Finally ...

Finally ...

... I am getting on with my retirement project and the international centre for active leisure time is taking shape around the international library.

Where it is going to be?

In a little village Skalka by Nová Bystřice in the South Bohemian region called Czech Canada.

Why am I doing it?

... for fun of course ...
... and ...
... because I've lived about 20 years in democratic countries and it is unforgettable experience
... because at the age of almost 60 I have different expectations than I had at the age of say 20
... because the region is quite interesting - almost as well as Prague, the capital city of Czech republic and people live everywhere
... and last, but not least because I need to have something to do when our kids remained in the world - logically, they were with us when we went for one and half year to Germany and stayed abroad for almost 20 years ...

Do you want to get involved?

• express your interest – just knowing there are potential users is refreshing and motivating
• offer free-of-charge services from your field of expertise ... as everyone can or knows something I don't
• you can help by sorting out and catalogizing books, acquiring and transporting books
• or even enjoying holiday in the Bohemian countryside while helping with variety of errands in a given time
• and/or spreading the word ... for even if you are not interested, someone else may be
• ...

In the meanwhile enjoy the life ...

Computers in everyday life

The household led by the computer is another of my Vladimír Renčín's favorites:

Loose translation from Czech:

The whole kitchen is administered by the computer. Knows everything, understands everything, he's even capable to react to my groan.

What do I actually have from my life?

... and there is SHIT on the screen ...

... yeah, I may seem like a hypocrite just now writing this blog on the computer, but I worked with them for quite a while and using it is a second nature to me.

The importance of learning languages ...

I may seem to be obsessed by the topic of communication and understanding in the global world, where more and more communication goes through e-mailing and social networks ... and I have a reason - after 20 years of living elsewhere I'm coming back to live in Czech republic, want to move forward inevitably linking to the past too. And it is - well - challenging.


According to the British Council English is now the main language of books, newspapers, airports and air-traffic control, international business and academic conferences, science, technology, diplomacy and other fields with global impact. One out of four of the world's population speak English to some level of competence; demand from the other three-quarters is increasing. 

It is known fact that kids learn naturally and they can achieve fluency of native speakers. It is thought that after the age of 12 the learners lose the ability to fully learn the language. The motivation is of vital importance to the success of language learning. (more theory is on Wikipedia)

Czech republic is a small country in Central Europe where we always look for some support from a bigger country/ies. During the phases of our history we were part of

• the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, 
• then self standing Czechoslovakia between the WWI and WWII, 
• part of the German Reich during the WWII, 
• Czechoslovakia again after WWII, the communists took over in 1948 and we were a land of one political party until 1989 with a short period of political liberalization in 1968 (Prague Spring) ended by the Warsaw Pact Invasion on the 21.8.1968 followed by normalization and censorship.
• since 1989 - country on the - long - way to democracy ...

Naturally the political orientation affected which languages were offered at schools - for my parents German was the obligatory one, my generation growing up in the communist era learned Russian (I don't remember much, it was the language of the occupants), after the 1989 the English is the main foreign language taught ... but the teachers should speak the language first to be able to teach ...

It seems to be a continuous loop - the youngsters can achieve native-like proficiency, they have a natural ability to sponge up loads of information they encounter every day.
However for most adults - who then usually teach the kids - acquiring a second language is a lifelong learning process.

Here is the point -
there is about 10 millions Czech native speakers, too few to expect the rest of the world to learn Czech. It is in our own interest to be able to understand and communicate with people around the world.
However where comes the motivation to learn from?
Nowadays there is a big amount of sources for learning, the text-books, dictionaries, books, films ...

What makes you to learn a language?
What urges you to grab an English book for reading instead of one in your mother tongue?
What is you motivation to learn a new language?

New Year's resolution

The beginning of the year 2014 came and with it time for new year's resolutions.

I was never prone to make them explicitly, but it doesn't hurt to change one's habits from time to time.

Being reasonably realistic I'm not starting my list with "I'll climb the Everest" - although I love the mountains this one is far away and too high and I know I wouldn't be able to climb it - nor "I'll dive in the Red sea" - diving never appealed to me though I appreciate others can have a passion for it.

However there are few achievable goals

• stop trying to be perfect
• trying to say "no" without qualms
• acquire a healthy balance between the physical and intellectual activities complemented by sufficient relaxation doing nothing

These basic rules should help me to achieve more complex goals I have in mind such as trying to convince my fellow Czech citizens that to have a functional democracy we all need to participate and stop waiting for a hero who will do everything for us.

