R. G., 26 years old, Český Krumlov

I’m from a family that has lived here for many generations. Their house in the town center was expropriated under the totalitarian regime and demolished, and there’s a road now where it used to be. I walk by every day and ask myself how much better my life would be here as opposed to a prefab apartment block, I feel as I’ve been robbed of something. Unfortunately, the prices  of houses in the center of Český Krumlov are astronomical today. Your project would be like a little Band-Aid to cover up for what I’ve lost.

I. T., 42 years old, Russia

I want to show my children another life. Thank you for the great idea! Because Český Krumlov is a real-life fairy tale …

V. Z., 64 years old, Estonia (April 4)

My motivation is seeing the world, seeing new people!

M. D., 46, Adamov

Hello, I like challenges. I can cook with an open window, letting the smell waft out into the streets, air out duvets, walk a dog, read on a window sill, drink coffee with neighbors in front of the house, take a walk in the rain, sweep the sidewalk in front of the house in a tracksuit … basically anything. I live alone and have no commitments. I don’t have any photograph of any activities, because I never saw any point in taking photos of my normal life.

V. C., 33 years old, Belgium

I can already see myself sitting on my doorstep with a book or some embroidery, my black cat Othello basking in the sun, and catching sight of my husband on his way home from work. Since the little house / apartment is tiny and doesn’t have a terrace, we pull a folding table out into the street and set it for dinner right there, on the street. On the weekendwe organize a barbecue for the neighbors or a little street jam withamateur musicians. We don’t need much to be happy – we are in Krumlov, after all!

T. O., 28 years old, Prague

SKILLS AND TALENTS IN THE FAMILY: Malvína is really quite good at simulating a year-old toddler. Tomáš and I can simulate a year-old toddler at one morning after eight beers. Mommy can’t simulate a year-old toddler because she’s breastfeeding.

J. P. and A. P., Prague

SPECIAL SKILLS: I wear unmatched socks, I have a bamboo bicycle, I juggle a little. I like making my bed and really love airing out the duvet. I’d to relax by painting outdoors.

M. T., 35 years old, Hustopeče

SPECIAL SKILLS: “Special” is a relative term. All my skills seem normal to me.

O. S., 36 years old

SPECIAL SKILLS: I’m (almost) always right

J. T., 40 years old, Prague

SPECIAL SKILLS: juggling, bargaining, hollering, playing with three children, riding a unicycle or a horse, basket weaving, bicycle repairs, carving, carrying children on my shoulders, with one arm or on my head.

S. B. 39 years old, Brno

It started as if we were on a first date. The project really grabbed our attention from the start. After looking into it we liked it even more, because it seems meaningful to us and, most importantly, the more we think about it, the more we feel the project reads our thoughts, because the idea that the center of the town should belong mainly to the people who live in it and who’ve made their home there is something we’ve thought and said all along.

E. S., 44 years old, Stružnice

I’m sorry, I don’t have time right now, I’m going to work in a little while. I could take part in your project for 1 month over the holidays, with at least two children.

J. P., 37 years old, Prague

SPECIAL SKILLS: 1) I can organize the impossible. 2) I’m curious. 3) I see numbers and letters in colors

I. P., 25 years old, Uzbekistan

I want to see the world. I can cook, do cleaning, bake. I can also prepare national dishes from Uzbekistan.

A. I., 47 years old, Prague

My name is A., and I think I’m an absolute pro at living a normal life. (…) I’m already an oldish lady, so I have a clear idea of ​​what to expect. I’ll open the window every morning, air out the duvets, make myself some coffee and sit out in front of the house. I’ll peel potatoes for lunch. Then I’llget up and go for a short morning walk. I’ll buy a newspaper at the newsstand, sit on a bench and read it. Then I’ll go shopping for a few things. At home I’llbake a cake, invite the neighbors for lunch, and putthe cake on the window sill to cool off. Then I’ll water the flowers, do the cleaning and work a bit. In the afternoon and evening there’ll be a party: we’ll roast sausages over a fire. Along with our neighbors, we’ll do things around the house. In our family there is a tradition of philosophical debate, so we’ll sit and talk for a long time. We’ll go into the forest together to pick mushrooms and blueberries. I’ll spend the time for making preserves … making preserves. I’ll going tothe train station to watch out for my husband. I’ll sit in a chair and teach my son about life.

