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About a month ago we had an opportunity to meet Stefanie Vocasek. She is a young woman of Czech origin, who was born in the United States and knows a lot about her Czech heritage. Stefanie is 22 years old and lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is not only a student, but also has two jobs to support her independent and fascinating life. On top of that she just started making appearances at local elementary schools and events speaking about her Czech heritage. She has recently become the Czech-Slovak Queen of Lincoln and we were thrilled to find out more about her and how the Queen selection process works. We also wanted to find out how she was able to learn about Czech heritage so remote from the country her ancestors came from.

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Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole (Klikněte na “Read the rest …”)

Exactly 20 years ago, Eva Střížovská came up with a great idea that led her to the foundation of a magazine called Český dialog (Czech Dialogue). During that time Czechoslovakia became free of communism right after the Velvet Revolution. The country was going through major changes and its citizens were finally free to travel to almost any country in the world. As Czechs were able to travel abroad, the Czech emigrants had a chance to travel back to their home country. Here the magazine served its great purpose to help people to overcome barriers and differences between the Czechs at home and their countrymen that were artificially created by the Communists. Over the years, the magazine became very popular and it not only helped to overcome these differences, but it also led to foundation of the International Czech Club connecting Czechs around the world through cultural events, discussions, meetings and much more.

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Czech and Slovak Scouts had a tough past during communism and the Nazi regime. Their activities that taught young children democracy were prohibited. This youth organization is on the rise again and on the 24^th of April it celebrates a holiday for two main reasons. This day is dedicated to Svaty Jiri (St. George) in the calendar of Czech name days or Svaty Juraj in the Slovak calendar. The British funder of the scouts, Robert Baden-Powell, chose St. George as the scout’s patron saint for his good scouting qualities: faith, truthfulness, and dedication to help others. This day is also dedicated in remembrance of 18 Czech scouts that were executed at a Jewish cemetery in Poland. This holiday is, therefore, very significant for all young people with strong values and respect for others that fought for democracy in the past.

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Helena Houdova is not only known as a Czech model but also as a philanthropist with a passion to help disadvantaged children around the world. Her charity named Sunflower Children is known around the world for helping many children thanks to the generous donations of people that attend her events and galas in many foreign countries: poker events, golf outings, film festivals and more. Just yesterday, Houdova started a new campaign right on the New York Times Square named Save a Baby from HIV, where people can text the word SUN to 90999 to donate $5 to her charity. The billboard depicts a woman holding a disadvantaged child with a very simple message to people willing to help. The woman on the image is the Czech model herself.

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As we, Czechs living in the USA, Canada, England, Australia, etc. , are trying to assimilate in a new country, the expats in the Czech Republic are doing exactly the same. Today, English is spoken in many countries or it is taught as a second language. For example, 89% of students in the European Union learn English as their second language. We can’t say the same about the Czech language. It is not only rarely taught in Europe and other foreign counties, but it is also one of the hardest languages to learn. If we add our culture, customs, and traditions to this learning experience, we can talk about enormous culture shock and a tough life in the Czech Republic for any foreigner from around the world. Luckily, there are online resources to help others to learn about the country and life in the Czech Republic. The new Brno ExPats Forum does exactly that and it was created by two expats living and working in Brno.

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Last month we switched to a new way of announcing current events. Since many of you visit the “CURRENT EVENTS” page regularly, there is no need to send you reminders. Don’t forget that our list is changing frequently, thus, we recommend visiting this page regularly. CLICK HERE.

Did we miss your event? Please, let us know HERE.

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Last year we already introduced Meetups to you – meeting groups that are created by people of similar interests. Meetups are also important for our culture since they allow us, countrymen, to meet together to share our experiences from living abroad, to speak our language, and feel like at home. In order to bring you the current events, we try to stay connected with Czech and Slovak Meetups in the USA and Canada. Announcing events, however, would not be enough to describe how great it is that these groups exist. That is why we are introducing to you the Czech Language Meetup in Canada. Our friends at CanadianCzech.com allowed us not only to write about the group but also bring you the atmosphere through the audio interview available here but also at the site named above.

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We know that it is probably difficult to stay optimistic during the tough economic slowdown, but we believe our positive thinking can help us to cope with the situation, learn from it, or even turn it around. We are not actually trying to talk about the economy today, but about our new partner Pozitivni Noviny (Positive News) that has lots to do with thinking positive. Why? Because it brings exceptional articles, information, stories, interviews, essays, ideas, recommendations, thoughts, and more. You can read them any time, no matter what day or year it is now, because they will always bring something warm and enticing to give you strength to live, learn, and thrive.

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Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole (Klikněte na “Read the rest …”)
On February 23rd, a third year of the international festival against totalitarianism “Mene Tekel” has started. The cultural event accompanying the Czech presidency in the EU Council will last one week. During this time, people will revisit memories and hear testimonies of former political prisoners. The festival will also include artistic reflections of totalitarianism in films, books by living legends, verses of imprisoned men and woman, historians’ views, and much more.

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Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole (Klikněte na “Read the rest …”)

It is not the first or last time that we have talked about different opportunities that will keep you connected with the home country. One of the most requested and popular ways to stay in touch with our language and happenings at home is, of course, the television. That is not a problem these days since we can watch Czech and Slovak movies, documentaries, news, or popular TV series through the Internet. Why not add to our list of online television stations? Today, you can read about TV Noe (Noah) - Good News Television that will keep you entertained, while opening your eyes and bringing new values to your lives.

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It has been twenty years since the end of Communism in the former Czechoslovakia. Today, many adults of ages 40 and above still remember what it used to be like to live in a communist country. Some of them even attempted to escape the regime by illegal crossings through a border line with the western countries that was symbolically called the Iron Curtain. Many children today don’t know much about the tough times during the communist regime and even schools don’t teach them about this important part of the Czech and Slovak history. The change is emerging soon, however, since a new history curriculum is being tested at selected schools.  Possibly a new video for small children describing the end of the Iron Curtain by the Czech government will introduce a new way of teaching about the history of former Czechoslovakia after World War II.

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Manhattan New York

The Czech Republic is getting lots of attention during its EU Presidency. During its six month presidency rotation we can expect many activities organized by the Czech government. The theme for this presidency rotation is “Europe without Barriers.” To prove the barriers can be overcome, two concerts in London and New York were performed by musicians from different countries or by people that have never played together before. The outcome of both concerts was very positive - all musicians were able to communicate with each other without long practice and preparation and the audience was thrilled.

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