This past weekend, we had 2 bright sunny days which made me feel like spring is really in the air. But what greeted me this morning was this.
Looks like winter is not going anywhere.
After 5 months with this kind of weather, it is starting to wear me down. Don’t get me wrong. It is such a pretty sight. It’s nice when you don’t need to go anywhere, but it sucks when you have to (which is my case).
And spring is when, again? Oh well….
This past weekend, our relatives from Brno stopped by to visit us in our new home. On Sunday afternoon, we decided to visit Dětenice, a small village in the county of Jicin in North Bohemia. It is a quaint little village that makes you feel like you have just been transported to the Middle Ages.
The Chateau.
Outside of the hotel, this is what you will see.
Our main goal in visiting this place was to witness the Knights’ Tournament which is one of the best attractions in this place. My 4-year-old nephew is so fascinated with Knighthood that if he was born during the medieval ages, he would have become one. I didn’t expect the younger ones to like it, but they seemed to have enjoyed it immensely as well.
The tournament took place in an old stable since it was still quite cold to do it outdoors. The weapons they used were real, and being seated at the front row, I was a little worried that those weapons would accidentally come flying at us. But none of that ever happened. These guys were experts and they handled themselves pretty well.
For the tournament that we witnessed, there were 4 Knights vying for the honor.
There was a German Knight.
A Czech Knight.
A Polish Knight.
And a French Knight.
We would have wanted the Czech Knight to win the tournament, but it was the German Knight who emerged as victor.
Here is a short clip of the sword fight between the French Knight and German Knight.
I had been told that the evening entertainment is one-of-a-kind and a “must see.” Unfortunately, since we had young kids, we couldn’t stay longer to watch it. We just roamed the village while our boys were busy running around.
All in all, it was an afternoon very well spent.
For more information about Dětenice, please click here.
As part of my journey in learning Czech language, I have started listening to Czech music. Although I cannot fully understand the lyrics just yet, I definitely appreciate the melody and the sound of the language itself. I am sharing with you two of my favorite songs.
This first one is a collaboration between a Czech alternative band Krystof, and one of the Czech Republic’s most well-known folk singer, Jaromir Nohavica. Even my son loves this song and sings to it whenever he hears it on the radio.
Here’s another one from a popular Czech singer, David Deyl. What I particularly like about this song is the piano arrangement and I honestly love listening to how the language sounds.
I hope you like these as much as I do. Have a great week, everyone!
Tomorrow I will be starting my first formal lessons in Czech. After being here for almost 2 years now, it is amazing how I survived without speaking the language fluently. Of course I can get by with knowing how to count, say one phrase or two, or maybe even converse with my broken Czech, but if I really want to make something out of myself in this country, I have to speak the language like a native.
Another motivator is my son’s fluency in Czech. Since he has been in school, his Czech fluency has greatly improved. Pretty soon, I would like to be able to help him when he does his homework. His awareness of Czech and English as 2 different languages is very amusing. One day he asked me: “Mommy, what is gulas (Czech dish) in English?” I answered: “It is still gulas, but spelled as goulash.” But of course, it is difficult to explain spellings to a 2.5 year old, as he is not even able to read yet.
Me being able to speak Czech fluently will also take a lot of load off my husband’s shoulders. All through the building phase of our home, he had to arrange everything from buying the land, getting the permits and looking for a builder. On top of that, he has to go to work since he is the breadwinner of this family.
My current Czech knowledge is enabling me to go to the store and do groceries, bring my son to school , go to the doctor and even befriend a few locals. This time, I would like to be able to go to public offices, make negotiations, and perhaps even write essays in Czech. Very ambitious, I know. But I will get there….somehow.
Due to this bug that have infiltrated my son’s system, we have mostly stayed indoors this past week. Anyhow, it gave me time to figure out how to decorate the bare walls of our home.
I was browsing through some of the photos that can perhaps be made into a collage. It is a collection of pictures of some of our most memorable trips in the West Coast. Here’s some of them.
During a ski trip at Big Bear Lake, California.
Posing for posterity at Marina del Rey, California after biking from Will Rogers Beach to Redondo Beach.
During a short hike at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona…..way back then.
Posing at one of the rest areas (can’t remember the name) during a wine tasting trip to Solvang, California.
Posing with our friend Gus during one of the weekend runs with the Finish Line Freaks, our running team. Boy, do I look freaky!
A classic pose after climbing the “delicate arch” in Utah.
At the Monument Valley in Utah.
Posing after coming back from a short hike down the Bryce Canyon in Utah.
As I was browsing through these pictures, my little boy was with me. Everytime a picture is shown, he would point to it and say: “Tati” or “Mommy.” But after this last photo, he exclaimed: “Where’s Jakub?” It was one of those very simple questions that touched my heart. He is starting to identify himself as one of us. He is starting to understand the idea of family.
Looking at those pictures made me miss the past. But my little boy’s simple question made me appreciate what I have, enough to get me excited of what’s to come.
My son is now sick. I think it’s my fault. I must’ve overindulged him in too much snow. I did get what I wished for. We had a good amount of snow these past few days.
