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

March 8^th can be remembered differently amongst Czechs and Slovaks at home or abroad. This day used to be known as International Woman’s Day (IWD). It started as a political event and later it was mostly associated with the communist regime and red carnations. This holiday is similar to Mother’s Day and St. Valentine’s Day. It disappeared from our calendars for a while, but now it is back to bring awareness of the struggles and achievements of women around the world. Will you be one of people, who celebrate this day?

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

How would you rate democracy in the Czech Republic and Slovakia on a scale from 1 to 10? The question is not that easy and it requires consideration of many variables and a large pool of data. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has completed such study and according to their results, the Czech Republic showed a slight improvement in the EIU Index of Democracy in 2008. On the other hand, Slovakia’s index declined, compared to last year’s study results. The study was done in 167 countries and focused on the electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. Based on the total ranking numbers from all five categories, the Czech Republic fell in the full democracy range, whereas Slovakia fitted into the flawed democracies range.

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Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole

Check out our events for March 2009. Our list is changing frequently, thus, we recommend visiting this page often. We hope you like our new events calendar look. CLICK HERE.

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

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Podívejte na naše akce v březnu 2009. Náš rejstřík se často mění, a proto doporučujeme navštěvovat tuto stránku opakovaně. Doufáme, že se vám bude líbit nový vzhled kalendáře akcí. KLIKNĚTE ZDE.

Zapomněli jsme na vaši akci? Prosím, dejte nám vědět ZDE.

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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 …”)

(www.dmrf.org)

St. Valentine’s Day is still a relatively new holiday in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. This day was originally associated with love and feelings, but today it is mostly associated with shopping. This year might be different, though. Even though the Czech market is overwhelmed by items associated with this holiday, the Czechs will probably spend less and instead of going to restaurants, they will probably eat at home instead. The neighboring Slovaks won’t shop as much either but a recent public opinion poll showed that it will be probably due to their disfavor of this holiday. No matter what your financial situation is or how you feel about this holiday, there are other meaningful ways that you can celebrate this day and maybe do something good for others.

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

Last year Czech Railways started a new luxury ride called Bohemian Train. The tickets for this twenty-four hour ride cost about the same as a summer vacation abroad. About forty wealthy individuals have tried this first ride to Elton John’s concert in Berlin. Czech Railways have started this new program to gain more popularity amongst other forms of transportation. On the other hand, the efforts may not be enough since the ordinary customers are still riding in obsolete or poorly remodeled wagons. Will this behavior really attract Czech and Slovak travelers to use their service?

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Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole

Václav

Check out our events for February 2009. Our list is growing every day and we recommend visiting this page frequently. CLICK HERE.

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

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Podívejte na naše akce v únoru 2009. Náš rejstřík akcí roste kazdým dnem, a proto doporučujeme navštěvovat tuto stránku opakovaně. KLIKNĚTE ZDE.

Zapomněli jsme na vaši akci? Prosím, dejte nám vědět ZDE.

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

It has been twenty years since the fall of communism and when we look back, we are amazed how different we used to live. It may seem that the former Eastern Bloc countries have moved on towards independence and freedom, but is it really true? The recent affair with Russian natural gas showed us again how much these countries are still dependent on this powerful country. This was a tough time for Europe, but it showed that EU countries could overcome this burden by helping each other during tough times. What will they do to make sure this won’t happen again?

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

atm (www.wwatm.com)

Today, it has been exactly 20 years since the first ATM was installed in Prague at Wenceslas Square. It was not an on-line machine, as you know nowadays and was originally only available to employees of the Czech State Savings Bank. Later on, other, more sophisticated ATMs appeared and were available to the public, but even today Czech and Slovak ATMs have room to grow.

What does the ATM acronym really mean? It stands for Automated Teller Machine thus when ATMs are used for withdrawals or deposits of cash, no human intervention is needed. Moreover, you can use the service any time of the day or week. In the beginning, Czech and Slovak ATMs, were not that sophisticated as in other countries at that time but they somewhat evolved more than in other countries.

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

Airport (www.airdirect747.com)

The fact that the Czech Republic was added to the Visa Waiver Program is probably not new to you. You may not know, however, that many other countries were added to this program just recently, including countries that did not previously require visas to enter the USA. This has caused lots of problems for people that were not familiar with the new travel policy. For example, citizens of the United Kingdom would unknowingly still travel without this permit and then face deportation in the United States. Most Czechs and the Slovaks are probably already acquainted with this new process but maybe don’t know what it takes to obtain the permit. The information below could be helpful to many of you and can serve as a checklist to make sure you receive the permit and will be admitted to the United States of America.

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

Three Kings (www.studenec.cz)

Based on Czech and Slovak traditions, today is the last day, also known as the twelfth day, of Christmas. The 6th of January is celebrated as the Three Kings Day. During this day you can see children walking the streets caroling in their neighborhoods. It is also common today for many organizations to use this festive day for humanitarian activities to help others.

The three kings of three different countries, also known as wise men from the east, saw a bright star on the night when Christ was born. They followed it to Bethlehem and met the baby Jesus, to whom they gave three gifts: gold, myrrh and frankincense. Their names were Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar. Based on biblical stories, the three men represented three life stages - history, presence, and future (young, middle-aged, and old king). The oldest man also had a dark face that represented the shadow of death. Read the rest of this entry (Čtětě více ZDE) »