Jihlava

There was no school Monday in observance of Czech Statehood Day.  September 28th is St.Vaclav (Wencelslaus) Day, and, since he is the patron saint of the Czech lands, the anniversary of his death (arranged by his treacherous brother Boleslav), it was chosen as a national holiday to celebrate Czech Statehood.  Nobody really celebrates, but it's a good time to go to the country.  We went to Jihlava.

Jihlava is one of my favorite places.  It was Kristine's favorite area on her mission and she has maintained good relationships with several families.  It is a beautiful city situated in the Vysočina (highlands) area at the frontier between Moravia and Bohemia.  It has a hedgehog on its coat of arms.  Truth be told, we had thought we would move to Jihlava.  We had settled on it tentatively, but as plans unfolded we felt impressed that Česke Budejovice was where we ought to live.

We rode the train for an hour from Česke Budejovice to Veseli where we then boarded a crowded bus for a two hour ride to Jihlava.  This would not have been too bad, but the combination of diesel exhaust, crowded conditions, duck liver and lard on bread, and the awful breath of the dog sitting in the aisle beside me, made me kind of sick.  Trains are much better for traveling than buses, especially with toddlers. 

Our good friend Riša picked us up at the train station.  You may remember Riša from when he stayed with us the summer of 2001.  He looks like an adult now.  He was accompanied by his mother and his girlfriend, Hana.  Silas was smitten with Hana.  She made Kolačky for us twice and played with him a ton.  Absent was Riša's best friend, his father.  Josef Pešek, passed away about two years ago.  We stayed in the basement rental place at Riša's mom's.  It is where Kristine lived when she was on her mission.

On Saturday we ate palačinky (crepes) with chocolate sauce on the main square.  Sorry to fixate on details, but the palačinky in Jihlava is iconic for us.  The prices have gone up, but they are still good.  We stopped at a drug store where they have a mural by Marie Doležalová.  She is known for painting Romani (Gypsies) and Africans in scenes that try to convey feeling in human interaction and she emphasizes the eyes and hands.  Kristine loves it and always stops to see it.

Speaking of icons.  The main square in Jihlava is itself notable.  It is one of two examples I use to argue in favor of the National Historic Preservation Act (though its implementation may lack some common sense).  The old main square is really big, but it used to have some really old buildings in the middle of it.  Well, about 25 years ago they bulldozed those really old buildings to put up a Prior - a department store.  This thing is ugly.  I mean, it would be ugly anywhere on the planet, but right in the middle of this beautiful square it's just a sin.  For a good view of the square, look at this site.

From Jihlava

We spent the morning at the Jihlava Zoo.  It is really neat. This is the home of the original man eating goat. He was sleeping so we survived. We spent some time in a room with fruit bats.

Then I had a treat...we went to visit Josef and Božena Malaškovi.  By training he is a draftsman and she is a civil engineer.  They have their own two person company that prepares the bid estimate for building projects and designs some of the site features (streets, parking, drainage).   It was just neat.  Plus, they explained how to make Svičkova (Kristine's favorite Czech food).

Sunday at Church was delightful.  We saw lots of Kristine's old friends.  Also, the church is a rented space on the 2nd floor of a building on the main square.  All painted white, with tiles on the floor and windows open on the front and back, and then the warm fall weather, it was dreamy.

Sunday afternoon we went with Riša to his brother-in-law Otokar's log cabin.  When we were here four years ago, Oto was telling us it was his dream to build one.  He started over three years ago.  They still have a bunch of finish work on the inside, but it looks great.  They will continue to live in town and this will be their cottage and retirement home.

I should mention that I traveled in style.  I rode in a 1973 Trabant  (by the way, if you are at all interested in cars, the link is well worth the read).  This little East German car is an icon of making do with materials available in a communist economy.  With a 600cc engine and an indestructible (except in a low-speed crash) body, it's quite a machine.   

From Jihlava

It was a nice gathering there with about a dozen or so people snacking and talking.  Oto's father is a world traveler.  He has been all across the U.S. (interestingly he noted that he loved Salt Lake City and the Temple prior to learning that we are Mormon).  He's also been to Argentina where he has eaten the best beef anywhere in the world and drank mate.  He's headed to Vienam, Malaysia and Thailand next month. I had just asked Riša and Oto if it was considered impolite to talk about politics and religion at gatherings like this.  They told me that normally the conversation is restricted to sports and pivo.  Then I walked over by Kristine as she and Oto's dad were discussing Barack Obama and their president Vaclav Klaus , and answering his questions about our religious health code.  Kristine is such a rule-breaker.

Monday, I went of a pre-dawn walk to the country then walked through the streets of the medieval section of Jihlava as the sun came up.  Caleb woke up with a sore throat.  Never tell a Czech that you are not feeling well.  Riša's mom thought he shouldn't go sightseeing with us and that we should really take him to the ER.  We settled on him wearing a fashionable scarf, bundling up, drinking a concoction, sucking on medicated lozenges, inhaling a nasal spray, and consuming cough drops.  He survived the treatment and is doing well now.

From Jihlava

We took a drive to the country where Riša's dad was born.  It was a nice hike over hills and down to a lake.  The weather was perfect.  It was one of those mornings where you can't think of anything in particular to write about, but you cherish the memory.

After a hearty lunch and singing folk songs 'round the table, we got on a bus driven by the grouchiest bus driver we've ever met.  We made it back to CB that evening, well worn out from the weekend.

Monday night, while I was reviewing my list of ideas on how to fund a longer stay here, Kristine, Caleb and Lucy were gathered at the computer eating up every detail in emails from our dear friends back in U.S.A. and Sweden.  Life is beautiful.