After seeing this much snow from my son’s bedroom window, it was only natural for him to want to go outside and play.
So last Friday, I took him out for a long walk in the woods.
It was -4C that day, but the cold did not seem to bother us. We were having fun! We crossed the woods to get to the other part of town. Everytime we find a little inclined space, we take advantage in sliding downhill on his sled.
By the time we got home, he was literally spent. He didn’t even wait to get to his room. He just crashed on the sofa.
This past weekend, we went skating with some friends. Because he is still too young to skate, we placed my son on a sled so he can still enjoy the ice with us. It was very cool. Unfortunately, that didn’t do him well. He got cold. And because he was also tired, getting sick was inevitable.
Now I am nursing him back to health. Hopefully, we can cut the “down time” so we can enjoy the snow all over again.
We had a good amount of snowfall this past week. My son had a blast!
In school, he was riding on sleds with his classmates.
They also made a snowman.
In one of our ‘neighborhood walks,’ I went to the woods with him on a sled. My right arm is hurting now but it was so worth the effort.
This whole winter thing is growing on me. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I wish we will get more snow tomorrow.
As promised, here is my first post regarding our experiences living in a passive house. I’m sure most of you are more curious about the technical aspect of the house rather than the interior design, so this post is solely dedicated for that.
Our initial expectation of decreased heater usage was indeed met during our first 2 weeks here.
A sunny winter day like this is enough to raise the interior temperature to 1C to 2C. Because of the thick insulation and air tightness, the house has the ability to keep the temperature stable.
Give us 7 sunny days like this and we may not need the heater at all.
But for days when it’s gloomy and Mr. Sun is hidden behind the thick clouds, the house’s integrated heaters are programmed to keep the temperature stable. Potential “cold spots” within the house are equipped with heaters that look like this.
This is the biggest one for the living room, but the smaller ones in the bedroom almost look the same.
The external blinds of the house has a central control unit that can be programmed to open and close at certain times of the day. In winter, it is useful to open everything during the day to let the sunshine in and heat up the house. But in summer, there will be a need to keep it closed. Remote control switches are also available to adjust the amount of opening or amount of light that one would like to have.
With its air-tight feature, you may be curious about how the house breaths. Well, this equipment makes it all possible.
Air vents are strategically located around the house to exchange the air. There is no need to open the windows. You are guaranteed to breathe in fresh air.
We still haven’t done much about the exteriors of the house, so this is pretty much how it looks like from the outside. Come spring and the landscaping is another major project.
Anyhow, we are happy with our first few weeks in this house although it is not completely decorated yet.
Call it crazy, but we are probably one of very few people who are very eager to receive their energy bill.
Another Christmas tradition here in Czech is to take a walk with the family on Christmas Eve. In our case, it became a post Christmas activity.
Since we were celebrating with the extended family, and the boys love trains, we took them out for a short train ride in a neighboring city. We then went on the back roads that connected one train station to another. I was lucky to snap a couple of pics of my little boy with his cousins.
Precious little moments….
I tried to coax them into looking at the camera, but wasn’t very successful.
Someone is always looking away.
A simple thing can also be a reason to play.
In this case, a simple bottle cover became a soccer ball.
Although the walk was not in the nicest part of town, it is one of the most memorable walks we’ve ever had.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Whew! It almost seems like such a long time since I have updated this blog. After moving to our new house 2 weekends ago, most of my time has been spent cleaning and fixing up the new place….and we are not finished yet. With Christmas just around the corner, I found myself even busier. Needless to say, life happened.
I will have a separate post regarding the house. Meanwhile, here’s how we spent our Christmas.
On Christmas day, we drove to my in-laws’ place in Moravia in this weather.
Just looking at the frozen fog was enough to frighten me a bit, but it really is a way of life over here. Everything seemed normal.
That same day, my husband’s brother and his family also came. It was a time for opening the gifts from Ježíšek (Little Jesus). Instead of Santa, Czechs believe that Ježíšek is the one bringing gifts. In our family, the children were asked to go with Grandpa and watch a pohadka (fairytale).
Meanwhile, the adults prepared the gifts and staged the room to appear like Ježíšek just left. This was done by opening one window and tolling the bell. When the children ran to the living room, they found presents under the tree.
Since they were too young to read, the adults helped tell them who the presents were for and they distributed the gifts.
Everyone was then busy opening their presents.
My little boy was very happy with the biggest gift he got from Ježíšek (a.k.a. grandma) – a toy digger.
At around 5pm that same day, we went to my husband’s grandparents to celebrate with the rest of the family.
There was another set of presents to open. But the best part was just bonding with the family.
While the kids were busy distributing presents from the tree, the adults were doing their thing.
The kids got toys, candies and chocolates, the men got wine…..
…. or slivovice (plum liquor).
No matter what generation, it is always a hit.
In one corner, I was chatting with my father-in-law and his mother.
Although there are a lot of nice material gifts, I guess that the best gift of all is family. Even though, my own Filipino family is too far away and I didn’t get to spend this Christmas with them, my Czech family provided me the necessary “warmth” I needed this winter season.
Czech the Flip 