Czechmatediary

January seems to be a sleepy month - everyone is recovering from last year, I guess. Either way, there is still plenty to do (especially in New York!)  and if you have a Czech activity that you would like to include in this list, let me know!

CZ: Leden je mesicem ospalym, co se tyce ceskych/slovenskych akci. Lide se asi zotavuji z minuleho roku nebo co. V kazdem pripade je tu stale z ceho si vybrat a jestlize mate neco, co byste chteli na list zaradit, sem s tim!

1. North Miami, FL

What - Lecture on “Prague Coffee House Culture”

When- Jan. 18 (more…)

Can you believe that it’s already the year 2009??? I really feel like we live in some kind of sci-fi, U.F.O. age or something. Pretty soon we will be flying around, buying a second vacation home on the Moon, traveling back in time to visit our great-great-great-great parents….but I will still hate peanut butter!!!

HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

HODNE STESTI,ZDRAVI A LASKY DO NOVEHO ROKU!!!

I like this article; not only does the writer not call the Czech Republic “Czechoslovakia” anymore (yes!) but he also defends our side! Hot Air made a post on the Munich Agreement (1938) arguing that it was never OK to carve up Czechoslovakia, like other people (i.e. the Seattle Times) seem to think so…to read the whole heated debate, click here.

CZ: Nasledujici clanek se mi opravdu zamlouva; nejen ze autor nenazyva Ceskou republiku “Czechoslovakia”, ale take se nas zastava!! Jak se rika po cesku, zabil dve mouchy jednou ranou :0). Onen spisovatel se tu zabyva Mnichovskou dohoda (1938) a obhajuje byvale Ceskoslovensko pred “hulvaty” jako jsou Seattle Times, ktere v jednom jejich clanku naznacili, ze Hitler mel plne pravo rozkrajet Ceskoslovensko na kousky. Mate-li zajem precist si celou vasnivou diskuzi, klikntete sem.

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/05/17/it-was-never-ok-to-carve-up-czechoslovakia/

Brno is a very special Czech city of its own but ever since the last month it has become even a more special. It is a brand new home to the Museum of Exile. It commemorates all of the Czechs and Slovaks who during the 20th century emigrated abroad to escape the evil claws of Nazism and/or communism. The museum idea was inspired mostly by the life of a very talented Czech sculptor, Jan Kratochvil. His father and uncle - two very important figures of the anti-communist underground movement - managed to flee the country in 1948, meanwhile the rest of the Kratochvil family suffered for it very deeply. (more…)

The thought of flying with my little daughter has always terrified me to death. What the heck do you do with a baby/toddler during an 18-hour (overseas) flight? Do you just get drunk while  your 2-year-old runs in the aisles and climbs all over everyone until he burns himself out? The more I researched on how to fly with small kids the more calm I started to feel. There are actually a lot of tools you just have to be prepared to use them.

CZ: Kdyz jsem si v nedavne minulosti jenom pomyslela na letani s mou 2 letou dcerou, zacli se mi uzkosti potit ruce a chtelo se mi zvracet. “Co clovek vubec dela s batoletem behem 18-ti hodinoveho letu?”, pomyslela jsem si. “Proste se opije a necha milou ratolest behat mezi ulickami az mu dojde energie?”. Cim dele jsem toto tema ale studovala, tim sebejisteji jsem se zacala citit; vzdyt to nic neni!  Doufam, ze vam tyto cestovni rady alespon trosku ulehci na mysli, jako se to stalo mne.

Things to think about prior to your trip:

• Airline regulations currently allow children under the age of 2 to fly free as “lap children” (i.e. not required to have their own seat). International flights charge a 10% fee for lap children. Try to book a bulkhead (front) seat where there is more room and hopefully also a bassinet present (they are not available on every flight). You cannot use bassinets during take offs, landings and turbulence. This is NOT the safest way to travel, however. Many airlines offer half-price tickets for children under 2 so you should consider that option as well. (more…)
  
  If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!

