Mailbox
Today in Mailbox: A classic Czech toy re-issued, listening on shortwave in China and Bangladesh, medical faculties in the Czech Republic, Czech-Egyptian relations. Listeners quoted: Steven Bell, Chun-Quan Meng, Bablor Rashid, Dewan Rafiqul Islam, Mohamed Elsayed Abd Elraheim.
Steven Bell from Canada responds to a recent story by Sarah Borufka on the re-issuing of a classic toy:
“I wish to thank you personally for once again giving me an intangible gift of memories that I had forgotten about. I used to play in my neighbours sand box with the same figurines. And I remember all the fun I had in the ‘sand town’ playing gas station or similar games with my European neighbour… I thank you for the intangible gifts you have given me if not intentionally. But that is the power of the pen or to be more precise the keyboard these days.”
In his e-mail Chun-Quan Meng from China writes about his country’s recent history with a special regard to shortwave listening:
“Comparatively speaking, today's China is more open and more democratic than 30 years ago. In terms of shortwave listening however, 1977 to 1983 was the most pleasant time for me, because during the period, all jammings of foreign radios were cancelled! Wonderfully, I could even tune in to a Taiwan's radio on MW with a clean reception in the evenings then!”
“It's so good to know you are still transmitting on the shortwave band, after all it is the best way to reach the world, I always prefer listening to almost exclusive news on the shortwave bands.”
Also from Bangladesh Dewan Rafiqul Islam sent us this question:
“How many medical colleges are there in your country?”
Altogether there are seven medical colleges in the Czech Republic. Charles University has three medical faculties in Prague, one in Pilsen and one in Hradec Králové. Masaryk University in Brno and Palacký University in Olomouc each have one. Recently, the University in Ostrava received accreditation and is going to open one soon in the Silesian regional capital.
Mohamed Elsayed Abd Elraheim from Egypt writes about his recent visit to the historic library in Alexandria:
Thank you very much for your comments and questions and please keep them coming. And finally here is our monthly listeners’ quiz.
Regular listeners may remember that our mystery lady more than two years ago was Sophie Chotek, the wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who along with her husband perished in the Sarajevo assassination in 1914. They were shot while sitting in a car. There was another person of Czech origin in the car and he is our mystery man for this month.
Please send us his name to [email protected] or Radio Prague, 12099 Prague by the end of August. There will be a symbolic prize for the lucky listener whose name will be picked out of the hat. Please stay in touch and until next week, happy listening.
