A few days after Christmas it was time for us to take a trip to visit Robert’s family for another Christmas. We woke up pretty early for breakfast before grabbing a few things we would need durning the day. We went on a couple hour drive across the country to where Robert’s mom lives. There, we met up with the rest of Robert’s family and I got to meet his youngest brother and his wife. We all spent some time in the house waiting for everyone to show up before setting off on our adventure.
They have a tradition of getting together somewhere every year between the holidays and going on a hike to lunch. So we set off on our little trip. First we took a couple of little trains, then we began the walk. We walked for a couple of hours before we arrived where we would be eating lunch.
For lunch we had a toast to start it all off and then we all got different things to eat. My whole family got goose with dumplings and cabbage. The goose was called “goose like an elephant” because it was such a big portion. We all worked on our lunches for awhile, but not all of us could finish, even though it was really good.
After lunch some of us decided to take an extra bit of the hike before heading back. We crossed a bridge and walked through some mud to visit some ruins. We had to walk straight up a really steep muddy hill which took awhile. Once I got to the top we only spent a couple of minutes there before making our way back down. On the walk down I almost fell a lot of times even though I was going slow.
Once we were down the steep part of the hill we realized we didn’t have much time, so we had to walk fast to catch our train and meet up with the rest of the family. We took a quick family photo before getting on the train back to grandma’s house.
When we got back to grandma’s we had tea and coffee and Christmas sweets from everyone in the family. Then we had a small second Christmas with the whole family. Grandma got me a new calendar for the new year and it has whales on it which made me really happy. After all of our presents we hung out for a few hours before making our way back home.
When we got home we had a small dinner and then I went to bed because I had had a long few days and I was completely exhausted from the hike.
The next day we woke up a bit later and had a small breakfast. Then my mom and I immediately set to work in the kitchen making svíčková. First we had to trim off all of the fat from the beef. That took awhile since I had never done it before. Once it was ready we, cooked it in a pan a bit and then put it in a dish with a bunch of veggies to bake for a long time. Once it was baked we took the veggies out bit by bit to blend into the classic sauce. Once the sauce was made we put the meat back in and put it away to wait to be eaten the next day.
Around the time that we finished cooking and baking, Gigi called me to tell me she was almost at my house. So I grabbed my jacket and put on my shoes and went to meet her at the bus stop. I was happy that she was able to make it to my house for the first time on her own with my minimal directions.
Once Gigi had arrived my mom let us both make a cake together for the next day too. We made Zora's dad’s cake that we have at all of our family gatherings. Then Gigi and I just hung out for the rest of the day until dinner. For dinner we had potatoes with garlic cream sauce. In the evening after dinner we both FaceTimed some friends and ended up staying up too late.
The next day we got to sleep in a bit, but as soon as we got up we had breakfast. Right after breakfast we set to work on making the dumplings for our lunch. Gigi helped my mom and I make the dumplings for our svičková lunch.
Around noon Shri and her host parents came over to our house for lunch. I had wanted the whole group of exchange students from Brno to come but it didn’t work out. We didn’t have enough chairs or table space so Zora and I served food to everyone else and we ate later. First we had some soup, and then we started plating up the svičková. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and I was happy that I was able to make it, with lots of help of course.
Once everyone was finished they went to the living room for coffee. While everyone was in the other room Zora and I sat down to eat our lunch. Once we were done we cleaned up the kitchen and then went to join everyone else. Everyone was so full from lunch so we decided to go on a little mini village tour. It was really cold out so we just went for a small walk, but we got to see half of the village. When we got back from the walk it was time to eat the cake that Gigi and I had made.
After cake we continued to hang out and talk about when we would switch families. After hanging out for six hours, they decided to go home. Gigi was staying at my house another night so she helped us clean up a bit more.
Once they had left we played a few card games together and taught Gigi some Czech along the way. After a few games we were still full from lunch so we decided to skip dinner. We went down to the club for awhile so that Gigi could meet everyone. It was the fullest I had ever seen the club, so it was really fun. After a couple of hours we decided to head back to the house so that we could rest and prepare for New Year’s Eve.
New Year’s Eve day Gigi and I woke up at 8 and walked to the store to buy the bread for the next couple of days. When we came back we had breakfast and then set to work on another cooking project. We have a family tradition of eating řizek on New Year’s Eve so that’s what we were making. I had made it before, very early in my exchange, and I was happy to get to teach Gigi too! We had a great system for making it and it went very fast.
After eating our lunch, Gigi and I cleaned up and packed our things. Then we got on the bus and started the two hour journey to her house.
