Yea! We're Done with Our TEFL Course!

St. Wenceslas Square was packed with
revelers - the energy downtown
was fantastic as we celebrated the
end of our studies

Three devils: Dannielle, Anna, and Adam

Having fun with Anna

Heaters help people enjoy
a sidewalk cafe
in the middle of December
in Old Town Square

Christmas Markets are scattered all around town
The most common offerings are kielbasa,
grilled corn-on-the-cob, hot wine, grog, and mead.

These beautiful children were definitely angels, not demons,
singing in exquisite harmony a song
by the famous Czech composer Smetana.

No photo can do this gorgeous tree justice.
It had shooting stars.

Adam, the photographer, knows how to make everyone laugh.

Anna and Justin

Yea! We're done!

Two reasons to celebrate on St. Mikalus Day

On the last day of my TEFL class, work was gladly interrupted for a visit from our own in-house St. Mikalus. I knew nothing of the Czech custom but a Czech friend told me this would be the first of many St. Mikaluses I would see that day. Czech children have been raised on stories of St. Mikalus and look forward to seeing him and performing a song or a poem for him before receiving their treat for being a good boy or girl that year.

Naughty children don't get candy. They receive potatoes or a lump of coal. And if they have been really, really naughty they are placed into the devil's sack and will be sent straight to hell.

It makes me laugh thinking about this because I really and truly remember worrying when I was a kid about whether or not I would get coal for Christmas. How about you?

Teenagers seem to have the most fun with this holiday. You can tell that many of them labored on their costumes for hours, carefully applying tin foil to their Mikalus staffs and cotton balls to their beards. Demons seemed to far outnumber angels. On the metro, they were all giggles in their costumes which of course made everyone else giggle too.

Here are a few of the angels and demons we saw along the way on St. Mikalus Day. In my next post, I'll share pics of our group in Old Town Square enjoying the spectacle of it all.