Waiting for the golden pig – more of Czech humor

“According to time-honored Czech custom, if you fast on the day before Christmas you may be favored, as midnight approaches, with a vision of a golden pig. The apparition is considered highly auspicious, but I must confess that I have never seen so much as the tail of the fabled piglet. This whimsical tradition says much about the Czech attitude to the festive season; it is fanciful but it is also humorous. The ancient Israelites may have hankered after the Golden Calf, but Czechs prefer their fantasies to be earthier, basted in golden juices, enfolded in the magical but also palpable, as homely as the ingredients of a Capek painting and so, true to life, yet hinting at grander and richer possibilities.” (more)

Andelers' Christmas 2005 has been fantastic. The Mid Night Mass on Christmas Eve at the church around Old Town Square was phenomenal. The music from the pipe organ was great and honestly more meaningful to us since the Mass was in Czech and the only word we could catch was "andel". So very touched I even prayed. I wished that some angels be sent down to Andel, which is named after them and supposed to be their dwelling on earth, to sweep the mess left over from our dinner. But when we got home at 4 am after some beers and saw the chicken bones, fish bones, Svářak pot, empty beer bottles, wine glasses, and lots of filthy plates in our Common Room as well as MY kitchen, I started to wonder what was wrong with the pray. Was I not doing it the right way? Or did we not follow all the Czech customs for Christmas (we had fish and potato and salad for dinner, didn’t we)? Or have any of us not been being a good boy or girl during the passing year? I reflected and realized that perhaps we were found that we didn’t fast until dinner. But why would you still starve yourself nowadays when there’s sufficient food around and why would you still be interested in seeing a golden pig at midnight when you could have a nice pizza or fettuccine or "veggie" chicken salad and a Staropramen for lunch?

So Christmas turned out to be a cleaning day for us, and when trying to manage to rinse all the plates without breaking one I did regret that I didn’t take what Chris said seriously, who introduced the golden pig custom to us and swore that he heard it from three different people in the Czech Republic. But again why would you believe a Canadian’s swearing about a Czech tradition when actually this guy has been in this country for only 3 months which is less than everyone else has in the flat? Too bad that I can’t apologize to Chris in person any more because he’s already on the flight back to his beloved home now. Bon voyage, Chris (aka old slow beer drinker), you will be very much missed.

So don’t eat before midnight on Christmas Eve, wait for the golden pig. Just wait…

Extracted from the menu of U Pizzeria Tucnak…

FOR VEGETARIANS:

Salad with cheese, lettuce, broccoli, onion, and chicken breast.
Pizza with special Italian dried ham.

VEGETARIAN SALADS:

Salad with ham…
Salad with special Italian dried ham…
Salad with salami…
Salad with chicken breast…

-“So Erik, how was the veggie chicken?”
-“Excellent!”

We loved Prague’s sense of humor!

It's all about tackiness.

Having been to Vaclavske Namesti (Wenceslas Square) three times since this gi-normous tacky blue Christmas tree showed up, finally last night I remembered to bring my camera and took a photo of it. Jeremy has put up some nice photos of the Christmas market in Old Town Square, so I thought it should be Vaclavske Nam.'s turn. But the tacky tree totally ruined the view - how blue it is!


This is my third time to the pancake restaurant and I think I'm going to be a regular until I've tried all that I can eat on their menu. I'm all about palačinky. Ironically so far every time there, I was with a friend who was ready to take off. Last time it was Geri, who already left us two days ago for home (but she'll be back to her Andel family, so nothing sentimental here); and yesterday it was Hanna. And the restaurant has a name as tacky as the Christmas tree: "Titanic". Not a good sign at all.

So pancakes + movie + drinks + spa wafer at our cozy home was the little farewell thing we did last night for Hanna and also Chris. That's it. These were the only Andelers in town till last night.

And since Hanna is already on her way home now and Raphael is leaving in a few hours, I'll soon be left with the two Canadian boys who don't really care how a southern Chinese girl mourns over a freezing winter. :S

Anyway, Broken Flowers is a good movie. We liked it.

Acclaimed film critic, Roger Ebert has posted his top ten movies for 2005.

