Czechmatediary

Easter is coming up so let’s talk about the Czech Easter. What am I about to say here may be really interesting for those who didn’t grow up in Czech or Slovakia (and a “nice” reminder for those who did). The “My Czech Republic” website gives you the cheery and playful version of this tradition but my recollection is not so cheery. Of course, we do the fun stuff like coloring the eggs, baking cakes in a shape of a lamb and sing merry songs. However, as I mentioned in my other posts, Czechs really like their alcohol (they have been no.1 beer-drinking consumers for ages now) and if you mix that with Easter - or any other celebration - things can get pretty crazy.

I can speak with a dose of authority since I have experienced the “wonders” of Czech Easter many, many times. As I mentioned before, when I was a kid my family spent the weekends/holidays at our cottage, located in a little quaint village near Prague. And villages are the places where things get REALLY crazy when holidays - especially Easter - come around. (more…)

PERNIK

Pernik (Czech-style gingerbread) has been considered a fancy pastry ever since its beginnings and used to be prepared only for special occasions. Where did pernik come from? No one really knows…some sources point to the ancient Greece and Egypt where it was used as a sacrificial food for various gods. The first pernik was more of a honey-sweetened bread than how it is  known today. In the Czech Republic the word “pernik” was first documented in 1335 in the town of Trutnov. The Mid devil pernik recipe called sometimes for more than 90 different types of spices! The most expensive pernik was made with honey - hence the name - the “white” pernik. In the 18th century the bakers  were making 4 types of pernik:

1. Marcipan
2. Pernik
3. Cerne sisky (black clumps) - used as a sweetener (more…)
   If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!

Diky neustale hrozbe “spam engines” (ktere vyhledavaji volne lezici e-mailove adresy a pak vam posilaji otravne emaily) jsem se rozhodla pro dobro vsech, ze “Seznam kontaktu Cechu a Slovaku zijich v US/Canada/UK/Australia” (kategorie “Czech contacts in the USA” a “Czech contacts in the UK/Canada/Australia“) bude k mani koumkoliv, kdo se zaregistruje na tento blog skrze E-MAIL. Jestlize se tedy chcete do tohoto seznamu zaradit (nebo seznam chcete), kliknete na “SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG BY E-MAIL” (link je situovany hned pod mou fotkou). Ja vas pote zkontaktuji a list vam poslu spolu se “Survival Manual for Czechs living abroad” (bonus!!).

Diky za pochopeni!

Thanks to the constant threat of spamming search engines I decided that the list of “Czech contacts in the USA/Canada/UK/Australia” will be only reachable if you REGISTER FOR THIS BLOG BY E-MAIL. So if you are interested in being part of this contact sheet (or want that list) click on the link that says “Subscribe to this blog by e-mail” (located right under my picture). After you register I will personally contact you and send you (enter you into )the list. together with the “Survival Manual for Czechs and Slovaks living abroad”. I apologize for the inconvenience but I am just trying to protect your privacy.

Slovakia elected their Miss Universe 2008. Her name is Sandra Manakova, she is 20 years old and comes from the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava. Not only did she won so far the most expensive diamond crown any Slovak beauty queen ever won (1.3 million Czech Crowns, designed by Petra Nemcova), but she is also the owner of a nice off-road vehicle AND the flying ticket to Vietnam. Why Vietnam, you may ask. (more…)

I have just finished my PDF-formated masterpiece called the “Survival Manual for Czechs and Slovaks living abroad”. It has over 88 pages (probably the longest thing I have ever written) but every page is worth gold. The Survival Manual includes:

• 40 (!!) pages of Czech/Slovak organizations in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and UK
  
• 20 pages of Czech/Slovak restaurants in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and UK
  
• Top 5 Czech/Slovak recipes
• Czech-American history

And MUCH more…..
If you would like to receive one of these manuals, subscribe to this blog by E-MAIL and I will send you a free copy by the end of the day!

Today passed away yet another very famous Czech actor, Radovan Lukavsky. At the age of 88 Radovan died of serious heart complications. He was born in 1919 in Prague. His mother has led him to Christianity since Radovan’s early childhood, which led him to desire to become a pastor. His theology studies, however, were abruptly stopped when the Nazi occupation began. Radovan’s theological mind then had to be satisfied by the permitted studies of philosophy and acting instead. As a fresh graduate Radovan’s first acting job was at the Vinohrady Theatre. (more…)

A world-known fisherman (and also the son of a famous Czech musician and producer, Karel Vagner) Jakub Vagner recently completed another record: while on his trip to Amazonia, Jakub caught a 190 kilograms (419 lb) catfish which is to be the biggest sweet-water fish ever caught. Not only did the fish “flew by” for over 400 meters before Jakub managed to even slow this thing down but the the size of this fish also destroyed all of his fishing gear as well as his hands…but it was well worth it. (more…)

The Canadian minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Diane Finley, confirmed on March 1st that following countries no longer need temporary resident visa to visit Canada:

• Slovakia
• Poland
• Lithuania
• Hungary (more…)
  If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!

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. (more…)

The Milwaukee Art Museum is hosting an art exhibition called the “Modernity in Central Europe, 1918 - 1948“, devoted solely to photography of central Europe between the World Wars. Among the presented artists are also couple of Czech photographers, such as Karel Teige, Jaromir Funke and Josef Saudek. As the National Gallery of Art explains, ” In the aftermath of World War I, the face of central Europe had changed profoundly: empires had collapsed and fledgling nation-states had taken their place. (more…)