czechmatediary.com

How is visiting Czech through eyes of an American? Well, Mike (a great supporter of this blog as well as the occasional guest writer for CMD) and his lovely wife (who has Czech roots by the way) just came back from a trip from the Czech Republic. I don’t know how about you, but after I read his post, I felt like they went just about everywhere! Some of these places I haven’t even visited yet!! (more…)

So I learned something new! As we walked around town to see the 4th of July celebrations we stopped by a big stage where a large orchestra was playing the classic circus song of all times (click here to listen to it). Our friend, knowing that I am Czech, mentioned that the song had a Czech origin. “Really???” I couldn’t believe the fact that I didn’t know that! Such a famous song! Even some obscure tribe in the forests of Africa would recognize that tune. (more…)

The 43th Annual Film Festival in Karlovy Vary just started (where did that year go??). The Festival will show over 220 films and 60 premiers - all in 8 days (!!). And what celebrity is granting its presence to this year’s celebration? Last year we had Dany de Vito and Renee Zellweger and this year it is Robert De Niro himself! This will be his second visit to Karlovy Vary as he visited this town 18 years ago. (more…)

Remember I wrote a story about my experience with the Czech versus the American educational system? Well, here is yet another guy that can expand your horizons on a similar topic. His name is Bill Cohn, the New York born lawyer who is also a professor of Ethics and Media at the University of New York in Prague (if you can make sense out of that name). Bill did an interview with the Radio Prague where he spoke on the topic of Czech students and how they differ from the American students. He is kind of wishy-washy with his answers (probably didn’t want to upset either side) but after some time of decoding his “politically correct” sentences, this is the bottom line: (more…)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!! I don’t know how about you but I feel privileged living in this country…

VSECHNO NEJLEPSI K DNU NEZAVISLOSTI!! (to zni divne…)

- ja nevim jak vy, ale jsem moc rada, ze tu ziju….I kdyz se my styska po Cechach

So I thought I would brag a little and let you guys know that the krajane.net website made an interview with me, featuring this website (Click here). They call me the “first Czech-American blogger” - makes me feel kind of important

Unfortunately it is in Czech so here is the translation in a nutshell:

1/ Where do you come from? How did you get to the US?

– ( all found in the CMD “about” page )

2/What do you like about America? What do you dislike? (more…)

I bet you didn’t know this one: the Wall Street Jurnal ranked Roman Sebrle, a Czech athlete from Lanskroun, the World’s Greatest Athlete of 2008. Not only that, as a winner of decathlon in 2004, he holds the same title from the Summer Olympics of that year (and has been holding that title for past 4 years). (more…)

Hello everyone / Ahoj vsichni,

So July schedule of Czech and Slovak events doesn’t look so hot (unless you like polka!! We have got couple of polka dances going on). I guess everyone is still vacationing somewhere….Also, the National Czech and Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids - my important source of info - got flooded last month so they will be out of the business for a while as far as Czech events go :(( (more…)

Where are you planning to travel this summer? Are you going to lay out on the beach somewhere in the Pacific or would you rather do some sightseeing and wonder around the streets of some ancient city like Rome? Why not do both? Prague not only has the medieval architecture but now it also has the beaches. The river that cuts through the center of Prague,Vltava, is opening up a new beach right by the Charles Bridge! (more…)

A new vaccine for a potential avian flu pandemic has been recently developed in a Czech town Bohumile. The US-owned production company is called Baxter International and their new “mirracle child” vaccine, Celvapan, has been more promising than any other such vaccines. Why? Because the researchers decided to use monkey cells instead of the traditional use of hen’s eggs. (more…)