counting the carps 'til Christmas... part 2

counting the carps 'til Christmas... part 1

As our students have assured us, it is not Christmas dinner in the Czech Republic without "a nice Christmas carp and potato salad." In the next few weeks the markets and squares will be abundant with huge barrels of carps a plenty. Part of the tradition is getting the freshest and best carp the season can offer so it's important to buy early. The fanciest way to go about it is to go around a week early and pick out the most glistening carp imaginable and take him home live. What do you do with the floundering little fellow? Why keep him in your bathtub of course!

The joke on the street is two men meet each other in town and say:

"Ahoj brother it has been a while! Is everything ok with you? You smell a bit worse than usual."

"Oh yes, everything's fine! It's just the Christmas carp! I haven't bathed all week."

I told my students I will not be indulging in this tradition. The sheer outrage I was met with shocked even the black cat that likes to wander into the classroom occasionally and learn an English word or two. I told them, I think carp is the least appetizing of fish not to mention that ugly mug of his. One of my students took a marker and traced the simple and universal symbol of fish and said, "it looks just like that...beautiful."

It seems I have been converted (at least in my respect towards others to observe in whatever manner they choose). To ease myself into the upcoming festivities, we did a trial run with carp-shaped chocolates from the market.

man of the hour.

as far as I was concerned the parade was in honor of him.

"there are problems in these times, but woo, none of them are mine" - velvet underground

This afternoon, we along with our anti-comrade comrades marched in honor of the Velvet Revolution. We met up with some friends at Palackeho Namesti and waited for the streets to fill. I finished my coffee and everyone threw down their money just in time to see it pass. So we ran out and joined in. We didn't have any tiny flags but we still shook our keys with the best of them and walked along the Vltava through all the closed down streets.

I must admit I felt a bit special walking along the tram lines while one of the few ghostly running trams waited and waited for us. I almost made the bell noise and didn't yield to pedestrians.

Usually a parade strikes fear in my heart of all the crowds, blocked streets, and enthusiastic and sappy signs. But today I couldn't deny the moment; the faces were happy, children were on shoulders, and everywhere people were kissing and cheering and drinking. On the pavement announcers announced. From what I could tell, two women were promising to set-off miniature hot air balloons at succinct intervals from what may or may not have been Vaclav Havel's apartment. In any case, it was eye-catching. The march ended on Narodni Trida near the National Theater and there were promises of a huge concert. No one was moving and in sardine style we got to know our immediate neighbors more intimately. A huge red puppet of the devil ran through the crowd; I paused, got the symbolism, said "dekuji Prague! Enjoy your evening!" and turned quickly down a narrow side path and escaped the masses. We skipped on "Monkey Business" and the other Slavic troubadours and ran through the wet paths home.

i always imagined i would love basements

i have failed to mention that our apartment building is next door to coffee shop and wine cellar. this cellar is connected to the basement below our building. tonight, right when night fell we returned to our building to see the doors wide open with a black sign and a mod dressed german woman telling us the exhibit was down the stairs to the left. while i was tempted to justify my existence and residence, "oh no, i live here," i denied this one human tendency and did what the woman said. down below, was a charming man in a black sweater with a knowing smile you would like to invite to your dinner table and hope would come. he handed us little cups of wine and huge tin flashlights. the smell of the damp basement made me pause for a moment looking at the space before even taking notice of the art. cobwebs and pipes, an ancient jar of preserves. the decay of the bricks were the perfect nooks for Jan Bobek to house his art. when i started to take a look around i realized i was constantly confusing subtler pieces with the environment. i walked past a branch only to return and see neon foxes and alligators mischievously taking part in daily tasks. the majority of the installations were tiny shadow boxes with clay figures, chiefly animals and toys. the little boxes reached their most incendiary point with the ecstatic animals falling over, spilling doll house size glasses of wine, and jumping from the ceiling, while three chalky stately human faces were displayed on the wall in lieu of boars heads. and despite almost ghastly themes, the cartoonishness of the pieces allowed a transcendence of the sinister and instead a playfulness of modern times rather than a mere ironic shock-fest. i felt a little fonder of contemporary art this evening, especially when Mr. Bobek came gently over to us and showed us one had a button to play techno music.

