Hrad Radyne

A few weeks ago, I went to Plzen to visit Rosie, which is about an hour away from Strakonice by train. We decided to go hiking in the hopes of finding some nice autumn foliage. We became adventurous and left the city in search of trails. Although Rosie looked up some information online before we left her flat, we encountered some troubles along the way.

When we first entered "the nature", there were no trail signs. We think this is because we entered from a side trail instead of a main trail. Thus, we decided to use Rosie's phone and Google maps to help us out, but that proved to be a mistake. The GPS signal kept getting lost in the nature, or it would be delayed so we would accidentally pass trails. About an hour into our journey, we finally found a trail map!

Our destination was Hrad Radyne, which was only supposed to be 4km away, but we definitely added an extra 2km due to our (not so) amazing hiking skills. At last, we found our castle ruins!

Climbing Towards Hrad Radyne

Hrad Radyne

Rosie at Hrad Radyne

It was only 10 korunas each to view the castle, which is less than a dollar, so we definitely took the opportunity to see what it was all about. We discovered that Hrad Radyne was built for emperor Charles IV of Czechoslovakia from 1356 to 1361. 

Originally, the castle was named the Crown of Charles after the emperor, but in later years it came to be known as the Radyne castle because it was built on a hill called Radyne. Emperor Charles IV chose this location because it was high up and provided great defense against possible enemy invasions. 

As you can see, Rosie could not scale the castle walls, but had to go around them.

Most of the castle is intact, however some floors were missing. This is the main area, where one can speculate that perhaps dining and entertaining took place. 

We found very strange aspects to the castle as well. Originally, we thought the castle was preparing for Halloween, though it is not celebrated in the Czech Republic. Here they are more adamant about All Saint's Day (November 1st), where they honor their dead ancestors by visiting the cemeteries and placing wreaths on their graves. 

However, I later learned that these creatures are from an old urban legend. According to the legend, Radous was the child of a sorceress. She wanted a daughter, but instead her son was born, who bore such ugly, distorting features that he eventually ran away from home. One day, he was wandering in the woods when he came upon a magical book. This book contained elves and he had them build Radyne castle. (It reminds me of Aladdin, the lamp, and Genie!)

Radous wanted to start his own family very badly. Unfortunately, he wound up marring six wives, who bore him six children, but they all turned out ugly like him! He killed all of his wives and children, and suffered through most of his life. Finally, he decided to do good deeds before his death. Now his soul remains in the castle today, where these figurines keep his story alive.

On the second floor, we noticed these interesting figurines. They sort of look like scarecrows, or stick village people, but they are some of the elves from the legend.

Near the windowsills, there were these small creepy ones. 

This one actually reminds me of Doby from Harry Potter. 

Then, we climbed our way to the top of  the castle. The steps were fairly steep.

The views were amazing! 

However, you might notice that the weather wasn't so fantastic this day. October is like the June Gloom of California, it's always cloudy and rainy. Yet, if you wait for the perfect weather to go exploring, you would miss out on so much! It only drizzled on us for a few minutes the entire day.

Stary Plzenec (Old Plzen)

Overlooking Stary Plzenec

Unfortunately, we also got lost on our way back to civilization. 

Our 8km hike turned into an 11km hike, but we enjoyed every minute of it! 

We ended our night by making a Mexican dinner and watching An Extremely Goofy Movie on Netflix, which reminded us of our childhood. 

We agreed that A Goofy Movie was better though, as with most originals and sequels. 

I'll tell you one thing, hiking is an extremely tiring activity, especially when most of it is uphill. We fell asleep by 10PM!

Bilingualism

I've been wanting to discuss the topic of bilingualism for a while, so here it goes.

In the Czech Republic, it is mandatory for students to begin learning English in elementary school, then continue with it throughout secondary school. Many of my students are quite talented English speakers! During secondary school, students have the opportunity to pick up a third language, and most students choose German. 