Peter

One Month

We've been here a month.   One ninth of our trip has passed.  Time flies when you're confused.  Here are some thoughts and updates on how we are doing on our goals.

The first week was exceedingly difficult and I spent a lot of time asking myself what we were thinking.  The time change, travel, and just general adjustments kept us all on edge.  The second week was also exceedingly difficult.  With the start of school the reality of being away from friends was more searing.  We had some rainy weather so we felt cooped up a bit.  There were lots of arguments.  It seemed that it would not ever get better.  The third week got much better as I got a bike and the kids settled in more at school.  Lack of a reliable internet connection was still a big headache.  By the end of a full month things are now quite settled.  I think everyone is glad to be here. 

Learning Czech.  We have all made significant progress in this.  Kristine feels like she is speaking okay.  The basics have come back, but she feels the need to study to improve her ability.  Caleb has learned to conduct basic communication, but is not yet able to chat ("which is necessary for social progression").  Lucy has gotten into the groove and is using Czech words whenever she can.  I'm coming along too.  It's hard.

Fitness.  This was one of my main goals because I had let myself go to heck since last summer.  I run 5km three days a week, generally bike (not intensely, mostly to see the world) twice a week, and walk a lot.  It feels good.  Kristine is doing yoga five days a week and loving it.  Besides walking the kids have been less active now that school is in session and we are in an apartment.

Getting Around.  We had wanted to get out on vylets every Saturday.  So far so good.  We have been to Divci Kamen, Hlouboka, Tabor, and Klet and are now headed for Jihlava for a long holiday weekend.

Writing.  Still trying to figure that one out.

Feelings about being here.  Caleb commented that it now feels like home instead of just a visit.  Lucy said that there are a lot of differences, some she doesn't like, but some are really nifty.  Kristine's life is similar to Minnesota...spending time taking care of Silas, food prep, laundry, kitchen cleanup, shopping, getting kids off to school.  For me...As we say in Spanish, me hallo aqui - I find myself here.  I like it.

Peter

Update on School

The kids have pretty much settled into a routine at school so it's time for an update.

In terms of the physical setting, the classrooms are much like those in the US.  They don't have the latest technologies (e.g. SmartBoards), but the layout, desks, whiteboards, etc., are similar to US classrooms.  The textbooks are mostly paperback (the family buys plastic covers and puts them on) and they are smaller, but have more.  Caleb, for example, has three math texts.

They have the normal classes - math, science, social studies, Czech, Phy-Ed, English, home ec/shop, art.  They only have phy-ed once a week and everyone with whom we have talked has stated their displeasure about it.  There is a push going on to increase the frequency.  All the kids start learning English in 3rd grade (when it makes sense to start learning a language).

The class sizes are large.  As I recall there are over 25 people in each of their classes.

We had told people that the kids would be in school from 8:00 to 4:00 each day.  We were wrong.  The school day goes that late, but the kids' schedules vary.  Usually Lucy is done at 1:00 and Caleb at 2:00, but one day Lucy is home just after noon and another day Caleb is not done until 4:00.  It should be noted that kids walk and use public transportation without fear so they can come and go as needed.

As best I can tell the kids are doing math at a level pretty similar to US schoolkids.  The get more science class time.  It seems to me that the reading is typically at a bit lower level in the textbooks, but it's hard for me to tell.  I was hoping things would be a bit more rigorous.

THE thing that I love about Czech schools is their emphasis on experiential education.  Today there was a flotilla of high school kids canoeing down the Malše River.  Many times you see children out on nature walks with the teachers.  We've talked to high school kids out doing traffic studies.  Caleb's class will be taking a week-long trip to the Krkonoše in January  to go skiing (though Caleb is not planning on going).  Yes, they spend a week teaching the kids to ski so that they can get out in the winter and stay fit.

Many kids are involved in after school activities.  They have no band or orchestra or sports teams at school.  These are all done by private music schools and sports clubs.  The school does host a bunch of before and after school activities such as intramural sports, chess, art, etc.  Lucy is taking a ceramics class and Caleb is taking violin lessons and is in a string orchestra at his music school.

The teachers are much harsher than they are used to.  Teachers sometimes yell (really yell) at kids when they are misbehaving.  Sometimes they'll yank on the kids ears (I had that done to me once...only once) or whack them upside the head.


Lunch is good! Lucy says so. Her favorite lunch is knedliky (dumplings), beef and sauerkraut.

The kids are still popular (i.e. still novel).  Lucy is able to sing Hannah Montana songs with the other girls.  Caleb still has the attention of his female classmates wherever he goes (we thought we'd avoid them at the top of Klet' Mountain, but they found him even there).   

Peter

European Mobility Week

This is the final day of European Mobility Week - a continent wide effort to educate people regarding their transportation options and the impact of their choices.  I know it sounds like those liberal Europeans are trying to take away our cars again.  Putting aside, for a moment, my own beliefs on the global warming hoax ("global" warming is impossible because the earth is flat), I want to share a little about pedestrian accommodation in Česke Budejovice.

There is a lot of walking done in this city.  It's a dense urban area.  It makes sense to walk.  The city was designed for walking because it came before cars.  Fortunately, the small shops spread all over town continue to be viable which keeps walking viable.

In town here, there are sidewalks most everywhere.  They are usually make of paving bricks, cobblestones, asphalt with some large cut stones and concrete here and there.  They are in pretty good repair (I think they have cobblestone work down to a science here so they get their pavers to stay in place).  In most places there are curb cuts.  In newer construction they even have truncated dome paving bricks...

From Transportation

I have seen people out in wheelchairs and there are a lot of old people out walking.  They seem to get around.  I need to follow someone though and see if they have troubles.

