Christmas & New Year Greetings

Dear All, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from the Czech Republic. I am really enjoying my holidays here. So many Czechs have been so gracious to me. I had several invitations to join people for Christmas. Czechs celebrate Christmas actually on Christmas Eve night. This year I spent it with a Czech couple and their two small children. We had a wonderful time together. I went by tram and then bus to their home in the early afternoon. It has been cold so the trees had frost on them. It was quite beautiful. They met me outside so we went for a nice walk and of course during the walk they shared some tea with me. It is quite common during the winter to see Czechs carrying thermos with hot tea in them. I think I could get some use out of a good thermos. I am always running here and there riding public transportation and it would be nice to have some "hot tea" to sip to warm me while I am out and about. I'll have to add it to my shopping list. Back to my sharing... After our walk we went inside and everyone helped prepare dinner. We had the traditional Czech Christmas Eve dinner first soup (it is like a fish broth--I like it) then fried carp with potato salad. The couple I was with Pavel and Zdena are soft spoken. Pavel knows English pretty well having spent some time in the US. His wife is shy about speaking English but understands quite a bit. Anyway, I offered to help her fry the carp. The funniest thing was Zdena wanted to tell me something but wasn't sure how to say it. She called Pavel over and told him to tell me. He struggled for a few minutes and then finally said, "I don't know how to say this very nicely but "don't burn the carp". I just laughed and said there really isn't any other way to say it. Of course I was not offended and teased with them saying, "Oh know, now I'm under the pressure." Luckily, I watched the frying pan very closely and managed not to burn our Christmas meal :) After supper we sat around the Christmas tree and the little ones opened a few presents that Baby Jesus had brought. Here they don't have Santa Claus but baby Jesus or Father Christmas comes. The Czechs ring a little bell and that signals to the children that baby Jesus has come. I stayed overnight because I wasn't sure how easy it would be to get home. I had Christmas breakfast with them and then headed home.

On Christmas day a Czech friend who happens to be single, Zuzana, came over and we hung out together. We had a nice day together. Tomorrow on the 27th of December I will travel by bus to visit my roommate at her parents. They live in a small village called Kridla (it means Wings). This village is located in the Highlands in South Moravian area of the Czech Republic. It is quite a beautiful place with a lot of farmland--rolling hills with lots of trees all around. I hope there will be snow there. After staying a few days with her, my friends Eliska and Jirka will pick me up on Sunday and take me to another village not too far from Kridla. We will stay at a house that they rent with their friends for New Year's Eve celebration. I am looking forward to it.
Take care for now and hope everyone is enjoying their holidays.
Many Blessings,
Colleen

A Gift For the Forest

Today, I helped friends with their Christmas tradition... that is going to the forest to decorate a few "evergreen" trees for the animals. (for decorations we use tasty treats such as apples, bacon, & string popcorn) Yesterday we got a little bit of snow which made it feel like the holiday season is close at hand. Plus, I am still learning again how to walk in icy and snowy conditions. Not too far into our journey I managed to lose my footing on a snow-covered patch of ice and I hit the deck literally landing on my lower back. Luckily a couple of the guys with us were able to lift me up, dust me off and I was ready to continue the journey :)
Take Care until next time!

Blessings,
Colleen

Top pic--it is important to place the decorations where the animals can get at them
middle pic--Martin is having fun decorating the tree
lower pic--Eliska adds a few finishing touches to the tree

One year and counting

Hi Everyone, Today is my one year anniversary of living in the Czech Republic. In some ways I can't believe that it has been a year ;) There are so many things I am thankful for. The Czechs have made me feel welcomed and they continue to help me as I learn their language and culture.

How am I going to celebrate? It is wet and rainy today so after my Czech language class I am only planning a short walk around the city center. It seems to me that it gets dark quite early by around 4:30pm. And of course with the darkness comes colder temperatures :) One other thing I have planned is to write a small email in Czech to members of the Brno Fellowship Church thanking them for all of their help during my first year here. I am so appreciative of how so many have helped me make Brno feel like home. I truly do enjoy living here and though I still have a ton to learn--God continues to encourage and to show me this is where He would have me grow and flourish. For this evening I just want to take in some of the sights and sounds of the city I call home. I know how special it is that God provides the means for me to be here. I never want to take that for granted. I also want to thank you all for taking the time to read my blog and for supporting me in so many ways with your thoughts, prayers and/or financial support!!

So many Czechs tell me what an encouragement it is to them that not only am I here but that I like it and that I fit so well among them. I tell them it is God who has made me fit so well and He gives me the wisdom to blend in. I didn't truly realize how well I was fitting in until this happened... "In the middle of November at church a Czech friend came to me and said that an American visitor was here and he wanted to introduce me to this fellow American. I of course said okay and walked over to be introduced to the visitor. However, my Czech friend was interrupted briefly before introducing us so I just quietly waited until my Czech friend could do the formal introductions. After we were introduced the American visitor told me that he wasn't sure how well I could speak English until I started to speak. He thought maybe I was Czech" :)

That's a little bit of what's going on with me. Hope all is well with you.
Take care until next time.

Blessings,
Colleen

Pictures from the St Nicholas Celebration

Top Picture--Czechs preparing for the St. Nicholas celebration
2nd Picture--Students from our Beginners Czech language class--our teacher is the last one on the right.
3rd Picture--My classmate from Laos
4th Picture--My Japanese classmate is on the right--her Japanese friend joined us. They had never been in a church before last night :)

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