Soon after this was filmed there was a totally awesome blizzard and we couldn't see anything in front of us...

Cokoladova Kralovstvi Chocolate Kingdom

Our friends own the most amazing chocolate shop in the whole wide world. They make cakes (they are making Bekah a Tamagotchi cake for her 10th birthday) and fabulous, unique chocolates. Zuzana makes chocolates with interesting fillings like roasted chestnuts and raisins in rum....YUMMY!!! They are a wonderful family and have even invited us for Christmas. Zuzana and her daughters will be coming to my beginner's English course in February. Frank got to meet them and it is cool because his brother is a pastry chef as well. So we are hoping that when Tony comes for a visit the pastry chefs can all get together for an international bake-off. Check out their website http://www.cokokralovstvi.cz/

Danny took this picture of Frank and I and I think it looks rad, like an album cover...it was totally sunny that day.

Karluv Hradec
The day before Frank left we took him to a castle ruin near our house. It is from the 14th century and it is called Karluv Hradec. Supposedly it was a royal hunting lodge. But it is pretty cool to look at and explore, especially in the snow. We also made a movie here...it is called "Sasquatch"...so keep an eye out for it on our blog.

Temelin, Your Good Neighbor

This is Temelin, it is the largest nuclear reactor in Europe and happens to be right near our house. We went to the visitor's center with Frank and it was truly eye opening. Inside they have cartoons for children about the wonders of reliable nuclear power and they have real uranium rods. This rod, above, has a sign over it saying "opatrne" (be careful) and then a button below it saying "zap". That is pretty cool.

Prazky Hrad...Prague Castle

This guard cannot move or talk, but he was giving us the eye while we were standing next to him. I totally felt like a tourist here, but I managed to say thank you to the guard afterwards...

Here we are riding the metro in Prague which is totally efficient and awesome...and then Frank and I posed by a cert (devil) who was being displayed for Christmas...Here's an article Dan wrote about Christmas in CZ:

Christmas (Vanoce) in the Czech Republic has some similarities, such as the giving of gifts and the Christmas tree, but also many differences. Christmas celebrations begin on the evening of December 5th, with the visit of Saint Nicholas (Mikulas). Saint Nicholas climbs down from heaven on a golden rope along with his two companions – an angel and a devil. All three characters walk the streets, stopping children and asking them if they were good in the past year. Most kids say yes and sing a song or recite a short poem. They are then rewarded with sweets, candy, or other treats, which are handed out by the angel. The devil gives coal or potatoes to bad children, and it is said that really bad children are put into his sack and taken away. For the past few weeks, we have seen stores selling Saint Nicholas, angel, and devil candies, cakes, and treats. I must admit it seems a bit strange to see children walking around eating a chocolate devil. One of our neighbors has offered to send Mikulas, the angel, and the devil to our house, to visit Rebekah and Roxie. We’re still not sure if we will do it – but it could be fun.
Unlike in the USA, the Czechs do not decorate their Christmas tree until December 24, and it cannot be illuminated until dark, when the first star can be seen in the sky. Then the family settles down for the traditional Christmas feast, which consists of bread with honey, mushroom or fish soup, potato salad, fried carp, and the traditional vanocka (Czech Christmas bread). The Christmas carp is usually purchased a few days beforehand from a street vendor, who fishes them out of the many carp ponds in the Czech Republic. Often families will keep the carp alive in their bathtub as a temporary pet until Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve in Czech is also associated with many superstitions. For example, a good Czech will fast all day, and if he is lucky he will see a golden piglet appear on the wall at dinner time, which is a sign of good fortune in the year to come. The table can only be set for an even number of guests – if there is an odd number an extra plate will be set – because an odd number will bring bad luck or death.
After dinner, a bell is rung, signifying that the presents have been delivered. However, Santa Claus does not make deliveries to the Czech Republic. Instead, Baby Jesus (Jezisek) sneaks in through a window during dinner to put the gifts under the tree. Unlike Santa Claus, Baby Jesus is a rather abstract figure with no particular physical image attached to him and no one knows where he lives. Just like Santa though, he receives wish-list letters from Czech children a few weeks before Christmas.

