Category: Culture

When the “Baby” Looks After the Sitter

Published on by Grace12 Comments
This past weekend, we visited my husband’s brother in Brno, the second biggest city next to Prague.  It was the birthday celebration of my nephews, so we decided to spend the whole weekend there.  However, the weather was not cooperating.   So we were limited to doing activities indoors.
Saturday morning, we awoke to a beautiful sunrise.  Unfortunately, that was the best part of the day because it rained to whole day.  We were supposed to bring the kids to a steam engine exhibit but it got cancelled due to the rain.  So we proceeded to Plan B — go to an indoor play area.

We went to Bongo, a family amusement park.  There were a lot of attractions for both young and old, and I can tell the boys had a lot of fun.  While their fathers took the little ones in the bump cars, my 4 year old nephew begged me to come with him to the big slide.

I have a fear of heights. This fear started way back in my early twenties when I rode a roller coaster in South Korea.  As I grew older, the fear intensified. Now that I am a mother, it seems like I will be forced to conquer this fear.

Off we go!

I didn’t want to disappoint my little nephew so I went with him on the slide.  But when I got to the top, the nerves got me.   I almost didn’t go but it was too late.  My poor nephew was a little but surprised on why I was too slow.  Truth is, I was hanging on to the side rail.

Finally

Until finally, I found the courage to just let go and was able to catch up with him.  It was very ironic.   Instead of me keeping an eye on him, he kept an eye on me.  Oh well, I know this will not be the first time.    When Jakub will be old enough to go on great heights, I wonder what else I will get myself into.


Afternoon Coffee

Published on by Grace5 Comments

I like flavored coffee. Now that my son is at a stage where he tries to imitate everything I do, it is quite difficult to keep coffee away from him.  I always try to trick him by giving him milk, but he is starting to get smarter and cannot be easily fooled.  But I found a solution.  I found Caro.

Caro is a drink composed of barley, barley malt, chicory and rye.  The origin of this drink can be traced back to the Napoleon era.  During the war between France and England, there was a scarcity of goods from overseas, one of them being coffee.  To compensate for this, people experimented on ground cereals and grains as a replacement for coffee and thus came up with Caro.  Due to its popularity, with a taste closely resembling that of coffee, it stayed as a regular product.

In the beginning, we bought this drink so Jakub can have his “coffee” with us.  But recently, I have found myself drinking caro as well.  The same is true with Kinder chocolate.  I bought it for Jakub so he can have his own chocolate when I’m eating mine.  But recently, I am also finding myself craving for this chocolate too.

Having a kid awakened the kid in me.  So don’t be surprised if I offer you baby juice instead of beer when you are a guest in my house.

How about you.  Do you ever consume stuff for kids?

A Year Wiser

Published on by Grace9 Comments

I celebrated a significant milestone yesterday.  I turned a year older.

This year I got an orchid.

The powers-that-be knows it because the sun was shining brightly and everyone was out and about.

As we were walking through the town square, we saw a marching band.

I can’t remember the last time I saw one of this.  It only brings me back memories of my highschool years in the Philippines.

I’m not sure if it was a rehearsal for a bigger event, but these girls did pretty well with their performance.

It looked like there were other groups too.

This little darling looks so cute in her majorette outfit.  Too bad we missed her performance.

Meanwhile, as we walked through the other side of town, this is what we saw.

I remember the last time I saw a stunt like this was 5 years ago on Venice beach.  Gee, I’m old.

But I love my little town.  It has a its small old town feel that brings me back pleasant memories of years past.

I really did turn a year wiser!

Let’s drink to that.  Na Zdravi!

First Year Musings

Published on by Grace4 Comments

Today we mark our first year in the Czech Republic.  What a move it had been!  Here are a few realizations I’ve had from the length of time I am here.

1.  When it comes to environmental initiatives, I applaud the Czech Republic, or maybe Europe in general for the steps it has taken to save mother earth.  From small appliances, to small cars, to bagging your own groceries to building eco-friendly homes, it is the best I’ve ever seen.  Details on a previous post can be found here.

