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Week 38 & 39 of 2034 (Year in Review)
The middle weeks of September were challenging, to say the least. I first saw some inklings that there was a very severe weather event blowing our way mid-week 38 and when the rains came, they came. They arrived. It started raining sometime on Thursday and didn’t stop until later on Monday. Not only does that seem like a downer, everyone was predicting it would flood and there were warnings to prepare for floods at the level of 2002 or 2012. We filled all fillable containers in our house, made sure all bathing and washing of anything was done and felt nervous the entire weekend as I anxiously monitored the situation…
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Week 33, 34 & 35 of 2024 (Year in Review)
August was hot! To my surprise upon returning from our trip to Germany and Denmark on August 11th, I kind of assumed, you know that this whole “heat thing” would be done; probably because I’m used to returning here in September. But haha no, of course there was plenty more heat left of the summer. The first week back (Week 33) was slightly but despairing until I found my stride and realized it won’t actually last forever. Now, even though it’s still very hot in September, I’ve learned some things about heatwaves and want to share some heatwave tips! Tips for Surviving a Heatwave (when you have no AC) First…
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Week 29 & 30 of 2024 (Year in Review)
It’s time to go on vacation! I haven’t been on a vacation or holiday really since last summer in the USA so I am so looking forward to heading to Germany and Denmark for the next two weeks. Boy, would I benefit from a change of scenery, as nice as summer is in South Bohemia. It’s funny: when you tell a Czech, American or most anyone that you’re headed to Germany’s North Sea coast for your summer holiday, you’re met with shrugs or polite interest. When you tell a German that you’re headed there? Totally different – they are really excited for you! I think that’s how I know I…
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Week 27 & 28 of 2024 (In Review) – Karlovy Vary Film Festival with a Two-Year-Old & Dog
A few weeks ago the 58th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival that takes place every year at the beginning of July, always encompassing the July 5th and 6th holidays here in the Czech Republic. We first went to this festival over ten years ago and this time was our seventh festival! Most years we make it into a little end-of-school-year holiday in the most beautiful place in the entire Czech Republic. A film festival holiday may not appeal to some but as I have a long history of working with SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival), there is almost nothing better to me than getting totally immersed in…
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Weeks 23-26 of 2024 (In Review) – The Month of June
Happy summer, (Northern hemisphere) friends! I’m lumping the update together into a nice and tidy June bundle so I get on track with the seemingly impossible-to-complete Year in Review challenge. June has been lovely this year, with Alex off work, things are just going nice and slow. Lots of time for playing in the park, naps, cooking, visiting and just all the good things in life. But first, let’s get to the important thing as our little one turned two a couple weeks ago! We went to the zoo to celebrate and some friends of ours met us there on that completely rainy June Monday, still a perfect way to…
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Week 19 & 20 of 2024 (In Review)
I can’t complain about early May – my spring fatigue and illness were over and it was birthday week! My early May birthday fell on a Wednesday this year but we were still able to make a one night getaway trip to Cesky Krumlov – the obvious choice for a fairytale experience within a thirty-minute drive. The actual day was pretty overcast but still did all the things such as plenty of outdoor time, coffees, playgrounds for the little one, sushi for a celebration dinner — it’s always what I request. This year I treated myself to a stay at the Zamecka Apartments at the very foot of the castle…
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Week 13, 14 & 15 of 2024 (In Review) – Easter & April Heatwave
The weeks have flown by and I dropped the ball a little bit, so reviewing the past three weeks: Easter week and the first gorgeous weeks of our current month, April. Truly hope to be on time in about a week from now bringing us current. Man, besides this cold snap Central Europe is undergoing at the moment, haven’t we been so spoiled this year? Easter week was generally uneventful and wholly relaxing – even more so than spring break. I was so pleased that it was our little one’s first time participating in Easter traditions like an Easter egg hunt around the living room on Easter Sunday and his…
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Life, Lately: Autumn With a One-Year-Old
Happy autumn! I thought a catch-up was overdue, so here’s what’s been going on with us lately here in South Bohemia – life on maternity leave with a seventeen-month old toddler. THINKING… When I get free time, my mind is just a jumble of the hundred things I have been wanting to do. Writing it down in my planner, a series of random papers or a Google Doc has been saving me. Right now, Mouse is have an unusually long midday nap and I’ve been frenetically choosing activities: have lunch, pay bills/life admin, weekend plans… but then “which learning tower should I buy?”, I need to plan Christmas things already!,…
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To Pass or Not to Pass: An Evergreen Language-Learning Struggle
It is getting more and more embarrassing to tell people that we have been living in the Czech Republic for a whole decade… generally, because of the state of our Czech language ability. That is not to say that it is absolutely poor exactly… it’s just not… “living there ten years” quality. The other week our baby’s cardiologist said, when I reminded him that we usually speak English together, replied with a benign but just as soul-piercing, “oh sorry, I forgot that you don’t speak any Czech”. Ouch! I got through sixteen days in Czech hospital and can’t bother to try during one doctor appointment? Now, I am a language…
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Having a Baby in the Czech Republic? (non-EU national) Legal Steps You Need to Take
First off, this is an informational post particularly written for all of us confused non-EU foreigners living in the Czech Republic that are not able to get the straight answers that you need about what exactly to do and in what order after having a child here. I am writing this just for you, to save you the hassle that we ourselves had to go through. Please take heed of the steps because there is a very specific order they need to be accomplished in, even though this order cannot be found anywhere online that I’ve seen. In short, there are 5 things you need to obtain on behalf of…
