I was thinking today that although communism is gone I still experience some remnants of it. The good things were hard to buy during communism; when bananas or oranges arrived in the store people were just about to unpack their tents in front of the store so they could get some; when there was a decent trip to Yugoslavia available, people really did sleep in the sleeping bags in front of the traveling agency to purchase a ticket (and I am talking from a personal experience here). If a kid brought some Western candy to school he would better watch out not to be torn into pieces. And the list goes on…you get the point: good things were scarce, most of it was just junk.
Now that I live in the beautiful United States of America I find it quite ironic that i miss this ‘junk’. What ‘junk’ am I talking about? Let’s say that one of my friends comes back from Czech and brings a box of Fidorka, or Bonpari, or – God forbid – Lazenske oplatky (!!). The fight is on, ladies and gentleman! We make sure that this particular friend has some kind of a party and soon (with as few people as possible attending) and that she pulls all of her Czech goodies out of her hiding places and puts it right in the middle of the table. Then you just have to make sure to have a seat by that table and eat as fast and as efficiently as possible. If you can, safe some of the chewed up stuff in you cheeks for later, like the squirrels do.
What I am trying to say is that if you are the one who owns some classic Czech thing, like a good Czech book, movie or a candy, consider yourself special and desirable because these things are very much looked after if you live abroad. You don’t have to search for Czech friends anymore, they will make sure to find YOU!
CZ: Tak jsem si dnes rikala, ze i kdyz v komunismu jiz neziji, stale zaznamenavam jakesi jeho pozustatky. Za socialismu bylo tezke dostat kvalitni a hezke veci; jestlize se v Ovoci a Zelenine objevili banany nebo pomerance, lide si ve fronte skoro az vybalovali stany, aby se na ne dostala rada. Jestlize se v cestovni kancelari objevil zajezd do Dubrovniku, lide ve fronte opravdu ve spacacich pres noc spali. A kdyz nejake dite prineslo do skoly zapadni medvidky Haribo, tak si muselo davat dobry pozor, aby ho spoluzaci neroztrhali za ziva. No, zkratka a proste, vyjmecne jste nasli na trhu neco dobreho -vetsinou to byly ‘cetky’.
Nyni ziji v Americe jiz par let a ironie je takova, ze mi ty komunisticke ‘cetky’ chybi. O jakych ‘cetkach’ se tady bavime? Rekneme, ze se jedna z mych kamaradek vrati z Cech a prinese ssebou cokoladu Tatana, Bonpari, Lentilky nebo dokonce i Lazenske oplatky. A zacne boj. Nejdriv se musime vsichni ujistit, ze ma brzy jakousi party a nejlepe s nejmene navstevniky. Pak se musime ujistit, ze vytahne veskere nakoupene potraviny v Cechach doprostred stolu. No, a pak uz jen musite sedet u oneho stolu a jist nejen co nejrychleji, ale take so nejefektivneji. Pokud mozno, schovejte si cast rozzvykane potravy v tvarich na pozdeji, jako to delaji veverky.
Co se tady snazim vysvetlit je to, ze jestlize mate doma neco ceskeho, jako cesky film, knihu nebo potraviny, jste velmi zadanou osobou, jelikoz tyto veci se v zahranici lehce nenajdou. To znamena, ze se nemusite patrat po novych ceskych kamaradech, protoze oni si vyhledaji vas…a brzy.
If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!
Loading ...
