Czechmatediary

Remember, when you guys were filling out a Ivana’s questionnaire in order for her to complete her Master’s thesis on Czech-Americans? Well, the results are here! Ivana did a great job and since it is quite a long and meaty essay I cut it up into parts (I did not want our brains to explode):

CZ: Pamatujete is lidicky, jak jste pred nedavnem vyplnovali Ivanin dotaznik? Iva ho totiz potrebovala k dokonceni sve diplomky, zabivajici se tematem dnesich Cecho-Americanu. Moc se ji  esej povedla, ale jelikoz je to kusanec poradne prace, rozdelila jsem to na casti, aby se nam z tech informaci neprevarily mozky:

21st century – the Czech-Americans questionnaire survey

by Ivana Stavarova

Following the time line this chapter describes the lives of Czech-Americans in the 21st century. There are very little sources concentrating on this particular group of people now when borders are open and there does not exist any severe political, religious or social pressures that stand as push factors, especially any factors serious enough to push the citizens of an independent, free, and relatively prosperous Czech Republic to move to the USA and seek better lives there. (more…)

To add to the diversity of this blog I decided I am going to introduce you to the world of Czech and Slovak fairy tales (and if you know all about them it may just be a good review for you). Since we are currently in the middle of – for some of us – quite the hash winter, there is no better suited children’s tale than the one about the Twelve Months (O Dvanacti Mesickach). I found it translated into English  in the “Hudba in the Czech Republic” blog and that person did a marvelous job (Czech translation can be found here):

CZ: Ahoj! Tak jsem si rikala, ze bych mohla k pestrosti tohoto blogu take pridat treba pohadky. Vestina lidi ted dosti mrzne, tak jsem si rikala, ze je velmi vhodne venovat se pohadce O dvanacti mesickach, co rikate? Anglicky preklad jsem nasla na blogu zvanem “Hudba in the Czech Republic” a cesky preklad muzete najit zde (kliknete zde).

ONCE UPON A TIME there lived a mother who had two daughters. One was her own child, the other her stepdaughter. She was very fond of her own daughter, but she would not so much as look at her step-daughter. The only reason was that Maruša, the stepdaughter, was prettier than her own daughter, Holena. The gentle-hearted Maruša did not know how beautiful she was, and so she could never make out why her mother was so cross with her whenever she looked at her. She had to do all the housework, tidying up the cottage, cooking, washing, and sewing, and then she had to take the hay to the cow and look after her. She did all this work alone, while Holena spent the time adorning herself and lazing about. But Maruša liked work, for she was a patient girl, and when her mother scolded and rated her, she bore it like a lamb. (more…)

The first tangible sign of Christmas was our (the kids) letter to Jesus. Yes, that’s right, in the Czech Republic Jesus brings the presents while Santa is on vacation ( I also remember bragging to my fellow classmates at school when I was about 7 years old that I saw Jesus’ feet just as he was flying out of our apartment window). When my brother and I were really little and didn’t know how to write yet, we would draw out the list of things we wanted for Christmas and put it behind the window so that Jesus could get a better look at it. My list always looked something like this:
1)  dog
2)  cat
3) Barbie

…..And I would usually end up getting a bunch of clothes that were 2 to 3 sizes bigger so that I could wear it for the next 8 years.

Second, getting the Christmas tree. I don’t remember much about that. The only thing I remember is how frustrated my parents would get trying to fit the stem into the tree stand. They kept trimming the stem down but somehow it never seemed to fit! But that is probably just a universal law….