During this long term procedure I need to be prepared for some rudeness, some may send me to the hell, some to the ass (jdi do p****e ~ f**k you) ...
Since the last day of 2013 I can reply "thank you, but I was there already". The rock formation "Prdel světa (Ass of the world)" also called "Ďáblova prdel (Ass of the devil)" can be found in the nature park Česká Kanada.

Have a great year 2014!      

 

Christmas muse

Hei,

Christmas is (are, whatever) around (behind, whatever) the corner and it usually makes you think ...
about the year so far, about the year coming, about ...

...

and at some point you just do not want to think anymore, you just want to live your life ...

Is it possible?
I guess so ... if you accept some constraints ...

For example it is not possible to live the life as if you were 20 (30, 40 ...) if you are almost 40 (50, 60 ...). The age will catch up with you whether you like it or not.

Also it is not a shame to say "no, I can't do this or that" because you grew up in a family (country) where it wasn't allowed to complain.

Some can survive without noticing the stress,
some even look out for some adrenalin to survive,
some get sick ... and I mean really sick (lymphomas and other types of cancer that can be cured, but getting the life back is like coming out of prison).

For the year 2014 I wish everyone could live according to his/her own needs as trying to live to someone else's expectations is a burden whether the expectations are voiced or not (eg. imaginative).

Have a great time everywhere!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Writings and the incidental (mis)understandings

In the past few decades we have seen a huge boom of writings in the connection with the development and grow of the World Wide Web. There are traditional books, newspapers and magazines, but also the number of websites and blogs is growing, Seems that almost everyone with the ability to read and write does.

This is great!
The technology makes it easy to spread the information fast and worldwide, but are our brains ready to make some sense of it all?
After all not everything is applicable everywhere and for everyone. Take the weather forecast around the globe - what is the weather like say in Panama would only interest me if I were to spend holiday there which is very unlikely.
 
Of course, I still ask google first if I need to know where is the country talked about in the news, that's exact and there is only one answer - although it usually appears on many different pages and in many different formats ;). For more complex questions where expert or local knowledge is beneficial I would rather ask the expert - or whom I consider expert in te field in question and better in face-to-face conversation, because trying to clear up anything by e-mail usually leads to more confusion on both sides of the line. Needless to say that it is frustrating if you - as a sender - consider each word and its place in the sentence and after getting a reply you realize the recipient clearly took from your carefully written mail completely different meaning.


This is quite common I think as only 7% of the meaning is in verbal communication and the reaction to the e-mail sent is not immediate. You write an innocent "have a good day" mail in a good mood after the breakfast, but the recipient reads it after a dispute with the boss at the time the l'esprit d'escalier takes on and you'll be the one shouted at. Yes, it is not fair, but ...

To avoid such misunderstandings the mailers should have a sensor and refuse to send or read a personal e-mail in case of person's bad mood. Words are like arrows and can't be recalled.

However, do we want to have so much control taken over by the computer programs? 
What do you think?
Did you have a moment when you thought "oh shit, I shouldn't have written it" or the opposite "oh shit, does the sender think I'm a complete moron"?
If so, did you let it fade away or tried to come clean?

Expat's Everyday life and the Politics ...

Another Autumn came, I'm about a year "back" home (= my home country Czech republic) and I wonder - how much can a "normal" citizen influence the statesmanship ... and the behaviour of the politicians representing the country and its citizens?

We were leaving the country in 1992, just 3 years after the velvet revolution in 1989. The borders were open so were just going to "temporarily" work and live in another country.
Václav Havel was our president and I was proud to be Czech. We eventually spent 20 years abroad, 16 years of it in the established democracy in the United Kingdom. We are returning in the year of our first ever direct presidential elections and although I'm still proud to be Czech I'm not proud to be represented in the world by snooty and arrogant Mr. Zeman whom we democratically elected.

A lot changed in the Czech republic since 1989, we have thriving cities, probably one of the highest number of supermarkets per capita, but also statistically one of the highest alcohol consumption among adults (maybe the "beer tourist" help to raise the number :)), beggars and homeless people. ... and chaotic political spectrum which is tricky to be acquainted with.

Politics wasn't my main topic in England.
Firstly I wasn't proficient enough in English to be able to understand politics, secondly I was generally satisfied with the life there, thirdly I was only living there "as a guest", temporarily. And - of course - as EU citizens we could only vote in the district where we resided with a 'considerable degree of permanence'.
In the Czech republic I can and do vote in both - the district and the parliament elections - though seemingly with the same extent of influence I had in England.

What are your experiences?
Can you vote in your home country if you live elsewhere? Can you vote where you live?
Should the expats vote in the home country as well as in the country of residence?