Czechmatediary

Are you tired of asking your friends and relatives to send you Czech/Slovak books? The situation gets really uncomfortable: books are usually heavy and the postage fee ends up being ridiculously high and you end up feeling totally guilty since your friend/relative pays that fee without wanting you to to pay him back.

Forget these awkward moments because I have recently discovered  a Czech website which has electronic books on-line! All you have to do is register and start reading (click here).

CZ: Ja nevim jak vy, ale ja mam ohromny seznam ceskych knih, ktere mym rodicum postupne posilam, aby mi one knihy preposlali do USA. Problem je v tom, ze knihy jsou tezke a postovne je diky tomu nesmirne drahe. Vzdycky je mi mych rodicu/kamaradu lito, zo to plati, aniz by chteli neco nazpatek.

Provnile pocity ted uz ale muzeme vsichni hodit do kose, ponevadz jsem nasla tzv. Imperium elektronickych knih, kde si muzete elektronicke knihy precitat zdarma. Staci se jen zaregistrovat a zacit cist!

Antonia is a 32-year-old mom of 16-month-old triplets, currently living in the state of Virginia. She was born and raised in Slovakia and attended Trnava University, like probably a handful of my other Slovak readers here. Antonia is a super-woman. Non only does she manage to juggle being a mom of triplet babies but she is also battling with a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (type of cancer). She had a tumor situated right above her heart that was interrupting the flow of blood. Surgery was not an option due to the tumor being wrapped around her superior vena cava vein and cordic arteries. She is finished with chemo, but the type she had is a type that you can only have once in your life as it changes your heart muscle and other things.

The plan for her family is to move back to Slovakia at the end of this month where they can build a small house and live close to Antonia’s family. Read what Antonia’s husband, David, writes in his blog.

‘This is where I need your help. I have reached the conclusion that I can not do this alone. This past year has been difficult as we have given up everything, including our home and car, to pay for medical bills to fight Antonia’s disease. And we are still fighting. There is one thing we do have however, and that is a piece of land in Slovakia called Hope. I have sent this to you asking that you help raise $2500 to build a house for Antonia. The cost to build a house in Slovakia is around $75,000 from the ground up. Our goal is to do it for $50,000. And with the help of 20 volunteers raising $2500 each this can be done. The construction will be done by myself, her father and her brother.
(more…)

Many of you, Czechs and Slovaks out there in a foreign country, voiced their wish for a Czech and Slovak mate. Someone you can speak your mother tongue with at all times and someone to whom you don’t have to explain that carp soup is actually a real thing. So here it is!

Mnozi z vas, Cechu a Slovaku v zahranici, touzi po ceskem/slovenskem druhu/druzce. Tedy po nekom, s kym si muzete povidat ve svem rodnem jazyce 24 hodin denne a nemusite mu vysvetlovat, proc mate vlastne radi tu ‘nevidanou’ kapri polevku nebo co to znamena jist brambory z ohne. Tak tady je nova kategorie v ceskem foru – SEZNAMKA!

You desperately want  to send your mom flowers or some nice chocolate for her upcoming birthday. But you got a problem: your mom lives in Czech and you live in the US (or elsewhere). What do you do? One of our readers, Martina, gave me the greatest tip ever:

Her favorite gift delivery services are www.zlasky.cz, which deliver anything from chocolate, candles, flowers and teas to jewelery, underwear, toys or anything else you can think of. She also said to check out “ptakoviny” (or “silly things”) which offer some unusual gift options ;0))

The other gift delivery website Martina recommends is called www.krasnekvetiny.cz. These people are mostly about flowers, wine and stuffed animals.

So you don’t have to drag heavy packages to the post office and pay $100′s of dollars in shipping fees just to send your mom some chocolate and coffee! You don’t have to be afraid that the Czech mailman eats through your box of chocolates! Now your mom receives it personally at her door and you don’t have to move a finger (besides the one that clicks the computer mouse)!

Thanks so much for the tip, Martina! (more…)

Hello/Ahoj,

I am sorry about the half-baked  Czechmate Diary Forum but now it is working, I promise!! Just click on the “Forum” button in the upper-right hand corner of this page, then click “register” and the job is done! The computer will automatically send you an awkward password into your email inbox but you will be able to change it to whatever you want in your Forum profile…the usual forum stuff.
Thanks for your patience!!!

Tanja

PS: don’t be shy to be the Forum pioneer!!

Would you like to win bunch of money, a trip to Czech or Slovakia and meet the Czech president? Now it’s your chance! Nebraska is looking for the next 2009 Miss Czech Slovak US again so read up on the details:

CZ: Chteli byste vyhrat hromadu penez, vylet do Cech nebo na Slovensko a poznat se se presidentem Ceske Republiky? Zkratka stat se celebritou? Ted mate sanci! Nebraska totiz hleda dalsi Miss Czech Slovak US pro rok 2009. Vice info najdete v nize prilozenem dopise:

Who will be the 2009 Miss Czech Slovak US?

The Miss Czech Slovak US Pageant is looking for the next Miss Czech Slovak US. For 23 years the Miss Czech Slovak US has been produce heritage ambassadors for all Czechs and Slovaks across the United States. Now, we are looking for more. (more…)

November 17th marked the first day of the visa-free status for Czechs. It sounds great, but what does this Visa Waiver Program (VWP) really mean for us? What do those relatives need to do in order for them to visit us in the US ?

The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) permits Czechs (and Slovaks) to visit the USA (and other 26  designated countries listed bellow) for 90 days using their passports without getting a visa. They can also use their former valid visas to do so. The VWP works only for for business trips and short term tourist-like visits, it DOES NOT substitute for the study or work visas. For Czechs who would like to do so (study or work in the US), they still have to apply for the proper visa through the US Embassy in the Czech Republic. (more…)

Ivana, a graduate student from the Czech Republic is asking if we could do her a favor and possibly fill out one of her questionnaires for her research thesis. Her topic concentrates on Czechs/Czech-Americans living in the US and how it affects our overall Czech cultural heritage; do we retain it? Or do we lose it?

If you could be so kind and fill it out (it’s really short) that would be great. Ivana promised to give us the “results” one she is finished!

CZ: Ivana je postgradualni student z Cech a poprosila me, zda-li by ctenari Czechmate diary nemohli vyplnit par otazek pro jeji diplomovou praci. Pise totiz o Cesich/Cecho-Americanech zijicich v Americe. Budte tak hodni, a pomozte ji tim, ze anketu vyplnite – je to opravdu kratoucke. Dekuji! Ivana mi slibila, ze se pak podeli s vysledky!!!

Research questionnaire for Czechs/Czech-Americans living abroad

Once you fill them out, email them to i.stavarova[at]email.cz. Thank you!

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…)