Group A: Round 2

For those who are living in Europe at this time, it's only natural to be glued to the TV screen this entire month. "Why?" most Americans would ask. "Is there another crappy Eurovision Song Contest going on?" No. Thankfully not.

EURO 2008, i.e. UEFA European Football Championship - soccer, not American football - has started! Having Czech roots, I am naturally cheering and screaming for the Czech team, singing "Kdo neskáče není Čech, hop hop hop!" throughout the tournament. My other top favourite is Portugal with their genious player, Christiano Ronaldo; unfortunately France and Italy have shown poor performance in their first game so they're out of the love list. Germany is definitely the team that I don't want to see advancing to any of the next rounds.

Yesterday's games Czech Republic vs. Portugal & Switzerland vs. Turkey was one of the most exciting games played so far. My throat was hurting from all the screaming and cheering I did!

The Czechs really challenged the Portuguese and had so many great chances to score, but the Portuguese were better towards the end and have secured their seat in the quarter finals. Score 1-3.


Czech Republic - Portugal 1-3 EURO 2008

No one would have ever thought that Turkey would actually have a shot at the quarter finals, but somehow they managed to kick Switzerland out of the match with their second goal in the 92nd minute! Cars were honking their horns till midnight and if I had any spare change on me, I would've gone to the next Döner Imbis and would've eaten a juicy Döner in celebration! Score 1-2.


Switzerland - Turkey 1-2 EURO 2008

Now both the Czechs and the Turks are tied, so we will need to win the next game against them, in order to advance to the quarter finals. The Czechs played a really good game against Portugal and showed much better performance than in their match against Switzerland, so they stand a good chance.

Czechoslovak Exile Series: My Mom (Part 1)

As some of you may know, I am Canadian-Czech as I was born in Canada but my entire family comes from the Czech Republic (formerly known as Czechoslovakia). My parents emigrated from the Czech Republic in the early 1980s due to the invasion of the Russians and Warsaw Pact troops (Prague Spring), which began in 1968, and ended up in Canada as landed imigrants. After living there for close to 20 years, my dad permanently moved back to the Czech Republic as he had started up his own business. My mom had the ability to join him once I had finished highschool, working first in Germany for about a year, and then finally moving to Prague.

In the Czechoslovak Exile Series on Utterz.com, my mom was interviewed in English about the experiences she's had since she returned to her home country. Very interesting and an eye-opener to some. Click the play button to start listening.