TOL Education | SISU-Produced Stories

Czech Puppets: From Hand-Made to Mass-Produced ~ By Yijing Dai

PRAGUE — In a small marionette shop near the Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic, Františka Nekvasilová, a skillful designer and marionette creator is stitching a costume for the hand-made marionette. She works in the this 22-year-old shop called Truhlář Marionety. The…

Chinese Travelers Venture Into Self-Driving ~ By Sunny Sun Xinyi

PRAGUE — As the trend of switching from team tour to independent travel in Chinese outbound travel – In 2014 the number of Chinese outbound independent traveller increased by 26.8% year-on-year in 2013,according to 2014 Chinese Outbound Traveller Behavior Report, outbound…

The Origins and Evolution of a Czech Tradition ~ By Fu Linmeng

PRAGUE — Walking along the street of central zone in Prague, you are prone to see hundreds of puppet shops, large and small. “It was my desire to make marionettes since my childhood after seeing the astonishing animation in television, ” said…

How the USSR Influenced Czech Music Bands ~ By Wang Jinlin

PRAGUE — With a smile on his face, Petar Introvic, lead vocal of a Czech native music band called “Bluesberry” stepped up onto the stage of the “Blue Sklep Bar”. This skinny elder man has a gift for music, once he…

One of Europe’s Picturesque Cities Battles the Stain of Graffiti ~ By Warrick Wang

PRAGUE — While walking through the cobble streets in Prague, people can see almost everywhere is sprayed on, whether on a building, a lamppost, a trash bin, or a bench. David Lynch, film director, says graffiti is ruining the world and…

Modern Czech Music Grows More Diverse ~ By Zhong Shan

PRAGUE — “I made it all by my heart.” Petar Introvič says, with a firm facial expression, when talking about his blues career. Petar Introvič is the front man of Bluesberry, a legendary Czech blues band who makes blues music…

Footballing Unites Czech Friend and Fans ~ By Quiye Huang

PRAGUE — “Almost 98% young guys in my school love football.” said Luke Suto, a student in Prague. According to the statistics from CZ Football Association, the Czech Republic, a country with almost 10,540,000 people, owns 637,655 registered numbers, coaches and…

Czech Home-Schooling Grows in Popularity ~ By Shuang Guo

PRAGUE — It is a sunny Friday morning. Zoe, a ten-year-old girl, has just finished her breakfast. Instead of getting on her mother’s car and heading to school, Zoe entered her study room and took out a history fiction book, starting…

How the Czech Tradition of Puppetry Perseveres ~ By Elaine Chen Xiaoyang

PRAGUE — In a sunny and peaceful afternoon, a 10-year-old Czech girl, Frantiska Nekvasilova, watched a puppet movie in TV and immediately told her mother that she wanted to be a puppeteer. The girl was so creative that she used potatoes…

Chinese Restaurants Adapt to Czech Tastes ~ By Xu Qianqian

PRAGUE — At the Chinese Restaurant Peking, a group of young guys come in. The waiter came up to them and immediately distributed the fast Chinese food menus. He Lianping, one of the owners of Chinese Restaurant Peking, said local Czechs…

Years Later, Chinese Restaurateurs Still Evolving ~ By Yiying Wang

PRAGUE — “It won’t be long before I go back to China,” stated Qingwen Wang, a 45-year-old who came from Wenzhou and is currently the owner of Xintianhao Restaurant. “Business is getting harder to handle, and I miss my family.” Wang…

A Few Faithful Preserve Czech Folk Fashion ~ By Doris Zhang Yu

PRAGUE — With a long elegant skirt, white large-tapered-sleeves blouse, well-decorated vest and a small apron, the Kroje shows its beauty to everyone who fixes his eyes on it. The Kroje is generally an unpopular style since the late 19thcentury. Because…

Prague Raises Awareness of Animal Protection ~ By Hajnal Huang

PRAGUE — A badly injured dog was taken to Petřiny, a Veterinary clinic in Prague, by a middle-aged man. While waiting for the little dog’s treatment to finish, the 4 year-old daughter of the man was crying alone on the clinic’s…

Czech Debate Good Versus Bad Graffiti ~ By Yang Jingqian

PRAGUE — Wearing jeans and a t-shirt, Pavel, a graffiti designer in Prague, is surrounded by hundreds of spray bottles on shelves inside the Grafficon graffiti shop while he chats with two other people. “If someone hits a girl or a guy…