Ladislav Žák

"We had a climbing club in Cheb, called the Skalka Cheb, and we were all registered in it. It was a bit more complicated in the past, there were certain rules given by the state, by the communists, so we were supervised because we were such a special sport. And as the borders and more options opened up, the club started to slowly disintegrate. It was no lonter that active. We were great friends with our colleagues in Selb, Germany, and they wanted to form some kind of freundschaft, to make friends. They didn't want to do it with Cheb, though; they wanted to liaise directly with Aš. So when we said we were in Cheb, they said, 'No, form a chapter in Aš, and we'll help you with that.' And it's about to celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary."

"My first job? You mean a real job? I used to also work part-time because I had to earn money to get my skis and bike, so I got jobs on summer holidays. I worked with bricklayers and in a joinery, and that was my first big job. Then I went to high school; I did rehabilitation school after high school. It used to be called a 'rehabilitation worker', now it's a 'physiotherapist'. I was in Brno for two years. Then I started working as a physiotherapist and since then I've been doing nothing but rehabilitation for 49 years. Closer to 50 years, actually. I never stopped, I was a rehabilitation worker even when in the army."