traditions

YouTube video on Slovak Christmas / YouTube video o slovenskych Vanocich

It’s been a while since I posted but the truth is that Christmas has been really busy for me. Getting the tree ready, baking Czech Christmas cookies, sending Christmas cards, Christmas parties…..oh my! And the preparations are far from done or perfect. For instance, I wanted to make linzer cookies today but I could not find the cookie cutters!!!! I was so mad but also determined so I ended up using plato cookie cutters. That is why we have cookies in a shape of a butterfly, a pretzel, a strawberry, a horse….not very Christmasy but hey! Why not….

To put us in the mood I selected a YouTube video about Slovak Christmas this time. It is very nicely done and it allows you to see the similarities/differences when compared to the Czech Christmas. Actually, I don’t think I have even seen any kind of differences in the movie. Could any one of you Slovak folks fill us in on that? [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Christmas, traditions

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Another Czech Fairytale: The cockerel and the hen / O kohoutkovi a slepicce

cockerel google imageOne day the cockerel and the hen went to pick some berries. Then hen found a strawberry, ate one half and gave the other half to the cockerel. In a little while the cockerel found a strawberry too but because he was stingy, he did not want to share it with the hen and ate the whole berry. Well, it got stuck in his throat and he began to choke. “Go and bring me some water from the well,” he whispered to the hen. The hen runs to the well and begs, “Dear well, give me some water for the poor cockerel. A strawberry got stuck in his throat and now he is choking in the courtyard. ” I can’t give you water until you bring me a scarf.” The hen runs to the seamstress named Anicka. “Anicka, Anicka, give me a scarf for the well. The well will give me water for the cockerel, who is choking in the courtyard. “I can’t give you a scarf until you bring me  some shoes.” The hen runs to the shoemaker named Matous. “Matous, Matous! Give me some shoes for Anicka the seamstress. I will  take them to her and she will give me a scarf. I will take the scarf to the well who will give me water for the cockerel, who is choking in the courtyard.” [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: animals, children, literature, traditions

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Google search: who eats ca…? /Kdo ji k……?

Last night I took a long look at our fat cat. And then I started thinking about how did she become so fat (we give her the same food but then she is getting older…) and that train of thought made me ask myself: “Who eats cats?”. Certain nations eat dogs but I had no clue about cats. So I asked my smart husband and he didn’t know either. And so we started a long quest that took us days to accomplish….just kidding! [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: animals, Christmas, humor, pets, traditions

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Traditional Czech Easter – the way Lenka remembers it / Tradicni ceske Velikonoce, jak si je pamatuje Lenka

scan0026cropedI have got an absolutely amazing Easter post for you!!! It is written by one of the CMD readers, Lenka, who grew up in a country so she experienced the REAL DEAL Czech Easter. Her story is very entertaining as well as educational – the perfect combination :0) Thank you so much, Lenka!

CZ: Mam pro vas naprosto uzasnou velikonocni povidku!! Napsala ji Lenka, verna cternarka CMD a opravdu moc se ji to povedlo. Lenka vyrostla na venkove, coz znamena, ze jejich Velikonoce nebyly ani o trosicku osizene. Nejen ze je jeji esej zabavna, ale hodne se toho take naucite. Tak mockrat dekujeme, Lenko!

Traditional Czech Easter – the way I remember

by Lenka

I have been living in the US for the last 12 years and I have learned to appreciate Easter here.  However, now as I have children I miss our Easter more each year.
I grew up in a city in Northern Bohemia, but I think of myself as a country girl.  We have spent every holiday, break and weekend with my grandparents in the country.  So I have mixed memories of Easter.  Easter was celebrated different in the country then in the city.  For me, the Easter in the country was more sincere, more about the tradition, even if it got crazy.  Our grandfather would gather young weeping willow branches in February or March each year to let them cure for weeks before he would weave it into pomlazka.  Why use young branches?  By whipping the girls on Easter day you would transfer the youth, the health and the flexibility from the young cured branches into the girls (of all ages of course ☺ ) We would later decorate the pomlazka with colorful ribbons of streamers. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: Czech Easter, holidays, traditions

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Very merry Czech-Slovak festival in San Diego / Vydareny Cesko-Slovensky festival v San Diegu

Just a couple of days ago San Diego was having a Czech-Slovak festival which turned out to be so much fun that it actually appeared in the Slovak news!
CZ: V San Diegu se konal Cesko-Slovensky festival a bylo tam tak rusno, ze se to dostalo i do samotnych slovenskych zprav!

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Tagged as: Czechs in San Diego, festivals, Slovakia, traditions

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Great video on the life of Czech-Americans! / Vyborne video o zivote Cecho-Americanu!

