More and more properties are being snapped up by foreigners residing in the Czech Republic. What exactly that means for the economy and culture is not clear yet. More readers for this blog perhaps.
More foreigners now keen on buying Czech real estate - Czechnews - Aktuálně.cz read more »
He's been a fixture on the Czech, German and general East European music scene since at least he mid-1960s. Started off with Rock'n'Roll and descended into broad pop in the 70s. Sold millions and millions of records and is the subject of adoration and derision in equal measure. Most Czechs and their parents have grown up listening to him and watching him win music contests. read more »
One of those glass half-full half-empty surveys.
Proud to be Czech, but leave the politics aside - Czechnews - Aktuálně.cz read more »
Záchytka is a wonderful Czech word that stands for the institution for the collection of drunken (and possibly disorderly) individual wondering city streets occasionally referred to in English as 'drunk tank' or ' read more »
Listen to what it was like to be a Velvet Revolutionary in this discussion between Bohemica's Dominik Lukeš and Eamonn Burgess on Future Radio 96.9FM. This discussion was part of the Community Chest programme guest-hosted by Dominik on 16 November 2007.
Lots of cycling stories in the Czech press this last week. Czechs seem to be buying lots of cycles but don't like to think of them as a commuting device but rather one for getting some exercise in. Prague is becoming a bit more cycle-commute friendly but it's still more the exception than the rule. read more »
Now this could be both bad and good news. While the country is not seen as attractive for these types of services it is also not seen as a source of cheap labor.
This is an interesting story about expatriate adjustment of people who are not like the stereotypical American expats. read more »
It is hard to say whether this law will actually strengthen xenophobia in Czech lands but it certainly makes things more difficult for immigrants. This may be partly tied to the upcoming Schengen union. read more »
Pavel Vondra » Yes, we speak English here Another milestone in Czech online journalism, or a tragically miscalculated flop? You be the judge. read more »
U.S. University of Nebraska celebrates 100 years of Czech lessons - Czech republic read more »
Jossip Brad And Angie Take A Rain Czech Ditch Boring Senators In Favor Of Glam Hollywood Film July 12th, 2007 » 2 Comments angelina-jolie-pensivemic.JPG According to Us Weekly, Angelina Jolie hasn’t exactly been living up to her (honorary) title as U.N. Ambassador. Reportedly, the pro-adoption humanitarian recently left the Czech senate hanging, canceling a planned get-together in Prague in order to wrap up shooting her latest film, Wanted.read more »
Texas Czech group working to preserve traditions - 21-06-2007 - Radio PragueThe first Czechs began settling in Texas in the 1850s and within five decades there were around 250 Czech communities in the state. Today one of the organisations keeping the community's traditions alive is the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Centre. This week John Polasek, a member of its board of directors, was in Prague on behalf of the centre to receive an award from the Czech Foreign Ministry. He told me about its activities. read more »
MF DNES
Praha - Pražský hotel Riverside je osmý nejluxusnější na celém světě. Na osmé místo se dostal v prestižní anketě portálu Tripadvisor, který každý rok oceňuje nejlepší hotely z celého světa.
Two hotels in Prague made it to the top 10 in a survey of hotel visitors from around the world conducted by Tripadvisor. Riverside is 8th (4th in Europe) and Le Palais 10th.
It should be of note that neither of these hotels has a Czech or even Czech sounding name and that one read more »
Czech children not poor, but have emotional problems - UNICEF
Czech children do not suffer from poverty and they have good health care and education as compared to children from some two tens of developed countries, but they have more problems in relations with parents and peers, according to a study that UNICEF released today.
Czech Republic came 11th in the overall score beating USA, France and UK (all three often featured as role models in socio-economic areas). Czechs were 11th, 10th and 9th in financial position, health and education respectively and it's infant mortality rates are one of the lowest but their overall ranking was brought down by "assessment of relations between children and their peers, and children and their parents." where CR scored 19th (ahead only of UK and US). Here are some other quotes from the article about the report. read more »
Češi zrušení víz za radar nevymění, ukázal průzkum - iDNES.cz
Čechům nestojí zrušení víz do USA za to, aby souhlasili s umístěním amerického radaru v Brdech. Podle průzkumu RCA Research má takový názor 48,6 % lidí. Výměnu za víza by bralo 31,4 %. Radar nejčastěji odmítají Jihočeši a lidé bez maturity.
