First off, a much belated Krásné Vánoce to everyone. I spent the holidays in Chicago (begrudgingly) and all my recent free time has been spent adapting to my overwhelming teaching load, 2 am-barefoot-McDonald’s runs with my little brother, a serious interest in Czech cinematics (Peacock reviews flying to you in February) and some wholesome quality time with Bee Knees. Perhaps these are lame excuses for the major lapse in my writing, but believe me, I am all in it now.
So Christmas, or rather the preparation and events leading up to Christmas were incredible. This is a summation of my three weeks of Czech Christmas before Chicago:
1. Christmas show with my skiddets (I taught them Twinkle, Twinkle Little Stars” and we preformed this, which was hilarious!)
2. Mama Pavla prepared a scrumptious Bromboraky (finally J) & Bees Knees met the family.
3. I gained 3kg in cukroví weight, mostly from two particular Christmas cookies Linecké koláčiky (I made some of these with Iveta—rather she let me put the marmalade in and make the sandwich part) and vanilkové rohlíčky. Just look at the first two pictures and you will know what I am talking about. A platter of trouble.
4. Christmas Markets (even in Bratislava) are the best way to spend an afternoon waiting for the Czech Embassy to open, but be weary of drinking too much cherry medovina, lokša (funny video), and Cigánska Kuracia-- soooooo good.
5. I was spoiled rotten by all my students, friends, and the family with wonderful, thoughtful, gifts including; a Czech to English Picture book dictionary (courtesy of my gymnasium students), homemade honey and Christmas bread, Langoš, ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A1ngos), A Czech cookbook (which I used to make my Christmas Bramborový salát), a marionette puppet, & a DVD of the famous Czech Fairytale, Popelku (again, Peacock reviews flying to you soon).
6. Bees and I spent owned1.5 hours trying to figure out how to put English Subtitles on Czech Movie Pelišky. Note: Never let Bees Knees near a jablko computer, he gets very upset with them.
7. Endless Christmas shopping in the Litomyšl Sqaure only to get to Chicago and realize I bought more gifts than I had people to give them to. Many of these unclaimed gifts are sitting wrapped on a shelf in Chicago.
So yes, I spent Christmas in Chicago and I will talk about that a bit later, but this blog is about Czech and everything stupendous about it. Tak, what are the traditions and customs of the Czech Christmas (Bullet points are my best option for this one).
· Christmas Dinner: The traditional Czech Christmas dinner (Note: on the 24th, not the 25th, you American heathens) consists of Kapr (Carp, which many of my students have told me is often substituted with chicken or, for some, steak because come on, who really likes carp?), Bramborový salát (potato salad, which I prepared and served at my families Christmas Eve celebration and accordingly, was a huge hit—even Neil liked it), Fish Soup (you know you want some more carp with your carp, but a Czech meal would not be complete without polévka) & of course, one thousand million bagillion septillion Christmas cookies.
· Fasting for the Golden Pig: Some Czech families (for skiddets) fast the entire day of the 24th (or have a light lunch, which is a big deal!) leading up to the large dinner in hopes of “seeing the golden pig”, which is believed to bring the children good luck that year. (Read: Czech Republic- Waiting for the Golden Pig)
Note: The Czech appear to be a very superstitious bunch, thus the traditions mentioned below will have everything to do with the Czech custom of inanimate objects predicting the health, fortune, well-being and up coming marriages of a family.
· The Floating of the Walnut Shells: To be done only if you want your death predicted (kidding). Each person in the family gets half an empty walnut shell and a small candle is placed inside so that it is standing up (we used hot glue, but you can use candle wax to make it stick up). All the shells are then placed in a bowl of water and if your shell-boat floats across the bowl you will have a long and healthy life (Success for Viktorie!), but if your boat-shell sinks, you will die or maybe you will have bad luck J
· Pouring of the lead: When I first saw this in the Pelišky movie (Aleš finally got subtitles because he is the best!) I kind of wondered what the heck was going on, especially when he Jindoich looked at this blob of silver metal and said “Dávám bolševikům jeden rok. Dva nejvýše” ( I give the Bolsheviks one year. Two at the most). The pouring of the lead is when lead is melted over fire and then poured into a container of water. The shape is supposed to reveal something of the pourer’s destiny. Unfortunately, in Pelišky, Jindoich must have gotten something wrong.
· The Cutting of the Apple: After dinner many families will cut an apple in half at the core (horizontal) and the inside should reveal a five-pointed star, which means everyone will be together the next year in happiness and well-being. Any other points less than five (a cross) is said to be a bad sign, meaning that someone will die or fall ill within the year.
· The Throwing of the Shoe: My most uncomfortable Czech tradition occurred when my co-teacher Iveta made me throw a shoe at our classroom door (without telling me what this signified). According to the Czech custom, unmarried women are supposed to throw a shoe over their shoulder towards the door. If the shoe lands with the toes pointing towards the door, the girl will be married within the year. Luckily, for me, my shoe toes were pointing opposite the door, however, to Iveta this signified that I would most certainly not be getting married in Chicago, but of course, the opposite side meant that I would be getting married here in Litomyšl. Thanks, Iveta.
& Finally, my favorite part of the Czech Customs and Traditions: There is no Santa Claus who climbs on your roof and magically stuffs his hefty body down the chimney. No, no, it is Baby Jesus, Ježíšek, who flys in through the window and delivers the children’s presents. I must admit this is much better than a fat man, in a red suit, who eats your cookies. & these guys agree with me.
So this is my Czech Christmas story to you & there is a bunch I am leaving out like: the Christmas tree is decorated with ornaments and lights on Christmas Eve, sometimes people put fish scales under their plate to bring wealth (another superstition), after dinner the families sit together and watch fairytales, Christmas Eve is not for the big extended family just your immediate family… & I really hope my mom will consider letting me stay next year (kidding).
Pictures from Baby Jesus….
I gave each of my Basic school students a mythical $1,000,000 CZK to spend on gifts for classmates and what 90% of my students give me as a gift? Lagoš and Pivo
Some walnut shell floating action with the skiddets.
Yes, I know what this looks like, but it taste DELICIOUS! Lokša... [sigh] tukovy goodness.
Trouble in Liquid form....
Famous Bratislava Christmas Market in Old Town
Yes, I swear by that Christmas tree that Ježíšek came through that window and delivered those presents!
My "Oh, So, Successful Bramborový Salát"
Given that most of these photos are of food, I don't want readers to think I only sit around eating... I injure myself too. & this is just a preview of what you will read about next!