This is a must-see movie! It is entertaining and educational, you get a close look at one Czech-American family, learn how to make Czech puppets and discover how to cook a true Svickova or Bramboraky from a Czech chef himself.
Get a bowl of popcorn, make yourself comfortable and here we go! Click on the link below:

CZ: Toto je opravdu super reportaz of zivote Cecho-Americanu. Nejen ze se seznamite s Cesko-Americkou rodinou pana Jacoba Simonse, ale naucite se take, jak vyrobit ceskou pohadkovou loutku nebo se muzete naucit varit Svickovou a Bramboraky od sameho sefkuchare restaruace Zlata Praha. Takze se hezky uvelebte a jedem! Klikntete na nize uvedeny link.

http://www.ebru.tv/en/genres/LifestyleCulture/world-in-america/episodes/5/505-czech-americans

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Tagged as: art, Czechs in New York, food, traditions

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Czech events for October 2010 / Ceske akce na rijen 2010

Here is an exciting calendar of Czech and Slovak activities for October. We are blessed this month to be visited by Czech bands like MIG-21, Druha Trava AND Marta KUBISOVA!!!! Not very many Czech Halloween parties though….actually to be exact, there are none.
CZ: Tento mesic nas prijede navstivit slavna ceska kapela MIG-21, take Druha Trava a nekecam, take Marta KUBISOVA!!! To je pocta. Zatim jsem neobjevila zadnou ryze CS halloweenovskou party…..a Dusickove party se moc neporadaji ;0)
1. New York, NY

What: Czech Street Festival
When: 10/2/2010

What: “Growing up in NYC (Helen was born in Prague and raised in Manhattan…)
When: 10/7/2010

What: Concert of MIG 21 (popular Czech pop-rock band)
When: 10/26

What: Czech and Slovak Fairytales (Puppet theatre)
When: 10/30/2010 [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: food, Halloween, music, traditions

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Trouble with cherries / Problemy s tresnemi

cherry earrings Svěrák wrote a childrens’ song that talks about cherry earrings and my daughter and I like it very much. I have explained to her in  great detail what cherry earrings are and was impatiently waiting for the first summer months until cherries finally appear in the stores. Then Hahna could taste them for the first time in her life, but most importantly, she gets to wear the true cherry earrings.

Cherry earrings bring a whole bunch of memories for me. They are the true signature of a Czech summer. How else would you spend a perfect summer afternoon than by sitting high up in a cherry tree, crunching on those big and juicy cherries right off the tree? I don’t know how about you but we would usually end up eating way too many of them and then have an upset stomach.

Anyhow, when we purchased our first bag of this summer season, I was kind of disappointed. The cherries were not as crunchy as what I remember them to be from my childhood AND the distributor cut the pairs in half so there was NO WAY one could make cherry earrings out of them! By miracle, I managed to find ONE pair that was left intact and I victoriously presented it to Hahna. I then proceeded to put it on her little ear – it truly felt like a wedding ceremony – the moment felt so significant for both of us! [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: children, humor, traditions

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Czech jokes: funny and cruel at the same time? / Ceske vtipy: vtipne a zaroven krute?

laughing image on flickrI was thinking about making post about Czech jokes the other day, about how funny and yet so cruel they can be! The first google result brought me to the My Czech Republic forum where participants talk just about this particular topic. One of the participant’s response (Petr B) was especially helpful in forming these following ideas. He says: “About Czech jokes. I don’t think we have those “how many … takes to exchange a bulb”, “knock-knock” or “lawyer” jokes…”. He is right, I did not even realize that! Here are some of the categories that me and the forum guy came up with:

CZ: Chtela jsem napsat post o ceskych vtipech a pri svem googlovani jsem natrefila na forum My Czech Republic, kde se lide bavili prave o tomto tematu. Jedna osoba (Petr B) byla velmi dulezita pri formovani techto skupin:

1. Chauvinist/Feminist jokes

1. Feminists from all over the world are having a huge meeting. On the stage appears an English feminist and says: “I came home, I hit the table with my wrist and said to my husband:”I am not cooking from now on”. I see nothing the first week or the second week, but the first week I see my husband cooking dinner.” The hall vibrates with a great applause. The second guest speaker is a German feminist and says: “I came home, hit the table with my fist and said to my husband: ” I am not doing laundry from now on!”. I see nothing the first week or the second week. The third week, I see my husband doing the laundry.” Even greater applause came from the audience. Then the Czech feminist goes on stage and says: “I came home, hit the table with my fist and said to my husband: “From now on, I am not cooking or doing the laundry.” The first week I see nothing; the second week I see nothing; when third week rolls around I am starting to see with one eye.” [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: humor, traditions, YouTube

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What is, according to Czechs, the most important thing in life? / Co je podle Cechu v zivote nejdulezitesi?

family google image

When were were back in the Czech Republic the last time my cousin asked my husband: “Why did you guys get married if you weren’t pregnant?” We gave him kind of a blank stare back, not knowing how to respond. For love? Isn’t that usually the reason why do people get married? But according to  the Ceske Noviny newspaper 59% of Czechs  did get married because of their offspring. What is interesting is that 70% of those who participated in the poll think of an ideal family as having 2 children – no more, no less. This has been a wide spread thought for quite some time, say  the statistical analysts. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: children, marriage, statistics, traditions

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