Two of the most significant sticking points in Czech American relations are the continued requirement for visas for Czechs visiting the US and now also the suggested military base with a Star Wars-like radar. read more »
Changes and challenges in Czech education
The Education Act passed in 2004 calls for the standardization of the matriculation examination (ME). After finishing compulsory education, Czech students choose one track from either academic (gymnasia), secondary technical or vocational. Students from academic and secondary technical tracks finish their studies with a ME that allows them to apply to universities. Traditionally, the ME has consisted of a written and oral examination on Czech and one foreign language, and an oral examination on two eligible subjects. In accordance with the act, beginning in the 2007 academic year, all students must sit for a standardized test in Czech and foreign languages, and a third subject chosen from science, information technology, mathematics or civics. read more »
Potoky "druhých slzí" - www.lidovky.cz
PRAHA 4. února 2007 | 13:45 V Česku se prý moc slavnostně nepohřbívá. Čas od času proběhnou médii zprávy o tom, že velká část pohřbů proběhne bez obřadu, v některých oblastech to je snad až šedesát procent. Je hodně pozůstalých, kteří si do pohřebního ústavu zapomenou přijít pro urnu, když uplyne lhůta, popel se vysype... někam.
Karel Svoboda, a well-known composer died recently, apparently committing suicide leading to a great amount of attention from the media and the public. This led Lidové Noviny to publish an article that has some interesting information about Czech funereal practices. Apparently, these happen typically with a minimum of pomp. As many as 60% of all funerals happen without a ceremony (I know of several families where that is a tradition) and supposedly quite a few urns with ashes are not collected from funeral homes. This is undoubtedly connected with the high level of atheism - up to 60% - which means that many Czechs don't have an easy access to a ritualized and institutionalized expression of grief and mourning. read more »
The Electric New Paper, Singapore - The Electric New Paper Sports
LIKE Maria Sharapova, Nicole Vaidišová is a product of the Nick Bollettieri Academy in Florida and has developed an American accent.But she bristles at suggestions she is no longer a true Czech.
Unlike Sharapova, who was born in Russia but hasn't lived there for years, Vaidisova still resides in Prague and says it will always be home.
'I think in every single sense I am Czech. Deep down, I'm Czech. Czech Republic is home for me,' she said. read more »
Mayor Šulc’s Astounding 2010 Directive is the title of a short story that has just won a prize of £300 in a writing competition run by the British Czech & Slovak Association. The author is Adam Daniel Mezei.
The story set in a Prague in 2010, which secedes from a Czechia which is controlled by a Communist revisionist government, and which in turn is part of an imperial Euro superstate. It explores the extraordinary consequences of political changes in the far from distant future – where Language Police patrol restaurants, and where Prague (Mayor Šulc’s ‘Inner District’) resorts to a helicopter airlift to take passengers to the airport to avoid the random searches and hefty tolls imposed by the Communist authorities. It’s one of several stories Adam submitted to the competition that tackle rather different, often unsettling subjects. (From BCSA Press Release) read more »
News - Check out Czech Republic for property investment - Real Estate TV A change in VAT laws in the Czech Republic is set to see an increase in the number of Britons investing in the country, according to a spokesperson for Property Secrets.
The VAT rule alterations, due to come into effect in 2008, coupled with the accelerated growth in the economy are set to drive property investment in the Czech Republic in the next few years.
What more can be said? The number of read more »
A complete text (all in Czech) of a book survey of Czech exile literature between 1971 and 1989 was made available by the author on the University of Glasgow's Slavonic Studies Department website. read more »
Finally, Czechs can leave their passports or IDs at home when travelling to any of their neighbouring countries. The Schengen zone has embraced a bunch of new countries including all those that share a border with Czech Republic. read more »
In a strange imaginary league table of worldwide taxation, Czech Republic came in the 113th place. That is not good! read more »
The Prague street that joins into the bottom of Wenceslas square came 20th in the world ranking of the most expensive streets in the world (down from 18th a year ago). Rents there reach 2000 EUR per square meter a year. Paradoxically, the Czech name translates literally as "on the ditches". read more »
Czech Republic is one of the less popular countries in the EU in the number of Asylum Claims with only about 0.3 claims per 1000 inhabitants compared to 1.6 of neighboring Austria or 2.7 of Sweden (Cyprus leads the chart with 6). In total 3016 people claimed asylum in the Czech Republic last year which is almost 25% down on the 4000 claims in 2003. read more »
I remember there used to be a lot of Polish workers working on construction and other projects in the 1980s and it seems that they are coming back. And why not? read more »
Well, what do you know. Czech pivo (which is really more than just beer) really is best in the world. Budvar (aka the real Budweiser - as in actually made in Budweis and actually being beer) beat hundreds of other lagers from all over the world to win the prize. Bohemica.com is not surprised! read more »
The Prague Post Online: Tempo: Czechs on film: Among Hollywood's outstanding directors were and still are Gustav Machatý, Miloš Forman and Ivan Passer. Jan Tříska, Herbert Lom, Karel Roden and Jan Rubeš rank among the more prominent current Czech film actors, while other names such as Francis Lederer, Hugo Haas and Vera Hruba-Ralston lurk in the past. Erich Korngold towers among film composers and Miroslav Ondříček among cameramen, while a plethora of little-known but no less capable Czech stuntmen helped make movies such as Titanic and Gladiator into classics. read more »
Pražská šunka se vrací - iDNES.cz Kdo neví, jak chutná tradiční Pražská šunka od kosti, ať si koupí letenku. Ochutnat ji může v italském Terstu, v Berlíně, ve Spojených státech nebo i v Austrálii. V Česku zatím ne.read more »
Weddings arranged by agencies increasingly popular in Czech Republic - 13-02-2007 - Radio Prague
If you have been to a Czech wedding any time in the last few decades, you are probably familiar with the classic format: the same bleak communist-era town hall with an uninterested official repeating the same old clichés, the same Wedding March, and even the exact same menu in a local restaurant afterwards. But just as so many other things have changed in Czech society in recent years, Czechs weddings, too, are becoming a whole different affair. read more »
Applicants for Czech visas to need fingerprints, photographs - Prague Daily Monitor
Fingerprints and photographs of applicants for Czech visas coming from countries which do not have visa-free relations with the Czech Republic and other EU countries will start to be gradually taken at diplomatic missions as from August 2008, the Czech Foreign Ministry told CTK today.