HOORAY FOR SUSHI!!

One of the things I miss almost everyday here in CZ is sushi. In Budejovice and Hluboka ther is no Japanese food. And in California I ate sushi almost everyday. So while Frank was here we went to a place called the Sushi Bar in Prague and had excellent sushi. They even had a Japanese toilet there with 12 functions. How cool is that? http://www.sushi.cz/

Japanese and Middle Eastern food in the Czech Republic

We took Frank to one of our favorite places, Dobra Cajovna. (Check out the earlier blog on it with the website attached). We got hummus and matcha green tea. Frank said the tea was as good as he had had in Japan. Pretty cool, eh?

Mluvis anglictina?? Do you speak English??

Here I am with my adult beginner's English class on Wednesday evenings. Frank is helping the class play "Taboo". I really love this class as they are grown-ups and want to learn English, so they actually pay attention and don't goof around in class. So I can actually teach. And they don't bring knives and cigarettes to school like my ninth graders. Check out the video of me teaching below in an earlier post. I hate the sound of my voice and my Czech is awful. Wait, maybe you shouldn't watch it...hmm

Sestaky...sixth graders

Here I am in my office preparing for my english lesson with my sixth graders. I only have six of them for this particular class which is fine as they don't speak English at all, only German as they have studied that as their foreign language until this year. We are trying to play "Simon Says" in these pictures but it isn't working too well as they don't remember the parts of the body....oh well.

Mluvis japonstina?? Do you speak Japanese??



Rebekah has a love affair with all things Japanese. When Frank came to visit us he brought a suitcase full of Japanese stuff for the girls from his twin brother, Tony, who had gone to Japan on a mission trip earlier this year. They were so excited. Frank speaks Japanese and gave Rebekah lessons in speaking, reading and writing Japanese...she was a great student!!

Hurrah!! Frank is here!!!



Our friend Frank came to see us from California. He stayed with us two weeks and helped out with ministry, teaching, bookkeeping for the team and went sightseeing with us. We had an excellent time and are really missing him already!! Hopefully we will get to see he and his twin brother, Tony, this summer when we come to the US for a visit.

Hluboka Castle in the snow....November 2007

Krista Teaching Beginner's English in Ceske Budejovice

Better than nothing...

We had our first true snowfall on Sunday...we even played hooky from church (GASP!!) so we could go sledding in the forest. When I woke up in the morning the whole forest was white and the snow was coming down hard with snowflakes the size of quarters. We met our friends up on the hill and we sledded, built a mini igloo neighborhood, and snowmen. Since this is my first experience living in snow here is what I have learned so far...

1. I am thankful that we have good snow clothes. We were all totally warm and dry.
2. You really can start with a small snowball and keep rolling it up like a carpet and it gets bigger and bigger!!
3. Hot chocolate and hot tea are a must after a day in the snow.
4. Igloos are hard work.
5. when it is the first snow of the season, time is of the essence...go play in it right away because it may be gone by afternoon...

Autumn Colors Barevni Podzim

Just a few minutes walk behind our house is the vltava river running through the forest. This particular day in the first week of November was clear and beautiful. The fall color was gorgeous and unlike what I have ever seen before.

Halloween 2007 Sipkovana

The skolka that Roxie attends put together a lantern festival and scavenger hunt in the forest on Halloween night. This scavenger hunt (Sipkovana) starts with arrows on the ground leading you on a path and there are tasks for you to accomplish at each stop. The people leading the task centers were my (Krista) students at the Skola. The evening was crisp, cold and fun. It was lovely to see all of the children bundled up carrying their lanterns. After all of the tasks were completed the path led us to Roxie's skolka where there were prizes of cookies and candy. Afterwards we invited our friends over for a movie night with all of the girls. It was a wonderful way to spend Halloween.