Czechmatediary

Small Bohemian Steps to World Domination….

 

Irony of Irony of Ironies / Ironie ironii
December 21, 2009

Filed under: Czech NEWS, Czech TRADITIONS — Tanja @ 12:47 am
Tags: , ,

Save  Little Jesus image/ www.ceskenoviny.cz image “Save little Jesus!” , the signs declare. A bunch of demonstrators, dressed up as snowmen, were expressing their opinion toward the increasing intrusion of the big-bellied Santa and his reindeer - the all-American images of Christmas. Slogans such as “We survived Grandpa Frost (=Deda Mraz; the former USSR image of Christmas), we are going to survive Santa Claus!” or “The end of big-eyed reindeer in Czech!” made me think of couple of ironies however:

  • Irony 1: The Czechs are fighting off Santa Claus as an American spirit of Christmas, meanwhile the image of Santa  in America is becoming politically incorrect. Both of them are connected with the word ‘Christmas’ which has become a forbidden and offensive ‘C’ word within the last few years. So while the Czech Republic is trying to save the their image of Christmas, the Americans are fighting to save Christmas itself. (more…)

    If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!

 

Print This Post Print This Post

 

Prague is not so green after all…../ Praha neni to nejzelenejsi mesto….
December 10, 2009

Filed under: Czech NEWS — Tanja @ 12:25 am
Tags: , ,

2802730821_5432d206851Prague is not a very ecology-friendly city. That is what came out of a recent British study which worked out the so-called Green City Index. Among the 30 participating metropolises Copenhagen (Denmark) came out as the most ecological city in Europe. Second place was won by Stockholm and third place belongs to Oslo. Prague, on the other hand, ‘won’ th 24th place (the whole list can be found below).

The cities were rated on 30 various indicators such as the energy consumption, CO2 emissions, trash handling, public transportation usage and the government’s attitude toward the environment. (more…)

If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!

 

Print This Post Print This Post

 

Are Czechs proud of their nationality? / Jsou Cesi hrdi na svou narodnost?
November 15, 2009

Filed under: Czech NEWS — Tanja @ 5:44 pm
Tags: , ,

proud Czechs image/ www.ceske noviny imageWith the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution the local research agency conducted a poll on Czech pride. The results are quite uplifting:

  • 78% of Czechs are proud of their nationality
  • 17% of Czechs are not too proud of their nationality
  • 5% of Czechs are not proud of their nationality at all

(Total of 1,270 voters)

More such prideful Czechs can be found among the student population and among the elders. The least prideful Czechs are among the those people who belong to the communist party (KSCM) and among those who did not vote and do not associate themselves with any kind of political party at all.

The STEM research agency have been conducting the same poll ever since the 1990’s.

CZ: Pri prilezitosti 20ti leteho vyroci sametove revoluce se pruzkumni agentura STEM zeptala 1 270 Cechu, jestli jsou hrdi na to, ze jsou Cesi. Vysledy jsou velmi optimisticke:

  • 78% dotazanych tuto hrdost pocituje
  • 17% spise na sve obcanstvi hrdi nejsou
  • 5% na sve obcanstvi hrdi nejsou vubec

(more…)

If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!

 

Print This Post Print This Post

 

‘A Total Slap In The Face’ / ‘Facka pesti pres celou hubu’
September 21, 2009

Filed under: Stories of OTHERS — Tanja @ 11:30 pm
Tags:

face punch flickr imageMy dad sent me a Czech newspaper essay that falls right into our political discussion about the troubled anti-missile defense shield we have been having. The author, Vaclav Vlk, named it ‘A Total Slap In the Face’ and I found his words quite intriguing. In order to share this article with the non-Czech speakers I translated parts that resonated with me the most (I apologize I could not translate the whole thing but it is really quite long). Here it is:

CZ: Muj tata mi vcera poslal dosti zajimavy clanek na tema protiraketove radarove zakladny, o ktere jsme tu pred par dny diskutovali. Clanek pochazi z Neviditelneho psa (autorem je Vaclav Vlk) a jelikoz kazdy odstavec ma v sobe neco velmi podstatneho, nemela jsem to srdce ho ‘okrohouhat’ (tedy spise zeditovat) a je tu tedy cely, od zacatku az do konce. Jmenuje se vhodne “Facka pesti pres Celou hubu”:

A Total Slap In The Face

‘What Obama did with the anti-missile defense shield is just a softer version of the Munich Agreement where the Czechs end up being the bait for the bigger fish. Or one can compare it to 1945 (5th of May) when the Czechoslovak Socialistic Republic was left out for grabs by the Soviets. In other words, if we give Russians what they want (i.e. no anti-missile defense shield in Czech or Poland) that in turn will keep them quiet for a while. (more…)

If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!

