Czechmatediary

Hi Everyone / Cau vsichni!

I created a a new “Message Board” category for you guys to put up and share anything that you think would interest fellow “Czechmate diatarians”(enter each announcement as a “Comment”). Go ahead and don’t be shy to be the first one to start:

Vytvorila jsem novou kategorii “Odkazu”, kde muzete zanechavat ruzne info pro ctenare tohoto blogu. Tak se nebojte zacit (1 odkaz = 1 comment):

Anyone living in Atlanta and in a need of a job? I was contacted by a non-profit organization called the “Culture Connect” and they are looking for Czech translators for the growing Czech community!

CZ: Zijete v Atlante a hledate praci? Dnes me zkonaktovala organizace zvana “Culture Connect”, ktera hleda ceske prekladatele pro vrustajici ceskou komunitu!

Here is the ad: (more…)

In 2006 the Miss Universe became a smart and beautiful Czech girl Tatiana Kucharova who is also considered the most successful Czech in the history of international beauty competitions. This year’s winner became dark-haired, green-eyed Dyana Mendoza from Venezuela who along with a bunch of money, luxurious jewelery and a flat in New York also won a 2-year scholarship in a prestigious film school in New York. Our girl, the Czech Miss 2008 Eliska Buckova from Hodonin did place into an honorary 15th place and that was out of 80 girls! (more…)

I know how everyone of us poor Czech/Slovak souls living abroad, suffer without real Czech bread and that is why I went on a recipe hunt. And I found one. When I first read it though, I thought I was going to either faint or have an anxiety attack. It looked so complicated!!! “Well, I will at least give it a try, just for the heck of it”, I told myself. And I have to tell you, it was actually a lot of fun! Sure it takes couple of days to prepare the sourdough, but it really takes up like 1 minute per day - very easy and very worth it! When my first loaf came out of that oven I just couldn’t believe the fact that it looked like a real loaf of bread! And when I tasted it I became even more amazed as it not only looked but also tasted like a REAL Czech bread! (more…)

While the Czechs are still a little hesitant about the usage of Euro as their  currency, the Slovaks have a different point of view. They are ready to “jump in” as early as January of 2009 and exchange their “boring” Slovak crowns for something more exiting… See for yourself in this video (click here)…

CZ: Zatimco Cesi stale vahaji o zavedeni Eura jako jejich hlavni penezni menu, Slovensko to vidi jinak. Zacne totiz pouzivat Euro jiz v lednu pristiho roku. Presvecte se sami v tomto videu (kliknete zde).

Couple of days ago Washington and Prague signed the treaty to place a tracking radar in the Czech Republic as part of a system that the US (and other countries) needs as a protection against any missile attack from possible hostile countries in the Middle East. And who ends up screaming “bloody murder” about this? Russia! Medvedev, the current president of Russia, told the news: “we are extremely upset about this situation…we will not be hysterical but we will think of retaliatory steps“. (more…)

How is visiting Czech through eyes of an American? Well, Mike (a great supporter of this blog as well as the occasional guest writer for CMD) and his lovely wife (who has Czech roots by the way) just came back from a trip from the Czech Republic. I don’t know how about you, but after I read his post, I felt like they went just about everywhere! Some of these places I haven’t even visited yet!! (more…)

So I learned something new! As we walked around town to see the 4th of July celebrations we stopped by a big stage where a large orchestra was playing the classic circus song of all times (click here to listen to it). Our friend, knowing that I am Czech, mentioned that the song had a Czech origin. “Really???” I couldn’t believe the fact that I didn’t know that! Such a famous song! Even some obscure tribe in the forests of Africa would recognize that tune. (more…)

The 43th Annual Film Festival in Karlovy Vary just started (where did that year go??). The Festival will show over 220 films and 60 premiers - all in 8 days (!!). And what celebrity is granting its presence to this year’s celebration? Last year we had Dany de Vito and Renee Zellweger and this year it is Robert De Niro himself! This will be his second visit to Karlovy Vary as he visited this town 18 years ago. (more…)

Remember I wrote a story about my experience with the Czech versus the American educational system? Well, here is yet another guy that can expand your horizons on a similar topic. His name is Bill Cohn, the New York born lawyer who is also a professor of Ethics and Media at the University of New York in Prague (if you can make sense out of that name). Bill did an interview with the Radio Prague where he spoke on the topic of Czech students and how they differ from the American students. He is kind of wishy-washy with his answers (probably didn’t want to upset either side) but after some time of decoding his “politically correct” sentences, this is the bottom line: (more…)