They paint crosswalks at intersections on busy streets and many have ped crossing signs.  I have seen a couple locations where there is a very short median as a ped refuge.  There are also bumpouts at a lot of intersections.

At signalized intersections they always have ped indications.  Most are push button (many with buttons that light up when pushed) and audible (slow click = don't walk, fast click = walk).  If I recall they have a red or amber hand for don't walk and a green walker for walking.  The ped indication at almost all locations only shows green for a short while, but everyone seems to understand that the green is only needed to start the crossing.

I came across an interesting ped crossing just today.  It is a couple blocks west of the elementary school near us and at a very busy street.  I was biking and saw this intense white flashing coming from the pavement at a ped crossing.  They have a ped detection system (either microwave or video) and the in-pavement LED lights that flash when the peds can cross.  Drivers then get flashing yellow lights.  The intersection was not otherwise signalized.  It was a foggy day and these were working great.  Seems like a very good idea.

Another neat ped accommodation are the trails along the river.  At almost all bridges, the trail continues under the bridge.  This is incredible for safety and mobility for the bikers.

From Transportation

Drivers yield for peds really well here.  Even on the busy streets, where there are crosswalks, I have had no trouble taking my kids across. 

So, lots of people are out walking on days like this.  Some to get places; others just to enjoy the remains of summer.  People stay fit.  They stay mobile.  The women have great gams.  And the environmentalists can chill out.

Peter

Visit to the Czech Foreign Police

We did our part to keep the world stamp pad industry viable today.  We visited the Czech Foreign Police.


It was a pleasant outing, the sun was burning away the morning fog as Kristine, Silas and I strolled along the river, through downtown, and up seedy Praška Třida.  There are notable landmarks nearby, so the office is easy to find.  The Hotel Gomel stands like a communist sentry across the street and you know that if you go by Erotic City you know you have gone one building too far. 

Outside the building two pretty young women in somewhat conservative attire asked us in Russian if we speak Russian.  Kristine said no, english.  They then asked if we were going to the 2nd or 3rd floor (that would be visas vs. permanent residency) and offered to help us.  Kristine thanked them and in we went.

That may seem innocent enough to you, but I had just read this article the other day regarding other people's experiences at the Czech Foreign Police in Prague - note the comment dated 7.8.08 about the Russian Mafia.  I watched our backs while replaying James Bond scenes in my mind to be ready in case we needed to act fast.

We took a number and sat down to wait.  It was only a short while before we were ushered into the office, Kristine told the woman we'd like to meet with our Ms. F. and we were ushered back out to wait.  Ms. F. came out a minute later and brought us to her desk. 

Kristine told her that we were there to inform them of a change of address.  She handed over our contract as proof.  It was the original (very important), had all of our full names and birthdates (very important), and had the date it was prepared (very important) which happened to be before we came to the country (very bad).  Kristine was nervous that she would give us a hard time about this. 

Ms. F. looked at it and mumbled, "This is gonna be something," as she walked out of the room.  We could feel their eyes on us as she talked with her supervisor at an office door behind us.  At first she told us that the end date on the contract (June 2010) was a problem because we can't have a contract for longer than we have a visa.  Then she just said, whatever, and started filling out the paperwork.

Here is where I really wish I had invested in rubber stamps (which incidentally have an interesting history).  Most every piece of paper got stamped.  Not just one or two, but up to six on a page.  Keep in mind that there was a separate copy of everything for each of us.  As Ms. F. was working up a sweat, Kristine commented (to be empathetic) that it was a lot of work.  She did not seem amused.

In the end Ms. F. got everything stamped, we got our change of address officialized, the Russian Mafia did not knock us off.  A successful morning.

For her afternoon fun, Kristine got to go to the school to make sure it would be okay with the teacher if Lucy doesn't change in front of all the other 5th graders.  You see kids change into their gym clothes in their classroom.  So the kids take off the outer clothes and put on shorts and t-shirts.  Lucy, having been brought up as an American with our Puritan roots, did not feel comfortable with this and had always just worn gym clothes to school on gym day.


Kristine was not looking forward to this at all, but at least Lucy's teacher is a nice, sweet lady.  Unfortunately, the wiry, crabby male gym teacher was in the the classroom.  Kristine asked to speak with him in the hall.  He tried staring her down when they got out there.  Kristine explained the situation.  He said he had already told Lucy it was okay to change in the bathroom.  Lucy contends that he did not tell her that.  Who knows, maybe he did - in Czech.


Time to go buy a bike for Caleb.


Peter

Kleť

This is a photo of an empty train car.  The train car on Track #2 at 10:34 a.m. on Saturday, September 19, 2009.  The train car we anticipated would take us to Holubov where we would then join up with a half dozen other families to go on an outing to Klet'.  The train car that was not connected to the rest of the train.

Although we didn't get to spend the day with a bunch of other people we know, we did still take the next train at 12:21 to Holubov.  From the village we walked about 3 km (uphill) (carrying Silas) through the incredibly charming village of Krasetin to the chairlift at Klet'.

At 1084 meters, Klet' is the highest hill in the area.  They say that on a clear day you can see the Alps from atop Kleť.  I don't know about that, but I do know that on a foggy day you can't see the top from 200 m away.  There is an observation tower on top (but we didn't go up, we could see clouds from where we were).

Kristine and Silas wisely took the chairlift.  Caleb wanted to be particularly manly and hike up.  Lucy was freaked out by the chairlift and decided to hike up.  I went with them.  It was about 1.75 km with a rise of 383 m.  It was nicely wooded with a fair amount of exposed rock.  I thought Lucy was going to collapse, but she made it all the way to the top. 

