Czechmatediary

Czech and Slovak events for June are here! The US offers bunch of festivals, interesting lectures on Prague Spring as well as the concert of a well-known Czech-born jazz musician Rudy Linka.

CZ: Letni program ceskych a slovensky akci je tu a s nim take spousta nezapomenutelne zabavy, jako je napriklad koncert  Cecho-Americana Rudy Linky. Take si muzete vybrat z nekolika CS festivalu, ktere jsou roztrousene po celych USA.

1. Cedar Rapids, IA

What: Emil Viklicky concert (Moravian folk songs)

When: June 4

2. Astoria, NY

What: International Children’s Day Celebration

When: June 6

3. La Grande, TX

What: Czech Youth and Family Day

When: June 26

4.  Hastings, NE

What: Czech-Slovak Festival

When: June 5 [continue reading…]

I am not sure what to make  of this, but about 85% (maybe even 87%!!) of the time when I meet someone new (and they find out I am Czech) he/she tells me one of their ancestors was Czech or Slovak. Does it mean that the American nation is really just a bigger Czechoslovakia which calls itself the United States of America (and yes, a little detail, people speak a different language)? You may have noticed that the Czechmate Diary’s under-title is ‘small Bohemian steps to world domination’ but heck, maybe we have already overtaken the world since most Americans have Czech and Slovak ancestors! In that case I would have to change it to something more current, something like “Small Bohemian Steps to Cosmic domination”;0). [continue reading…]

The American moms affirm the trust relationship with their babies through breastfeeding on demand, while some Czech parents do it by juggling their little ones in the air. What do I mean by that? They take a parent-baby course which is called “Baby flying”.  The mother (or the dad) hold on to the baby’s arms/legs and variously twist them in the air, all to the sound of loud, dancing music. The course instructor, Blanka Kolarova-Sudikova, claims that besides affirming trust in between him and the parent, baby-flying helps with other problems such as if the baby is colicky or too hyperactive.

This unusual course has had so far about 1,500 graduates and numbers are growing. Only the doctors don’t like it one bit. They say that it can simulate the so-called “Shaken baby syndrome”, which leaves a serious health defect on a baby. [continue reading…]

After an unnerving match this afternoon the Czechs beat the Russians 2-1. It truly is amazing since many of the key members of the Czech team live abroad and play professionally with other teams (i.e. Jaromir Jagr currently plays for Avangard Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League) and have a very little time to practice together as a team.

As my dad said it would be  pure luck if they beat the all-powerful Russian team and it looks like they got very lucky!!! But I am sure the team’s amazing talent played a role as well ;0)

So to summon it up, the Czechs are the kings, Russians took a 2nd place, Sweden is 3rd and Germany 4th. [continue reading…]

Do you know what I love the most about blogging with Czechmate Diary? I learn something new almost every day! For instance, take this example: did you know that Baltimore used to have a neighborhood called Little Bohemia? I had no idea this Maryland capital has traces of Czech heritage!

I guess the city is known for its painted screens (see image above), which seem to be a mark of almost every house. This popular art craze was started by a CZECH GUY, William Octavec, who in 1913 painted his first screen, illustrating goods for sale inside his store.

This eye-opening article was sent to me by one of you guys, so thank you! If you would like to read the whole story click here.

CZ: Vite, co se mi na blogovani s Czechmate Diary libi nejvic? Ze se neustale dovidam plno novych informaci. Napriklad toto: vedeli jste, ze Baltimore, hlavni mesto Marylandu, mival mestkou ctvrt zvanou “Little Bohemia”? A to neni vsechno! Toto mesto je pry take velmi zname svymi malbami na oknech skoro kazdeho domecku. Tento prazvlastni malirsky trend zacal v roce 1913 Cech William Octavec, ktery se rohodl pokreslit okna sve samoobsluhy obrazky zbozi, ktere bylo v krame k dostani.

Clanek mi poslala jedna ctenarka, tak ji za to vrele dekuji. Podrobnosti si muzete precist zde.