ja bych to rekl kratce: ne vsechno bylo za komunismu nekvalitni. Veci se “vytvareli” diky nadsencum, kteri navzdory komunismu chteli neco pekneho v zivote vytvorit a kdyz meli stesi a strana jim dala zelenou, tak se obcas na “trhu” neco objevilo, byt kratce a v malem mnozstvi…..Napriklad reproductory firmy Tesla byly vysoke kvality….pak to byly chlebicky, silonove puncochace a kofola… slane bramburky (american by dostal infarkt) a samozrejme Hermelin, kral syru (francouz by se asi odnaucit jist camembert) … byl jsem za ty vyrobky vdecny a kdyz se tak podivam, i na zapade se daji sehnat podradne vyrobky… Cesko (Ceskoslovensko) , oproti jinym zemim “socialistickeho tabora” melo vyhodu, ze porad tam bylo hodne sikovnych lidi, kteri z “trucu”
vyrabeli kvalitni veci…
moje nejoblibenejsi byly takovy rumovy bonbony, ne rumaky, nemely tekutou napln…byly naprosto fantasticky a ted uz se nevyrabi :(. Potom byla takova kokosova tycinka, v cokolade a pulka byla ruzova a pulka zluta…mnam…taky uz neni. a taky lednacek jahodovej, prodaval se za korunu…nejlepsi, jakej jsem kdy mela…
ono i veci, ktery se jeste vyrabi chutnaji jinak. treba tatranky vubec nechutnaji stejne. horalky chutnaji jako tatranky, ktery se vyrabeli driv…
no jo, pravda, cesky veci mi tady chybi. kofola, hermelin…aaaach
A na olomoucky syrecky si nikdo nevzpomene? 🙂 Hmm, ale hezky odlezeny.
Lednacek mi taky chybi. … a polomacene susenky a susenky Mila…. a venecky a vetrniky z cukrarny… a detske piskoty… a pravy uherak …
A taky sojovy suk. Ted je tedy taky maji. Nebo Eskymo a arasidove krupky. A bonbony Sisi.
A myslim, ze Hermelin je vyborny syr a nemyslim, ze by se Francouz osklibal. Hned se jednoho zeptam.
No jo, na ty fronty pred obchodama za komunismu si moc dobre vzpominam, i kdyz jsem byla mala holka. Kdyz nekdo na ulici rekl jen slovo “banan”, hned vsichni utikali do ovoce/zeleniny. Kazda rodina mohla mit jen jeden trs, tak me mamka postavila do fronty za ni, dala me penize a jako ze se nezname ;o)))
Taky si pamatuji, ze bylo obdobi, kdy nebyl zachodak a vlozky, a taky ty fronty!!! No, proste to bylo “podpultove” zbozi.
Ale dalo se sehnat i kvalitni zbozi v Tuzexu, pamatujete si na ty obchody? Dalo se tam kupovat i za $. Taky jsem meli obchod Eso, kde bylo vetsinou nemecke zbozi.
No jo, to byla doba. Taky nevim, jak jsme to mohli vydrzet a komunikovat bez telefonu, a domlouvat vse nejak predem!!!! Dneska ma mobil snad kazdy (teda krome me, protoze uz nemam misto v kabelce ;o)))
Andreo, jo na tu kokosovou tycinku si pamatuji, to byla dobrota!!! Taky jsem milovala burysony!!!!!
Ale hermelyn, tvaruzky… tady dostanete taky, mrknete se pro informaci na drivejsi clanek, co napsala Tanja February 7, 2009, kdy sehnat ceske vyrobky.
Proste zivot za komunistu byl zivot pln dobrodruzstvi a zahad 🙂
Ja si samozrejmne pamatuji vsechny dobroty, na ktere jste tu vzpominali. Ale preci jen tu neco chybi: prava komunisticka DREN (zmrzlina v papirove krabici)!!! Pamatujete si na ni??? A samozrejme nanuk Jumbo…
Jinak mnoho ceskych potravin je k dostani tady – jak Marina uz podotkla (USA), a zde je o tom napsany clanek:
http://czechmatediary.com/2009/02/07/czech-and-slovak-groceries-in-the-us-stores/
Co se tyce sladkosti(a jinych veci), kliknete na obrazek Fidorky (napravo) a muzete si objednat, co chcete :))
Tanjo, jak jsem mohla na dren zapomenout?
