Czech-American marriage

Mommy diary 6: ‘Mommy, why do we speak Czech?’ / Denik maminky v zahranici 6:’Maminko, proc mluvime cesky?’

When I was pregnant with Hahna that strange busy-bee nesting syndrome lead me to create this blog (much more productive and fun than  going through some cleaning frenzy :) .  It is hard to believe  that I have been writing posts (this will be mine 870th post) for over 4 years and that our Hanicka just recently blew out her 4 birthday candles as well.  This also means that I am due for my regular bilingual update.

Don’t worry, you can relax, I will ease your mind and tell you right off the bat that Hahna is doing great! And having an innate critical mind of a Czech you know I would not be saying it if it wasn’t the truth.

First of all, about 3 months ago she started asking me  why do we speak Czech. I admit, I was startled by her straight  question and did not know  how to answer  in 1 or 2 sentences, so that a 3-year-old brain could digest it. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: bilingual children, Czech-American marriage, Mommy diary

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Seldom asked questions about the Czech Republic / Zridka tazane otazky o Ceske Republice

What a great name for a blog – “Czech seldom asked questions (or Czech SAQs)”! Sorry the name has been already taken by Mr. Roberts who teaches political science at  Northwestern University. But where is his connection to the Czech Republic, you may ask? Well, it so happens that his dear wife is Czech (from Brno). They go back quite often and over the years  Mr. Roberts has become quite the expert on anything Czech.

Czech out his blog, it is quite entertaining and it gets you thinking about things you have never thought of. For instance, he describes the Czech-style ‘baby shower’ as follows:

‘Some friends who recently had a baby invited me to what they called a welcoming ceremony for their baby. What is this?

Known as the vitání občanků (welcoming of the little citizens), this ceremony was introduced by the communists as a sort of secular alternative to christenings. The ceremony usually takes place at the town hall and is presided over by a government official who makes a speech welcoming the infants to the community and gives them small gifts (like a scrapbook). Despite the fall of communism, the mostly innocuous ceremony remains relatively popular.’ [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Brno, Czech-American marriage

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Slovak brides are a hot stuff / Slovenske nevesty jsou v mode

Slovak ladies are a hot item for Czech men. In the last 10 years there have been 6,729 marriages and those numbers are still on the rise. Czech wife material also largely consists of Ukrainian women who within the last 10 years married 5,524 Czech men. In the third place are Russian women, then Vietnamese, Polish and the list goes on (full list can be found at the end of this article).

How about Czech women? Whom do they like to pick for their life-long mate? It looks like the Slovaks are winning again, followed by Germans and men from Great Britain (the American men took 5th place by the way).

The choice of mates depends on various aspects. The Slovak language is the most similar to the Czech language so it is naturally easier to communicate with someone from that country.  The most immigrants who come to the Czech Republic on a working visa are from Ukraine and get to meet the locals via their prolonged stay. Germany, Austria and Poland, on the other hand, are  neighboring countries, hence the ‘prey’ is in a close vicinity.

[click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Czech-American marriage, Slovak-American marriage, statistics

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Czechs are a garlic nation so let’s have some garlic soup! / Cesi miluji cesnek, tak proc si nedat cesnecku!

garlic google imageWARNING: if you you want to stay clear of garlic breath stop reading right now. This recipe is so potent that it will give you one just by reading these words! Traditional cesnecka (Garlic soup) doesn’t have much in it but garlic and few herbs. I don’t know what the magic is, but at the end it ends up tasting so yummy and rich! This particular recipe came from Sher who is an American expat living in Prague with her Czech husband and who also has a fun blog called Sher off the Beaten Path. Dobrou chut! And don’t forget, the more garlic the merrier!

Click HERE for the Cesnecka recipe.

