(Ex-) Czech Government in the News Again

Besides Jeff's mom, we're not sure who might bother to follow Czech news. If you have since Jeff & Maylia arrived, headline items include the on-again, off-again of the US-Czech-Poland missile base, dropping of US visa requirements for Czechs, a few scandals (everyone's got 'em) and now, there is no government.

Last night there was a no-confidence vote by one of Parliament's minority parties to oust the majority party. It needed 101 votes (out of 200) to pass. And they got 101. According to Czech constitution, this requires the Prime Minister and his party's government to leave. And Prime Minister Topolanek has responded that he intends to follow the letter of the law.

There's an extra thorny part to this. The European Union presidency is rotated among the 27 member countries in 6-month shifts. Guess who is EU Prez this shift? Yes, the Czech Republic.
Being EU president carries a couple perks, like inviting other world leaders over for lunch (like, Barack Obama, who arrives next week).
Because Czech Republic holds EU presidency, the no-confidence vote not only affects local credibility but causes a bit of embarrassment regionally. The adage "Can't lead others if you can't get your own house in order" comes to mind. Because of these special circumstances, the ousted are allowed to rule, lame duck style, until after the EU presidency shift ends in June.

To be fair, this no-confidence vote isn't entirely special. Over the past 2 years, this vote was the 5th time Topolanek's party has been asked to leave. Only for this fifth try, it worked. Now what?

Some US & Canada coverage:
Wall Street Journal
Macleans

No really, we're still here.

If anyone still checks on us...forgive us, it's been over 3 weeks since our last entry.

We're starting to feel the urgency to write. There's a stack of pictures growing on our computer and a few stories stewing in the back of our head. But that said, evenings come fast and energy gets divided so many ways already, plus the weather's looking better, isn't it?

How much longer can we wait? Just a while longer.
Thanks, -parkers

p.s. Should add at least that Mattias is walking. Limping but walking again. If you hadn't heard by grandparents, Mattias had a nasty fall last week. No breaks, just a sore ankle or foot. Our big brave boy will be sprinting again soon.

Goofing Off

Money - What Goes Around, Comes Around

Maybe a more correct title is: "Capital Gains - What Comes Around, Goes Around" but that's not so catchy, is it?

It's no secret that Maylia and Jeff had fortunate timing in terms of buying & selling their home when leaving the US. In July 2006, at the height of the property bubble, their home sold after being on the market for just 3 hours. And after 18 months, those gains from the US-side sale became equity in their Prague-side home.

Jeff & Maylia were thinking "Boy, we sure were lucky to escape that property bubble in the US!" What they didn't know was, their first 18 months in Prague were the tail-end of a similar bubble here.

After almost 2 years of hearing how assorted crises are affecting the US, it is finally Europe's turn, particularly the Central/Eastern region (former satellite states to the Soviet Union). It wasn't always bad news. But that optimism faded fast.

Property Values
Take, for example, how volatile the property values are here (too). As recent as last spring, Jeff's real estate broker offered a price 25% more than purchased -less than 3 months after moving in. Since then, the value rose, peaked and fell back down to nearly the same negotiated price from early 2007. In two years, property values, especially downtown, have risen and fell 30-40%. Who knows if or how far it will continue, but we'll be watching.

Employment
A topic near and dear to our hearts: secure employment. For Europe, rising unemployment is confined to Central & Eastern European countries (Jeff) and hardest on foreigners (Jeff). Especially on higher paid, non-EU with annual visa overhead foreigners (Jeff, Jeff, Jeff). So, in all respects, that affects us, the Parkers.

We're planning against the what-ifs and keeping our 40 fingers crossed. If we must go, the govt may even pay our way home.

Currency
In Prague, money is a hot topic because Czech's currency is the crown (though part of the EU, we've not yet adopted the euro). Lately the Czech crown has been plummetting in value, compared to every majorly traded currency (dollar, euro, pound).
For example, if you visited us just last summer, $50 got you 800 Kc (our week's groceries). Over Thanksgiving or Christmas, $50 got you 950 Kc (a restaurant lunch for two, ...twice). And, if you're visiting today, $50 gets you nearly 1,200 Kc (Ella's monthly school tuition). Yes, the crown is hurting.
"Hey, but it's good for exports, right?"

There's a positive side for visitors. An article last week cited Czech Republic as the second cheapest vacation destination in the world (Hungary is 1st), even cheaper than visiting Bulgaria, Turkey or Kenya. Gosh, that's ....great. Of course, it's easy to applaud a cheap dinner while forgetting flights are much, much more.
Hopefully past visitors can find some humor in this.

Our Future
Watching fluctuations coincide between both the $/Kc exchange rate and the local property values, Jeff has seen our Prague flat more than double, then half in $ value. (Our local flat value in terms of dollars matters because that's what we must consider when moving back.)
To be certain, had we decided when we visited last summer to just sell and stay ...it would have been good; it would have been very, very good. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.
Different story less than a year later. Suffice to say, already our gains from the US sale is all but evaporated.
Easy come, easy go.

Still, no worries to the grandparents, family and friends, it will not affect the timing of our Master Plan ™

Vacation

We decided to get out of town.  We just returned from 5 days away.  Not hard to guess where we ended up once you look at the pics - Paris!

We would like to say it was a well-planned, romantic getaway, but not really. Instead, Jeff felt we were getting restless and threw a dart on the local map.

Here's the nearly-required pic of us in front of that tall, metal thing. 

Ella and Mattias enjoyed chasing pigeons at Jardin des Tuileries.

A photo of Maylia and kids in front of the Louvre. No - we didn't go in.  Thought we would, but the timing just didn't work out. But, it's impressive even from the outside.  This is actually the second time Maylia has been to Paris and has not entered the Louvre. There's always next time, right?

Kids at the Arc de Triomphe.

Jim Morrison's grave. It's actually kind of hard to find in the Pere Lachaise cemetery. It had to be fenced off because of vandalism. Other greats buried in the same cemetery include Chopin and Oscar Wilde. 

One of our many, many cafe stops for food, drink, and warmth. If Mattias looks a little tired, he is! This boy will NOT sleep if we are out and there is a chance of him missing something. 

Of course we couldn't resist a peek at the Moulin Rouge! (And yes, Mattias was still going strong!)

Jeff and Mattias on the steps of the Sacre Coeur.
Ella and Jeff sharing Jeff's favorite dessert - Creme Brulee.

Once we started telling friends we booked a flight to Paris, the first question was always "By yourselves or with the kids?" I guess when people think Paris, they think romance. But, well, we don't really have a way of travelling sans enfants. When we responded as much the next question was, "So, you're doing Disney, right?" We honestly hadn't considered it. Being North Americans, when we think Paris, we just don't think Disney.  Once we saw Ella (and a ton of other kids) getting their turn to be with Mickey and Minnie, we were glad we decided to spend a day at Disney Park.




Before this trip, Ella hadn't really been exposed to Minnie and Mickey...or most other Disney characters. But after her little "love fest" with the two mice, she announced to us that, "The next time we meet Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse at their house, I want to be alone with them." OK...yeah...no need to have Mom, Dad and little brother honing in on your time...

By the end of each day, we were all very happy and very tired.