I bought chairlift tickets for myself and my two children, ages 10 and 30 (everyone in the chairlift building got a good laugh out of this) and we all rode the lift back down, walked halfway to Holubov (we ate some incredible plums off a wild tree) and hitched a ride with our friends (who we did not see at all on Klet') back to the train station. 

The most interesting thing about this trip was to see the number of people out on this hill.  There were, of course, a lot of adventuring sorts on bikes and with backpacks, but there were also plenty of families, old folks, and young couples out on a date.  That's one of my favorite features of the culture - that people do active things as activities with family and friends a lot.


Peter

Anniversary

Kristine and I celebrated our 16 anniversary last night.  We had a delightful evening!

On a tip from friends and thanks to Caleb babysitting and a very generous gift from our dear friends in the Right of Way section at Mn/DOT (which came with the requirement to use it to do something we would otherwise not do), we got reservations at the nicest restaurant in town, the Vin de Café. 

The interior is intimate, painted white with earthy red accents on the arches.  Our little table in a back corner was adorned with a white table cloth, a candle, and a red rose.  Old jazz music played softly.  As we were there early, we had the whole section to ourselves for a good portion of the evening.

After opening with baguettes (white, grainy wheat, and sun-dried tomato), we each had a salad, Kristine's greens with sauteed peppers and goat cheese and mine a mixed greens with fennel and a pesto dressing.  Each was topped with a big nasturtium blossom.  After they removed our plates, a server brought out a tray and, with white-gloved hand, carefully placed our next set of utensils.

For our main course Kristine had salmon with sauteed zucchini, eggplant and peppers.  I had veal cheeks in a wild mushroom sauce on fresh pasta.  Kristine's salmon was very good.  The veal was outstanding.  The presentation was masterful with the food placed in the center of simple white plates ringed with a drizzle of sauce.  Again our plates were removed and the toothpick holder on a silver platter was placed on our table.

For dessert Kristine had apple and marzipan in a deep fried dumpling in a port sauce with grapefruit wedges.  Mine was a chocolate mousse with a pistachio crust with a lattice work dome of caramelized sugar over it with marscapone cheese and a berry sauce on the side (this photo shows a variation of it).  It was hard to start eating at this point as the dessert was just nice to admire.

I have to admit I really, really wanted to get back into the kitchen and see the artists at work.  

Our plates were cleared and we were asked if we'd like anything else.  Then the server left us to enjoy the ambiance.  When we noticed we were hearing the same songs for the third time, we called for our check.  By then it was dark and we strolled home along the Malše River.  I tried to convince Kristine that we should neck on a park bench for a while (a favorite pastime of couples here), but she has not adopted the "when in Rome" attitude as fully as I have and we were already nearly a half hour late getting home.

So we had a magical evening to celebrate a magical sixteen years.  We've had adventures; we've had challenges; we've had three beautiful babies; we've worked together; and we have grown to love one another more deeply.

- Peter

Sorry to wax a bit intimate with the following, but...

Waking up past dawn on an early summer day

When you left the windows open the previous night

And the lace curtains flutter on the breezes

And we linger side by side ere we alight

Fresh bread, butter and tea set on the table

A few lilies of the valley perfume the air

The golden light through the windows

Accents your cheek, your eyes, your hair

Trudging down the trail with a canoe on your back
Carefully placing each wet foot on the steep, rocky part

The mosquitoes on your forehead growing larger 

A grim smile on your lips reveals your heart

Our child with a book nestled in your lap

The book you said you would only read one more time

They look on you with love as you pause
And they by memory recite the rest of the line

That special, delighted smile that you get
Usually only after yoga, a concert, or time alone
And the added warmth to the hugs that night
When you return to a mess at home

That I love you always you well know
But there are some occasions wherein I find
That the fire burns more brightly
And our love sits foremost in my mind

Friends

Our adventure here in the Czech Republic could not have happened without the support of an awful lot of people.  Some took on extra work or even changed their own plans to accommodate us.  In Česke Buďejovice there have been two families in particular without whose help life would have been much, much harder.

Meet the Tučkovi family - Kačenka (11), Jana, Lucinka (9), Aneška (5), Jan (aka Honza), and Alfie.  Jana was a teenager in Jihlava while Kristine was on her mission.  She teaches ceramics on the side.  Jan is the director of the psych unit at the hospital.  He served a mission in England.  These are the folks who helped out with the Czech Foreign Police, found our apartment, have translated for us a ton as we have needed to do technical things (e.g. banking, apartment contract), and lent us toys for Silas.

And here is the Chrdlovi family - Štěpan (9), Miša, Johanka (12), Aleš, Tomaš (1).  Aleš is truly a man after my own heart.  He runs, bikes, canoes, climbs rocks, etc., etc.  I go running with him three mornings a week and before I could buy a bike he lent me one of his.  He served a mission in Utah.  He's a doctor at the hospital and the Branch President in our congregation.  Miša served a mission in the Czech Republic.  Johanka is in Caleb's class at school.  They have been very helpful and fun.

You'll be hearing a lot about these folks in the coming months, so I am pleased to introduce them.

Daily Life

It's been a quiet week here in Česke Buďejovice.  We're getting our routine down.  It goes something like this...

