Czechmatediary

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.”. [continue reading…]

I have got such an EXCITING news to tell you! Because of Czechmate Diary I was invited to the embassy of the Czech Republic to join a reception with the president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus himself!!!!! Can you believe it?? I still can’t. The reception is held in honor of not only the Czech president himself but also because of the celebration of the National Czech Day as well as the 20th Anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

I am so excited! I have never been to Washington DC, so my husband and I will make a little vacation out of it. I will be taking my laptop with me and updating you frequently on this exciting journey. Please pray for me that I don’t do something embarrassing while meeting the president! I already know that I am going to get red as a strawberry and sweat profusely I just don’t want to spit on him out of excitement or something. Check out the invitation that I have received:
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This is a special month for Czechs and Slovaks because it marks a 20-year anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. That’s right, although Czechoslovakia does not exist anymore both countries have been enjoying 20 years of freedom! Most of the events bellow commemorate just that:

CZ: Tento mesic je pro Cechy a Slovaky velmi vyznamny, nebot 17. listopadu obe zeme slavi 20. vyroci (!!) sametove revoluce!! Ceskoslovensko sice jiz neexistuje, ale obe zeme si jiz 20 let uzivaji nadherne svobody. Vetsina zde zminenych akci si pripomina prave toto datum:

1. Baltimore, MD

What: Slavic food festival

When: Nov. 21 [continue reading…]

This doesn’t have anything to do with anything Czech or Slovak whatsoever but you just have to see these ‘fashion’ pictures. I hope you get a good belly laugh out of it like I did; who knows, maybe you will get some good Halloween ideas out of it!

Click here to see more fashion accessory pictures.

PS: This is for real, the designer is not joking.

CZ: Nasledujici obrazky opravdu  nemaji nic co k docineni s ceskou nebo slovenskou kulturou, ale thole proste musite videt: posledni vykriky mody!!! Kdo vi, mozna ze z toho dostanete nejake napady na Helloweenovsky kostym!

Vice modni inspirace muzete najit zde (klinete zde).

PS: Jo a jen tak pro jistotu, tento navrhar to mysli naprosto vazne.

This is my favorite part – announcing a new Czech and Slovak school abroad! This time we are heading over to Portland, Oregon. And I got to tell you, this school looks delicious. The starting age is 6 weeks up until 6 years of age. There are also afternoon classes for the older kids such as drama, flute playing or cooking…and that is all in  Czech/Slovak language!

For further info please contact Eva Riskin at evariskin@comcast.net

CZ: Toto je moje nejoblibenejsi aktivita – ohlasovani nove Cesko-slovenske skoly v zahranici! Tentokrate se jedna o Portland, Oregon a musim vam rict, ze tato skolicka vypada opravdu vyborne. Posudte sami (zbytek je prevzaty z www.ahojpdx.ning.com):

‘Oteviraji se prvni cesko-slovenske jesle a skolka v Portlandu
Pro deti od 6 tydnu- 6 let

Adresa: 10305 NE Halsey Street, Portland OR 97220

Doba provozu: 8-18 Po-Pa
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The Czechs have recently invented something incredible. What we are talking about here is a blow-up car seat which costs way less than the regular one. And if your children grow out of it you just blow it out, fold it into a little package and put it into the glove department until you have another kid. Do you know how much easier would it be to fly with this thing??? Complete heaven!!!

Not only that it passed the crash test but it’s also supposed to be super comfortable. The only drawback is that the BEDI car seat was created for kids 3 years of age and up (15kg and up).

This wonder seat costs less than 1,400 crowns (about $70) which is about 3 times less than a regular Czech car seat. You can order it via the internet and when shipped within the Czech Republic the shipping is free. [continue reading…]

An American Tartar sauce tastes nothing like the Czech one. I don’t know why but it just tastes completely weird to me. I know that many of us are going through the Czech Tartar sauce withdrawals so I did some research and picked the 2 most authentic recipes. The first one is the easier way out where one does not need to use raw eggs – you just start adding stuff to the already made mayonnaise.  The second recipe is for the hard-core food lovers who don’t mind having couple of raw eggs in their dish. Although one risks to get a salmonella poisoning it may just be worth it :0)

PS: Tartar sauce can be used on just about anything but it is a must when eating fish or the Czech-style  fried cauliflower. [continue reading…]

What words should you stay away from when you go to the Czech Republic? In other words, what words could get you there into a big trouble? According to the results of Readers Digest these sentences are a BIG no-no:

1. If you say: “Things were better during communism” (the winner)
2. Young people hate being asked what time they get home
3. Men hate hearing negative comments about their driving (universal law I think..)
4. Women hate being told to calm down

CZ: Pred jakymi slovy byste si meli davat pozor, kdyz budete travit nejaky ten cas v Cechach? Podle Readers Digest toto jsou ti nebezpecni ‘vyherci’:

1. Veta typu “Za komunismu nam bylo lip”
2. Mladi lide nesnasi, kdyz se jich rodice zeptaji v kolik budou vecer doma
3. Muzum se nelibi, kdyz nekdo okomentovava jejich rizeni
4. Zeny nenavidi, kdyz jim nekdo rika, aby se uklidnily

Source: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/120846

You may not realize it but Christmas is just around the corner AGAIN! Isn’t it crazy how the time flies?? What a better way to start this Christmas season by getting Christmas cards designed and drawn by Tanja (me)? I had so much fun drawing these pictures and I hope they will bring you much joy this Christmas season and into the New year as well.

The first card is a picture of cozy mountain town called Rokytnice nad Jizerou, where many of us (including myself) have spent winter after winter skying,snowboarding and having fun.

The second card is a picture of the unforgettable Charles Bridge in the winter season. People are bundled up in thick jackets and it starts to get dark around 5 pm….a perfect time for a cup of hot chocolate.

Two different themes but both filled with wonderful Czech Christmas mood. You pick and it will be shipped to you within few days.

UPDATE: MORE NEW CZECH CHRISTMAS CARDS HERE (click here)!!!

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