2.  When it comes to alcoholic drinks, Czechs are not to be outdone.  They really DO know how to drink.  The variety of alcoholic drinks are the most interesting I’ve ever seen.

3.  When it comes to safety, the safety measures around here are not as sophisticated as the US.  I guess this is one area that needs to be improved.

4.  When it comes to hobbies, Czechs are so into the outdoors.  Most of the Czechs that I know like to spend their weekends in a cottage by the woods.

5.  When it comes to making friends, Czech people are not the friendliest kind at first meeting.  But once you become their friend, you are friends for life!

I know there’s still a lot more to come.  But with all the things we’ve seen and experienced, I think we have finally “Czeched In.”

The Party That Was

Published on by Grace4 Comments

This past weekend, the Filipino Czech Association (FCA) had a successful launching party at the Na Marjance Dance Hall in Prague 6. The party was indeed a fusion of Filipino and Czech culture.  Guests from all over CZ came to celebrate with us.

Photo courtesy of Maj Capuchino

From my experience attending a Czech party, it is normally more subdued, with soft music, and relatively orderly.  This one on the otherhand, is more jovial involving a lot of singing, dancing, and loud music.

As an officer in the organization, I had to make rounds making sure that everyone is ok and no one is left at a corner.  I was talking to one non-filipino guest who was at the party and asked him if he likes it.  His comment was:  “Yes!  it is typical Filipino.  It’s a little bit chaotic,  BUT everybody’s happy.”  My thoughts exactly.  I couldn’t agree more.

Chleba: A Gauge for “Czechness”

Published on by Grace11 Comments

There are Czechs and there are “Czechs”.  If you want to distinguish a true blue Czech, you have to be in the lookout for their bread preferences.  A true Czech will always look for Chleba.   Chleba is a sour dough rye bread, dark in color and moist.  It has a distinct unique taste to it that is very different from any other bread.

Photo courtesy of  ireceptar.cz

Through all those years that we have spent in the US, my husband never got satisfied with the kind of bread that was sold in the stores there.  He was always saying that it is nothing like Chleba.   Apparently, the same is true for some of the other Czechs that I know.  My brother and sister in law, both Czechs, had to bake their own chleba from scratch when they lived in North Carolina.  They missed it THAT much.

Well, I guess I know how it feels because in the many years that I lived outside of the Philippines, I still crave for rice.  That is also our gauge for “Pinoy-ness.”

Toilet Paper

Published on by Grace3 Comments

My local Tesco is doing it again.  My favorite toilet paper is on sale again!  I wonder if I’m going to make that BIG purchase this time.

Last winter, when they had these things on sale,  I bought a whole bunch of it.  Because it was too much, I had to store some in Jakub’s room because the toilet cabinet was full.  But like anything else that’s left in the open, it did not escape Jakub’s curiosity.  Thus, I ended up cleaning up a very messy room.

Toilet papers galore!

A friend of mine once told me that during the Socialist era in Czech, the type of toilet paper that you use in your home signifies your social standing.  Thus, if you use the more expensive kind, you are considered wealthy.

These days, I think the type and amount of toilet paper in one’ s home simply tells you what kind is on sale or as they call it over here — “in action”.    With free trade comes competition and the supermarkets in Czech are really resembling US supermarkets where companies are competing in terms of good deals.

In my case I hope the lady at the register didn’t think: “Damn, you must poop a lot!”

Weekend in the Village

Published on by Grace4 Comments

This past weekend was a national holiday in the Czech Republic. It is formally called “Den osvobození ” (Liberation Day). May 8, 1945 marked the end of the second world war and the end of the German occupation in Czech.

We did not participate in any special celebrations, but went to my husband’s village instead to visit my in-laws.

In their village, this is the main mode of public transport.

The beauty about life in the village is that everything is pretty slow and everybody knows everybody.  It was interesting to note that even children are aware of this.