a makeshift halloween; or a phantom czech holiday in Kutna Hora

We spent the waning portion of the 31st at Sedlec Ossuary at the Church of all Saints (Hřbitovní Kostel Všech Svatých). It was below freezing and after lots of slow train transfers we arrived in the small town and walked the empty streets. The ossuary holds the bones of about 40,000 people from the days of The Plagues and Hussite Wars. And although I know little of actual crypt trips, I would say the arrangement of the bones would make any passe anatomy pleased. We were handed an ill-translated pamphlet that talked about the passing away of the flesh emphasizing that these bones now mean nothing in comparison to the owners' immortal souls. Needless to say, I understood their point in spite of their charming constructional errors and shared a smile about all these people who were perhaps neighbors in Bohemia, loving each other and likely annoying each other and yet they are united to this day offering a collar bone to dusky, magnificent chandelier. I lit a 4 koruna candle for my family i never met and hoped somehow I'm a descendent of the pretty chalice in the entryway.

thankfully i see...

dotingly ragged my new favorite door opens up to me.

femme fatality in the dregs of October

today was the first day i appreciated a river over an ocean. all the yellow leaves lean- in and gladly accept the cold and slow hellos. there's an entrance to kampa park just around the bend from our apartment and while trying to find a laundromat the last few fall days distracted us. today all the stone czech women took a serious stance and serenely accepted their beauty. and despite some conflicting opinions i have been told about women's roles here i smiled to myself noticing all the lofty places we inhabit quietly. it is nice to sit still, i just hope i will learn patience first.

the first in a serial entitled, "what are you trying to tell me prague?"

boy am i trying...

yesterday it snowed. not enough to blanket but consistent enchanting flakes. on the tram on my way to school two little kids' eyes were blinkless and beautiful. they as lucky czech speakers have likely seen it before but don't remember, i on the other hand, english- speaking and sun- raised actually have hardly seen it fall. i did cerebral ping- pong between the foggy window and their faces. one headache and awestruck later i was at my stop.

mostly, i admire the little kids and their ability to speak czech. the first few years of education should be nothing but languages. save math for later. i find whether children know if they have 2 shoes or 8 to be irrelevant, hopefully this will keep them less materialistic. after the little kids, i enjoy the really old people at bus stops and sadly am speechless when they explain some exasperation about the weather. i want to tell them, "no i would not ignore you normally, i am quite upstanding for my age and temperament it is just such a tricky language".

so after a wild eyed, red lipped, snow haired maid failed to share a pedestrian moment with me i ran across the cobblestones through trams to an "antikvariat" (used/ antique books) that's about a block away from our apartment. i was so overwhelmed with books on manes and matisse and original copies of mayakovsky and capek i bid the raven- haired owner adieu only to come back an hour later slightly more awkward with a grocery bag with milk, bread, and grapes. he has a whole collection of ex libris labels that are hand penned and beautiful and comical. i plan on returning again for anything we may hang on our walls. but not just yet.

i am in the strange phase where i am well aware of what a tourist is and know i don't fit the description still. i don't need a map downtown, i don't drink tourist beer in wencelas square or get excited about taking endless photos of oompa bands at overpriced mediocre cuisine restuarants. but i can't quite prove it either. i'm waiting for that seamless bus stop chat or to not embarrass the sweet grocery store girl when she realizes she should have been english not czech when i smile blankly after she has clearly asked a question.

i do think there's something good about boiling tea water in the one pan you have in your flat. and never being able to get coffee the way you like it. i would like to meet more people in the middle. so ta-ta comfort i am going to embarrass myself everyday until i can moderately speak czech.

although, one comfort did make its way via loophole. the warmest coat i could find... i sincerely hope there is someone laughing somewhere.

sunday stroll...

1.& 2.unlike our photographing predecessors (a smiling couple exuberantly running around the steps) we decided against posing next to the statues at The Memorial to the Victims of Communism. The more you look the more the statues blend into trees and background. 3. finally the most pristine fruit next to the filthiest door. 4. the national theater after morning rain. 5. fall colors on a less famous bridge.

there should be a hacek over the r in "petrin" which means it is nearly impossible to say.

a quick intro to our neighborhood (petrin hill is right behind our building)....

on your way up petrin hill there is a pear tree. we are fond of the rejects. our apartment is just to the left of the pear behind the tree.

and now our room with a view.

