January 2010

Czech and Slovak events abroad: February 2010 /Ceske akce v cizine: Unor 2010

Hi all,

Guess what Czech singer is touring the US this month? Lenka Filipova (see the attached foto)! For those who are not familiar with her, she is kind of like the Czech-style Joni Mitchell :0).

CZ: Ahoj, tak nas za tu velkou louzi pristi mesic prijede navstivit Lenka Filipova! Dalibor Janda jede zase za sluncem do Australie, kde ted maji leto :0)

1. Washington, DC (Czech Embassy)

A. What: Lenka Filipova concert

When: Feb. 9

B. Lions of Czech Film Series: “Fighter” (Bojovnik)

When: Feb. 10

2. New York, NY (Czech Center)

A. What: Classical Music concert (Panocha Qurartet)

When: Feb. 6 [click to continue…]

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Teacup piggies – new favorite pets in Czechland / Miniaturni prasatka – novi milacci ceskych domacnosti

You can get this miniature pot-bellied pig (also called a “Tea-cup pig“) for 500 to 5,000 Czech Crowns, depending on their size. The smaller they are, the more expensive they get. Yet the price did not stop them to be one of the new favorite pets in the Czech households. They are supposed to be smart, affectionate and very clean! Watch the video below:

CZ: V Cechach se tyto miniaturni prasatka prodavaji za 500 az 5,000 Kc s tim, ze mensi prasatka jsou drazsi. Chrochtajici milacci tam jdou jako na dracku, stali se totiz novym oblibenym zvirecim mazlickem v ceskych domacnostech. Divite se? Maji pry byt velmi chytri, pritulni a take cistotni! Podivejte se na nize uvedene video: [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: animals, pets, weird stuff

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Anthony Bourdain unveils Prague’s cuisine / Anthony Bourdain objevuje ceskou kuchyni

Do you know Anthony’s Bourdain’s show called “No reservations”? If not, now is the perfect time to start watching it because this daring culinary chef will be introducing Prague and its ‘crazy’ culinary art! Catch this episode on Travel Chanel Monday, Feb 1 at 10 PM E/P.

CZ: Anthony Bourdainova show zvana “No rezervations” bude pristi tyden o Praze! Uvidime, jaky ‘blaznivy’ chod objevi v ‘te nasii kuchyniiii ceskeeeeeee…” ;0)

Divejte se v pondeli, 1. unora na Travel Channel a to ve 22:00 E/P.

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Tagged as: food, Prague, TV

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Why not enjoy your childhood? / Proc si neuzivat detstvi?

Kids in America start going to school way too early. A five-year-old kiddos were still in diapers just 3 years earlier! Children of that age should be playing with their toys, enjoying their childhood and not learning how to read and do math problems.

I went to first grade when I was almost 7 years old and I turned out just fine, so what’s all this rush about? The thing is that this early school fever is contagious. The Czech Republic started to accept 5-year-olds into their first grades this year, however, the interest was not high. Both parents and teachers think these children are just too young for school. “They have problems with speech, mostly with pronunciation”, says one of the first grade teachers. Even the Czech child spychologist, Vaclav Mertin, claims that children at 5-years-of-age should be educated in some way but they should not be going to school just yet. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: children, school

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History of Czechs in Ohio (part 2): they were hated at first / Historie Cechu v Ohiu: zprvu je vsichni nenavideli

The second part of the history of Czechs in Ohio is here (you can read the first part here) and even though I do not live in Ohio myself, I was engrossed in reading (and translating!) it:

‘So Gustav Adam, the first Czech immigrant to Ohio, was dead and what happened then? The Czech immigrant torch overtook Jindrich Hladik from Prague and a few Czech Jewish men such as Leopold Levy from Smetanova Lhota u Pisku, Bernard Weidenthal from Vestice u Tabora and Zikmund Stein from Prague. Levy had a fabric store and Stein opened up a little pub on Seneca Street, while Hladik owned a food market. In 1849 inhabited Cleveland also a 22-year-old Abraham Weindenthal whose offspring became excellent journalists.

In 1852 arrived to Cleveland 16 new Czech families and their beginnings were not pretty. Since the women were accustomed going to the town bare-foot and with scarfs tied around their heads, the locals thought of them as Gypsies. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Czechs in Ohio, history

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Platzek – the “ever-stimulating Bohemian” / Placzek – “neustale stimulujici Bohem”

Does the name Georg Placzek ring the bell? No? Don’t feel bad because it is a name unknown to many Czechs. Mr. Placzek is known mostly in America, since he was (the only Czech!) present for the detonation of the 1st nuclear bomb, which he had also helped to build.

Radio Prague wrote a very nice overview of Placzek’s life and you will be surprised to find out in what ways was he connected to names like Charles Darwin, Neils Bohr, Otto Frish and other famous scientists (click here to read the complete article).

CZ: Rika vam neco jmeno Georg Placzek? Ne? Nebojte se, nejste sami; malokomu z Cechu toto jmeno neco rika. Georg byl znamy zejmena v Americe, kam v roce 1945 emigroval. O par mesicu pozdeji byl jako jediny Cech pritomen u detonace prvni atomove bomby. To ale neni vsechno, byl totiz take jeji spolutvurce.

Radio Praha o nem napsala moc zajimavy clanek, kde se take dovite, jakym zpusobem byl spojeny se jmeny jako je Charles Darwin, Neils Bohr, Otto Frish a dalsimi veleznamymi vedci.

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Tagged as: celebrities, science

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What is, according to Czechs, the most important thing in life? / Co je podle Cechu v zivote nejdulezitesi?

When were were back in the Czech Republic the last time my cousin asked my husband: “Why did you guys get married if you weren’t pregnant?” We gave him kind of a blank stare back, not knowing how to respond. For love? Isn’t that usually the reason why do people get married? But according to the Ceske Noviny newspaper 59% of Czechs did get married because of their offspring. What is interesting is that 70% of those who participated in the poll think of an ideal family as having 2 children – no more, no less. This has been a wide spread thought for quite some time, say the statistical analysts. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: children, marriage, statistics, traditions

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Is Facebook socially awkward? / Je Facebook spolecensky neohrabany?

For those of you who are hopelessly involved in the Facebook world here is a really funny (and also true!) article about this new ‘social awkwardness’ as the author calls it:

“Who you callin’ Facetard?” Social Media and the new social awkwardness.

CZ: Ti z vas, kdo jsou beznadejne zapleteni do site Facebooku oceni nasledujici vystizny clanek:

“Who you callin’ Facetard?” Social Media and the new social awkwardness.

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Poll results: what are we like? / Vysledky anket: jaci vubec jsme?

It’s the beginning of a new year and it is time to crunch up some numbers: statistics, people, statistics!! What are we, the readers of Czechmate Diary, like? What do we hate? Find out more about yourself right here:

CZ: Je tu zacatek noveho roku, tak se pojdme podivat jak to vypada se statistikou. Jaci vubec ctenari Czechmate Diary jsou? Co mame radi? Co nesnasime? Naucte se o sobe neco noveho:

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Tagged as: food, holidays, music, traditions, TV

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Breaking news! Vanilla wins! / Dulezita novina! Vitezem je vanilka!

Breaking news! The most popular Czech car fragrance is the vanilla-scented Wunder-baum tree! Second place belongs to the “Black Classic” scent which copies the man’s cologne and third place is taken by the “New car” scent (which is also my personal favorite). Out of the liquid car scents the “Anti-Tobacco” is the winner since it covers up the smell of cigarette smoke, something that many Czechs have to deal with on every day basis. [click to continue…]