Martin’s yogurt breakfast pancakes – Czech style

Martin was born in Prague and since 1978 he has been living in the US. He married an American lady named Kathleen (who is also the co-creator of this magical recipe) and have 2 wonderful kids together. His blog called “O Americe” (“About America”) is written strictly in Czech. Why?  Martin gets to express himself in his native language, and  his non-English speaking Czech friends and family  can learn more about the American ways. Through his blog he found a  virtual way how to connect with his unforgettable motherland.

For those of you who would like a less fattening version of my recipe on livance (pancakes) here is Martin’s healthy version:
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Written by Bozena Nemcova (Brothers Grimm have a similar fairytale by the way. Since Bozena Nemcova was born 35 years later than the Grimm brothers, she may have been ‘influenced’ by their original story a bit ;0)

Once there lived a peasant with his wife in a little cottage. One day his wife said to him, “Life is so empty without children; I wish we had a little boy.” Soon her wish came true and she gave birth to a son. He was healthy and strong, but no bigger than the size of a thumb. Therefore they named him Tom Thumb (Paleček).

One day around lunchtime, said Tom, “Mother, pack some lunch for my father and I will take it to him.” Mother laughed at his idea since he was so little but did as he asked. He set off on a journey to his father’s field, taking a lunch basket with him. Since he was so small, it looked as if the basket was walking on its own. After a while of walking, he reached a stream. But Paleček was smart and knew what to do. He pulled out a wooden spoon out of the basket, put it in the water and sat in it like it was a boat. He pulled the big basket behind him and that is how he got across the stream.

When Tom reached the field he started to shout, “Father, Father, I have lunch for you!” The peasant did not hear him but he saw the moving basket. He lifted it up and to his surprise, he saw his little son. While his father was eating lunch, Tom Thumb climbed into a bull’s ear, yelling commands at the bull and that is how he was plowing his father’s  field. He plowed so fast that he did more work than his father. [continue reading…]

The local hospital in Ceska Lipa is in a big trouble. A father of a newborn child has filed charges against this institution for negligence, since his wife gave birth to their first-born right into a toilet bowl. How could this happen?  The 23-year-old expecting mother was admitted with stomach pains. After an agonizing night without any help from the hospital staff, she had decided to relieve herself in the bathroom and..uppsss…out came a baby! The poor kid has now a big bruise on its head.

CZ: Nemocnice v Ceske Lipe to v dnesni dobe nema lehke. Otec jednoho novorozenete totiz podal trestni oznameni proti teto instituci a to proto, ze mistni porodnici pry zanedbali peci. Jeho 9 mesicu tehotna zena prisla do nemocnice s hroznymi bolestmi ‘zaludku’. Nikdo ji v nemocnici nezkontroloval a nastavajici maminka trpela celou noc v krecich. Pote odesla na toaletu, aby si ulevila, a – splouch! – a na svete bylo miminko! Uhodilo se do hlavicky a na pamatku z toho utrpelo velkou bouli.

Source:

http://www.radio.cz/en/article/127490

http://www.lidovky.cz/zena-v-nemocnici-porodila-na-zachode-pribuzni-vini-personal-pq5-/ln_domov.asp?c=A100426_182924_ln_domov_ani

We all know what the Seven wonders of the world are. But what would you pick to be the seven wonders in the Czech Republic? The Czech citizens are able to vote until the end of this month and the results will be announced on the 12th of June. There are five categories to pick from:

I personally vote for:  Kutna Hora, Otto Wichterle (because he invented contacts and I am blind), Alphonse Mucha, Czech beer, Czech cubism, Tomas Bata and Emil Zatopek.

Cast your vote here (click here).

CZ: Pozor! Cesi maji moznost zaperlit a vybrat sedm divu Ceska. Vybira se z peti kategorii a vysledky budou vyhlaseny 12.cervna na programu CT1. Co byste vybrali vy? Ja osobne volim: Kutnou Horu, Ottika Wichterle (jsem pekne slepa), Muchu, ceske pivo, cesky kubismus, Batu a Zatopka.
Oficialne muzete volit ne webovkach Ceske televize.
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