Czechmatediary

I love watermelon. My whole family does and that is why we have been eating them like crazy this summer (actually, the summer has just started TODAY). There is a definite difference in the way each family member eats this luscious fruit. As a demonstration I took a picture of my final product and my husband’s final product:

Which one do you think is mine and which one is my husband’s? You can tell right away what poor, formerly-socialist-soul was gnawing on what piece ??;0)

CZ: Ahoj, tak jsme si s manzelem nedavno pochutnavali na vybornem melounu. Uhadnete, ktery talir je muj? Rozhodne se hned pozna, kdo vyrostl ve stradajicim socialistickem Ceskoslovensku ;0)

Svěrák wrote a childrens’ song that talks about cherry earrings and my daughter and I like it very much. I have explained to her in  great detail what cherry earrings are and was impatiently waiting for the first summer months until cherries finally appear in the stores. Then Hahna could taste them for the first time in her life, but most importantly, she gets to wear the true cherry earrings.

Cherry earrings bring a whole bunch of memories for me. They are the true signature of a Czech summer. How else would you spend a perfect summer afternoon than by sitting high up in a cherry tree, crunching on those big and juicy cherries right off the tree? I don’t know how about you but we would usually end up eating way too many of them and then have an upset stomach.

Anyhow, when we purchased our first bag of this summer season, I was kind of disappointed. The cherries were not as crunchy as what I remember them to be from my childhood AND the distributor cut the pairs in half so there was NO WAY one could make cherry earrings out of them! By miracle, I managed to find ONE pair that was left intact and I victoriously presented it to Hahna. I then proceeded to put it on her little ear – it truly felt like a wedding ceremony – the moment felt so significant for both of us! (more…)

I got a funny story for you. For the longest time, even after living in America for couple of years, I kept wondering about this huge highway billboard. It entertained the passing-by driver with a picture of three people having a very good time, laughing like crazy and giving you inviting looks to join them as soon as possible. The three people were usually 2 decently looking women and 1 man, all about 5o years of age. The sign said: “The loosest slots” (and then a name of some place which I did not know). Since spelling was never my strong side, I automatically thought that it said ‘The loosest sluts”, which kind of changes the whole meaning. For years I was completely appalled and flabbergasted about this commercial, for couple of reasons. One, America seemed like such a conservative and moral country to me, where brothels were forbidden and prostitutes were nowhere to be seen; two, why did they hire such old models? I mean, if they HAD to do it, why not hire someone who is more attractive? I was racking my brains about this for years!!!! (more…)

I went to get a facial and a massage which my dear hubby bought for my 30th birthday. The massage always turns out to be great; even the facial is always relaxing, but I tell you, the beginnings are rough – at least for me. As soon as I assume your position on the ‘facial table’ (don’t know the exact name for it) I get bombarded with quite the personal questions about what products am I using on my skin; what soap, what cleansing water, what night cream, what day cream, what eye cream, what wrinkle cream……I guess I would not be so annoyed by it if I did not feel so self-conscious. I just use one face cream (at least I think it’s a face cream and not a foot cream) and that’s it. And half of the time I don’t even know what brand it is! I find it in the grocery store in the cosmetics isle and it is on sale. What else can one want? When I was bombarded by those unpleasant questions this time, of course I had a brain fart and I forgot the name of the frickin’ cream again! So I said “huh….Neutrogena” – for some reason that name sticks to my brain. And I have also had a few products of that brand in the past…I think. (more…)

The New Valentine addition to my Czech crystal jewelry collection is finished. Every bead simply vibrates with love and devotion!  Take a look and if you like what you see don’t hesitate to contact me – remember Czechmate Diary email subscribers get a 10% discount!

