A Special Experience...

Hi Everyone, I hope that your doing well. I am doing much better than I was. I caught a bad cold/cough towards the end of November. I am finally feeling like my old self once again.

As you know I am always looking for ways to experience the Czech culture, to practice the Czech language and to build relationships with Czechs. God constantly surprises me with the neat ways He helps me accomplish those objectives. Last night I got to do all three courteous of an invitation from my Czech language teacher. She asked our class if we would like to participate in St Nicholas (it is referred to as Svatý Mikuláš) celebration that her church was doing. The Czechs start the celebration in the evening of the 5th of December. St Nicholas was a bishop who was generous and is the patron of children. It is the same Saint Nick who is based on our Santa Claus. Here the custom is for someone to dress up as Saint Nicholas along with someone dressed up as an angel and another person as a devil. They visit young children asking them if they have been good or naughty. The children recite a poem or song then they receive a small gift from St Nicholas usually candy.(of course if they have been naughty--the devil carries a sack to take them away or threatens to give them a piece of coal)
Anyway after yesterday's Czech language class a group of us went with our teacher. We dressed up as angels but didn't realize we would be ushered all the way to the front of this huge beautiful church. We stood their singing a few Czech children songs and was then handed the microphone to say a very words in our own native languages. Our teacher had briefly mentioned this to us but none of us realized the exact context we would be speaking under. It was fun but different than what we expected. I did manage to snap a few pictures of when we were getting ready so I will post them so you can see us all dressed up as "angels". Our St Nicholas though didn't have any scary devils walking around. It was only St Nicholas with his angels passing out cookies to the children. After the celebration, a few of us went with our teacher to a pub to speak Czech with a few of her friends. We had a great time together and it helped a lot that our teacher's friends made sure to speak slower than normal to us. They also asked us questions in Czech about our lives. It was such a great experience. I continue to see the baby steps in my language learning. Plus, I really enjoy getting to know so many different kinds of people. I also realize how blessed I am to have English as my mother tongue. It gives me many opportunities to build relationships with others. God truly doesn't waste any of the experiences He puts in our lives.

I hope you are gearing up for the Christmas season--it truly is upon us!

Take Care until next time!
Many Blessings,
Colleen