Unfortunately, they don't speak German as well as English because they only take it for a maximum of four years. The upside is that Germany is a bordering nation, so students could travel just about two hours and be in Germany. This would give students the opportunity to practice their German with native speakers, whereas the closest English speaking country is England, which in terms of travel, is further and more expensive to get to for Czechs. 

When the German colleagues from Nabburg were visiting, I had the opportunity to talk with their headmaster (principal). He was so excited that he was able to talk to an American, and I must say quite jealous of my headmaster for having the opportunity to have a native English speaker at his school. You see, English is the language of the future. Two superpowers, Great Britain and America, both speak English. Most countries these days require their students to become bilingual in order to participate in a globalized, interdependent world. Sure you can succeed with knowing solely your native language, but there are triple the opportunities in life if you can also speak English. Not to mention, you can find a profession that pays you more, too. 

Countries all over the world desperately want native English speakers to teach or volunteer in their communities. Students have the opportunity to hear the correct pronunciation of words and are forced to listen to the rapid and natural linking of words in our everyday speech. In addition, English foreign language teachers have the opportunity to ask the native English speakers questions. From experience, my colleagues ask me things all the time, and I'm happy to help! 

During our discussion, I stated how I wished Americans were more bilingual, but the headmaster pointed out that they "don't need to be". I became very sad because I don't think that's a mentality Americans should have. On the contrary, I think we need to have our students learn a second language sooner in their education. Four to six years of learning a second language is just not enough! And yes, Americans who are bilingual are more likely to obtain and keep their job as well as get paid more than those who only know English. If you're reading this and you are or have a school-aged child, perhaps you should pay more attention to the education being received. 

Unfortunately, many schools are cutting foreign language programs due to budget deficits. Did you ever notice that most schools only seem to offer Spanish, Italian, or French, too? Western Europe is fabulous, but what about other parts of the world? Stand up for your future or the future of your children. Find resources and opportunities to practice a second language, or even better, go to a foreign country for a summer and be immersed in another language. There are so many wonderful opportunities out there if you would only inquire. The best part is that most programs only make you pay for the airfare; you can work somewhere and instead of getting paid wages, your lodging will be free. Many of you may not think it's important now, but know that this is a matter of great importance, especially when an economy goes downhill!

Sušice

I teach at Gymnazium Strakonice, which has partnerships with two German schools. A couple weeks ago, colleagues from a secondary school in Nabburg, Germany came to Strakonice to visit. Next year the Czech teachers will go there. This tradition has been around for over twenty years. In addition, German students will come to the Czech Republic in the spring for a week, and Czech students will go to Germany for a week.

Germans, Czechs and I in Sušice

The German colleagues arrived on Friday afternoon, toured the school, and ate delicious cakes that the Czech teachers made. I met up with them at night for dinner at a restaurant called Hangár. It was a pretty neat restaurant because the word hangár is the same in English; it's the place where you store airplanes. This restaurant had a giant airplane replica hanging from the ceiling! These are some of my colleagues at Gymnazium Strakonice that teach English.

Top: Me, Jana
Bottom: Jitka, Romana

The Germans spent the night at some of the Czech teachers' homes then we all went to a town called Sušice, which has a museum of the Šumava region. 

Museum

Although the museum was small, it was extremely interesting. The ground floor included artifacts from the original local settlement and an exhibition dedicated to Sušice's match industry. I was awed by the detail and creative thought put into the design of early matchboxes. I was only able to take two pictures before I got yelled at for using my camera, but at least I got those!

The matches, and their boxes, actually came in all different sizes. Apparently matches were originally rounded in their shape, not flat like the ones we use nowadays, which are made very cheaply in Asia.

The first floor was an exhibition dedicated to Šumava's glass industry. I saw some of the most beautiful glasswork in teals, blues, and pinks! In the photos you will also notice some 19th century decor.

I realize the above two pictures don't show off the glass too well. So here is a picture I found online of the types of glasses you would find in the Bohemian region of the Czech Republic.

There was another exhibition located on the ground floor, but I wanted to save the best for last. This is a miniature Sušice village that depicts its history. It was built in 2004.

It is home to a very large nativity set as well, which my father would have greatly appreciated. I like that it includes an elephant!

The most fabulous aspect is that it moves, so you can see the people carrying out their typical daily activities! This is just a picture, but you can get the idea. Men from the logging industry are transporting trees down the Vltava river, which will later be used as firewood to heat homes, or for lumber.

Then, we were able to go onto a narrow landing on the roof of the museum, where our guide discussed some more of the historical aspects of the town. By the way, I forgot to mention that the tour was in both Czech and German, but not English. I was given a pamphlet and my colleagues translated for me.

After the museum tour and lunch, we took the Germans on a 7km hike in the Šumava mountains. 

Of course, we stopped half way because it was quite cold on this day.

Most of us ordered coffee or tea, but then my principal order shots for everyone as "a little something to warm us up". Of course, here you sip shots slowly because you want to enjoy the spirit (liquor). He bought us shots of Jaeger, which I've discovered seems to be the male's favorite whenever I go out. 

This lodge in the Šumava mountains has an otter rehabilitation center as well. The previous two times I was there the otters seemed to be hiding from the public. This time I saw them! 

Although it was quite cold, he decided to take a bath anyway.

We ended our day with dinner at a pizzeria, which although not the same as New York, is pretty tasty because it's made in a brick oven. :)

Oktoberfest

Okay, let's be real. The real reason I went to Munich was to attend Oktoberfest, which was one of the best decisions of my life. We had a fantastic time, and it is definitely one we will never forget!

For one thing, we stayed at this all-inclusive campsite that was fairly cheap. It sounds great when you read about it online, and it's horrible in person. They provided the tents, sleeping bags, and "air mattresses", aka pool floats. Yes, you read that correctly, they gave us pool floats to sleep on. In general, camping isn't too bad, however, once you add Oktoberfest to the mix, it's just bad news bears. The bathrooms were disgusting in every way imaginable. We decided it would be healthier and safer to just not shower for the 48 hours we were in Germany. Yes, we felt totally gross afterward, but, hey, showers, real beds, and small-town living never felt so good upon returning home to the Czech Republic!

After checking into the campsite, we headed to the actual party.

Me and Mariel

This is the insane crowd that had already arrived before 11AM on Saturday.

Oktoberfest can best be described as a fair, festival, and theme-park all tied into one. There is something for people of all ages from games and rides to food and beer. These are heart-shaped ginger-bread cookies with various sayings. They are quite popular, especially with your name written on them. You are supposed to wear them around your neck.

Gingerbread Cookies

The main idea for adults is to get into these big beer tents, where the festivities really happen. When we heard about these tents, we were definitely not expecting what we witnessed. We assumed casual tents outside with a brewery's logo, but it's really the front of a huge building with a gigantic circus tent attached. I mean, there were thousands of people inside!

We actually had to wait outside for over three hours to get inside one of the tents. When they finally let us inside, we literally felt like we won the lotto. We were the happiest people alive, shouting "WE MADE IT INTO THE TENT, YEAHHHHH!!!" Of course, now we had to go searching for seats, which took a good half hour. There are these long picnic tables that sit 10 people each. Why were we so adamant about finding seats? Well, for one thing we just stood for over three hours, but more importantly, you can only order beer if you're sitting!

Clearly we drank half of our beer in this picture, but they only serve it in 1 liter mugs. Let me tell you, this beer was delicious and extremely strong!

Top: Mariel & Lee
Bottom: Emily & Me

As soon as we sat down and said "Prost", the German word for cheers, the Germans we shared our bench with started chanting the German songs with the band and swaying to and fro, thus so did we. It's also a tradition to stand on the benches and sing, sometimes on the table, and when things get truly crazy, everyone is dancing in the aisles. Yes, I did all of the aforementioned and turned German for the day! Here's a video of people in action (unfortunately not us). I apologize that it's not the best quality or entertaining, but it was in the beginning of the evening. Clearly, when more popular songs came on I was having too much fun to take any more pictures/videos.

Of course, there is more to this story, however, what happens at Oktoberfest, stays at Oktoberfest...