5:00 Peter gets up to study Czech and maybe do some writing.
6:30 Kristine gets up and frequently goes to the corner market for fresh bread.  Caleb gets up and sometimes squeezes in a little World of Warcraft because there are still a lot of people on back in the States (it's only 9:30 p.m. on the west coast).  Peter goes running (M,W,F) or biking (T,Th).
7:10 Peter comes crawling through the doorway as the kids start making final preparations to go to school.
7:25 Caleb and Lucy leave for school.
8:00 - 12:00 Kristine, Peter and Silas do morning things that include a lot of playing, some grocery shopping (3 time each week), going to the park, studying Czech, studying Scriptures, doing yoga, cleaning, doing laundry (one load a day because everything is line dried), running errands, going for walks, preparing or teaching English lessons.
12:00 - 4:00 The kids roll in at different times each day ranging from 12:15 to 4:15.  Lucy watches TV shows on YouTube.  Caleb finishes his one hour of World of Warcraft.  Then they read or go walking or study Czech.  Kristine teaches English lessons on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons.  Silas takes a 1.5 to 2 hour nap.  Peter studies Czech and dreams of becoming a writer.
4:00 - 8:00  Peter usually does the cooking (I like it).  Caleb has violin lesson on Monday evening and orchestra on Tuesday.  Kristine teaches English on Wednesday evening.  We generally socialize a couple of evenings a week.  Whenever we can we watch Večerniček (I'm not providing a link because this cultural icon gets his own blog) at 6:45.   
8:00 (ideally) As a family read Scriptures, study Czech, and read aloud (right now we are reading The Prince and the Pauper).
9:00 (or so) Go to Bed

Peter

Tabor

We attended the annual Tabor Meeting on Saturday.  Imagine the Renaissance Festival except, instead of constructing a facsimile of a medieval city, you just close downtown off to car traffic for a few days.  Throw in a little Pola-Cesky Days and you have the Tabor Meeting.

Tabor was founded by Hussites in 1420.  It rivals Cesky Krumlov as the coolest medieval city out there.  Some of the city walls have been preserved and it has these incredibly narrow streets to make it difficult for an invading army to reach the main square.  By the way, it is also a recreational mecca and will be the site of the 2010 Cyclo-Cross World Championships.

After a whiny train ride to Tabor (this is getting to be a theme), we split up.  Kristine and Caleb went to listen to medieval music while Lucy, Silas and I went to see firetrucks.  Silas got to climb on a big ladder truck.

On one of the squares, we bought Silas a sword and shield.  This was our best move of the day because it kept him occupied a lot of the time.  He entertained a lot of people with his solo displays of swordplay and even got into it with a couple of other kids at one point.  It also made him popular with the ladies. 

From Tabor Meeting

We ate pork and listened to polka music on the main square at lunch.  Our web album has a video with one of the songs.


Side note...the Lions Club had a stand and people out on the streets selling candy to raise money.  I include this because my Dad is a Lion and I'm proud of the humanitarian work he has done with this organization.

From Tabor Meeting

Then, off to the children's area with Lucy and Silas (Kristine and Caleb were off to look around again.  Silas got to ride a horse, play on a neat playground, and shoot a crossbow.  Lucy meanwhile got to push the stroller on field stone walks.  It was probably not the most fun for Lucy.  She did get to shoot a bow though.


We met up and went to watch the Italian archers.  They had big longbows.  They asked if anyone wanted to try.  Caleb and I got in line.  That was dumb.  You see visitors should be aware that queuing norms are different here than in the US (and Minnesota in particular).  People butt in line without so much as an Ave Maria to save their souls.  So, the line quickly disintegrated to the most "sin verguenza" (Spanish term for "without shame") element getting in front of us.  Caleb and I were finally next in "line" when they decided to call it quits.

At least we got excellent seats for the equestrian tournament.  We were on the opposite shore of a small stream from the field.  It was gorgeous.  The storyline was that four sons of the head of the House of Rozmberk were participating.  Our section of the viewing area was rooting for the blue rose guy.  It turns out that a fifth, illegitimate son showed up.  He was mocked and beaten by the others. They lanced rings, sliced melons with swords, grasped a chalice, and finally jousted with their mocking father (who beat them all).  When he went to mess with the illegitimate son, though, he met his match and was unhorsed.  He went on to knight the son and give him his own horse. 

From Tabor Meeting

After this Kristine, Lucy, and Silas went back to Ceske Budejovice, while Caleb and I stayed to have some real fun.  We walked from the bottom of the valley to the old city on top of the hill only to realize that our destination was our origin.  We trudged back town.  We were hungry (6:00 p.m. now) and were on the hunt for smoked pork knuckles.  We didn't see it on the sign at the grill so we went into the tavern, it was a really neat, dark (lighted by hearth fire and lantern), crowded place.  After looking around, we asked where the find the knuckles.  They directed us back to the grill.

Things started to go downhill quickly now.  We were woozy from hunger and in a long slow line.  They had these big grills, but didn't load them up with food.  In fact they sometimes didn't have more than one of their three menu items on at a time.  Then there was the butting.  Cursed by the butters.  It didn't help when the server asked who in line wants sausage (Caleb wanted pork steak) and a bunch of people went ahead.  As we got to be second in line and the guy in front of us had not jumped on getting any of the sausage earlier and there were only two steaks even started - I was smart and asked for "whatever is fast."  She repeated "fast."  So I was sure we had an understanding.  She said sausage would be ready soon, so Caleb and I stood there eating the slice of bread that came with it.  Then she asked the crowd, "Anyone want a steak?"  She handed a steak to a woman behind us in line.  There was still one steak on, I told Caleb I'd get it for him.  When she brought our sausage, I asked to get the steak too.  She said okay, and put our sausages on two plates instead of one.

We stood there dazed for a moment, then bit into our sausages.  Our still cold sausages.  Our, I hope these are precooked sausages.

After eating the sausage, I went to get pop.  My turn came up, I'll take two 7 UPs.  What size?  How much for the 2 liter?  Well, it's 7 crowns for a deciliter, so 140 crowns (about $8).  Well, I wasn't sure how many deciliters I wanted, but I did know that I would not be standing in line again so I bought the whole bottle.  We both got stomach aches and narrowly avoided an accident on the train, but I did not stand in line anymore.

