As 2025 comes to an end, I am reflecting on a year full of health, growth, and learning.
České Budějovice, a city of just 95,000 inhabitants, is very pedestrian friendly. I have gotten into the habit of taking a brisk morning walk around the town. I’ve been feeling stronger, more fit, and I’ve forgotten about my lower back pain. These hour-long walks are just as important for my mental health too. I’ve watched the seasons change - the birds that sing when the třešně are blooming, are not the same as when the Malše is frozen. Around November, I noticed that my average daily step count for 2025 was the highest it had ever been - 9,000 something versus the previous record of 7,742 in 2024. It was then that I decided to strive to end the year with 10,000 steps a day on average. I don’t know if I will reach this goal - I can’t seem to stay above 9,200 steps per day - but, as they say, it’s the journey, not the destination.
In December 2024, I finalized my idea for my Master’s thesis: I would study the factors that affect bird strikes with windows. Every month in 2025, I walked around České Budějovice surveying the same 36 buildings for evidence of bird-window collisions. I also conducted point counts at 19 different locations in the city each month. A point count is a method of determining the diversity and abundance of species in an area. At each location, I noted all the birds I could see and hear within 5 minutes. It seems like just yesterday I could only name the Eurasian Blackbird (Černý Kos). But now I can even identify birds by their song. “Tiny Voice For a Tiny Bird?” that’s a Goldcrest. “Descending Space Lasers?” that’s easy, it’s a European Greenfinch. “Crinkly?” that’s Mr Crinkle Cut, a.k.a Mr Crinkle Butt, a.k.a. a Black Redstart. Up next … memorizing their Czech and scientific names. Also up next … statistics. Lots and lots of statistics.
If you want to know more about this topic, keep an eye out for a future blog post I’m planning!
2025 also marked a shift in my confidence when speaking Czech. One week stands out in particular. On that Wednesday, I met my partner’s extended family for the first time. Though they politely offered to speak in English, I was determined to converse in Czech. I was able to ask them questions and speak about myself, even in the noisy atmosphere of a pub. The next day, I attended a presentation by the ČSO (Česká Společnost Ornitologická). The topic: Birds and Glass. When I saw it advertised, I knew I had to sign up. I was nervous that’d I’d be a kid at the adults’ table - what if they called on me to share my opinion to a room full of native speakers!? In the end, I couldn’t believe how much I understood; I was actually able to take some comprehensible notes! Granted, I have done a lot of background reading in English but typically, if I attend an academic conference in Czech, I can only understand things here and there. I left the event feeling proud of having stepped out of my comfort zone, and energized knowing that there are people working on this (frankly depressing) issue. That Saturday, I met up with Eliśka - founder of Because Czech is Cool - and some of her clients to bake some cukroví. Eliška has been “helping expats and foreigners who’ve already taken courses but still feel stuck, nervous, or unable to speak Czech“ since 2017. We came from all corners of the world - United States, Germany, the Philippines, Serbia - but we were all there to practice our Czech in a relaxed atmosphere. As we chatted, everyone listened with patience, and without judgement. We spoke about our motivations for learning Czech, our lives, our home countries. We practiced the genitive case - “Takže, teď potřebujeme sto gramů mouky.” And we each left with the feeling that we were part of a supportive community (and of course, with box of gingerbread cookies too).
Check out Eliška’s websites: https://www.youtube.com/@BecauseCzechIsCool, https://www.becauseczechiscool.com/
So, what accomplishments from 2025 are you proud of? What do you hope to achieve in 2026? And if you can’t wait to leave 2025 behind, know that we’ve all been there. Here’s to health and happiness in 2026!
My average daily step count as of today
Baking "cukroví" with new friends
Stephanie Parascandolo
Study in Czechia Ambassador
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