In the playground, the village children were checking out the “new kid in the block.”

During our trip, we also had the opportunity to visit my father-in-laws’ bestfriend and his family.

Friends for life

They had a very beautiful backyard and Jakub immensely enjoyed playing there with his grandpa.

Baby in the bucket.

After some time, the family princess came in with his daddy.  Since she is the first female child in the family, everyone was all over her.  Even Jakub wanted to carry her.  They’re almost the same size but he seems to think that she’s a baby and he is significantly older than her.

Jakub: “Baby, baby”

This weekend’s trip went very well and it made us realize once more the value of strong family ties.  I am glad that my husband shares my values.  There is nothing else in the world that is more important than family.

On our way home, we still got a glimpse of the Liberation Day celebration since this is what we saw on the road.

A scene from May 8, 1945?

That, and this….

A farmer in a horse-drawn carriage transporting hay.

Village life is so simple yet so full of color!

First of May

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May first is International Labor Day.  As such, it was a non-working holiday here in the Czech Republic.  In the long tradition of Worker’s parades on May 1, the Communist Party held a rally at the city center.   The  Social Democrats took over with their own gathering in the afternoon.  Meanwhile, the Anarchists also had their own protest on Střelecký island, which then moved on to Náměstí Republiky.  At the same time an extremist right party also gathered not far away at Můstek.  To abate any violence, the police was out in full force with dogs as well as on horseback or in helicopters.  Luckily, there was no major violence noted.

The second tradition unfolded in Petřín park near the Karl Mácha statue.  In a salute to the romantic poet who died at 25 not long after writing  the dramatic poem “May,” young couples kissed under the blossoming cherry tree.    Here in Czech, May first is recognized as a festive day of love.

Far from all those political demonstrations and the young kissing couples at Petřín park, we celebrated May first by going to Czech chateaus.    The first chateau we visited was Radim Zamek.  We  were there with my husband’s good friend and his family.  They had a friend who was managing the chateau so we had the privilege of having a guided tour where the kids even got to dress up as characters in a fairytale.

Radim Zamek
In the afternoon, we visited another chateau – Choltice Zamek.  The beauty of this place is in the lush greenery that is surrounding it.  The kids had a great time running through the grounds and playing in the small playground.   Although it was 29C,  it was surprisingly comfortable for me because of the nice breeze that was blowing through.
Prancing through the grounds at Choltice Zamek
Chasing after the ducks. He would jump into the water if we wouldn’t stop him.

I thought I was not going to get my kiss that day because Jakub was so active and both my husband and I had a hard time keeping him still.  We couldn’t even manage to get a meal together because one of us really had to watch Jakub lest he hurts himself.  But on the way home, he pulled over one of those blossoming trees and asked me to get out of the car.  It was not a cherry tree, but it was a blossoming tree nonetheless.  There, I got my kiss.  It is the month of love afterall.

Anything to Drink?

Published on by Grace3 Comments

Other than wine and beer, I am not very familiar with the whole gamut of commercial alcoholic drinks.  But eversince I came to the Czech Republic, my vocabulary  of “drinks” has greatly increased.   Here are a few of those unique drinks that I recently came upon.

They call this “egg liquor” because the base ingredient  is egg.  It has a sweet alcoholic kick with a distinct egg taste.

This one is wine made from honey.   One of my favorites!    The sweet taste of honey with a hint of alcohol is very interesting and unique.

This is “visnovice,” a spirit distilled from fermented cherries.    They pretty much distill spirits from any fruit that has sugar.  The most common of which is “slivovice,” a spirit distilled from plums.

I guess this one does not need further explanation, because its label is giving it away.  It is beer with a hint of cannabis.  I was surprised to see that is was regularly sold in a leading supermarket.    But I guess it may not be “that”  kind of cannabis.

If you were a visitor in my home, I already have a whole array of “drinks” for you.  So…. what would you like to drink?