M. H., 28 years old, Brno

SPECIAL SKILLS: I can sit for a long time (skill developed in an institution not many people go to) and read, or just think. I use clothespins that match the laundry. I like talking to people. I burn quickly in the sun.

J. R., 38 years old, Austria

Sometimes my wife pisses me off and sometimes I piss her off. And the tourists are hell in the summer. Why us? Occasionally we’re an Italian household.

Skills in the family: My wife knows how to nag, my daughter bossy, Felix pisses off his master, Deminka is always meowing and sometimes gets on our nerves. And I lived in Kaplice for many years about 20km, my number is Austrian my driver’s license is at the cleaner’s.

J. M., Prague, 27 years old

SKILLS IN THE FAMILY: My dog Lůďa has a great talent: he can scare Asians just by passing them by :)))

M. S., 42 years old, Brno

SPECIAL SKILLS: playing a cheap ukulele and taking care of an angry iguana

Z. J., 20 years old, China

I’d like to change my life and make it my own. 

A. G., 23 years old, Tel Aviv

I’m pregnant so i’ll be happy to bring my child inother country.

Z. S., 37 years old, Almaty

The first reason is that my son and I have never been abroad because we have never had the opportunity to go to another country. the second reason is that my husband died recently and I’d to rid myself of the pain. I want to start my life over again. we have to move forward. To be alone at least a little, to be close to my son. because I could never even afford a vacation. work is work, urban pointlessness. (…)

P. H., 26 years old, Český Krumlov

(…) I’d belying if I said I was a Krumlover through and through. My parents, however, moved her from Slovakia when I was really tiny, and I exprienced all my firsts – steps, friends, friends, good grades, love and work – on the winding streets here and the surrounding hills. Here is where I discovered my love for fashion – both present-day and historical – good food, peculiar music and foreign languages. Pavel is from Větřní and when he was little, he’dhide away in Krumlov – for school, after school activities, friends, to smoke a pipe at Jelenka (now under a different owner) or drink beer at the Dušeks’ (still under the same owner, but we are a bit more grown up and the state of the toilets startedput us off a little).

The Krumlov we knew growing up was completely different from Krumlov today. When we were going to high school, we’d regularly meet alternative musicians (from Magor to Andi Almqvist), all kinds of painters, young people traveling hitchhiking around the world with little money, fencers, out-of-towners who fell in love with Krumlov and decided to move her right then and there, craftspeople living in the town … After returning from university, I found out that all that was left was the beautiful, colorful shell of atown and all the worms that hadgiven the town its tastes and smells had fled. That is why I’d like to take part in the UNES-CO project –might it be the first step in the right direction in a long time?

Should I describe our “normal life” skills? That’s nonsense. To the extent that it’s possible, I’m already living a normal life in the town. I work in the center of town, I buy groceries at the Jednotaacross from the Red Gate, we go to the Two Angels for coffee on the street, Pavel’s learning metalwork at the monastery forge … If we get involved in the project, I’ll suddenly be able to come home from work, crossing town with full bags, grow my own herbs ona window looking out onto the street, drink my morning coffee in front of my own house, and welcome my partner in the evening all coveredwith soot at our front door in the center and not in our little house at the Upper Gate.

We’d both love to try living in the little alleys of Krumlov. We do not need to be paid for it, we’d do it enthusiastically under any circumstance. And even if we didn’t get this opportunity, we sincerely hope the project is successful. Maybe together, we can bring a little life to our town.

M. K., 36 years old, Kazakhstan

(…) A trip to the Czech Republic would be our dream come true.

V. B., 32 years old, Russia

I have no bad habits.