Czech moms in Chicago area / hledam ceske maminky

Discussion in 'Make a Connection' started by PetraK28, Jul 28, 2008.

  1. PetraK28

    PetraK28 Member

    Hi there,
    I'm 100% Czech, married to an American for the past almost 8 years. We have two small children. Our son is 2.5 and daughter just turned one.
    My whole family still lives in the Czech Republic and we travel there about 1-2x a year.
    I don't have any other Czech friends in my proximity and since even my husband speaks English only, it's proving very challenging for me to teach my children Czech. I would love to find other moms with small kids around here so that we can meet for playgroups and have the kids practice Czech.


    Jsem Ceska vdana za Americana a mame dve male deti. Synovi jsou dva a pul roku, a dceri byl ted rok. Moje cela rodine zije v Cechach, navstevujeme je tak 1-2x za rok.
    Nemam zde zadne ceske kamaradky s detmi. Muj manzel mluvi pouze anglicky a tak je pro mne velice tezke ucit me deti cesky. Moc rada bych se seznamila s ceskymi maminkami z okoli, aby si nase deti mohly hrat a procvicovat cestinu.
     
  2. MichaelaZ

    MichaelaZ Member

    Tak jsem si ted precetla i Tvuj prispevek. My sice jeste deti nemame, ale planujeme to tak na pristi rok. Jsem v naprosto stejne situaci jako Ty. Moje rodina je v Cechach a muj manzel mluvi jen anglicky. Chtela jsem se Te puvodne zeptat, jak to zvladas sama ucit deti cesky. Ale z toho co pises to asi neni jednoduche. Ja se tehle situace hodne obavam. Tady v Minnesote se mi nepodarilo najit zadne Cechy. Jak se jmenuje mesto ve kterem bydlite?
     
  3. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    There are many Czech people in the Chicago area, the problem is getting in touch with some of them. Try this Czech school in Chicago:

    http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&u...+IL&fb=1&view=text&latlng=6988713227523547979

    They may know of some groups or gatherings. We live very close to Chicago and attend some czech and slovak events there. However, I'm not sure how to get information on them. Somehow, our czech friends know about them and tell us, so we go. :)

    I hope the school can offer you some advice.
     
  4. PetraK28

    PetraK28 Member

    Michaelo, odepsala jsem Ti v druhem prispevku. Bydlime v Oswego, asi hodinu od Chicaga.

    Dzurisova (sorry, don't know your name),
    thanks so much for the link. I actually do know some Czechs who live in Chicago. I used to hang out with them a bit more before we had kids, but not so much now.
    Unfortunately I always felt like I didn't fit in, since hubby is American and they all were pretty much paired up with other Czechs, Slovaks or Polish significant others. It seemed like they just sort of formed a small community here and didn't really like the "American way of life" much.
    And since majority of friends I have here are Americans and I do live the regular everyday life here, I just didn't have much in common with them anymore I guess.

    I guess what I'm looking for is someone in situation similar to mine.
     
  5. MichaelaZ

    MichaelaZ Member

    Ahoj Petro. Mam na Tebe otazku. Chtela jsem se Te zeptat jak jste to vyresili se statnim obcanstvim vasich deti. Dost me tahle otazka trapi. Jak uz jsem psala, sice jeste deti nemam, ale uz ted se snazim sehnat co nejvice informaci. Rada bych, aby cela ma rodina tj. muj manzel, ja a potom i nase deti meli jak ceske tak americke statni obcanstvi. Zkousela jsem se ptat, ale kazdy rika neco jineho. Nekdo tvrdi,ze pokud ja dostanu americke obcanstvi, musim se vzdat ceskeho, coz by znamenalo, ze me deti nedostanou automaticky ceske obcanstvi, protoze ja jsem ho oficialne ztratila. A nejsem si jista pokud by muj manzel (american) chtel ziskat ceske obcanstvi, jestli se musi vzdat americkeho?
    Mas s tim nejake zkusenosti?

    Dekuji.
     
