Mayor Roman Onderka shaking hands with Prince Charles in March 2010. Source: www.romanonderka.cz

Nobody dares to forecast the results. However, the coalition of social democrats, christian democrats and greens will have a tough job to defend the opposition, consisting of liberal-conservative parties Civic democrats, TOP09 and “Public affairs” that won the spring parliamentary election.

The coalition, as well as mayor Roman Onderka, are facing criticism mainly for these reasons:

• Although the left-wing parties protested against the construction of the new main railway station before the 2006 election, then they suddenly changed their minds and started to support it when they got the power. What’s more, they want to keep the current main train station too, which has the disadvantages of both projects and lacks many of their advantages.
• The municipal council supports the construction of a privately-owned garages beneath the Zelný trh sq. Experts warn that the garages can cause danger to the unique system of medieval cellars (which will be made avaible to tourists in several months), as well to the baroque fountain Parnas. The reigning politicians claim that the garages are necessary to “keep life” in the centre of Brno. Well, they’d better allow biking in the centre!
• The “cock clock” was not accepted well by general public in Brno, as it has a shape of penis, it costed CZK 12M (€500,000) and people can not read the time until they read a manual.
• The town has spent CZK 600,000 for motto “Žít Brno” (“to live Brno”) which was accepted as a marketing disaster by local press and many citizens.

Actually, it is pretty hard to recall just a single success of Mr. Onderka’s team (OK, the water in the Brno dam lake is clearer now, but this has been accomplished by various institutions). However, it would be naïve to expect any improvement from the other parties, as Civic democrats are often being linked to corruption – few weeks ago, Aleš Kvapil, the former mayor of quarter Žabovřesky, was sentenced to seven years in prison.

I will inform you about the election results when it is clear who is going to be the new mayor and which parties are going to support him or her.

Let´s party!

Interested in finding out in which Dutch city the best cheese market is held? Would you fancy hearing a Brazilian tell about the Rio de Janeiro carnival? Are you on the look for tips where to go fishing in Norway? If you prefer a relaxed and informal atmosphere, you might enjoy country presentations held every Wednesday from 8pm at the Faculty of Economics and Administration, Masaryk University, Brno. They are organized by the International Student Club (ISC) and prepared by foreign exchange students. Traditionally, the students bring samples of their national cuisine, too. After each presentation, there is a thematic party in Mandarin Club.

Are you a foreign student yourself, and are you interested in learning what more the ISC does? Have you just recently moved to Brno and do you wonder where to meet new people and join in the social life? The ISC has more to offer. If you become a member, you have plenty of options how to spend your free time in Brno and surroundings. Often, you get a nice reduction as an ESN card-holder.

For instance, there are cultural events organized, such as visiting exhibitions together, and regular cinema evenings, which are held every Monday in Clubwash. Here you can taste not only beer but also something from the Czech cinematography. A personal tip of ours is The Primary School (November 30th). Tuesday is the day for board games in the Travellers’ Club. You can immerse yourself in the world of Poker, Settlers of Catan or Bang! there.

For both foreign and regular students of Masaryk University, language courses are offered every semester. You can learn Czech or other languages you dream of, always from a native speaker. For the current schedule, and all further information and contacts, see isc.muni.cz.

What is actually the ISC?

The International Student Club Masaryk University (ISC MU) was founded in 2003 with the aim of integrating foreign students coming to Masaryk University. From 2004, it is a member of Erasmus Student Network (ESN), a non-profit, non-political organization that integrates volunteers, especially university students, and that works on the basis „students help other students“. The ESN was set up in 1990 with assistance of the European Commission. The aim was to help the integration of both international and domestic students all around Europe. A lot of young Europeans got interested in the idea and by now the ESN has over 300 member clubs. Nine of them can be found in the Czech Republic, ISC MU included.

The ISC MU has currently around 600 members, 300 of those are exchange students from more than 40 countries.