Once we got to Gigi’s house we were alone, so we made ourselves some snacks, and took showers. We got our things together, and then waited for her host sister, Gabi, to come and pick us up. We would be celebrating the new year with her host sister and her friends. Once she arrived we drove just five minutes to the house, where we helped them unpack the car.
When we got inside we helped clean up a bit, and we helped prepare all of the snacks and dinner for the evening. For dinner we had make your own burritos from all of the veggies we had chopped up earlier. While we waited for their friends to arrive we played a game together and talked about all sorts of things.
Once her friends got there we continued to talk and hang out. We had originally planned on going to the city center for fireworks, but we lost track of time. Gabi said there was a hill nearby that would be a cool place to watch fireworks so we all got our jackets and started walking. The walk ended up being a lot further than we had thought. So when it was 11:59 we started running because we were so close. We ended up running into the new year which I thought was funny. They said that what ever you are doing when it turns to the new year is what you will be doing all year, and I don’t plan on starting to run anytime soon.
When we finally got to the top of the hill it was absolutely mesmerizing. Everywhere you turned you could see fireworks coming up from all over the city. It was probably one of the coolest firework watching experiences I have ever had. After watching the fireworks for awhile we made our way back to the house.
We ended up staying up until 3:30 in the morning talking about completely random things. When we finally went to bed I barely even got the covers over me before I was asleep.
New Year’s Day we had to wake up at 7 which was quite difficult after only three and a half hours of sleep. Gabi walked us to the tram stop and said goodbye. We made the one hour trip to the city where we tried to find some food because we wouldn’t be eating for awhile. The only place that was open was one of the street pizza places so that was our first meal of the year. After getting our pizza we walked to the train station to catch the train home. There was absolutely nobody in the city since it was so early and New Year’s Day. We got on the train and then the bus and were finally at my house just before 10.
As soon as we arrived at my house we changed into warmer clothes and left for our hike. My family here has a tradition of going on a hike in the forest most of the day on the first of the year. So we set off on our hike despite being completely exhausted.
We hiked for a few hours after meeting up with a couple of their friends and then we stopped in the middle of the forest. There, we gathered wood and built a fire to cook our sausages over. After a small lunch of sausage and bread, we hiked up the steep hill that we were next to, to see some ruins and a beautiful view. Once we were done taking all of our pictures we started the hike back. Gigi and I were struggling to say the least but we just kept walking slowly together. After almost 6 hours of being out and 13.5 km later, we were finally home. I didn’t think I was ever going to walk again. We immediately collapsed next to the fire place and refused to move. About an hour later Gigi decided to take the bus home. I somehow managed to get up and walk her to her stop to say goodbye.
When I got back home I cleaned up my room a bit and then laid around. Later in the evening my parents invited me to go with them and a bunch of other people from the village to get a tour of Michal’s new house. I said yes of course and went with them. After having the grand tour we walked down to the middle of the village to watch the village firework show. It lasted about 20 minutes, and then we went to the club to hang out with everyone and continue to celebrate the new year.
Here, most people have the tradition of eating lentils on the New Year to bring you wealth. So of course when we got home from the club we had some lentils for dinner. After having a little bit of food I realized just how tired I really was, so I got ready for bed and managed to fall asleep at 8 in the evening.
The next day was my last day of the holiday from school. I woke up around 9 in the morning after a much needed, 13 hours of sleep. When I had first woken up I had heard the door bell ring but didn’t think about it since I had just woken up and was still in bed. After starting to wake up and start moving I realized that it had been the package from my mom for Christmas and I was mad that I had missed it. I would have to wait a couple days until I could go to the post office to pick it up.
My parents had gone to work so I made some tea and set myself up on the couch. I was sore from the hike, and tired from all of the holidays so I just wanted to spend my last day of the holiday resting. First I wrote a blog post because I was getting behind just as I am now. Then I watched a movie and had some snacks. After the movie I worked on another blog post for awhile, but I was running out of energy to write. So I watched another movie before finishing the second post. Throughout the day I wasn’t very hungry so I most just kept drinking tea the entire day. Around 1 or 2 Ruda got out of bed and worked on heating up the left over lentils for lunch. After lunch I went back to the couch to continue relaxing.
In the evening when my parents got home I wasn’t super hungry so I decided not to have dinner. I called my mom for our, once a month call, and I told her about the holidays briefly before gathering my things and heading to bed.
I am so grateful to get to experience the holidays in another country and with another family. It was really interesting to see how so many traditions that I am used to, are the same here. It was amazing to get to spend time with so many people and eat so much good food!
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