Hanna's Farewell Party

Hi all,

Finally it's time to leave...
Don't smile, I'll be back! I cannot just leave Adel and forget it. Unfortunatelly for you, I live not so far from CR:)

Because of the fact, my traineeship is over, I'd like to celebrate it... or rather drink for it with you, guys. Hope you can join me tomorrow:
- first in Al Capone,
- after few... warming-up drinks - Soldini:)
I know, it's during the week, next day you need to wake up and work hard... but as I know you, it's not a problem... At least not a big problem.
Anyway - it'll be nice to see you there, even for few mins.

Ps. The other reason to party is - my graduation, I have my diploma already, yuppie!

See you!

Hanna

So the good news is that there's finally a really hot woman who thinks that economics is sexy. The bad news? She's dating ... Brad Pitt. Damnit!

Krakow Photos

Chris and Erik made the trip out to Krakow last weekend. Check out the photos here.

Best of Prague

My particular favorite:

"BEST MOVIE THEATER - CINEMA CITY ANDEL: Andel's small but pricey. Gold Class rooms let viewers relax in deluxe lounge chairs, but the 12 other viewing halls have stadium seats that are still pretty comfortable." - Keep this in mind, future Andel players/guests.

More Best of Prague 2005 winners...

Andeler Raphael is turning to a big 25 today. Happy Birthday, Rafa! Enjoy the "wonderful process of aging". :)

Recent Andel guest (and Australian), Arthur, posts his comments on the race riots in Sydney.

Who and When again?

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Arrives in Prague for Visit (news)

You realize that Prague is having “Hu” and Wen in town at the same time, which doesn’t happen so often out of China. ;)

Wikitravel is a free world-wide travel guide written and editted by Wikitravellers. If you are travelling this weekend check out the entries for Krakow and Brno! (via Lifehacker)

Thinking of applying for long-term visa to the Czech Republic? Be patient...

Heard of a tram stop in Praha called Olšanská? If you are foreigner wanting to stay in the Czech Republic for long-term, you will know it well soon since you will spend hours waiting in the Foreigners' Police Office there for your turn to register your entry, to get a "birth number" even though you were not born here, or to apply for a long term visa. And it often happens that you wait for 2 hours in the line until the officials come up to tell you that it's too late, they are closed, so you should come back tomorrow to start waiting again. Well actually they don't talk to you individually, they come out of the office and tell all the people in the lobby, and you have to ask whoever around you who speaks English to tell you what happened, because besides all the instructions (even the registration type sign) that are in Czech, the FOREIGNERS' police officials DON'T speak English!

"Fears of misinformation at Foreigners' Police

"Long visa process still marred by inefficiency

"Applying for a long-term residency visa in the Czech Republic has always been a tortuous process. But now some are accusing the Foreigners' Police of making up bogus requirements and demanding unnecessary paperwork.

"Recently, the daily Právo reported that the Olšanská street office in Prague 3 was telling visa hopefuls that they could not register unless they owned an apartment or house, despite written requirements to the contrary on official Web sites.

"Despite numerous media reports in the past year about a dysfunctional visa system, it still appears to be marred by understaffing, inefficiency and inconsistent information, despite government officials' promises of reform.

"Indeed, little seems to have changed at the Foreigners' Police since Jan Kasl, the former mayor of Prague, sent an angry letter to the Interior Ministry two months ago. The note was prompted after Kasl was stymied in his efforts to obtain a visa for the Senegalese man who was to marry his daughter.

"Many foreigners living here simply opt to remain perpetual tourists, hopping a train across the border every three months to get their passport stamped with standard tourist visas." (I'm glad it's got awareness in this country)

Well, the silver lining of the cloud is that Bratislava is a cool place, both to visit and to apply for a short-term visa to the Czech Republic, I heard.

Tonight Káva Káva Káva is having a guest musician. Or it's their regular practice - two Fridays in a row I've seen him here playing guitar and singing. Apparently people like him a lot since sitting inside the computer room now I'm still hearing loud applause and cheers out there all the time. Well, a cup of coffee, good music, and wi-fi surfing in the warm cafe, while the other Andelers are sampling their alcoholic type of fun in the tram party touring through the cold air... Pretty cool Friday night. :)