mail.
The last Czech book I read was a novel by Fryblova and I have just finished watching the Daniel Landa movie called “Kvaska” – I really recommend it.

Are you planning on staying in the US?

I am still undecided. I guess I am just leaving it up to the fate.

Do you have a similar story that you would like to share with us? Contact me!

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Jak jsi se do Ameriky vubec dostala?

CZ: Ja jsem prijela do USA v srpnu 2001. Prijela jsem navstivit kamaradku ktera tady pracovala jako au-pair, poznat cizi zemi, naucit se anglicky atd. Puvodne jsem prijela na rok a ted uz tady jsem 6 a pul. Jsem tady sama, cela moje rodina zije v Cesku. Zacala jsem chodit na mistni college na hodiny anglictiny pro cizince, postupne jsem si udelala GED a ted uz druhym rokem studuji Business Management program a zatim me to moc bavi.

Jake bylo “zabydlovani” v Atlante? Nasla jsi si tam ceske kamarady dosti rychle?

Potkala jsem tady spoustu skvelych lidi. Ceska komunita je tady v Atlante docela velika. Mame tady cesky obchod, ceskou restauraci, slovenskou restauraci. Poradaji se tady ruzne ceske akce a jezdi za nami cesti umelci. Koncert tu meli napr. Olympic, David Koller, Daniel Landa, Zdenek Izer, Kabati, Sisa Sklovska, Jaromir Nohavica, a jeste mnoho dalsich. Myslim ze jsem tady v Atlante mela moznost videt vice znamych cesky osobnosti, nez bych mela v Cesku.

Styska se ti po domove?

Mi se po Cesku hrozne styska. Nejvice mi samozrejme chybi rodina, kamaradi a pak chodniky J. Tady v Atlante se vubec nechodi. Vsude se musi jezdit autem, vsechno je od sebe dost vzdalene. Posledni dobou se to uz trosku zlepsuje, ale porad to neni ono. Mam pocit, ze jsou tady lide mnohem mene v kontaktu s ostatnimi lidmi, porad zavreni v autech. Takze jednoznace mi tady chybi chodniky, kontakt s lidmi na ulici a pak cesky chleba. Na ten americky jsem se nikdy nezvykla a tak jsem radeji zvolila jidelnicek bez chleba.

Co se ti na Americe libi?

Ja jsem hrozny Cechomil a Cesko miluji. V Americe je snadnejsi ziti, ale vsechno ma sve pro i proti. Nejvice se mi tady libi moznost cestovani. Ja cestuji strasne rada a tady jsou na to primo idealni podminky. Uz jsem navstivila spoustu mist ale jeste mam porad seznam mest a mist kam bych se chtela podivat.

Jak je to s cestinou…zapominas ji?

Nastesti jsme tady dobre zasobeni ceskymi knizkami a filmy. Funguje tady neco jako “spolecne knihovna”. Kdyz ma nekdo nejakou novou ceskou knizku, tak si ji mezi sebou pujcujeme. A to stejne je i s filmy. Nastesti diky internetu muzeme sledovat ceske programy a poslouchat ceske radio temer neomezene. A taky diky internetu jsem v neustalem kontatku s mou rodinou a kamarady v Cesku. Obdivuji vsechny lidi kteri drive emigrovali nekam do ciziny a kontakt si udrzovali pouze postou.

Posledni knizka na kterou jsem si mezi ucenim nasal cast byl roman od Z. Frybove. Mam jeji knizky moc rada. A posledni cesky film byl novy film Daniela Landy, Kvaska. Moc doporucuji.

Chces tu zustat nebo se chces vratit v budoucnosti do Cech?

Porad jeste nevim jestli chci v Americe zustat, nebo se chci vratit domu. Zatim to nechavam osudu.