November 2009

Czech and Slovak events abroad: December 2009 / Ceske a Slovenske akce na Prosinec 2009

Josef Lada Christmas tree imageDecember is here and with it comes the merriment of Christmas and a New Year…and food…and sweets…and Santa (Mikulas) and Jezisek!!! There are so many St. Nicholas celebrations (I counted 12 of them) out there so there is no excuse for you not meet the ‘real’ angel together with the devil and the holy man – Saint Nicholas.

CZ: Je tu prosinec a s nim take radost Vanoc a Noveho Roku…a dobrutek…a Mikulase…a Jeziska. Na nize uvedenem listu je 12 Mikulasskych besidek (!!), takze zadne vymluvy, damy a panove, jdeme se pozdravit s andelem, certem a Mikulasem :o )

1. Baltimore, MD

What: St. Nicholas Day celebration (Mikulasska)

When: Dec. 6

2. Astoria, NY

What: St. Nicholas Day celebration for children (Mikulas) [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: children, Christmas, food, religion, St. Nicholas Day, traditions

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giant Christmas tree lights up the Old Town Square / Staromestske Namesti vita stromeckoveho obra

Prague Christmas Tree/ www.lidovky.cz imageA traditional 66-foot tall Christmas tree was  lit up today at the Old Town Square in Prague. The tree lights are blinking, moving up and down, changing colors….anything imaginable (you can watch it in action in the video below).  This year the tree is actually being guarded by a special security system so that half of the ornaments does not get stolen like it has happened in the past. The Christmas tree celebration also opened up the old-fashioned Christmas market where the visitors can buy home-made candles, wooden toys, svarak (sweetened hot wine with spices) and other traditional Czech goods. The market stands engulf a little podium which will be hosting many bands from all over the world, such as  from Singapore, South Africa or Germany. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Christmas, Prague, traditions, YouTube

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Another Christmas Cookie recipe: Martina’s Rum balls /Dalsi recept na vanocni cukrovi: Martininy rumove koule

img_2792Now that Thanksgiving is out of the way (still have a bellyache by the way) let’s talk CHRISTMAS!!! My Czech friend Martina agreed to some truly delicious guest post…

Ted kdyz je Dikuvzdani jiz za nami (porad mam z neho jeste precpane bricho), muzeme se zacit bavit o VANOCICH!! Moje kamaradka Martina (ceska) nam popisuje sve vanoce…plus vyborny recept.

CZECH COOKIE BAKING AND HOW CHRISTMAS IS THE TIME OF PEACE ;0)

- by Martina

When I think about a Christmas time back in Czech – when I was just a little girl – my mind pictures the classroom environment just before the winter break. The blackboard was written all over with notes for our teacher not to test us anymore since we had to be helping our moms with Christmas baking and had no time for studying. That’s right, we had to help with  baking of the cookies, gluing them together with filling and decorating them. The note would usually sound something like this: “Christmas is the time for peace and not for testing; if we get an ‘F’, your fish will not taste the same’ (it rhymes in Czech)”. And to our surprise, the teachers took the note to their hearts and left us alone. Probably they were really afraid that their carp will not taste that good. It worked every year. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Christmas, Czech Christmas cookies, Stories of OTHERS, sweet kitchen, traditions

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Happy Turkey day! / Vsechno nejlepsi ke dnu krocana!

Thanksgiving humorHave a happy Thanksgiving! And don’t forget to give thanks!

CZ: Mejte prijemne dikuvzdani a nezapomente premyslet nad tim, za co byste meli byt vdecni!

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Video: ‘From Behind the Iron Curtain to Membership in the European Union’/Video: Od Zelezne opony k clenstvi v Evropske Unii

One of you guys discovered this great video presentation on the transformation of Czechoslovakia since the end of the Cold War and its impact on international business. The presentation is done by a professor (Peter Petrik) who was born and raised in Czechoslovakia (today Slovakia) and who not only knows his history very well but can also give you some personal insight on it.

CZ: Jeden z vas, ctenaru, objevil vyborne video zabyvajici se transformaci byvaleho Ceskoslovenska od konce studene valky a jaky tato transformace mela efekt na mezinarodni obchod.

From Behind the Iron Curtain to Membership in the European Union from Slovak on Vimeo.