  6. PetraK28

    PetraK28 Member

    Ja jeste Americke obcanstvi nemam. Trvalo nam moc dlouho dostat green card, tak jsem si teprve o obcanstvi mohla zadat az letost v kvetnu. Jeste jsem to neudelala, protoze na to ted zkratka nemame - je to skoro $900.
    Dcera a syn jsou samozrejme oba Americane, protoze se tu narodili. O Ceske obcanstvi jsem jim jeste nezadala, nejak jsem se k tomu nedostala. Asi to budu delat pres ambasadu.
    Ja nevim presne detaily, ale myslim si, ze az se tady stanu Americankou tak se "zreknu" ceskeho obcanstvi. Ale to v Cechach prece vedet nemusi, a stale budu mit take cesky pas.
    U deti je to asi jinak, ale jeste jsem to opravdu nezkoumala. Ja hlavne nechci ztratit ceske obcanstvi, abych nemela potize v budoucnu vyrizovat jakekoliv papirovani ohledne rodicu, majetku atd.
    P
     
  7. MichaelaZ

    MichaelaZ Member

    No prave to ja si take chci zachovat ceske obcanstvi. A manzel by chtel dostat take ceske, kdybychom se nahodou nekdy rozhodli bydlet v Cechach.
    Te jsi me ale privedla na myslenku, ze pokud se mi deti narodi pred tim nez dostanu americke obcanstvi, mely by automaticky dostat i ceske, protoze ja budu porad jeste Ceska.
    Hmmm.....je to komplikovane. Problem je ze se trosku obavam spoluprace s Ceskou ambasadou jelikoz si pres ne ted zarizuji cestovni pas a holciny tam zrovna nejsou moc ochotne.

    No uvidime, pokusim se jeste neco zjistit.
    Zatim pa a dekuji za odpoved.
     
  8. pohodapokoj

    pohodapokoj Member

    My wife is from Karlovy Vary. We speak Czech at home with our 2 year old and travel to CZ as much as we are able. Do many Czechs live in the western burbs for playgroups and such?
     
  9. PetraK28

    PetraK28 Member

    Hi there,
    Besides one friend who has a 6 month old girl, I don't know any other Czechs in my area. But that doesn't mean there aren't any.
    I would love to get together for Czech playgroups. My hubby is American and I am having a really hard time sticking to speaking Czech with my kids, since everybody around me speaks English.
    Are you from the area? My son is 3 and daughter 20 months.
    I am taking both of them back to CR at the end of March to visit my family.
     
  10. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    There are many Chicago'ans who come to New Buffalo (Harbor Country - aka little Chicago http://www.harborcountry.org/ ) in the summer time on the weekends. If you care to drive an hour to 1 1/2 hours to meet with other Czech's I'd be happy to provide meeting opportunities. There are a few couples who have inter-marriages (my husband and I being one of them). I have a Czech girlfriend who is married to a Romanian so she shares the same struggles of teaching her young children Czech since he doesn't speak it. Also my step-daughter (Czech) is married to an American but she gave up on teaching her kids Czech. They are now 6 and 2 and only know English. So I know it can be a struggle. :?
     
  11. marcelaK

    marcelaK New Member

    jsem se preklepla a odeslala neco co neni moje sorry
     
  12. marcelaK

    marcelaK New Member

    ahoj holky,pokud chcete zarizovat Ceske obcanstvi pro sve ratolesti,tak to neni takovej problem,mam 2 holky 4 a 5 let,narodily se tady a maji jak Ceske tak Americke obcanstvi,niceho se vzdavat nemusit,jen mit trochu casu,trpelivost no a neco to stoji,ale neni to tak hrozne..pa
     
  13. Dannae

    Dannae Well-Known Member

    Agree with Dzurisova: it is a continuous "battle" with my older son (14.5) - I talk to him in Czech, he replies in English. I tried to teach my husband a bit Czech but it seems hopeless :cry:.

    But as far as Czech papers for the kids: embassy (or the consulate) will send you forms, you will fill them out (will need apostila for the US birth certificate - and you can translate it into Czech yourself) and send everything back to the consulate. I worked with Czech consulate in Chicago and all went fine, no problems (I had my sons' Czech birth certificate & Osvedceni o statnim obcanstvi CR in about 6 months). Apostila can be obtained by mail - there is an office of "Great Seal" in each state's capital. You only need a birth certificate not older than 1 year.

    As for the citizenship. If you gain US citizenship and you are still married to the same person who you've got your GC through, you do not have to surrender your Czech one.
     
  14. silverkinguk

    silverkinguk Well-Known Member

    Ya the same with me and my parents we don't talk in tamil just English at home.Anyway they wanted me to learn English more than tamil at home.
     

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