After school on Friday we drove home and packed for our weekend trip to Plzeň. The drive was about three hours, but I didn't mind after a long week of school. We stopped for some food on our way and I got to try another classic Czech dish, svíčková. Once we arrived at the house we would be staying at for the weekend, it was time for me to meet a bunch of new people and say hello to Robert's family members that I already knew. I was tired from the day, and I immediately saw a puppy so it was difficult to make sure I met everyone. As soon as we were in the door and I had met the majority of the people and of course the puppy, I was handed a plate of food. I could tell it was going to be a good weekend as soon as we arrived, and not just because we had bacon (really yummy bacon) and eggs for dinner. After eating, people started to head outside to the patio to practice their ping pong skills for the tournament that would be the next day. I told them I don't play ping pong, but I was going to try. After many attempts at hitting the ball and missing, we decided to start from the beginning by just bouncing the ball on the paddle. I was able to bounce it a couple times before having to chase the ball across the patio or lawn. I was getting frustrated and I was tired so I went inside and hung out with the puppy until everyone else came in. We sang some Czech songs while Robert's brothers played guitar. I stayed up for a few songs, but then I decided it was time for me to go to bed.
Saturday morning we slept in a bit since most people had stayed up until 2am the night before. As we walked into the kitchen we said good morning to everyone, and then sat own for tea, cakes, and pastries for breakfast. As they created the list of matches for the ping pong tournament, we made the decision that I wouldn't be playing in the tournament since I couldn't really hit the ball to begin with. Instead I would watch people play, and help make lunch later in the day. I watched a few matches, but I mostly hung out with the puppy and talked to everyone. For lunch we were just heating up bits of turkey that were mixed with tomato sauce and spices (that had been made earlier), and then cooking pasta. Since there were about 20 of us that was the easiest lunch to make. It was quite good and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Throughout the day we got to snack on grapes and apples that we picked out of the yard.
In the middle of the day I took a break from everyone and sat down by the window with the puppy to message a few people. I ended up falling asleep leaning against the window, and eventually shifted to laying on the hardwood floor. I guess you could say I was pretty tired.
After the tournament was over, we brought out the cake and trophy to celebrate. They have had this tradition of getting together to play ping pong once a year for around 20 years, and the guy who won this year is quite good and has won many times before.
After celebrating, we started to play a different version of ping pong. Basically a group of people splits in half and makes a line on either side of the table, that eventually makes a circle. The first person serves and the other person hits it like normal. Then the second person in line hits the ball and the first person goes to the back of the other line. You continue like this until someone misses the ball or hits it out. Then they are out, and you continue, starting with a new serve. You continue playing until you have the finale (a normal game of ping pong until someone scores one point) and you have your winner! I was encouraged to play this version since it's a lot more fun. I played quite a few rounds and for quite a while it would get to be my turn, I would miss, go out, sit down, and wait for the next round to start. I eventually worked up to hitting the ball, but I always hit it out. And after a few hours I was able to play a few rounds. Everyone was very encouraging, cheering every time I hit the ball, and cheering louder when I was able to stay in the game after hitting it. I was frustrated at first but by the end of the day I was having a lot of fun playing. I think in the end we had collectively played 11 hours of ping pong just that day.
In the evening, we cooked chicken, pork, and big chunks of English bacon over a fire in the yard. It was fun to sit around the table and talk to people, and I could even respond in Czech sometimes! After dinner and more ping pong, we went inside for more singing. Robert sent me the links to the lyrics for every song, and I tried my best to sing along. I was exhausted again, so when they started singing a few songs in German, that was when I decided to go to bed. They were singing in German because one of the guys that comes to this weekend every year is from Germany, and he doesn't speak Czech, only English and obviously German. So everyone likes to sing the couple of German songs they know, so that he gets to join in.
Sunday morning we slept in again since it was our last day and everyone had stayed up late again. For breakfast we had tea, cakes, and pastries once again. After breakfast we went upstairs and started to pack up. We also cleaned the whole house once our stuff was packed and out of the house. After cleaning we said our goodbyes and headed home.
On our drive home we stopped at a McDonalds for some coffee. Yes, all of you Americans reading this are probably judging us now, but trust me, everything is better in Europe. Of course it's not the best coffee, but it's definitely not like what McDonalds calls coffee in the US. After the coffee stop we continued our drive home. We then stopped for lunch at a restaurant that is only about 30 minutes away from home. There, I had svíčková yet again since I liked it the first time and I knew it was going to be even better at this restaurant. We hung out, outside in the fresh air on the patio for lunch before driving home.
When we got home, I was surprisingly tired even after sleeping in and sleeping the whole entire way home. Once we were out of the car, we got all of our bags out, and began to slowly unpack and get ready for the week. Later in the evening we went and picked more walnuts and some pears. For dinner it was just Zora, Ruda and I since Robert was at the club having a meeting. Once we were done with dinner, Zora and I went down to the club for a little while. When we came back I was quite exhausted so I went to bed and got ready to go to week number three school!
Another great post. We (South Texas Burdicks) are all so proud, and so excited to hear about all your adventures.
I think the best part about living in another country is experiencing the culture...all the little things that make it what it is, like playing ping pong, eating different food, getting together with family and friends (that's also a big thing here in Colombia) and hanging out with people and trying to be part of conversations. I respect your stamina! Remember, just listening and speaking another language is exhausting! You're doing a great job. Love, love.
wow, they all have stamina! I too would have been exhausted. lots of together time as well. you are a trooper! Great posts! thank you love!