Having a Ball!

"Ball"

understood as a formal dance or party.

These seem to be quite common here in the Czech Republic. Our exposure came from the school balls that are held in the middle of the winter, December and January. These school balls are something akin to "prom". ...but distant kin, for they are not quite the same. How are they
the same? It is their graduation ball. Other than that, different. I'll get to some pictures... and explain on the way.

That's right, it's their graduation ball. So it's a dressy affair.
Look, all lined up along the wall. ...afraid to dance?
Think again!


They're all trained in formal dancing and must begin the ball by demonstration. Notice, guy's wearing white gloves. Old school.

At this point I've thought it best to do this a little chronologically. This ball was a school Ball held in December. After the Dance we had a supper with the class and a small ceremony.

Here you can see some of the graduating class.

A couple of comments. Yes, that's beer and wine. We're not in America.
You may notice the mysterious stranger at the head of the table. No, that is not the "father of Satan" ...as one student said of me. Yeah, that's right. Some student upon meeting me said I look like the "father of Satan". How do you respond to that? Heidi upon hearing this began laughing uproariously. At first I thought to be offended... then I thought consuming young souls sounded interesting and might at least pay better than my current job. Then I thought, who would the father of Satan be? My theology tells me that would be God.
ok, that's going too far.

Back to the ball.
Below a young graduate gets knighted with a real sword as part of their pin ceremony.
So after this supper we went to another restaurant where the other half of the Senior class had their Pin Ceremony. Now I must say and fear that Heidi will try to edit this, but her students we're buying shots and bought her several I believe. Wish I had a picture of that!
pffffft..... "father of satan... "


Ok enough of this silliness. ...look, below is show and tell. I am refraining from my usually stirring entertainment and just giving you a vision of how their prom is... just take a look.


SECOND SCHOOL BALL
(this is the big one)
in January
Translation: 14th Maturation Ball Secondary School Moravske Budejovice

Below the students line up for a processional.
Now, different than a Prom, a good portion of the town comes too. Parents, grandparents... and people who just want to spend an evening dancing.
Ah, the processional is... ah, proceeding.
Now they actually line up and do some sort of dance.
Then the Girls had their moment. I believe this was the "Macerena"
Not to be out done, the Guys are next.
They danced to Micheal Jackson's "Thriller"
This guy, I believe, read a letter from Hana Svobodova. Hana is our exchange partner and technically this was her class, that is, she was their class teacher. So she had a letter read. I expect it was very nice, but my Czech isn't that good. Everyone cheered and applauded.

But since Hana S. had to go to America, they got another Hana. Below is Hana Grafova. She took over for the other Hana.
Below she greets and congratulates each student.
The Head Master, Standa, gives a speech. Little too much flash... or he is the whitest guy ever.
Then Standa comes down and toasts each graduate individually. Yes, it's real champagne.
Well, actually it's probably not French, but Russian.
Then the class toasts all their comrades.
Then People throw money. Yep, coins everywhere.
As you can see, some are busying themselves with this offering while others seem to think the bubbly is more interesting.
Then the band plays.
People start dancing.

Those who were toasting are now getting toasted.
Hana, the class teacher joins in. But I must say, she was pretty stressed out as she was working pretty hard all week preparing for the Ball. She deserves it.
This is Sergej, Hana's husband. I think he agrees with me.
Below, some of the other teachers. From left to right:
Illona, Jarka and Hana.
many many Hana's here
Heidi with a few of her students
Frank and Hana, his wife.
This is Zybnek. He seems happy.
Then the local dance troop came out and ...danced.
Hey, not sure there is much to add. I think the pic's speak for themselves. It was fun, a bit odd in that their traditions are quite different. Like students getting tanked at their graduation dance... which is six months before it happens. Hey, we're in the Czech Republic.

POZOR!

I suppose when I hastily put this picture on our Blog, I should have known that it might get some reaction. I suppose I knew I would eventually have some explaining to do...

Try to imagine for a moment. You've been living in the US. You are working two jobs... educational jobs. So in other words, nobody respects what you do and how much you sacrifice. Everybody complains about the educational system in America while in the same breath demanding this system to conform to the customer/business model.

