Czechmatediary

LECO (pronounced ‘lecho’) is a delicious traditional Czech/Slovak meal. Since it has an egg in it I am afraid that most Americans would eat it just for breakfast which is a shame. We used to have it for lunch or dinner but never breakfast!!! If you like, you can ease into it by adding some American-style cilantro (blah!) or avocado (yum!).

CZ: Cechy bez leca jsou jako Cechy bez Vaclavskeho namesti – proste by nestaly za nic! Leco je jednoduche, zdrave a velmi lahodne. Muzete si ho poamerictit pridanim cilantra (fuj!) nebo avokada (mnam!).

Ingredients:

• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 4-5 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 polish kielbasa, sliced
• 2-3 eggs

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“For the first time, the Slovaks are ahead of the Czechs in something- that is well worth whatever sacrifices.” says Roman Guta, a 35-year-old Slovak distributor of a dental equipment. Roman is referring to the fact that the Slovaks are now using Euros, which is something that the Czechs are afraid to do. Who is the wise one here? Thanks to the worldwide economical depression together with their fairly new usage of Euros Slovakia has become a very expensive country. Hence Slovaks are now forced to shop in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic where they take advantage of the relative streng of their newly minted currency. [continue reading…]

This is a fun one. How do you show the number ‘2’ on your fingers? Do you show it the Czech/Slovak way – using the thumb and the index finger or do you do it the American way – using the index finger and the middle finger? I am proud to say I am still a true Czech since I use my thumb. Don’t take me wrong, I have tried to do it the American way but it just seems too much work. My fingers are simply not trained that way; plus, why would I start counting off with the index finger if the thumb is the first finger on my hand? It just does not make sense to me. Vote bellow on what you do (and comment on what you think about this):

PS: bottom line, if you see someone in America doing this sign above, he/she is either Czech counting to two or he is telling you you are a looser. Let’s hope he is counting…. :o))

CZ: Tato otazka vas pobavi: uzkazujete cislo dve na vasi ruce po cesku (po slovensku) – tedy pomoci palce a ukazovacku, nebo jste se jiz poamerictili a pouzivate pouze ukazovacek a prostrednicek? Ja se vam pysne priznam, ze nadale pouzivam cesky zpusob. Navic, prominte, ale komu by se chtelo zacit pocitat pomocim uzazovacku, kdyz prvni prst v rade je palec??? Volte v nize uvedene ankete, co delate vy:
PS: Kdyz tedy v Americe uvidite nekoho jak si ‘pocita’ do dvou, nezapomente ze to take muze znamenat to, ze vam naznacuje vase ‘looserovstvi’. Doufejme tedy, ze pan pocita…. :0)) [continue reading…]

Everyone would agree that Wenceslas Square is a Prague’s signature landmark. Many important historical events took place there, the good ones as well as the not-so-good ones. Who else can give us the best authentic outlook on this place than someone, who has been living there for close to 70 years? From her apartment window Vera Korbelova has seen it all: German occupation, burning of Jan Palach (1969), building of a metro station (1972) as well as the horrendous freeway which runs right across the Wencselas square, and of course, the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Now she is 74 years old and this what she says:

“During the last 20 years, Wenceslas Square has changed a lot. It’s not only the promenade, a walking area for the foreigners, but there are funny shops that weren’t there before, there are casinos, which we hate, there isn’t a normal bakery, for instance, and there was a beautiful bakery here at the middle of Wenceslas Square. There are a lot of tourists here, a lot of drug dealers just on the corner here, who we are afraid of. I hope the whole situation will become better. They plan to bring more greenery, they plan to put more trees, and maybe my grandchildren will see in the future, another, more beautiful place. But still, it is the place I am living and I love to live. I think Wenceslas Square is one of the most beautiful places and squares I have seen in my life, and I have seen a lot of them.”
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Here is yet another great recommendation from one of the Czechmate Diary readers. Martina sent me a link of the ‘Project S.P.A.D.’ website, which is an on-line simulation of the most dreadful times in the history of formal Czechoslovakia, back when it was called the Czechoslovak Socialistic Republic (CSSR). One can find himself back in the 70’s, watching black-and-white video clips of Marta Kubisova, Karel Gott or Neckar. You can also listen to the communist radio! Check it out, it is well worth your time!

Project S.P.A.D. gallery

PS: English translation is coming soon!

CZ: Tohle proste musite omrknout! Jedna z vas, bezvadnych ctenaru a ctenarek Czechmate Diary (Martina), mi poslala vyborny link. Projekt S.P.A.D. je on-line simulace komunistickych casu, kdyz se nase chudak rodna zeme jeste nazyvala CSSR. Za casu, kdy si sousede zavideli nos mezi ocima a kdy vsichni ridili bud Skodovku 100 nebo zigulika; za casu, kdy se z radia linuly noty pisne “Kavu si osladim” a v televizi jsme se vecer divali na Televariete s Jirinou Bohdalovou a na Vanoce jsme pak meli ‘svatecne’ Mrazika. No, vy ten pribeh dobre znate…Dobre se bavte!

Galerie projektu S.P.A.D.

Over the years I have gotten the notion that Czech/Slovak girls are desirable goods. The party boys would say something like “Czech girls are hot, dude!” Not only that we are ‘hot’ but we are also great wife material (OK, maybe I should get confirmation from my husband first): we are great cooks, we don’t complain too much, we are frugal and we tend to be quite the hard-workers.

So, the million-dollar question is: How do you get a Czech girl to like you? We like guys that are (rated from the highest to the lowest importance):

–  smart

–  funny

–  handsome

– everything else [continue reading…]

Yesterday stared the 44th International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary. Among the most important guests this year are Milos Forman, a French celebrity film-maker Patrice Chereau, president Vaclav Klaus and others. The producers of the festival are a bit worried that thanks to the economic crisis the visitorship will be on the low side this year. The tickets cost 65 crowns (about $3) so hopefully the low price should encourage people to attend. The total of 234 movies are going to be shown this year; 14 of them (from 14 different countries) are going to be competing for the Crystal Globe prize, including the latest film by Milos Forman and movies directed by John Malkovich, Paul Schrader and Patrice Chereau. [continue reading…]

I am starting to have a suspicion that many Czechs emigrated to the US because of their last name. These are just a few examples of Czech names that I have seen around town, here in the US, and they made me giggle:

– James Zadek (Zadek = Behind)

– Andrew Siska (Siska= pine cone but also piece of poop)

– Rudolf Ptak (Ptak = bird but it is also a slang for ‘penis’)

–  Sue Kruty ( Kruty = ruethless, evil)

It must be hard to live in the Czech Republic with such names especially since Czechs are such merciless jokers at times; if I had a last name like that I would surely leave the country! Because when abroad, all those names sound rather exotic without anyone knowing what they really mean. [continue reading…]

Summer is here and if you are not going back to Czech or Slovakia and are practicing so-called ‘stay-cation’, you need to get the Czech vibes from somewhere else in the country. Most of us are migrating back to our motherland this month  so that is why the list is kind of short but not too short for you to find something!

CZ: Leto je tady a vestina z nas rado migruje zpet do Cech nebo na Slovensko, ochutnat ty prave krupave tresne primo z prohybajicich se stromu…a koupat se ve spinavem rybniku…a jist boruvkove knedliky…a pit ceske pivko. Jestlize ale nikam nejedete, tak nevzdychejte, list ceskych aktivit je sice kratsi nez normalne, ale ne zas tak kratky, aby jste tam nic nenasli!
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