Well, we watched some of the programs, but they were sort of Puke and Snot like, funny - if you understand what they are saying.

We walked back up to the old city commenting on how all day as I put Silas on horses or watched him shoot the crossbow or swing his sword, I kept thinking that this will really be fun once we don't have to be chasing a toddler around.  Then, free, we found ourselves a little bored.  So we took the train home two hours earlier than we had planned.

Peter

The Czech Language II

It's probably time for a Czech language primer. I've experienced that uncomfortable feeling of needing to invent a pronunciation for words with far too few vowels. The goal of today's lesson is to help you correctly pronounce the names of places we visit. By the way, for a more exhaustive, and more correct, description of Czech, see wikipedia.

Most everything is essentially the same as English, except...
a = ah
á = ah (all of the vowels with this mark are pronounced slightly differently, but I can't pick it out)
c = ts like in bats
č = ch like in check
d' = dy
e = short e like in end
é = longer e like in pear (difference is a little more pronounced, I guess)
ě = ye like in yet
g = g like in gum
ch = a gutteral h like the ch in German
i = ee
í = ee
j = y as in yet
o = oh
n = n
ň = ny
r = r like a spanish r with a single roll
ř = this is the best - it is a trilled r with a ž (see below) after it.  The only other place I had heard a sound like this was in Argentina with people who were from the province of Corrientes.  They did the rr with the trill and the ž (though not quite so drawn out)
s = s
š = sh
t' = ty
u = oo like in foot
ů = oo like in moon (u with an accent above it does the same)
y = ee
ý = ee
z = z
ž = a sound like the s in leisure or the y or ll in Argentine Castellano

When consonants follow one another you just make the sound of each of the consonants without a vowel following it.  For example, the word for Thursday is čtvrtek and is simply pronounced ch-t-ver-tek.

Also, the accent is usually on the first syllable.

So, now you know that:
Tabor is pronounced Tah-bore
Praha is pronounced Prah-ha
Pivo is pronounced Pee-voh
Vepřove (pork) is pronounced Veh-prržoh-veh
etc.

Peter

Language I

Czech is a crazy language! More on that later.

Before leaving the US many people asked how much English is used here. Quite a bit. Kids start learning English in 3rd grade. When they are older (~ 7th grade), they can switch to a different language if they want. This started when the Commies were ousted (previously kids were forced to take Russian). So there is a whole generation now that has had a lot of exposure to English.

When I go places I find that about one in three employees at stores (at least bike and sporting goods stores) can speak fairly well. Last Sunday we held Priesthood meeting in English because over half the group spoke English better than Czech and all but one were very capable English speakers.

I must point out too that many of these English speaking Czechs do really well. It's not a matter of having taken two years at the end of high school and knowing how to ask to use the bathroom.

So, between the English spoken by folks here and our friends who are excellent English speakers, we can get by well enough without speaking Czech.

It feels so wrong, though, to be here and ask others to speak a foreign language. I mean, it's one thing for tourists because you can't expect them to know any of the language and they pay the bills. But for somebody shopping at the grocery store I think we can reasonably expect something more.

Trouble is, Czech is a crazy language.

Pivo

Beer - the Czech National Drink. You may as well learn the word - Pivo.

Important notice - we are Mormons. That means we follow a revelation received by Joseph Smith called the Word of Wisdom which, among other things, instructs us to not drink alcohol. No alcohol was consumed in preparing this post.

Czechs drink beer. Lots of beer. More beer, in fact, than any other people on the earth. They drink nearly twice as much beer per capita as Americans - 156.9 liters per person (or about a pint a day). Given that most of this is consumed by men, but the per capita includes women and children, the guys here make college boys in the US look like teetotallers.

Beer is everywhere here. Every restaurant serves beer, every supermarket has a whole aisle dedicated to it, everywhere you turn.

The big names in beer here are known to people in the US too:

• Budvar is a popular beer hailing from none other than our home town Česke Budejovice (or Budweis in German). In American, Anheuser-Busch stole the name for their Budweiser Beer.
• Pilsener beer (a generic term for a pale lager) was developed in Plzn in the western part of the Czech Republic. The brewery in Plzn produces two hugely popular beers: Pilsner Urquell and Gambrinus, the latter being the sponsor of the professional Czech fotbal league.

There are some 45 other local breweries also. Just like in Minnesota in the olden days when there were regional breweries everywhere.

By the way, if you want to read an intriguing book in which beer plays a pivotal role in the battle between East and West, check out The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers.

The most intriguing thing about beer in the Czech Republic is that they are serious about non-alcoholic beer. Because they are so strict about drunk driving (legal blood alcohol limit is 0.00), non-alcoholic beer has a place in the mainstream. You see billboards for it and the major breweries produce it.

So, we have given the non-alcoholic beers a try. We first tried one made by Birrell (with the classic roast pork, sauerkraut and dumplings). Silas spit it out. Everyone disliked it. Then we tried the non-alcoholic Budvar (with hot dogs). This was much smoother but still tasted foul. Finally, we tried Bernard's Plum Beer (with burgers). This had a nice plum flavour that was only marred by the beer taste. I guess we just haven't developed a taste for beer, but that's okay.

From Sept 09

Peter

People

We've been here for two weeks now. There are a great many things I would have liked to have written by now. The problem is that I want to write the definitive post on a variety of topics. Well, that's gonna take some time and the initial impressions are going to fade as things become more familiar. So, I am going to blast a bunch of posts to capture those impressions.

The first thing I noticed, once out of the taxi and on the street, is that people do not say hello in the streets. Caleb likes this because it relieves him of the pressure of deciding whether or not to acknowledge the existence of older people. For a guy who has spent nearly 40 years as a Minnesotan, however, this is disturbing. We reckon this is a consequence of hundreds of years of Hapsburg rule, then Nazi occupation, then Communist oppression.