To add to this, you come to a strange country, where everyone speaks a strange language. To try to fit in, you adapt to some of the local customs....like wild boar hunting.

You go hunting and bam! You get one. You discover you like it. It thrills you beyond measure.

You find out that you are quite good with guns.

So the local hunting club invites you to join. And in spite of their generous offer, you show up to their exclusively male meeting wearing pink. Naturally, they put you at the head of the table, knowing that beneath your smile and feminine charm lies a cold, ruthless dead eye.

So she finally snaps.

How else to explain her gun toting smile?

After all, she believes in the right to bear arms... she's just being a good American.

And there is no security like that of a warm gun.

So, I decided that there really was only one reasonable solution.

Yeah, that's right. Get my own. For defensive purposes only, of course.
A perfect example of Arms Proliferation.

on closer inspection...
Yeah, that's right, automatic for me!
OK! Joke over... it's all just a big sham!

Well, not the stress of the US...

nor the comments on the US cultural values being diametrically opposed to its own educational system.
nor the analogy of rationals of how arms proliferation occurs.

The sham is Heidi really bearing arms... or me for that matter.
But several people have asked... so I wanted to mislead even moreso before setting the record straight.

So how to explain these weapons?

Sit back and relax... we have some catching up to do.

Next to Heidi is Thomas and Svitlana.
(and then another couple... I don't recall their names.)
This picture was taken at the Moravske Budejovice town ball. We have been fortunate to make some good friends here. Thomas and Svitlana especially so. They have been nice enough to include us on some recent adventures...

Just so we can finish one strand, the picture of the guns were taken on the first nice spring day here. Tom and Svitlana invited us to the Vranov dam. A beautiful area... another strand for another time. Anyway, they brought their kids and the son brought all three of his toy guns. So we all walked around carrying them, because of course he got tired of doing so. I found it odd as they looked quite real. I informed Tom that to have toys that looked this real in Chicago would be a major problem. He found it interesting and I still felt uncomfortable... but then decided to accept it, perhaps it's not so odd here... even though they are toys. At the end of the day we stopped for some wine... and to admire the weather and show off the weapons.


Thus ends the mystery of how it was that Heidi would so casually pack heat.

But all this perhaps begs some other questions. Like what's up with this town ball?
I will in the next blog explain the many ball's that take place here.
I can then also mention...
How I won a smoked pig's head at one of the said balls.
How Tom and Svitlana made soup out of it.
And lastly the Easter tradition of woman whipping.

below: local male youth wander the street easter morning
Yes, whipping... in short, men walk over to the neighbor's house and lightly whip his neighbor's wife's posterior. Then she gives them a ribbon, a shot, usually slivovice, and some chocolate. Look, it's a long and interesting cultural thing... I'm not justifying it, just an observer.

Oddly many females don't roam the streets that day. The guys above are all holding woven willow branches, usually tied with ribbons denoting each conquest. Like I said... I will explain soon.
And just so some of you don't worry to much. While the tradition seems... problematic to our values. There is no serious corporeal punishment. It is symbolic. yes yes, perhaps too many... I know.

Spring Break - A European Road Trip

Well, let me (Heidi) begin by saying a few words about our year here in the Czech Republic. Many people, both here and in the US, have asked me why I chose to live in the CR for a year and not a Western European country. There are two reasons. First, the CR is right in the center of Europe and I knew we would have an easier time accessing more places in Europe if we were in the center rather than if we were, say, in Great Britain. I also wanted to get a continental experience and not a British one - Britain, in my opinion, isn't exactly Europe, and I wanted to experience Europe from the inside - not from an Island happily separated from the Continent. Secondly, I do not speak a second language fluently, and Germany, France, and Switzerland required one to speak the language in order to come live among their people. Well, Germany, France, and Switzerland many not want us to live with them for a year, but they can't keep us from traveling and visiting and spending our money there. They are happy to oblige us on that account, nor do they seem to mind mocking the US dollar with their ridiculously high prices. But we're here and we have a (reliable?) car and the road beckoned us westward!

