Important

Well as far as I know his grandparents came from CZ, and because he still has the surname Lysacek I would suppose it comes from his fathers side :)

by the way, Formy, reading your signature ... ty jsi taky z Cech? ;)

You're right, Katis. Evan's paternal grandparents are immigrants from what's now the Czech Republic. Evan's father, Don, was born in Chicago; Evan's mother, Tanya, was bron in Pennsylvania and is of Italian, Greek, and Syrian descent. Evan is a real United Nations in terms of his ancestors. :lol2:

Dallene

Jo ja sem taky z Cech ;)

Evan's mother actually grew up in New Kensington, PA, and went to the University of Pittsburgh. I know the area because one of my college roomates is from New Kensington.

Evan's parents met while both were in Italy during a summer trip.

Evan's maternal grandfather is a Pittsburgh Penquins fan (hockey).

Evan's mother majored in elementary education. She taught kindergarten until Evan began to travel as a junior level skater. She then became a substitute teacher (which she still is) in order to accompany him.

I believe his mother's descent would explain his Greek Orthodox religious upbringing.

OMG Carley, how can you know Evan so well?! You're like the Encyclopedia of Evan! :clap:

I have a couple of trivia questions, anybody knows the answer?

1) Who’s the choreographer of Singing in the rain? (that’s my favorite Evan’s LP although Carmen is a very close 2nd.) :1st:

2) What languages does Evan speak other than English?
I think he should at least know a little bit of the following:
French: b/c Tanith speaks fluent French :thumbup:
Spanish: b/c he likes Spanish theme! And he lives in California! :drunk:
Czech: b/c of his root
Italian: same as above
Russian: b/c his former coach is Russian
Japanese: b/c he likes Sushi! :B

Sonnenschein, I believe Evan studied French in high school; I don't know how much he can actuallly speak. I believe he picked up some Russian when he'd spend part of his summers in Russia with one of his ex-coaches, Victor Kudriatsev (I know that's misspelled!) Oh, he told an interviewer at 2003 Junior Worlds, which were held in the Czech Republic, that he could say "Good morning" in Czech.

Maybe we can raise money to buy him some foreign language tapes or programs for his computer! We could get him French, Russian, Czech, Italian, Greek, and Spanish! That should cover a lot of bases! :lol2:

Dallene

I think the choreographer of "Singin' in the rain" is Oleg Epstein.

Another trivia
Evan said he missed the pizza of Chicago in a past interview article.
He loves Lou Malnati's and Nancy's Pizzeria in Naperville.
I'm curious what kind of pizza he loves. Is it normal type pizza or stuffed pizza of Chicago style?
I've heard about stuffed pizza of Chicago, but I've never eaten it. Is there someone who has eaten it? :)

[QUOTE=MichelleTodd,Apr 7 2008, 10:28 PM]
Maybe we can raise money to buy him some foreign language tapes or programs for his computer! We could get him French, Russian, Czech, Italian, Greek, and Spanish! That should cover a lot of bases! :lol2:


Whatever format would have to go on his ipod because he doesn't like computers very much.

I have. My mom makes it (she's from Chicago), and it's fantastic. It's one of my favorite things to eat; she made it for my birthday dinner this year. :)

Good morning in Czech is "Dobré ráno!" but when I was there I used more often "Dobrý den!" (I hope that I spell it right), which means Hello! Wonder which one Evan knows.

Evan once told me when he was in Nagano, Japan, for a Junior GP event, he had quite a challenge making himself understood since few people spoke English there. :lol2:

Maybe we can give him a set of flash cards for the basic Japanese conversation as well since he is more often going to Japan these days and is gaining lots of fans there. :)

Yuki

Great idea - maybe we can use it for the seed idea for his birthday project this year.

Maybe we could do a "grab bag" care package with each of those who want to participate sending something of their chooosing - like for instance you could send the flash cards, Yuki, others could send small items they think would be useful or fun or recall a memory - I'm sure we each could come up with something - to a central person who would then package them all together and send to him.

Just a thought. This one might lead to another idea so we can get started on this. It's less than 2 months away.

Jo ja sem taky z Cech ;)

Cool! Nice to see another person from home here :)

Aw, when and where were you in Czech Rep? Did you like it here? ;)
"Dobrý den" is a kind of universal greeting that you can say anytime to anyone (though more formal than hello). Literally translated it would be "Good day". I suppose it would be the one that a person would learn at first.

ohhh I forgot that here we have you guys, who are expert in Czech language :hide:

I was in Praha several time to visit local friends and their families. Praha in winter is THE most beautiful city in the world, IMO.

Yuki

No worries, you're doing great! :B
Aw yes, Praha is definitely beautiful. I love livning there. :czechflag:

Wonderful! :hug:
Evan must love it! :cloud9: