Mikuláš, Anděl a Čert

I witnessed some strange events on December 5th, the eve of St. Nicholas Day, here in the Czech Republic. The strangeness began in school, where some loud noises came from classrooms followed by children screeching and screaming. I definitely began asking questions immediately.

Apparently, St. Nicholas Day is one of the most popular Czech holidays. On December 5th, children are visited by three figures-- Svaty Mikuláš, or St. Nicholas, anděl, an angel who represents good, and čert, a devil who represents evil. These figures form a procession marking the beginning of the Christmas season. The streets are filled with devils rattling chains, St. Nicholases with white cotton beards, long robes, and bishops' staffs, and angels with paper wings on their way to visit small children in their homes.

St. Nicholas quizzes the children about the previous years' behavior. Sometimes parents inform St. Nicholas about a child's bad deed before they arrive, which makes for a better, more believable experience during the visit. It helps when the figures are typically friends of the family, too. The devil threatens bad children with his chains and sack. If they are not good, they will be tied up and thrown into the sack and brought down to hell with him. The angel then pleads on the child's behalf. Perhaps if the child sings a song or says a poem to St. Nicholas, he will reward them. Good children receive stockings filled with tangerines, nuts, chocolates, and small gifts. It is said that bad children get old potatoes or coal in their stockings, though it seems this rarely ever happens. 

The loud noises I heard in school were from the devil. The smaller children were visited by the three figures in their classrooms. The screeching and screaming were a result of the devil's threats. During lunch, everyone received some fruits, nuts, and sweets at the school canteen!

St. Nicholas Day reminds children that they need to behave before Christmas arrives in a few more weeks. Though it was quite scary for small children, it was a rather interesting and surprising day for me!

Oh, I also found this video that describes St. Nicholas Day by a Czech adult reminiscing about his childhood. Watch the first 2.15 mins: Mikulas

Holiday Season

Oddly enough, many Americans do not seem to realize that Thanksgiving is only celebrated in North America. It's one of our biggest holidays and is celebrated by nearly everyone in the country due to its cultural versus religious origins. Americans have been celebrating Thanksgiving annually on the fourth Thursday in November since 1863. On the other hand, Canadians have only been celebrating it annually since 1957, and their holiday is on the second Monday of October. Nevertheless, the main idea is to be thankful for all you have and celebrate with family and friends.

Since it's not celebrated in the Czech Republic, the Fulbright Commission gave us a celebration in Prague the day after Thanksgiving. First, the ETAs got together for a seminar on tactics for teaching EFL/ESL classes. I must say it was quite useful and we had fun taking on the roles of students. We learned various strategies for classroom management and differentiated instruction that focused on group work. 

In the activity below, each person in each group had to draw something on a poster board that summarized one key aspect of all we learned at the seminar. Then, we hung the poster boards around the room and the other groups asked questions about the drawings using post-it notes. Afterward, one person from each group presented their poster board and answered the questions for everyone else. 

My Group's Poster!

Following the seminar, all of the Fulbright grantees met up with us at the U.S. Embassy to discuss our achievements and some issues we were having in adapting to our Czech lifestyles. Most of it was quite interesting and entertaining.

Enjoying Hot Drinks and Snacks

Serious Conversations 

Storytelling

When all the business was finished, we took the funicular to the middle of Petrin Hill, where we had a lovely dinner at a restaurant overlooking Prague. The Fulbright Commission funded the whole thing. We basically took over the entire restaurant.

Speeches

Wining and Dining

It wasn't a traditional Thanksgiving, but the Czech version was yummy, too. As an appetizer we had squash soup. I thought that was the best part of the dinner and it was quite excellent. The main course consisted of a turkey roll with stuffing inside, potato pancakes, and a version of cornbread with ham and stuffing inside. For dessert, there was cream with cherries. It was a lovely setting with piano entertainment. The pianist was fantastic and played all different eras! 

We all stayed overnight in Prague, and the next day a bunch of the girls went to the mall to go shopping. In all honesty, we hadn't really been shopping since we arrived. Now that it was getting colder outside, we needed to add a few warm items to our wardrobes. The mall had a lovely decorated Christmas tree in the center. By the way, you won't find a long line of parents and children waiting to take pictures with Santa Claus in this country; he does not exist here.

Oh, you know, just some chipmunks making a snowman and lounging in the snow.

Then, we headed to Old Town Square to see the Christmas tree and the Advent/Christmas Markets. 

Barbara and I

Old Town Square

There were tons of stalls selling various trinkets, Christmas decorations, souvenirs, hot wine (delicious!), hot ciders, and fair food. Trdelnik is a popular sweet here in the Czech Republic. The dough is in a cylinder shape with cinnamon and other spices on top. You either love it or hate it.

Advent/Christmas Market

At 5PM, there was the official tree lighting. They're really into putting clocks on their trees here. Also, there were some choirs performing Christmas carols, too! It was funny because I knew the melodies/instrumental parts to songs, but they sang the lyrics in Czech!

Christmas Tree

Choir

Me, Twee, Barbara

After the tree lighting, we went to Guy's flat to celebrate Hanukkah. First, he said some prayers in Hebrew and lit the candles on the Menorah. This was the first time I ever attended a Hanukkah celebration, so I found it pretty fascinating. Afterward, he made delicious latkes and kugel. A friend brought some corned beef and we had salad, too. It seemed like every time the food disappeared from the table, it would fill back up again by magic. There were Czechs, Americans, and Russians at the party. We talked and drank wine all night. Eventually, we started to get hungry again, so we had some jelly doughnuts for dessert. Someone brought chocolate Euro coins and dreidels as well. This was the first time I fully understood the dreidel song and participated in the fun. We played for a long time, then we gave up and decided to just eat all the chocolate. 

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from the Hanukkah celebration. Sometimes, I'm too busy having fun and living in the moment to document some of my experiences, which I find is often more important! 

Zámek Hluboká

The mornings are quite eerie in the Czech Republic as fog engulfs the land. They say 11 o'clock will tell you how the rest of the day will be; either the fog stays for the remainder of the day, or the sun breaks through and it's lovely outside. Mom and I patiently waited for 11 o'clock to come as we walked across town from my flat to the train station in Strakonice (about 25 minutes). As we rode the train, there was zero visibility outside. It seemed like we were taking part in a horror film and passing ghost towns along the way. 

Originally, we were taking the train to Ceske Budejovice, where we would then board a bus to Hluboka nad Vltavou, but the tracks were under construction that day. We had to get off the train at one stop, then board a shuttle bus to bypass the construction, and return to the train at a further stop. Fortunately, that train stop was Hluboka nad Vltavou, so our trip was made shorter! However, the train station is much further away from the centrum than the bus stop, so I asked an old man how to get to the castle. He said it was about a 3km walk, or almost 2 miles, but he offered to drive us up to the centrum in his car. Now, normally, I would never go in a car with strangers, but this is the Czech Republic, and this was a small town with a very nice old man, so I told my mom to get in the car. It's strange how I've adapted to this culture. I mean, I've let down my guard considerably since arrival, and it makes me feel anxious yet relieved simultaneously. As Dorothy would say, "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore".

You may be asking why we ventured to Hluboka nad Vlatavou. The reason would be because my colleague recommended that we visit Hluboka Castle, one of the most famous castles in the country. We immediately noticed why upon arrival. Here is the view of the town as we walked uphill to the castle.

Hluboka nad Vltavou

The castle grounds were especially breathtaking this time of year.

As were some more of the views.

The best part about visiting the Czech Republic at the end of October is that it isn't peak tourist season. This means we received private tours in English for the price of a regular tour admission at every attraction we visited. It was actually pretty awesome!

Mom Admiring the Foliage

The castle was originally built in the 13th century as a guarding castle for the Kings of Bohemia (a region in the Czech Republic). Several aristocratic families took turns owning it over the centuries, but the last, and most prominent, family was the Schwarzenbergs. This name should sound familiar to you because the family owned Orlik Castle (see previous post: Zamek Orlik) in addition to various other properties in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria.

Castle Door Handle

Castle Courtyard

As with most castles, you cannot take pictures inside, but here are some from the castle's website gallery to give you a little taste of the decor. Most royal families did not buy furniture, but merely inherited it over time. Thus, most of the decor dates back to even the 13th century. It was not unusual for families to utilize various pieces of old furniture to create something more modern either.

Stained Glass Windows

This next picture is of the dining room. Actually, it's quite fascinating. In this picture, the table looks like it only fits about ten people, but you can extend it to the length of the entire room so that it fits 72 people! Also, many of the ceilings in the castle are made of wood and intricately carved into beautiful designs. It must have taken years to complete by one artist, but it is such a beautiful work of art!

This is a sitting room for guests and entertaining. 

This is the porcelain room. It has lovely blue, hand-painted plates hung on the walls. Again, all of the wooden walls in this room have intricately carved designs made by hand.

This is the lady's sitting room. Another fascinating aspect of the castle is the wallpaper. They didn't have sheets of wall paper like we do these days. Each wall is actually hand painted with designs to make it look like the wall paper we know today. Again, a very time consuming and expensive aspect of the castle, but absolutely gorgeous!

This was the last renovation to the castle; a Neo-Renaissance balcony. It's quite gorgeous. There was a newlywed couple taking wedding pictures near the castle while we were visiting, which is quite common here!

Neo-Renaissance Balcony

Also, during its last renovation, Hluboka was designed after Windsor Castle in England.

Hluboka Castle

Mom Pretending to be Royalty

You know when you get to the end of the tour, and the guide asks if you have any questions, and if not they will show you the way out, but secretly they do not want you to ask any questions. Well, yeah, I'm that annoying tourist. I was curious to know why Orlik Castle was returned to the Schwarzenbergs after the Velvet Revolution and demise of Communism, but Hluboka remained a property of the state. I bet you're curious now, too! 

