I just found this board. I like it and hope to get some information from everyone as time progresses. I am Czech by birth, American by fate. I was born in Mrazov, west of Praha. My dad was a music professor, having a school in Mrazov. In 1948, we (my father, mother, 3 half borthers and I) ecaped communist Czechoslovakia, I being carried across the border in a blanket, into Germany, where my father worked for Radio Free Eurpoe and became the Musical Director. My sister was born there. She now lives in New York City. In 1952 we emigrated to the US, settling in upstate New York in a very diverse community of Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Italians and Greeks. My dad worked for Endicott-Johnson Shoes and did music nights and weekends. My parents passed away in 1962 (father) and 1989 (mother). I am married with 2 children - a son in his last year of college and a daughter in her last year of High School.We now live in Northern Virginia, about an hour west of Washington DC. I visit the Czech Embassy to speak a little Czech so I don't forget all. I try to keep some Czech traditions of my childhood - like fasting on Christmas Eve and having Fried Fish, Potato Salad and Apple Strudel (I make from scratch). I cook Czech foods such as Segedyn Goulas, Svickova/knedliky, Goulash, Goulash Soup, Spanelsky Ptacky, palacinky, and some cookies at Christmas. I make blueberry kolac and sveckovy knedliky. Please excuse my spelling. I really never learned to write the language and I don't the accents on my computer. I look forward to being a part of this forum.