Martino, jsme to tak taky delali, s tema bananama atd, ve fronte jsme delali, jako ze se nezname…fakt sranda :)))
vetsinu dobrutek z detstvi si muzete objednat na
http://www.slovczechvar.com/
Kdyz si na to vzpominam, tak kdyz jsme sli s mamkou do mesta, a videli z dalky nekde pred obchodem frontu, hned jsme utikali do fronty (a nebyli jsme sami ;o)) a teprve ve fronte se clovek bud zeptal nekoho pred sebou, co dneska doslo, anebo se hledelo lidem, co uz vychazeli z obchodu do tasek ;o)
Na druhou stranu, kdyz je fronta tady v americe, tak se lidi ptaji, co davaji zdarma ;o)
A couple of years after I moved back to the United States, for about a week I had a horrible craving for a piece of greasy, grilled kielbasa with a glob of hot mustard and a wedge of rye bread on a piece of gray cardboard, served by a grouchy man in a battleship-gray booth. Alas, I couldn’t get that in the US, and sadly it’s a communist-era tradition that you can’t get in the Czech Republic anymore either, I don’t think.
Sometimes I would also miss those strange hamburger like things they sold from a window on Václavské náměstí. They seemed like some kind of veal in an unidentifiable vomáčka. Very strange food, but I started to develop an affection for it.
I sometimes still crave the water from certain specific springs in Mariánské Lázně, which I assume means I’ve got some kind of momentary mineral deficiency and that my body instinctively got to know which water to drink.
Jamie,
Not everything is lost. You still get a nice, burned, greasy communist food..why not call it a “retro food” ? I love that food, of course, I don’t have my appendix anymore 🙂
Jamie, Jamie. When are you going to visit Marianky? You would be surprised, even the springs have changed. I visited last summer after years and years 🙂 and looked for one that I remembered and loved to drink. it was a hot spring which most people did not like, but I loved it. Well, it is nt there anymore. And the second best tasts different now. So who knows. We may be drinking matonku out of the springs now :). I remember we would bottle it on Fridays and take it home for the weekend or for our parents. How retarded right?
What I do crave from time to time is the old fashion french fries in the plastic cup with the plastic toothpick and ketchup. They do not taste like it anymore, even if you do get them from the grumpy old guy from the back of his camper. Actually we always got the french fries with tartar sauce. Ketchup was not a hit with most Czechs.
French fries (a Belgian inventions) are still good in Belgium sold out of a trailer…. You get any toppings you wish..It is cheap and good …
It is possible that communist vendors moved to Belgium ? 😉
After reading your french fries/kielbasa
comments, I am about to put a bib on me as I am starting to droll very badly.
I remember those ‘toothpick fries’!!! They were so soggy and good!
Has anyone gone to that place on Celetna (bottom of Venceslas Square) where they served Borsc (russian soup) and fries? My dad and I would used to go there and get it as a treat.
Lenka, those springs in Mariánky change all the time, and an observant person who walks through the parks every day can see new ones appearing all the time. I’m not surprised that some of them are gone.
To Tanja: Yes, that place was called Arbat. It was quite a treat when my mom took me there for lunch on those ‘no school days’ when she did not have a grandma to take care of me.
I remember it like it was yesterday!
Or another Rybarna around the corner where you could order fried fish and eat it standing up. 🙂
And don’t forget that big cafeteria on the corner, not far away, where famous scientists washed the beer and pop glasses! Since 1989, they’re probably back to being scientists.
ARBAT!!!! That’s what it was!!! Thank you for refreshing my memory!!
I am not sure if I remember that cafeteria Jamie is talking about…
But I do remember the ‘cukrarna’ (candy shop) in the middle of Venceslas Square – they had the best ‘tocena zmrzlina’ and the best ‘pohary’!!!
The candy shop is still there but it’s something completely else :(( and EXPENSIVE!!
To Tanja:
Svetozor anebo taky “Mlecny Bar” tusim v Krakovske ul..
I think Jamie means the “jidelna” on the corner at Mustek where Kenvelo is now. I’ll dig in my memory and try to remember the name of it.
Man, you have got a great memory! What part of Prague are you from, Jana?
Sporilov – z panelaku.
Ale mama delala na Vaclavaku v KOVOPROJEKTe.
No jo, jasnacka, Sporilov! Moje teta bydli na Sporilove!
Ten dabel Reagan nam vzal takove dobroty 🙂
Nejde mi do hlavy, ze jsem jedli zivotu nebezpecne jidlo, a nebyli jsme vetsinou tlusti…. Tady snim o dva chispy vic a hned priberu 2 poundy…
Zeby to, co jsme jedli v komunistickem raji, nebylo jidlo a proto jsme meli takove nadherne postavy?