• Stories
  • Christmas at our house - Czech style
  • My first Barbie
  • Prague: the capital of Yugoslavia
  • My brush with death
  • Stories of others:
    • Life with a Czech husband (Sue’s story)
    • Growing up “cesky” (Jana’s story)

• Recipes
  • Vanilla crescents
  • Linz Tarts
  • Paprika chicken
  • Bublanina

• Czech/Slovak News
  • “Prague is worse than Africa!”
  • Czech Folk song “Jozin z Bazin” is no.1 in Poland!”
  • The biggest car crash in the Czech history
    
  • Are you sure you are Czech?
  • Europe is dying out
  • 1/3rd of Czech babies are born out of wedlock
    

Czech/Slovak Happenings around the America

• Czechmate diary interviews the Plastic People of the Universe!!
• Czechmate diary is in the news!!
• Czech-style Cinderella sings at the Oscars this year
• The perfect Czech and Slovak group from New York
• Miro Zbirka performs in NY
• The biggest fish caught by a Czech guy

Czech Traditions

• And the all-time favorite food is…
• Czech Easter: run for your life
• What are Czechs like, anyway?
• Crash-course on Czech lullabies
  
• Why do Czechs love dogs so much?

Czech/Slovak moms abroad

• Mommy diary: the beginnings
• How to have a bilingual child

Czech traveling

• Bone church: a scary masterpiece
• Trebon offers more than just enormous carps
• The best places to hang out in Czech

Czech-American history

• Thanks to Czech-Americans Czechoslovakia was born
• Why did Czechoslovakia really break up?
• History of Czechs in Canada (part I)
• Am I Czech or Bohemian? Or both?

• Famous Czech/Slovak-Americans
  • List of famous Czechs and Slovaks living abroad
  • Milos Forman: Amadeus in his own right
  • The bitter-sweet friendship of Voskovec and Werich
  • Ray Kroc - the hamburger king
  • Ivan Lendl: the greatest male tennis player ever

Hello to you all,

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that “Jesus” brought  you exactly what you asked for

How would you like to win a brand new awesome Czech cookbook that will change your life in the kitchen forever?!? You only have to win the following competition: for those who live abroad and celebrate Christmas Czech-style, write a short narrative on how  your Christmas Eve went and how  you adapted to  the “hostile” conditions of non Czech-living. For example, what did you use instead of a carp? Or did you find a carp in some random grocery store (or from some black market carp dealer for ridiculous amounts of money)? What customs did you do? Did you bake Vanocka with a coin inside of the dough? Did you see the Golden pig? (more…)

My dear readers,

May peace and joy be yours this Christmas season and throughout the New Year! Thank you so much for all of your support - it is much appreciated! Thanks to you kind words I am all fueled up for next year - ready to blog!!

CZ: Preji vam vsem Vesele Vanoce a mnoho stesti, zdravi a pohody do Noveho Roku!!! Dekuji za vasi podporu - dodava mi silu, abych s Czechmate diary nadale pokracovala!!

Feel like reminiscing about the “real” Czech Christmas? The times when we were little and our parents Jesus had to get our  presents in Tuzex or Eso? The times when a can of Coca-Cola was the best Christmas present ever? Now it’s your chance. My friend Jana sent me  this awesome link to view the best 100 images that were selected to represent the Retro Christmas (communist-style Christmas) in the Czech republic.  Notice the Charlie-Brown Christmas trees on almost all of those pictures! It’s so funny!…Click here to view the pictures.
PS: once you are taken to the Czech website, click on the big picture and then click on the word “dalsi” which means “next”. (more…)

The first tangible sign of Christmas was our (the kids) letter to Jesus. Yes, that’s right, in the Czech Republic Jesus brings the presents while Santa is on vacation ( I also remember bragging to my fellow classmates at school when I was about 7 years old that I saw Jesus’ feet just as he was flying out of our apartment window). When my brother and I were really little and didn’t know how to write yet, we would draw out the list of things we wanted for Christmas and put it behind the window so that Jesus could get a better look at it. My list always looked something like this:
1)  dog
2)  cat
3) Barbie

…..And I would usually end up getting a bunch of clothes that were 2 to 3 sizes bigger so that I could wear it for the next 8 years.

Second, getting the Christmas tree. I don’t remember much about that. The only thing I remember is how frustrated my parents would get trying to fit the stem into the tree stand. They kept trimming the stem down but somehow it never seemed to fit! But that is probably just a universal law….

Third, getting the carp. That event I remember quite vividly. Since I am a big animal lover, going out and buying a carp was a stressful day for me. I remember feeling so sorry for those fish at the seller’s stand, how stuffed they all were in this one tiny bucket with about 6 ounces of water in it and no room to breathe. (more…)