Third, getting the carp. That event I remember quite vividly. Since I am a big animal lover, going out and buying a carp was a stressful day for me. I remember feeling so sorry for those fish at the seller’s stand, how stuffed they all were in this one tiny bucket with about 6 ounces of water in it and no room to breathe. (more…)

Happy belated Halloween! Although I am not a big of fan of Halloween ( why the heck would I celebrate ghosts and witches and dead people??) I do like to dress up. You see, the Czechs don’t have Halloween at all; we celebrate the All Saint’s Day on November 2nd which is nothing like Halloween. People basically go to the cemeteries during the day and lay candles on their beloved’s graves to honor and remember them. “Well, do you guys ever dress up??”, you may wonder. And yes, we do! Except it is not on any particular day; it may be any day of the year and we call it the Carnival. I used to love carnivals when I was a kid. My mom would always make us our costumes, some year better than others, depending on if she was in a “carnival mood” or not. One time she made my brother a robot costume made out of old cardboard boxes and a bunch of aluminum foil. My brother won that year. (more…)

The Czech Republic, one of Europe’s largest fish producers, has one of the lowest rates of fish consumption. Freshwater fish like carp and sander are being exported to all over the world, meanwhile most Czechs eat fish (carp) only once a year during Christmas. The Minister of Agriculture, Petr Gandalovic reveals some possible explanations to this fish mystery:

1. customers have to prepare the fish by themselves, meaning one has to gut the fish – not a pleasant thing to do for most people
2. The stores now do offer filleted fish but it is still not common in the Czech Republic so people are a little intimidated by that (more…)

I love anything with potatoes (makes sense since it is genetically wired into my Czech genes): potato pancakes (Bramboraky), potato soup (Bramboracka), mashed potatoes (alone!), and most of all the Potato Salad! There are so many variations on this dish, and as my friend educated me the other day there is the “poor” version (potatoes, canned root of celery and mayo) and the “salad-for-the-rich” version, meaning that it includes “fancy” ingredients such as meat and eggs I chose to do the rich version just because it tends to be more interesting and also a little more tasty: (more…)

I found an article about the evolution of Czech gardens, a process that started to unwind in the Czech Republic along with its new democracy in 1989. I was extremely surprised at those new looks! It’s not just a big, long lawn with couple of prune trees in the corner and a tool shed in the other one. No, we are talking about swimming pools, little bridges over man-made creeks, rose gardens….you name it! Czechs are also starting to hire someone else to do the work for them. To find out more about this topic click right here.

CZ: Ceske zahrady se dosti zmnenily od te doby, co v Cechach zavladla demokracie. Uz to neni jenom posekany travnik se svestkou v jedom rohu a kulnou na naradi v druhem rohu. Prave naopak! Bazeny, roztomile mustky pres umele ricky, tisice roztodivnych kvetin…..opravdove pohadkove zahradky. Vice o tomto tematu si prectete zde.

Almost 40% of Czechs own a dog, which is more people than in Germany, France or Great Britain. Moreover, 20% of those “outsiders” without a dog are actually thinking about getting one in the future! What “secret” is hidden behind these high statistical figures? Why do Czechs love dogs so much? Besides the the obvious universal reasons such as their unconditional love and devotion, Vladimira Ticha, the spokesman for the Czech dog breeder’s union adds some more specific facts: (more…)

I know how everyone of us poor Czech/Slovak souls living abroad, suffer without real Czech bread and that is why I went on a recipe hunt. And I found one. When I first read it though, I thought I was going to either faint or have an anxiety attack. It looked so complicated!!! “Well, I will at least give it a try, just for the heck of it”, I told myself. And I have to tell you, it was actually a lot of fun! Sure it takes couple of days to prepare the sourdough, but it really takes up like 1 minute per day – very easy and very worth it! When my first loaf came out of that oven I just couldn’t believe the fact that it looked like a real loaf of bread! And when I tasted it I became even more amazed as it not only looked but also tasted like a REAL Czech bread!

PS: FOR A QUICK VERSION CLICK HERE (more…)

The internet pages of the iDnes magazine re-created the communist shopping mall and it is AWESOME! Talking about reminiscing, this will definitely bring back some weird memories (I mean who didn’t have Krasohled!!!! – see picture above)…… (more…)