Holiday Countdown 2020 - The lost days part 11 - Hana Kučerová

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Due to the article size limit, older days have to be removed from the main article.

Here is day 16:

Song of the day: Thank God it’s Christmas by Queen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIfZXSXRsYI)

We’re back in Europe today - the 16th day of this calendar is Hana Kučerová's day. She’s a very active helpful online Community Leader from the Czech Republic.

Hana was born in Jihlava, the largest town of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands:

 

Later she moved to Prague where she studied and lives now in Roztoky, a small town near Prague.

 

(The Christmas Tree of Prague - amazing)

Hana, it’s a pleasure to have you in our community calendar! Welcome here at door number 16!

How and when did you become one of Atlassian's Community Leaders?

During last year's autumn I started to answer questions on the community site. I sent the request after a few months of contributing – I felt it's the right next step to do. My request was approved in February, one day before my birthday, so it was a great birthday gift from Atlassian :-) 

 

They are good in birthday surprises :-)

What motivates you being a Community Leader?

I'm always very happy, when I feel I really helped somebody and improved their day. There are so many great people in the community, I learn a lot from them and they challenge me to study new topics and help me think differently about the problems.

What was the first time you ever used an Atlassian product?

May 5th, 2014. I started to work as a PHP developer for a company, which used Jira, Confluence and Bitbucket. It was love at first sight :-). I was later given the opportunity to take care of these products and realized I want to do this as a full time job.

Do you have a favorite Atlassian memory to date?

I didn't tell anybody about the exam date of my first certification, as I was so nervous. When I passed it, I was so happy I called the news almost everybody in my contact list on my way home.

 

Awesome! Congratulations, Hana!

Hana loves reading, playing (games and piano) and dancing:  

I was so disappointed from the end of the Game of Thrones series, I started to read fanfiction to find a better one (I need happy ends in my life and I'm sorry, GRRM, I don’t believe there will be another book). It turned out to be an endless source of entertainment on various topics.

But there couldn’t be a happy end for anyone in Game of Thrones… I found the end ok - but I’m with you, Mr. Martin will never finish this novel  

This year's mission is to complete all the old PC games (mostly point-and-click adventures) from my childhood and teenage.

I loved The Day of the Tentacle! Did you play this? There's a modern version for smartphones and tablets today. 

I also play the piano, but I should definitely practice more (I'm stuck at the level of a slightly advanced player).

 

Slightly advanced is not too bad. I think I haven’t reached slightly advanced yet… And maybe never will... 

I took dancing lessons with my husband for almost ten years.

 

What are you passionate about?

My work.

Do you have a very special holiday memory?

The first Christmas I spent with my husband. During the preparations we kinda forget to buy a carp for the dinner, which is the main course. I think we bought the last one available in Prague and ended up cooking into the night. We had so much fun.

 

Haha, Hana desperately searching for the last carp in Prague - what a great story! I think I would have ordered pizza instead :-) 

One of Hanas favorite childhood memories:

I remember there was so much snow, when I was a child, I was playing with my brother for hours in our garden.

 

Awesome! I have similar photos with my brother and me. But today, we have hardly enough snow for a snowman.

What is your favorite holiday treat?

I love roasted chestnuts, every year I try to prepare them using different recipes and every year it's a complete disaster.

 

(Photo by Peter Forster - Flickr: Caldarroste, geroestete Kastanien, roasted Chestnuts, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13139709)

Is there a holiday song that you love?

Queen - Thank God It's Christmas. Freddie will always be in my heart.

He will always be in everybody’s heart  

What is your favorite holiday movie?

The old Star Wars Trilogy – Episode IV, V, VI. You may say this is not a Christmas movie, but to me, it is. I've watched it with my brother every year during Christmas holiday.

Do you decorate your house for the holidays? If so, what kind of decorations do you put up?

Very simple things like advent candlestick made of wood. It was a gift from my sister-in-law.

 

I like simple things as well - it doesn’t always have to be the big glittering bling bling...   

Grinch or Santa?

Baby Yoda! This is the way! Just google Baby Yoda Christmas and prepare yourself for an overload of cuteness.

Hmm, Baby Yoda looks more like Grinch than it looks like Santa… But today no points, neither for Grinch nor for Santa

Do you have a Christmas tree?

There's one big tree near the place where I live - between the buildings. The neighbors gather each year to light it up. The decoration is very simple, just a few lights, but we like the tradition to meet all the people.

That’s a nice tradition - a neighbour’s tree - awesome!

What was your best artist in 2020?

I've discovered two great guys Stjepan Hauser and Francesco Parrino on YouTube. Find their music and listen to them – it's breathtaking...

Here's your chance to give a special shoutout to someone - who is it and why?

This is about Atlassian, so I want to thank Tomáš and Marek, my former and current boss. Both of them gave me the opportunity to do what I felt was right and suitable for me, and supported me and helped me achieve what I wanted. Thank you!
One special thank also to my friend Veronika! We've removed so many Jira admin access rights together! Those were great times and I will never forget them.

Thank you Hana for taking part in this calendar. It was a pleasure to get to know you and I hope, we will someday meet in person, somewhere! Prague is not so far away from here :-) I wish you a wonderful Christmas time, the perfect roasted chestnuts (I'm sure, this year it won't be a disaster) and a happy new year - may the force be with you, always!

[Soumyadeep Mandal]

Thanks, Hana Kučerová & Thomas for sharing this awesome annual calendar article for 2020!