teaching in the land of hockey and beer: Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is essentially the polar opposite of Indonesia:

The language is extremely difficult, hockey prevails over football, there are 4 distinct seasons (though I could quite happily do without the arctic style winter),  they are the second least religious country in Europe with just over 19% claiming to follow a religion on the 2011 census, the population of the entire country is less than that of Jakarta, the air is clean, litter is sparse and pork graces every menu. In short, I couldn't have found a more opposite country if I had tried.

I live in Liberec, a small city of around 100,000 situated about an hour north of Prague at the base of a small mountain range. My main goal in finding my next home after Indonesia was to be surrounded by the colour green, and not just in packaging floating down the river but in the form of trees and grass, to be surrounded by air that wasn't doing permanent damage to my respiratory system. (When I came home from Jakarta one of my best friends asked me 'So...is this your voice now?' I honestly hadn't noticed a difference but the general consensus seemed to be that I now had a rather unhealthy rasp.) So you can imagine my delight at ending up here surrounded by forest, mountains and a nice little reservoir where you can drink beers in the sun.

Everything that I longed for while in Indonesia was nestled here in a quaint little country with some questionable traditions. And luckily for me, unlike most European countries the Czech Republic doesn't require you to be EU to work here. So through the process of elimination they quickly raced to the top of the list of possible destinations.

It wasn't hard to fall in love with the Czech Republic what with it's medieval towns and picturesque landscape, Czechs on the other hand take their time. The main difference between Indonesia and Czech Republic is the people. Indonesians made you love them straight away with bright smiles and gentle gestures, Czechs on the other hand want you to win them over, they're not going to like you just because you're there, they need convincing that you are in fact a likable person, but once convinced they are some of the loveliest most generous people you will have the pleasure of meeting. So don't bother feeling dejected if your service doesn't come with a smile, no ones does.

Teaching contracts here usually run for a regular school year (September to June) and the monthly wage is around $1000 depending on who you work for. Unlike (most of) Asia, here your accommodation is not included (I share a flat with 2 American girls and we each pay around $200/mth including bills - the first year I was here the company I am working for helped me organize my accomdation, the second year my co-worker/friend, Petra, helped me find a new flat), grocery bills are usually around $20/week and eating out tends to be between $5-10 (depending on whether it's lunch or dinner since most restaurants have a cheaper lunch menu), beer is legitimately cheaper than water - and runs at about $1.25 at restaurants and $0.50 at the shop I can count on one hand the amount of times I have not ordered beer with my meal since I moved here.

A main selling point for me was the fact that Liberec has a Czech Extraliga (ELH) hockey team, which living up to my national stereotype was important for me after a year and a half in South East Asia where hockey plays a non-existent role. Not only is it quality hockey here but going to a game usually costs around $15 (including a delicious klobása, 3 beers and a ticket about 6 rows from the ice), that kind of price would buy you a six pack and an evening on your couch at home.

I am quickly approaching my departure date and with only 8 weeks left here I can genuinely say I am going to miss it. A. LOT. I have made some amazing friends here and in July will be celebrating one of my best friend's weddings, which will be bittersweet since it will also mark the end of my time here. I have been inside a church decorated with bones (Kostnice Sedlec), seen a ridiculous amount of live hockey, walked through some of the most impressive rock formations I have ever laid eyes on (Adršpach-Teplice Skály) starred in a dubious maternity photo shoot, done wine tours in Moravia and will spend next weekend at a beer spa where you legitimately bathe in beer while drinking beer, and that's only to name a few of the amazing things I have done/experienced here. When I came to Europe for the first time in 2003 I left having fallen in love with the Czech Republic, little to my knowledge 8 years later I would move here and fall in love with it all over again.



 Photos from top to bottom: looking out over the Prague Christmas Markets from the Old Town Hall Tower, a view of Prague, the reservoir in Liberec, 'The Mayor and his Wife' at Adršpach-Teplice Skály, the lake at Adršpach-Teplice Skály and Kostnice Sedlec (Sedlec Ossuary) in Kutna Horá

Burning Witches in the Czech Republic

In keeping with the Czech tradition of holidays that seem somewhat brutal at first glance, let's talk about Pálení Čarodějnice or in English ''The Burning of the Witches''.

Ah yes, the age old tradition of burning ones enemies at the stake in hopes of ridding the world of evil, but here it's not so much evil as winter that is being chased out (although when the latter hits -23 I would argue that it falls in to the evil category) and not so much enemies as dummies being burnt, making it a much less sadistic holiday then the title suggests. Thankfully as far as I can tell the history of the holiday never included setting fire to an actual person but rather has always been centered around the burning of an effigy or sometimes even just brooms, which should warm your heart a bit considering it dates back to the pagan days when we weren't quite so scrupulous about what, or rather, whom we burned.

How exactly the witch ties in to all this is a bit vague, legend seems to suggest that witches had a scheduled annual shindig on the 30th of April and that burning fires in high places, such as hills, would deter them from making pit stops in your village, while other articles suggest it has more to do with the witches powers being weakened by warm weather and that burning a pretend witch would bring an end to winter (In which case, why not do it earlier? Surely there is no one out there so masochistic as to wish for the extension of a bitterly cold season...), but whatever the reason it's a good excuse to get together and have a bonfire and some beer.

Last year I missed out on the celebration and wasn't about to make the same mistake twice, so when my friend, Dana, mentioned that her family would be burning a witch at their house I asked if I could come along. When I arrived they had already constructed a sort of teepee from branches topped with a dummy dressed in old clothes and a hat that was sitting waiting to be set aflame. We began by first roasting sausages on a separate fire as the big bonfire remains unlit until around sundown, so with a beer in one hand and a klobása in the other I was ready for my first Čarodějnice. The fire was massive and Dana's 3 year old nephew thoroughly enjoyed launching whatever he could (from a safe distance of course) in. By the end you could see a cloud of smoke hanging over Liberec as fires burned  across the country and fireworks were set off in the distance. I'll be honest it was pretty great, so if I make you partake in a bonfire next April 30th at least you have a reasonable idea of why, you know warding off witches and shite weather or something like that...