So, the Schwarzenberg family was split into two branches; one branch owned Orlik castle while the other branch owned Hluboka castle. Basically, it comes down to an ancestor having two sons, so the inheritance was split and each son gained one property. Well, before Communism came to the Czech Republic, there was Fascism under Hitler from Germany. Apparently, Hitler was not a fan of the Schwarzenbergs. The last owner of Hluboka, Dr. Adolf Schwarzenberg, emigrated overseas to the United States to escape the Nazis. You see, when you're a wealthy aristocrat, you really have no choice but to support Hitler (and later Stalin), or they will kill you. Dr. Adolf came up with another alternative: fleeing the country. Unfortunately, he died childless and Hluboka was turned over to the state in 1947. One year later, Communism was in full effect in the Czech Republic until 1989. So, why can't Schwarzenberg descendants have their property back? Wasn't all private property supposed to be returned after Communism ended? Why, yes, of course, except the law only stated that property confiscated from 1948-1989 would be returned to its original owners. Hluboka was state owned one year too early! The Schwarzenbergs continue to fight to gain back their property to this day.

Czech Folklore

While we were staying in Prague, I decided to give my mom a taste of the Czech culture by going to the Czech Folklore Garden, which is of course, a huge tourist attraction. It was the best way for her to view and listen to the traditional Czech songs, instruments, and dances. Since it was already autumn, there were no genuine celebrations in any towns or villages, at least that I knew of, so this was our best option.

This is a picture of the band. Their instruments (from left to right) include the violin, dulcimer, double bass, and viola. The dulcimer is a very intriguing instrument that originally comes from the Middle East. It reminds my of a xylophone, except this one is highly complex and takes a lot of skill to play (Hurray, it's being played by a woman!). Below is a video of the band playing:

This is a video of the dancers:

When they asked for volunteers, mom stood up instantly. Here's a video of her getting in on all the action!

Here are some pictures from my favorite dance, but I didn't catch it on video.

Everyone has a partner, except one man. When the music stops, the goal is to find another girl. If you don't, you have to dance with the broom! It was very funny to watch.

We both had a great time, drank all the beer we wanted, and had an exceptional meal, including some apple strudel for dessert. I thought it was well worth the money, and a great night out on the town.

Home Sweet Home (in the CZ)

When I first moved to Strakonice, I was bewildered by its small size. I questioned whether or not I would be bored from its lack of venues, attractions, and events. Clearly, I live a completely different lifestyle here than I did in New York. However, I am now quite accustomed to my new home. Though boredom does strike now and then, I like going to a few key places in town and having the owners and employees know me. It's a very personable atmosphere and people are very patient with me as I try my best to pronounce the Czech words and communicate with them. In fact, they often help me pronounce the words, repeat them, and talk slower so I can understand. There's a kindness that can't really be matched back home.

On another note, the Czechs, and more importantly all Europeans, could learn a thing or two from the anti-smoking laws we have back in the States. I personally despise every aspect of a smoking culture, especially the stench. For instance, my friends and I went to the disco, or something similar to a lounge, and people were smoking inside. Firstly, I don't want to breath that in and have it affect my lungs. Secondly, every piece of clothing I had on reeked upon leaving. I mean, even my hair and skin smelled horrible. I had to take a shower and put my clothes in the laundry as soon as I returned home. 

Also, while we're on the topic of the disco, let me tell you what it's like there. First, you check your coat for 5 korunas, which is mere pennies. There's no line to get inside really, and you don't have to pay a cover. There is an actual disco ball above the dance floor; both are made up of various colored squares that change to the music. It seemed very 1970s to me. I found the DJ to be a tad bit old, perhaps around 50, to be playing music in a dance club. The discos here play a lot of slow songs for couples, which doesn't happen in the States at all. Then, there was a mixture of popular Czech and American songs, but they didn't really play any hip-hop or R&B, or anything relatively new. It wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but I still had fun. Also, the drinking age in the Czech Republic is 18, so we actually saw some of our students there!

Anyway, when my mother was visiting, we spent about two days here so she could see where I lived and worked as well as meet me friends and colleagues. First we walked around town and across the bridge to the castle. Clearly, autumn looks amazing along the Otava riverside!

Mom Overlooking Otava River

Me and Mom

Mom found the Petting Zoo.

Of course, I bought her some feed for the animals. 

She's a really big kid.

Small Beach Between Castle and River

Then, we walked on the outskirts of town to Strakonice's very own Stonehenge. Actually, Rudolf told me that a Czech man wanted to prove that the Stonehenge in England was done by people without modern technology back in the day; that it truly was possible. These stones are smaller, but still substantial. The man did it with simple tools like logs and ramps. It just took a long time and a lot of hard work, then again, which wonders of the world and ancient ruins did not?!

We also went for a walk along the Podskali at dusk.

Man Fishing -- He Caught One!

Leaves Upon Leaves Upon Leaves

The Otava River looks quite eerie at sunset.

Mom enjoyed meeting my friends and colleagues for dinner, too, which I organized at an Italian restaurant in town so that she could talk and interact with them more. She felt better once she knew who I was actually hanging out with and who was helping me out here in the Czech Republic. I told her I was fine, which of course, you can all read from my blog posts, but she said "mothers need to see for themselves".