Are you afraid of the five months you are about to spend in Brno? Stop! Thousands of young people have had the same feelings before but now they have great experiences! Brno Now will guide you trough the best months of your academic life.

1. Rent a room in a hipster quarter

Renting a room instead of a flat is a good way to save some money and to find some friends. Renting a room in a hipster quarter is another good way to save some money – and also to learn why is Brno nicknamed “the Czech Manchester”.

Try quarters Židenice, Královo Pole, Černá Pole, Staré Brno, Juliánov, Žabovřesky, Komín and Jundrov. Avoid Cejl (too much criminality) and suburbs (lack of social life).

2. Attend events organized by your school and research, research, research!

Every faculty has its way of making the students know each other. Don’t be a loner and don’t be shy – the other people usually come to the party only to become friends with you!

It’s also useful to explore materials published by your university and even by other colleges or publishers – it will make your relocation easier:

• Erasmus at Masaryk University (MUNI)
• International Students Club at VUT Brno
• Information for incoming students (VUT)
• The official page of the Czech republic

With a little research, you will find important information about your programme, contact for a study advisor and other knowledge that will make the stress go away.

3. Become a hockey fan

Ice hockey is the Czech national sport and the club “Kometa Brno” has a cult following in the town, even though it participates “only” in the second league. A ticket costs only about CZK 60 (€2.15) and the atmosphere is just great.

4. Taste the local specialties

Go to a pub and order pickled camembert (“nakládaný hermelín”, CZK 60 per serving) and blue cheese balls (“nivové koule”, CZK 12 per serving)…

5. Visit the most popular pub

…or taste the specialities at “Bláhovka”, old-fashioned little pub near the the city. Many people swear by the quality of their Pilsner Urquell. Early afternoon is the only time there is a chance of getting a table.

Zvětšit mapu

6. Have a romantic date in a park

There are two beautiful parks right in the the city: around the Špilberk castle and around the St. Peter cathedral. Czechs are very liberal and they don’t mind pairs of people kissing in public. (I think that holding hands is OK for homosexual pairs, but I’ve never tested that.)

7. Learn to speak hantec

There is a quite funny jargon spoken in Brno – actually only in its pubs and, sadly, in the TV shows made in Brno, which makes the rest of the country think that we are dorks. Anyway: nothing is as cute as a foreigner being able to use some basic words:

Caution: speaking hantec in front of people from Brno may make you look cool. Speaking hantec in front of anybody from Prague will certainly make you look retarded!

8. Sail or bike to the Veveří castle

The dam in the west part of the city is popular for bike paths and also for excursion ships, departing every 30 minutes. About 8 km northwest from the harbour, there’s a castle called Veveří.

Because the dam will undergo a massive cleaning in 2009, there will be no ships this season – I recommend biking or walking to Veveří and back. Sailing will return in 2010.

9. Rent a bike and drive trough vineyards

Wake up early, go to the main train station, buy a ticket to Břeclav (a town near the austrian border), rent a bicycle and enjoy driving trough magnificent nature. Tourist Information Centre Břeclav has a great webpage with all the information you need. Beware: biking under the influence of alcohol is illegal in the Czech republic, fine may be as high as several hundreds Euro.

10. Add Brno Now to your RSS reader, weblog and Facebook wall

We will be here to bring you news and another lists of freewheelin’ ideas like this one. Are you here for the first time? Then read recent article on shopping in Brno.

Follow us and tell your friends and schoolmates about us! Just add our RSS channel to your reader of choice and publish a link to Brno Now on your website, blog or Facebook wall!

Credits

The beautiful girl in the headline photo was portrayed by karpov the wrecked train. Wordle was used to get the tag cloud.

Weblog Brnopolis is encouraging its readers (no matter if they prefer Czech or English) to pick a move of the year.

Brnopolis is looking for an original move, event or action that contributed most to the city attractiveness for people in creative professions in 2008. It might happen in culture, gastronomy, business, science, media, public administration, sport or other activities.

You can also suggest an individual or organisation for the long-term benefit award. The nomination deadline is February 6th.