 

Print This Post Print This Post

 

Obama backs down from the anti-missile shield development /Obama ustoupil od vystavby protiraketoveho stitu
September 19, 2009

Filed under: Czech NEWS — Tanja @ 11:50 pm
Tags:

Der Spiegel Obama imageUS President Barack Obama decided to withdrew from plans to build a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe. He is hoping that this move will encourage Russia to be tougher with sanctions against Iran. Russia has also promised that it will not build its missiles in the planned Kalingrad area. “I hope you understand the logic…if there are no radars and missiles in Czech or Poland, we don’t have to look for some kind of a payback,” said the Russian ambassador Rogozin. (more…)

If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!

 

Print This Post Print This Post

 

Upcoming elections in the Czech Republic: where to vote / Volby v CR se blizi: kde volit?
August 21, 2009

Filed under: Czech/Slovak EVENTS in USA — Tanja @ 11:59 pm
Tags: ,

google imageThe Czech elections for the Chamber of Deputies are coming up (Oct. 9) so make sure you vote if you are still pugged into the Czech political scene (and don’t mind traveling to Chicago). Remember, although we live half a globe away our vote still counts! Here is the necessary info:

CZ: Za necele 2 mesice (9. rijna) jsou volby do poslanecke snemovny parlamentu Ceske Republiky  a cesti obcane v USA mohou volit na Generalnim konzulatu CR. Zde jsou blizsi informace: (more…)

If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!

 

Print This Post Print This Post

 

Meat or electricity is strictly forbidden! / Maso a elektrina jsou prisne zakazane!
July 17, 2009

Filed under: Czech NEWS — Tanja @ 11:55 pm
Tags: , ,

empty pockets google imageHow is the Czech Republic dealing with the current economic crisis? Not so hot. Czechs seem to be saving on food a lot. The grocery stores have to stock up on salami since they are cheaper than ham or chicken and restaurants now offer cheap, simple and filling meals for the price of 55 t0 60 crowns (about $2). The restaurants in Prague decreased their profit by one third and it is expected that a fifth of Prague restaurants will be closed down. Even the fancy Prague Culinary Institute is now offering special classes where the clients learn the art of cheap cooking (c’mon, what Czech doesn’t know how to cook cheap?!).

Now that we know that the regular folk is trying to be frugal, guess who else is following their steps? The government! (more…)

If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!

 

Print This Post Print This Post

 

“For the first time, the Slovaks are ahead of the Czechs in something,”/ “Poprve v zivote jsou Slovaci v necem napred pred Cechy”
July 12, 2009

Filed under: Czech NEWS — Tanja @ 11:48 pm
Tags: , ,

Slovakian Tatras / flickr image“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. (more…)

If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!

 

Print This Post Print This Post

 

The Czechs finished their EU chairmanship…let’s party!!! / Cesi ukoncili sve predsednictvi v EU…a jde se parit!!
June 27, 2009

Filed under: Czech NEWS — Tanja @ 11:59 pm
Tags: , , ,

Brussels EU street partyYesterday evening the Czechs finished their 6-month chairmanship to the European Union (the time sure flew by quickly!). The Czech government put on the last cultural event (in this case it was a party) out of the 700 other events that were held during their ‘reign’ over Europe. At first the party was supposed to be out-of-this world show at the main Brussels square but thanks to the world wide recession the Czechs decided to settle for something less grandiose and moved it over to the little more ordinary Carol Street. About 6000 visitors flooded this street and danced to the grooves of Czech bands such as Clou, Mig 21 and Krystof. Many of them were holding a Czech wine in one hand and a slice of traditional Czech cheese or salami in the other. And of course, the biggest line was registered at the Czech beer stand. (more…)

If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!

 

Print This Post Print This Post

 

An actress and a hockey player are on a roll to become congressmen / Z herecky a hokejisty budou poslanci
June 9, 2009

Filed under: Czech NEWS — Tanja @ 11:59 pm
Tags: ,

Brozova and Slegr / ceskenoviny.cz image A well-known beautiful Czech actress Katerina Brozova has a new ‘hobby’. She has recently received a candidacy from the CSSD party for the upcoming October elections. If she were to  get a seat in the House of Commons she would like to concentrate on the culture related issues, she says. The leader of the party, Jiri Paroubek, is hoping that involving such celebrities like Brozova herself will help them getting more votes from the public. His ’smart’ technique has its critics however. The current CSSD congresman, Vlastimil Aubrecht, voices his sceptical oppinion: “I cannot imagine how can someone sit 3 weeks in a congress, then study the laws and manage his acting career on top of everything else”. According to mr. Aubrecht the opposition party (ODS) is being much smarter about this particular issue, putting their celebrities on the actual pitching billboards (which I also find more logical). (more…)

If you liked this post buy me a coffee! (Suggested:$3 a latte $8 for a pound) Thanks!

 

Print This Post Print This Post