Christmas and New years
As many exchange students do I was dreading Christmas. For the week leading up to Christmas I was really homesick and sick in general. I ended up being home sick form school for two days right before Christmas. I had a really bad head cold and just really did not feel well enough to go to school and do nothing. So on the second day of being sick I thought it would be a good idea to steam my sinuses. I boiled the kettle and then poured the boiling hot water into a bowl. I then picked the bowl up and tired to carry it to the table. Within three steps I spilt the water all over myself. I ended up with burns and blisters all over my hands and on my stomach, which are now scars. It was a terrible experience.
I cannot remember the exact date but I think it was the weekend before I was sick. My friend Fernanda came to my house and together we made sugar mint stars (my favourite Christmas cookies)!! I think my host family was happy I brought a little bit of my Christmas to their home.
On the 22nd my mom and sister went shopping to buy supplies for Christmas dinner. When they returned my younger sister ran to the bathroom and started filling the tube with water. Being curious I went to see what they were doing. Well in true Czech tradition my mom went out and bought a live carp fish for Christmas dinner. Is it defiantly something I will never ever forget! The 23rd was the start of Christmas holidays so my family and I had a lazy day. During the evening my dad, sister and I decorated the Christmas tree. The 24th is the date of the big Christmas celebration in the Czech. So our events started in the afternoon. My family and I started off our Christmas by walking in the gardens of a castle 20km away from Hradec. About two hours later we headed home. When we arrived we all went and put on fancy clothing. Then my host mom cooked dinner, I help a little too. We sat down at around five for dinner. For dinner we had: fried carp, fried chicken steak, white sausage and a huge bowl of potato salad. After dinner my host sister and I were sent up to our rooms. During this time Ježíšek (Baby Jesus) came and delivered our gifts. About ten minutes later a bell was rang which was our queue to go back downstairs. I received many gifts from my host family such as: hair and body stuff, socks, shirts, perfume, and jewellery. Once we finished unwrapping presents my family skyped with their son who is in Florida for the year. So I quietly grabbed all my gifts, went to my room and watched “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” just like I always do in Canada. On the 25th I woke up early and quickly skyped with my parents while I opened my giant Christmas package. When I finished I went back to sleep for about three hours, then at ten I woke up. Since the celebration is done on the 24th evening we spent the 25th day relaxing. At around 3:30pm we went over to my mom’s parent’s house to celebrate Christmas with her side of the family. We returned home and I then went and skyped again with my parents but this time my older sister, her fiancée, my oma and grandparent were there as well. I was really great to see them all on Christmas.
Carp in the bathtub!
Castle we went walking at
Only snow we had one Christmas!
The tree
Christmas dinner
watching the Grinch in my Christmas PJs!
The Grinch!
On the 27th my family and I went to the Czech mountains for three days. Then on the 31st my dad drove me back to Hradec. At around six I left my house and went to meet my friends. Once we were all together we drove out to a village 20km away to ring in the New Year at a classmate’s house. We arrived at 7pm and I left around 2:30am. It was an interesting night A little bit before midnight we all shuffled outside, and then the countdown begun. At midnight we set off fireworks and sprayed and drank champion. All in all it was a good night and I was very happy I was able to spend it with my friends.
January
Now on to January. January was a very busy month and flew by very fast. On the 8th I switched to my second family. Moving was hard, it felt so strange to leave the Klausovi because they were my family and there house was my house. I moved from Palčice to a flat in the centre of Hradec. I now live with Marie. She is a single mom whose only daughter is living in Taiwan for the year. She is very kind and right from the beginning has been very welcoming. She is a foreign language teacher so she is very helpful with the language because she knows how to teach a language. She does not have Wi-Fi so my access to the internet it a little trickier than before. Though at times it is frustrating I am really happy to not have Wi-Fi. Now I spend a lot less time on the computer and feel was less home sick.
The weekend after I switched family was super busy. On Friday I went with Fernanda and her friends to their school’s prom. We had so much fun. We danced both on the classic and disco sides. We stayed until the very end, which was 2 am. On Saturday in the morning, my very close friend Emily came to Hradec for the day to visit. Her and I went shopping and then just explore Hradec. That evening I went out for dinner with a former exchange student named Petra. It was a very fun evening, she told me tons of funny stories from her exchange and it was an all around good time. Then on Sunday I relaxed a bit. My mom and I cooked cake and went for a walk. Then when we returned I dyed my hair for the first time alone. It was a great learning experience, and had a positive outcome.
Fernanda and I ready for prom!
The next weekend 20th-23rd my mom and I headed to a village in the mountains called Štíy to visit her parents. Well let me tell you Grandmas can always cook better than anyone else, like this woman is a fabulous cooked it was awesome. Entering a side point but my mom travels a lot so when she is away my grandma will come and stay with me. Well this weekend coming up my mom is leaving for London for two weeks. So grandma will be here and she is going to teach me to cook tradition Czech food. You have no idea how excited I am for this!!!! Woooooooo! Any ways back to the weekend of the 20th. So on that Sunday my mom and I took a train to the city of Olomouc. It was beautiful. We saw many beautiful churches and old building. Had some of the best cake I have ever eaten in this little cafe and then hit a museum full of artefacts found in Moravia. The day was absolutely lovely and I had a wonderful time.
This past weekend was also super busy! On Thursday evening I met my friends at 7pm then together we went to GJKT prom (our school)! It was a fun evening of dancing and I had a really good time. I arrived home at about 2:30am and then woke up on Friday at 8:30am. At 10:08am on Friday I and the other exchange students headed to Pisek for the weekend. In Pisek we met with all the exchange students for a Rotary organized weekend. We started the weekend off by going to a punk rock concert.. It was horrible but we still managed to have a good time at the concert. Saturday we spent the morning site seeing , then went to lunch at a typical Czech restaurant. After lunch we went to a Crocodile zoo and then to a Czech brewery. That evening we went out bowling then returned to our hotel for our last rotary language test. On Sunday we spent the day traveling back to Hradec. We hit some problems in Prague and missed our first train to Hradec, but with our quick thinking we made it Hradec on a different time earlier then the train we missed before. All in all this weekend was very good, I always really enjoy these Rotary weekends mostly because I get to see all the exchange students.
I am now half way through my exchange. It is crazy how fast time has gone. I still remember stepping on the plane in GP wondering what I had got myself into. My language is way better than before and I really feel like the Czech Republic and Hradec is my home. Over the next few months I have many travels and activities plan one of those being coming home. No matter how much at the moment I don’t want to go home I know in the end that this experience was a one year thing and that I have to go back. I am looking at flights home and do have a few date ideas. I am choosing to not tell anyone but my parents when I am coming home, because I want to settle back in before I see everyone else. So I will see you all again in July sometimes. Probably most of you who read this at Megan’s wedding. I will try my best to keep my blog update but I am not going to promise anything!
Much Love
xoxoxo