Vlastimile, ono nejde jen o to co jsem jedli a vetsinou nebyli tlusti, ale co jsme delali. Tady se jen vozime autem, snad malo kdo jel v USA vickrat autobusem. V CR je honicka (nebo aspon byla), plne nakupni tasky se tahaly pesky domu, pracovalo se na zahradce, jezdilo na kole, dobihaly se autobusy (kdyz me v CR odjel autobsem, bezela jsem zkratkou o 2 zastavky dal, a dohnala ho!!!!. Proste je to nyni jine…
Martino, mas castecne pravdu, ale tady chodime do “gym”, nebo delame “hiking” a takove blbosti…. A uz jsem se donutil, ze do postovni schranky chodim pesky (zdrazil benzin) 😉
Hmm, chodime do “telocvicny” !!!! Ty Vlastimile chodis? No, tak to snad jen kdo ma dobrou vuli, ja jsem chodila, ale uz ne, mam male deti… Ono muj “point” je, ze chodit cvicit je dobrovolne, ale tenkrat nam nic jineho nezbylo, nez jezdit do prace na kole, dobihat autobusy, delat na zahradce, tahat se s taskama. Proste to musel delat kazdy, at chtel nebo ne.
No uz do telocvicny nechodim, nemam cas, ale kazdy den jezdim do mistniho parku a obchazim ho tak 5 krat dokola….. Manzelka me nuti…jinak bych nemel asi taky na to cas :)))
Je pravda, ze v CSSR jsme byli ciperni 😉
To jsme teda dopadli co? Ja taky chodim do parku, a tam jen beham za svym 19-ti mesicnim synkem, ktery porad jen utika a ty tam krmis holuby ;o)
Proste sranda, ber me s humorem ;o)
Tam kam ja chodim, to je jakysi sportovni park, tam maji holubi vstup zakazan 😉
takhle vypada ten nas “park” …
http://wikimapia.org/10423312/Lodestar-Park
Vlastimile, ten park z te ptaci perspektivy vypada jako vychazkovy park veznu!!! ;))
Ja se taky snazim chodit do posilovny,ale vetsinou skejsnu v saune 😉 Martina ma uplnou pravdu, v Cechach jsme nemeli na vyber. Klasika byla, kdyz lide dobihali autobus s cigaretou v puse!!!! :))
Ten vychazkovy park nevypada spatne kdyz jses tam…Je tam zelena trava a pekne to voni z blizkych kravinu :))
Jiny pohled na tento nadherny park 😉 ….
To chodim okolo 3x – 4x denne…
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=qv5hv48rywsn&style=b&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&scene=16418090&encType=1
Po precteni vsech komentu mam chut se zbalit a jet do do Cech na dovolenou,koupit si 10 dkg uheraku, vlassky nabo pochoutkovy salat, dat si na Vaclavaku moravskou klobasu, parek v rohliku a zakoncit to zmrzlinovym poharem ve Svetozoru 🙂
Pavlo, zapomela jsi na pekne zamasteny bramborak, pekne s cesnekem a majorankou, a to tak pekne vonelo, a pak jsem vonel i ja 🙂 a to tak, ze v New Yorku v subway by me urcite zatkli pro sireni biologickych zbrani 😉
What’s “uherák”. Is it something Hungarian, or something related to zits?
Ano, nesmis zapomenout na umasteny bramborak a pak jeste ‘prave’ buchty ze samoobsluhy!!! Pamatujete, (kdyz jste dostali cerstve baleni) jak byly hrozne mekoucke a vlacnoucke???
Neboj Vlastimile nezapomela jsme na bramborak, ale ten si tady delam a vsichni rikaji ze dobrej.Ale bohuzel na parek v rohliku mi chybi ten pravej rohlik a i kdyz jsme tady nasli slovensky kostel kteay dela klobasy, neni to uplne ono!
rohliky si muzes upect doma, jsou hrozne jednoduchy! Jen se podivej pod kategorii Receptu na CMD!!!