Once you have interacted with a person it is socially acceptable to great them with a Dobry Den (good day) in the street and people are very friendly. The children in school have been incredibly helpful with Caleb and Lucy.

Czech women are very good looking (I can say this because of my wife's Czech heritage). Even as they get older, they retain nice legs no doubt because of all the walking. As they get older, they also tend to go with more radical (red, purple, pumpkin orange) hair colors.

There is a lot of variety in hair color, height, and size among the Czechs.

There are immigrants from throughout Europe here. There are some southeast Asian immigrants - not so many as in Prague. I've only met one African immigrant.

Folks seem to value their free time. The pace of life is a bit more relaxed. I haven't figured out standard work hours yet. In the evenings though, there are a lot of people in the parks, swimming in the river, biking, walking, etc. There are flowers everywhere. Lots of people garden in containers in town or have gardens on the edges of town.

Peter

Hluboka

On Saturday, following a long bike ride by Peter (I went past the wastewater treatment plant!) and a trip to the Farmers' Market by Kristine (potatoes get heavy when you carry them 1.25 km) we were ready for a relaxing trip to a palace. Instead we took the kids.

The fact is folks, bring your friends, bring your lover (to whom you are married of course), but don't bring your small kids to this place. There is too much walking and too many precious things that escaped destruction by Hitler.

We took the bus to Hluboka nad Vltavou, a town about 10 km north of Česke Budějovice. Fortunately, we got off one stop too late. Instead of setting us down by the church in town below the palace, this put us a couple kilometers away, by the zoo. By the time we had walked from the road to the trail that would take us to either destination, Silas had completed two tantrums and was getting going on another.

This took us back to a moment four years ago, when we were last here and toured a castle with Caleb and Lucy. Lucy tried to hang from the velvet ropes that separate people from the delicate historic artifacts, bringing the stands that hold the ropes up crashing down.

Kristine and Caleb went to the palace. I took Silas and Lucy to the zoo.

From Hluboka

Hluboka Castle is was built in its latest form as a palace between 1841 and 1871 by the powerful Schwarzenberg Family. It was not built for defense and is very modern and comfortable. Some highlights of their tour include the armory (lots of ceremonial weapons, early muskets, bunch of spears and polearms, tons of swords, ceremonial armor, huge double-headed decorative axe, small cannons), an Italian fellow on the tour that was delighted to be allowed to play an old piano in the ballroom, the tour guide who was conversant in five languages, and no Silas.

You can see a few more photos taken by Kristine by following the Hluboka link below the photo, or follow this link to a whole bunch of photos by someone else.

Meanwhile, the more boisterous members of the family went to the zoo. There are a lot of zoos in this country. I think that any town of over 50,000 has a pretty good zoo. So we saw monkeys, wolves, bears, owls, pelican, and flamingos. This was Silas' speed. We went where he wanted, when he wanted.

One notable event was the encounter with the goat. Some of you may recall us telling the story of being attached by a goat at the Jihlava zoo four years ago. Well, it turns out that allowing children entry to man-eating goat enclosures is a common tactic to increase attendance at zoos here. Silas and I climbed in with the herd of goats. The largest male got a little pushy. Fortunately, I had already learned the grab them by the horns while trick and Lucy was ready to hoist Silas out of the pen. We did see one woman get butted in the butt. Also, a boy about Lucy's age got pinned up against the side of the enclosure. His parents pulled him out, but his screams drew lots of attention. Unfortunately, Kristine had the camera (but if you follow this link to the Zoo Ohrada site, you'll see some pictures of the animals, including the smaller members of the goat herd, across the top).

Late in the afternoon, we took that bus back home, a tired

Shopping Blues

Today was a dreary, rainy day. So I went shopping.

Now, I do not like shopping - even in English - even for things I really, really want. As I hand over money, I feel like I am handing over a piece of my life (I sat in a meeting for 20 minutes to buy that thing). Kristine doesn't like it either.

Well, I had no choice today. There was a little BBQ and game night planned at the church and we planned to bring good ol' American chocolate chip cookies. I was lacking a few ingredients though - butter, flour, vanilla, eggs, baking soda, and chocolate chips.

I could have gone to the local store. It's only a block from our apartment. It is one of the good old fashioned grocery stores with four, maybe five, aisles. Unfortunately, I knew they wouldn't have vanilla extract and I strongly doubted they'd have chocolate chips.

So, at about 10:30 this morning, Silas and I set out in the rain to Albert Hypermarket. After a long, slow walk, with Silas wet up to his knees from splashing in every puddle on the 1.25 km (0.8 mile) trip, we arrived at Albert. I must admit some disappointment. With a name like "Hypermarket" one expects a little more. It isn't small, but it was not as big as Kaufland and not even comparable, so I hear, to Globus.

The store is in a mall. Just a little ways from the women's underwear store. Of course, all stores here are just a little ways from a women's underwear store. We tried to get a cart, but they were all connected by a chain from one to the next. I couldn't figure out how to get them apart (Kristine later explained that you need to insert a 5 Kč coin somewhere). I figured I'd get a basket, but couldn't find them and didn't know how to ask for one. So, between Silas and me, we would just carry everything.

We started up and down the aisles. Silas quickly found some corn flakes, which were not on my list, but as long as he carried them, I was fine with buying.