The visa empire strikes back. But making it more difficult for people to visit is probably the price Czech Republic has to pay for being in the EU. (Although, the old bureaucratic procedures are easy to resurrect.) read more »
Patria: Češi budou na stát dělat do 22. června - iDNES.cz
Češi budou letos pracovat na stát do 22. června, tedy stejně jako loni. Den daňové svobody připadne podle propočtů Patria Finance na 173. den v roce. Od onoho okamžiku si pomyslně budou Češi moci nechat svůj příjem pro sebe, do té doby jej budou odevzdávat státu.
Another example of American perspectives being imposed on Czech affairs. Czech newspapers now use the Tax Freedom Day concept to describe the Czech taxation system. But it makes it easier to compare the tax burden: read more »
MF DNES Praha - Praha je šestým nejnavštěvovanějším místem v Evropě.
„Ale když se podíváme na počet obyvatel, tak z první desítky turisticky atraktivních destinací je Praha suverénně nejmenší, proto je v centru několikanásobně vyšší koncentrace lidí než v jiných metropolích,“ vysvětluje Tomio Okamura z Asociace cestovních kanceláří a agentur.
Prague is the sixth most visited place in Europe, it seems (behind places like Paris, Rome, London, probably, the article doesn't say). But it is the smallest of the top ten most visited places and as a result most crowded. The one million three hundred thousand inhabitants are joined by another four million visitors every year who mostly come to visit the historic center which has one of the narrowest streets of the popular destinations. Part of the problem is the fact that the outskirts of Prague are not particularly appealing, ringed as it is by bland-looking apartment housing blocks (Note: which I personally find beautiful on many levels) so the tourists have no other outlets. (Note: this is not strictly speaking true there many places off the beaten track in Prague worth visiting but the concentrated beauty of the architectural Disneyland of the historic center makes them not as attractive.) read more »
Tiscali Europa It's not all beer and the Vltava you know... Ten countries in Central Europe and the Mediterranean joined the European Union in 2004 - how well do you know them? Can you tell a Becherovka from a Jan Huss? Or a Škoda from a Schroeder? Try your luck with our great photo quizzes... but make a mistake and you get sent back to the beginning!
Tiscali Europe has provided this fun quiz on what is important to know about the Czech Republic. They hit many of the major points (although they read more »
Češi propadli adopci na dálku - www.lidovky.cz
Odborníci mají pro rostoucí zájem o adopce na dálku vysvětlení. Zatímco dříve byla z drtivé většiny motivace lidí dána výchovou – tedy že lidem v nouzi by se mělo pomáhat – nyní vstupuje do hry nový motiv. „I když ta touha pomáhat chudým převládá, motivace pramení i z dobrých materiálních poměrů Čechů, jejichž životní úroveň se každým rokem zvyšuje,“ konstatovala za občanské sdružení Adra Marie Racková. Organizace Adra zprostředkovala dálkové sponzorství pro 1100 dětí v Bangladéši. read more »
Czechs give go-ahead for US 'son of star wars' base | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited
The Czech government has announced that it wants to host a large US military site for the Pentagon's much-criticised missile shield system, confirming for the first time that Washington had asked Prague for permission to build a radar site for the national missile defence programme.
Not much to say. The long fascination of the Czech Republic with the US continues. Of course, there's also the visa problem...
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