CZ: Tak uz je to tady – cesnecka!!! Jestlize se bojite cesnekoveho (neboli tzv. zabijackeho) dechu, radsi tyto slova ani nectete, protoze tento recept je tak silny, ze vam v krvi zacne kolovat cesnek, aniz byste pozreli jedine sousto. Ja cesnek miluju, takze pro mne to neni problem :0). Recept je prevzaty od Sher, tedy spise od jejiho blogu zvaneho Sher off the Beaten Path. Sher je Americanka, ktera uz nejakou dobu zije se svym ceskym manzelem v Praze.

Recept na Cesnecku najdete zde (kliknete zde).

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Tagged as: Czech-American marriage, meatless dish, soups

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How to get a Czech girl to like you / Jak na to, aby se do vas ceska holka zamilovala

dating google imageOver 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 [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Czech-American marriage, humor

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“Czechs are unique” / “Cesi jsou jedinecni”

Martin with his grandma /www.makingthishome.comKatie is my blogging buddy (you can check out her Makingthishome.com blog right here) and she is also an American married to a great Czech guy  named Martin. He was kind enough to write his little reflection on what it means to be Czech to him. I hope you will enjoy his writing as much as I did:

CZ: Katie je moje blogarska kamoska (jeji blog se jmenuje Makingthishome.com) a je take vdana za super ceskeho kluka Martina. Martin byl moc hodny a napsal nam kratkou esej o tom, co to pro nej znamena byt Cechem. Doufam, ze se vam to bude libit tak, jako se to libilo mne:

Being Czech has been a major element in defining the person I am becoming. When I met my wife, Katie (an American), I convinced her to spend part of a summer with me in the Czech Republic teaching local kids English. I believe that this experience taught both of us a lot about my character as a Czech. When we are young, we generally think that everyone is more or less like us. Our time with these children showed me just how unique Czechs are and how very much I live life with Czech values. I understood the Czech students and people around us–both in language and ideas about life. I felt comfortable interacting with the locals and enjoyed visiting small shops to pick up supplies for class. To my delight, the meals at camp were traditional Czech food. I would generally be found in line for seconds when the meals included any kind of knedliky, and when they didn’t, the cooks would save me leftovers from the meals before. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Czech nature, Czech-American marriage

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“I will never be Czech ” / “Nikdy ze mne Ceska nebude”

www.radio.cz imageShe is an American and she has been living in Prague with her Czech husband Radek for the last 7 years. Her Czech language skills are proficient enough to order food in Czech restaurants, conduct transactions at the post office and talk to her daughter’s preschool teacher. Emily knows one thing for sure, however: no matter how long she lives in Czech or how much time she dedicates to studying the language, she will never be Czech. If you want to find out why, read the Prague Daily Monitor’s article right here (click here).

CZ: Emily je Americanka a zije v Praze se svym ceskym manzelem Radkem jiz 7 let. Cesky umi dostatecne dobre, aby si mohla objednat obed v restauraci, domluvit se na poste nebo se bavit s dcerinou ucitelkou ve skolce. Vi ale jednu vec na jisto: at v Cechach zije jak dlouho chce, nikdy z ni Ceska nebude. Proc? Odpoved si prectete v Emiline clanku (Prague Daily Monitor) zde (kliknete zde).

Tagged as: Czech language, Czech-American marriage, Prague

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Life with a Czech husband (Sue’s story) / Zivot s ceskym manzelem (jak to vidi Sue)

Sue is my fellow blogging buddy from Atlanta (sueczech.wordpress.com) who happens to be married to a Czech guy. I asked her if she would be nice enough to jot down some thoughts about this Czech experience from her point of view and here is what she wrote: (great story! Thank you Sue!!)

CZ: Jake to je byt Americankou vdanou za Cecha? Sue – moje blogarska kamoska – je jednou z techto zen. Poprosila jsem ji, zda-li by nam o tomto celozivotnim zazitku mohla neco prozradit….

SUE’S STORY

marriage google imageI’ve known my husband for 10 years, and in that time I’ve seen him grow from very Czech, to very American, and now to a happy medium of the two. [click to continue…]

Tagged as: Czech-American marriage, Czechs in Atlanta

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