We found the flour next. There were two brands, all 1 kg packages. Unfortunately, each brand had four types of flour for sale: hruba, polohruba, světla, and špeciál 00 (though eventually I figured out that the last two are the same and just had different names on the front and back of the package - presumably one is the Czech and the other the Slovak terms). I had no idea which I wanted. I didn't have a dictionary with me. I had no chance of getting my question understood and even less of understanding the answer. As I was trying to figure this out, Silas kept dipping his finger into the small piles of spilled flour on the shelf and licking it off. I kept telling him to cut it out cuz I figured we looked pretty pathetic. Then, I realized he had the key to knowing which flour to buy. I too tested each pile and then tried to get a little to fall out of the top of each package to verify. It turns out that there are different textures of flour. Shortly, I held in my hand a kilo of the finest mouka světla that money can buy.

We looked for vanilla and baking soda. No luck. Butter (maslo - I know that word) and eggs (fairly obvious) were easy.

Then on to the chocolate. There were no chips, but plenty of bars. I am no stranger to making my own chips by chopping up bars, so this was going to be no sweat. Except, I couldn't remember the proportion of cocoa in semisweet chips. So, I tried to compare packages and figure out what would be good. This was harder than I anticipated (I was hungry now and Silas kept pulling every bar off the shelf and asking if he could have it). In the end I took home 3 - 200g (7 oz.) bars of milk chocolate and 3 - 200g (7 oz.) bars of baking chocolate (just over 2.5 lbs. of chocolate) and left a mess on their shelves.

Throughout this experience I couldn't help but feel like some kind of idiot. Maybe next time I'll get our friends' 5-year old to take me shopping.

Speaking of shopping...Kristine spent the whole week school shopping. It's all kind of tricky here because the stores have more limited hours. They may open at 9:00 and close at 5:00 or 6:00. The big stores may be open to 8:00. There are some businesses that are "Nonstop", but they tend to be bars. They may also be closed for an hour at noon. Also, the small stores that are nearby did not have everything. The big store is a big walk away - you really don't want to forget your list. Then there is the whole unfamiliarity of where things are at in the stores. Finally, some things are out on shelves, others are behind the counter, and it's hard to guess which way it will be.

Also, the materials may be rather particular. Notebook #442 is a certain size with lines and 40 pages - not to be confused with #444 which is the same size, has lines and 20 pages. Of course there are different sizes and some without lines. There are plastic textbook covers (the texts are typically softcover), pencils (this being the home of world famous pencil maker Koh-i-Noor they take their pencils seriously), compass, protractor, etc., etc.

Well, the kids got a list of supplies they would need on Tuesday. And some more things on Wednesday. On Thursday there was another list and why don't you have everything from the Tuesday list yet? So, truly, Kristine went school shopping every day this week.

This may sound pretty whiney.

Peter

Caleb's Birthday

Caleb turned 13 yesterday. We're glad his age has caught up with his angst.

We were asked if birthdays are big in the Czech Republic. Not really. We are under the impression that a person's name day is as big a deal as their birthday. All of the common Czech names have a day with which they are associated. The planner the kids received at school has the name on each day. Same with one that Kristine picked up for me. In case you are wondering, here are our names days...

Petr - February 22
Petr & Paul - June 29
Kristyna - July 24
Lucie - December 13
Caleb & Silas - Outta Luck
To find your name day, follow this link

Our friends did make a point of saying happy birthday and Jana told him she will bake him something today.

We celebrated with fruit dumplings for breakfast then sending them off to school for their first full day. Kristine had picked up a little torte so anytime our doorbell rang during the day, Silas would run to the fridge and put the torte on the table. When Caleb finally did come home, Silas, in his rush to get the torte, fell off his chair and cried.

We spent the evening at a gathering along a river in a small village. We roasted sausages and chatted with people (though for the Caleb, Lucy, and me this mostly means chatting with each other). Caleb was distressed because he wanted to get back to his birthday present...

Unlimited time to set up his Facebook page. He tried to set up a page before we left, but you have to be 13. Oh the injustice! So, Caleb got to stay up a little late Facebooking.

From Sept 09

First Day of School

When we told folks back in the U.S. that we would be taking our kids to the Czech Republic and putting them in public school in a language they didn't understand, most everyone said to us something like, "That is an experience they will remember all their lives." When we got here and told people that, they decoded the message for us. They have all said something like, "I would have been terrified if my parents had done that to me."

So, at 7:30 this morning we strolled down the street, across the Malše River, and down Matice Školské to the school. We met with Mrs. Director for a bit. When Kristine explained that we want them to learn Czech and are not concerned about their grades, she raised her eyebrows (grades are very important here), but kept working with us.

We went to Lucy's room first. Mrs. Teacher speaks english, but that did not alleviate the utter horror on Lucy's face. I've seen happier looking deer in the headlights. Mrs. Teacher had all of the children line up and shake Lucy's hand and say hi. We left her there, sitting in the front row, slouched and on the verge of tears.

Prior to arriving at school, I was more concerned for Caleb. He had only spent one year at school in the States. Yet, as he was being dropped off, he looked cool as a cucumber. It didn't hurt his confidence any that a gaggle of girls was standing outside the door shooting him looks, asking each other if that is him, giggling, jumping up and down(!), and otherwise carrying on. Caleb's teacher took a deep breath and brought him to the center of the room where she introduced him ("he doesn't speak much Czech, but he speaks English very well").

We left, my stomach in knots.

Fortunately, the first day of school only lasts about 1.5 hours. They get their schedules, books, etc. and then go. We picked up Lucy first. I can't say she was smiling, but she was certainly looking very okay. Phew. Caleb was still looking very calm. He reported that he did not understand a thing, but as we walked down the hall and one of the girls from his class said "Chau," he responded in a confident "Chau" back at her.

Thus, we survived the first day of what will no doubt be the source of many tears and great learning. We rewarded ourselves with a stroll downtown for ice cream cones.

From Aug 2009

-Peter