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Tagged as: celebrities, history, Slovakia, You Tube

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Children’s Tylenol study done in the Czech Republic / Cesi vedci zkoumali detsky Tylenol

baby-vaccination google imageMy friend  came across this article in a local newspaper. It releases medical study results about children’s Tylenol done in the Czech Republic. It’s pretty interesting – especially if you have small kids:

(PS: click on the article to enlarge the size of the letters)
CZ: Tento clanek nasla moje kamaradka v mistnich novinach. Lekarska studie o detskem Tylenolu byla provedena v Ceske Republice a vysledky ukazuji, ze tato droga muze snizit efekty ockovani, jestlize ho date svym detem bud hned pred nebo hned po one injekci.

(PS: kliknete na clanek, aby bylo pismo citelene)
[click to continue…]

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Tagged as: children, healh, science

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Finding my ‘fortune’ in beads / ‘Poklad’ se nachazi v koralcich

spilled beadsI’ve got to tell you this story because it’s just too funny (or sad?) not to tell. So, the other day I have been working on the Lemon-n-lime jewelry piece that one of you  ordered and this is how it went down:

I start stringing those Czech beads on a string and everything is going well. Hahna is taking her nap, I am sipping on a cup of good coffee and listening to some calming classical music. My strand is done in about 20 minutes and I lay it down on the table to take a sip of my beverage. As I am picking the bead strand again I realize that I have not closed it on one side yet but it was too late……..all of those beads spilled out into my half-empty coffee mug!!!! “Great, now I have to start over AND wash these coffee-stained beads AND dry them!” [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: humor, STORE

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20 years ago today…./ Dnes pred 20ti lety……

Vaclav Havel /www.cnn.com imageKaren’s blog Empty Nest Expat led me today to a very nice article commemorating today’s date – November 17th. On this date – exactly 20 years ago – Velvet Revolution broke us free of communism. I was there, on my dad’s shoulders, but besides the shouting crowds and people shaking their keys, I don’t remember much. Tomas Etzler on the other hand, the CNN producer now based in Benjing, remembers  this historical event very well and narrates it to his readers  in a very entertaining tone. Enjoy (click here for the article)!

CZ: Karenin blog zvany Empty Nest Expat me dnes privedl k velmi zajimavemu clanku o vyroci sametove revoulce (17. listopadu 1989). Ja jsem na Vaclavaku v ten den sice byla, ale  jeste jako docela maly prcek, bazlive sedici na tatovych ramenou. Nic moc si z demonstrace nepamatuji, jen ten zastup napumpovanych lidi a zvoneni klicu. Tomas Etzler, ktery v soucasne dobe pracuje pro CNN, si toho pamatuje mnohem vic. V jeho clanku ctenarum shrnuje historii teto doby a to ve velmi zabavne podobe (clanek si prectete zde).

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Tagged as: communism, history

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Unique art: Hand-carved silhouettes of Prague /Originalni umelecke dilo: rucne vystrihane siluety Prahy

ilu-karluv-m1My friend Kristina is such an awesome artist. She makes these amazing hand-carved silhouettes that allow the shadows of the Prague past to illuminate our life in the present. Take a look for yourself – you cannot help but fall in love with them.

Once again, this would be a great, very ORIGINAL Christmas present for your loved ones. If you decide to purchase one (like I did), you have 2 options:
A. You can buy an unframed 9 x 7 silhouette for $29.99 (plus tax)

B. You can buy the silhouette in a 8 x 10 frame for $39.99 (plus tax)

- email subscribers get a 10% discount!

- in both cases shipping and handling is not included. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: art, Christmas, perfect gift

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Are Czechs proud of their nationality? / Jsou Cesi hrdi na svou narodnost?

proud Czechs image/ www.ceske noviny imageWith the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution the local research agency conducted a poll on Czech pride. The results are quite uplifting:

  • 78% of Czechs are proud of their nationality
  • 17% of Czechs are not too proud of their nationality
  • 5% of Czechs are not proud of their nationality at all

(Total of 1,270 voters)

More such prideful Czechs can be found among the student population and among the elders. The least prideful Czechs are among the those people who belong to the communist party (KSCM) and among those who did not vote and do not associate themselves with any kind of political party at all.

The STEM research agency have been conducting the same poll ever since the 1990′s.

CZ: Pri prilezitosti 20ti leteho vyroci sametove revoluce se pruzkumni agentura STEM zeptala 1 270 Cechu, jestli jsou hrdi na to, ze jsou Cesi. Vysledy jsou velmi optimisticke:

  • 78% dotazanych tuto hrdost pocituje
  • 17% spise na sve obcanstvi hrdi nejsou
  • 5% na sve obcanstvi hrdi nejsou vubec

[click to continue…]

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Tagged as: history, politics, polls

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