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

Zdenek Sverak is well known in the Czech entertainment world. This Czech actor, humorist, and writer found his new niche – writing books. Sverak was born on March 28th, 1936 in Prague. He studied pedagogy at Charles University in Prague. Throughout his career he was an author of several musical texts and also plays. He, however, never fulfilled his dream to write books with short stories. It was only recently that he fulfilled his dream when he finally wrote his book called “Povidky” that contains stories from times from 1966 till 2008. The book is full of humor, honesty, and meanings that will keep readers interested and entertained.

If you live abroad and are not familiar with Czech entertainment, you may have still heard of Zdenek Sverak. Among his famous film scripts stands out one written for a movie called “Kolja” (Kolya) – Academy Award winning film in 1996 that he also starred in. This was the second film he worked on with his son and director Jan Sverak after their first film “The Elementary School” that was nominated for an Academy Award. If you are interested in learning more about Czech movies, you can visit our page HERE.

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

Today, we have a special Culture Shock story for you. It was written by Katerina Erlebachova that lives in Ireland. After reading her experiences from abroad, you will find out that she is a great writer and possibly a new contributor to our articles. Hopefully, we will read more of her interesting stories soon and maybe on a different subject. Enjoy!

“How Other Places Are Different” 

Whenever I write an article I find it hard to know where to start. Mostly my ideas run into each other in a domino effect, biting each other’s backs like undernourished
crocodiles.
I’ve lived for three years in Ireland, so I wanted initially to write: ‘like undernourished sheep’, to give an Irish flavour. But I’ve never seen sheep bite each other in the back. Also, Irish sheep are well nourished. So I leave the job for crocodiles.
I wondered what I could offer on the subject of ‘Culture shock’.
I am sending a couple of experiences from the small city of Galway, located on a seaside on the west coast of a green and wet island of fairy rings, hugged by the ocean.

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

Recently, you had an opportunity to learn about scouting and its history in the Czech Republic. If you think of scouts, you may think of tents, summer activities and games, bonfires, and lots of fun. It is possible that you or your children may experience all that and more in summer camps. How great would it be if you can actually find a camp abroad that is dedicated to Czech or Slovak children and their friends? The one that we will introduce to you today is called Hostýn and it is the last remaining piece of property in the province of Quebec that is owned by the Czech and Slovak community. The camp was established by the Czech Jesuit P. Bohuslav Janíček and on May 9th it celebrated its 55th anniversary. The camp, however, had some dark times when it did not serve its original purpose, but the hard work and strong belief in supporting Czech and Slovak heritage brought the camp back to its former glory as it once was.

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

Today is Mother’s Day and many of us visit our mothers, mothers-in-law, grandmothers … to spend more precious time with them and celebrate their motherhood before these moments only become distant memories. Jana Reichova, a well known Czech author of articles in the magazine Pozitivni Noviny that lives in Australia, wrote a touching story about her mother. We believe it still applies to many of us around the world:

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

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

According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, about 260,000 foreigners are employed in the Czech Republic. More than one third of them work in the capital city, Prague. The statistics also include distribution according to each country. For example, 1,700 of the foreign workers come from the USA, 200 from Canada, and 160 from Australia that all either need or do not need a work permit. Foreigners are not the only ones seeking jobs outside of their home countries. Based on feedback that we have received and our own research, many young Czechs or Slovaks move abroad for studies or gaining professional expertise, and then they look for opportunities in their home countries. We have come across a portal that we will introduce to you that is a good source of information about new job postings but also employment statistics, employment offices, laws, and 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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Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole (Klikněte na “Read the rest …”)

Our website was originally created to close the gaps between Czechs and Slovaks abroad and their home country. Little did we know, that it would also serve as an information source for other people that are interested in our country and people, or that the interest in our articles would be bidirectional - read by our countrymen in the Czech Republic or Slovakia. Our site is not, however, the only site that offers information about both of these countries. About six months ago, we discovered a site that offers exquisite information about Slovakia from the perspective of a foreigner, therefore, giving valuable information to everybody that is planning on visiting the country for fun or even business.

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

Today, we have a story that is somehow relevant to our Culture Shocks series. The article reminds us that you should not forget to distinguish things you learn in a foreign country. Just a simple date format that you re-learn abroad can cause a huge mistake that can even be very costly:

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

Today we came across an article in the Prague Daily Monitor (PDM) named “Half of Czechs say there are too many foreigners in ČR. ” The title immediately caught our attention. Today, there are almost 2 million Czechs living abroad. The largest numbers of Czechs live in the USA, the country of people from around of world that has for hundreds of years accepted people from many countries. On the other hand, the Czech Republic is still mostly composed of Czechs (about 94%), followed by Slovaks, Poles, Germans, Ukrainians, Vietnamese, etc. The influx of immigrants for 2009 is estimated to be about 1 per 1000 people = 10,200 foreigners. During communism, there was a very minor foreign immigration to the Czech Republic. Did the recently growing numbers of immigrants create a resistance to other cultures?

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