CZ: Prave jsem dokoncila tzv. Valentynskou kolekci sperku, kde kazdy kristalovy koralek primo vibruje nesmironou laskou a oddanosti. Jestlize vam neco padne do oka, nevahejte a zkontaktujte me – nezapomente, ze ti z vas, co jsou zaregistrovani na Czechmate Diary pres email dostanou 10% slevu!
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Every 6 months or so I write a small report on how is my daughter doing with her bilingual skills. She is two and half now which means it is time for me to tell you about her progress:

PS: For part 1 click here, part 2 click here and part 3 click here

I don’t know how else to start than by saying that it’s been going really great. Although I do not use the strange O.P.O.L. (One Parent One Language) method with her, my daughter has no problem understanding and also speaking Czech. She actually says whole sentences like a real human now! I will give you an example: we are in the grocery store and Hanicka points at some lady and says: “Pani ma velke brisko” (Lady has a big belly) or she points at some poor lady with graying hair and exclaims “To je babika!” (That’s grandma!). From practical reasons you can see that it is VERY advantageous she speaks Czech with me in public otherwise we would be in a big trouble. Instead, the big bellied lady and the other woman with graying hair are just pleasantly smiling at me, probably admiring how culturally diverse my family is.

When we are at a playground with other American kids she has no problem switching to English once she realizes that we are socializing with the English-speaking fellows. If I switch into English, she gets the hint really quickly and goes on speaking English as well. My husband marvels on how well she switches to English when he is around. Once in a while she starts talking to him in Czech but in a couple of seconds she switches back. Now, get this: when I tell Hahna in Czech “Jdi rict tatovi, ze je hotova vecere” (Go tell daddy that dinner is ready), she walks up to her dad and says “Daddy, dinner is ready”. She instantly translates it in her head without me telling her anything! I was pretty excited about that one. (more…)

I’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!” (more…)

Now that you guys know my husband and I actually got through the security check point, let me tell you the details on how it went inside the embassy and how I got to meet the president.

We entered a room filled with about 200 people which led to yet another large room which was filled with about 300 anxious visitors. You could feel the excitement in the air and you could also smell some good Czech cookin’. A few minutes after we surveyed our new surroundings we saw a little commotion in the other room – the president was already giving a speech!! Could we see him? No. Could we hear what was he saying? No. But I am sure it was to the point. Since it was a day after the president had signed the Lisbon treaty  he probably touched on that amazing milestone as well in his speech, but once again, I can only guess, since I did not hear a word. (more…)

So we are back (well, back…I am still sitting on a turbulence-driven airplane)! Since there is so much to tell I am going to start with the hottest topic which is the Embassy visit. Many of you wonder if I met the president in person. Well, I DID! Not only that, I managed to take a picture with him! And talk to him!!!!

But first things first. First I have to tell you about the stressful journey to the embassy. When we flew into DC my husband and I decided to rent a car. The presidential reception was starting at 6 pm so we thought that leaving at 5:15 would be enough time since the destination was only 5 miles away from our hotel. Well, we ran into ‘some’ traffic. I mean the colony of cars in D.C. was NOT moving. I became so nervous thinking we won’t be able to make it that I was getting myself physically and emotionally ready to just throw off my high heels and start sprinting – direction Czech embassy. (more…)

It’s been couple of weeks now since I have received the presidential invitation and I still can’t believe it! You see, I would love to call the embassy and ask to whom should I be indebted for life for putting me on the special-people list, but I am afraid to do that. What if – in the midst of this investigation – that particular person on the phone finds out that I wasn’t supposed to be invited at all?? “Oh, I am so sorry! We meant to invite ‘mr. Tahuana’ – the vice president of Nambia, not you (Tatjana)! Can you just disregard the invitation?”. I don’ think so! Why? Because we bought the flying tickets. We booked the hotel. I bought a new dress. And new shoes. We have a babysitter and a cat sitter taken care of. I bragged to just about anyone I know about this, including our cat. Now WE HAVE TO GO!!!!

Can you imagine if my husband and I arrived to the reception and the embassy bodyguard would not let us in? “Sorry, you are not on the list.”. (more…)