we have moved (!) we picked out a modestly written ad out of a series of apartments for rent which just happened to be the one historic building in prague that isn't inflated in price or already filled with people who never want to leave. when we came to look at it the first time and stepped out of the tram and i counted the numbers i assumed we would be living next to the beautiful gray and red building and was shocked to see the 10 foot tall aged wood doors open for us. we are living in the heart of mala strana (praha 1) on ujezd which shocks any czech resident when they ask where we are living (which subsequently shocks me because i am used to being met with repulsion at the dull and trashy berkeley streets i chose to inhabit before). part of our luck is the owner recently converted the attic into an apartment and now it is home sweet home for us after a quick climb up 5 flights of stairs. there isn't a washing machine, an oven, or a stand- up shower but the view overshadows any "modern inconvenience." just a few things i can drink overly sugared instant coffee to:

1. prague castle

2. petrin tower

3. the national museum

4. the tallest part of the charles bridge.

the czech violnist Ferdinand Laub was born here but right now i can just hear my neighbor practicing piano (thankfully) beautifully. it doesn't seem real or maybe too real.

*the first photo is of some ornate decor in the dome ceiling in the entryway. i invite interpretations of what is going on in the scene.

fill in the blanks...

is a worksheet i have learned to create this month with ease. it is also the title of this blog in response to the complaints towards the ghostliness of posts and strong demands that the reader(s) get more than they received this last month (thanks grace). allow me...

i don't know what i expected for a training course... possibly because the only practical training i have ever received was driver's ed (which you may have guessed by now if you have ever sat on the curb for 25 minutes while i parallel parked how little i got out of the course). but this TEFL course was the real deal. basically, we lived in a classroom or teacher's workroom (8 am to 11 pm or when they finally kicked us out) for the last 4 weeks and were trained to talk less as a teacher and get students talking. something that as a permanent student worried me since i know my classmates wandering eyes when asked a direct question. but, it really is quite amazing to see it in action. you treat students as if they actually know the answer and suddenly they begin to speak. comparing it to any foreign language i have taken and how persistent i was to keep my lips sealed i am amazed at the fluency of even lower level students.

jeremy and i have had about 10 hours of observed teaching and rigorous evaluations and feedback sessions. essentially, this last month has also served as a working interview. and, as of yesterday we received the school's decision to award us a "highest pass" and offer to start working immediately which is quite a bit sooner than our anticipated start date (January 10th) that had kept us living pretty meagerly just in case. i have never been so happy to be employed 1. because i like this job 2. because i get free czech lessons 3. they're already predicting snow here and its hard to choose between a few dinners and a coat.

beauty and the building...

just another pleasant introduction.

by tomorrow...

Jeremy and I will have each given our first 45 minute lesson to Czech students(!) Please read back for details... there's much to say about how warm they are, how bright they are, and how silly and difficult it is for me to give clear instructions. But from what I'm seeing teaching is quite the job for me.

Prague babies...

This post is dedicated to all the babies in Prague. First the real babies: While sitting in Kampa park there were so many tiny tots running around and trailing slowly after their beautiful mothers I wanted to rent a stroller to play along.

I then realized how baby filled my day had been.

1. Infant Child of Prague.

2. One of the many baby angels that adorn The Loreta. This was my favorite.

3. (Not quite babies) but tiny light up penguins comically displacing the view of Prague across the Vltava.

4. Larger than life barcode face babies just hanging out by the Kampa museum compliments of David Cerny's genius.

I am confident there's more to come.

"Fred and Ginger"

the famous dancing building... more and more the objects here are coming to life.

Dawn at Karluv Most: blog of thanks to friends and inanimate objects.

I will one day compose a complete collection of photos entitled "In a setting where Jeremy seems small." Here we see No. 2.

I expressed much gratitude to the anonymous bird who had enough aesthetic sense to land so gracefully on the middle statue's head right as I snapped this photo. I exclaimed any old bird may have cluttered this photo but not you. Perfection.

A bit of construction work and sleepy eyes did not lessen the effect of this.

(At 5.30 yesterday morning, thanks partially to jetlag but mostly to Charmaine Taylor, Jeremy and I rolled out of bed and then ran out into the Prague streets to see the Charles Bridge before it filled with people. We took the long way and walked along the Vltava getting us there just as the sun was rising. It was especially cold and I was surprised to see so many early risers & commuters. We stopped into a small bakery and had espressos and took whatever pastry we could point to and mumble in something that sounded like Czech and seem polite. Without all the vendors and sight hungry tourists we had the joy of experiencing all the saints (on the right hand side) personally. I apologized to a few for not brushing up on my Latin and not recalling having met them before.)

Lastly, I made sure not to snub the rusty waterworks in favor of our beloved bridge only. Just look how lovely they align.