Our first stop was Frankfurt, Germany where we visited Christoph and Uta Gruss. 23 years ago, Christoph was an exchange student who came to live with Mark's family in Iowa. We've kept in contact with them through the years, so it was a pleasure to spend a few days with their family. They were gracious hosts, taking us to several historical places in the area.

First we visited the birthplace of Goethe, a 19th Century German Romanic writer. He wrote a version of "Faust" - and his last name is also a street in Chicago - the very street where Mark's Grandfather was born and raised.

Frankfurt has been an industrial city for well over a century and it is still the center of German commerce. As a result, it was pretty much wiped out during WWII and had to be rebuilt. Still, there are a few buildings that survived, like the one below. It is the church where the German state was designed on paper in 1848, though Germany didn't become an official, unified country until 1871.

More of "Old" rebuilt Frankfurt - my favorite part was all the church bells that rang for 15 minutes straight accompanying our walk through the city center.


Frankfurt is also rich in Roman history, as it marks what was the northern edge of the empire. As a result, there are many Roman ruins to be found. We spent the second day visiting several of these sites. The first one below is an outpost point - now reconstructed a bit and blended into a neighborhood park.


Mariana and Elise always seem to find the nearby bakery - here they are eating a cherry crumble bar in a reconstructed village with several really good restaurants!
Next we went for a 3K walk to see the Limes - (Leemus) - the northern edge, literally, of the Roman empire.



The Romans, like any good ruling empire, needed to keep out the Barbarians - hence the ditches. There was also a fence that separated the lands, or so we're told. However, if the Germanic Barbarians really did want to enter the Roman lands, that could be accomplished by paying a toll. Below is the landmark remains of the toll booth - the lane is the path going south into the Roman lands.

Since I am of German decent, I found it necessary to stand on that barrier and proclaim victory, seeing that the Roman empire lies in ruins and the German state is still standing, albeit someone humbled after this last century of wars.


Once you paid your tolls and entered the civilized world, you had to pass through the administrative fort and barracks of all those centurions trying to keep you out. Here are a few of the ruins, though the fort has been reconstructed a bit, I am sure.


All that is left of the Roman presence is the statue guarding the door to the fort-turned-museum. Still, we thought it looked pretty official - and a good backdrop for a picture!

We ended our time in Frankfurt with Christoph and Uta with a delicious home-cooked meal accompanied by great Rhine wine and a compilation of 40 years of music put together for Christoph's 40th birthday celebration - apparently that birthday here is the one to commemorate in style!

Next we drove into France - even though officially there no longer exists any border patrols between Germany and France, the French saw our Czech plates and waved us over. They were a bit surprised to see Americans driving a Czech car. After searching the contents of our luggage (apparently for contraband alcohol) they happily waved us into their country - and we then drove into Alsace and Lorraine, two provinces that have bounced back and forth between German and French control for hundreds of years, most recently during WWII. Our first stop was Verdun - a city most known for being a WWI site for Trench Warfare.
Verdun was actually the site of a Roman Fort and became a prestigious militaristic symbol thereafter for the empire who controlled it. Even Napoleon waged a battle here in his effort to rule all of Europe. That is one reason the Germans chose to wage war there again in 1916.


As it was actually a cold windy rainy day when we drove through Verdun, we didn't visit any of the major points of interest. Besides, you could spend several days here touring all the significant sites, including an extensive American cemetery.

We did, however, have time to visit our first French bakery and sweet shop!

The coffee eau claire was an amazing introduction to 3 days of French pastries!!!

We then headed to Paris, via Champagne and Reims. No - we did not drink while we were driving. But when we stopped in Reims to visit the cathedral, we did see a bottle of Champagne on sale for the small price of $40,000!! You'd have to be royalty, I think, to pay that much for a little bubbly, and considering the fact that the shop was right across the street from the cathedral where nearly every French monarch was crowned, the $40,000 price tag may have actually seemed rather reasonable!

Gothic cathedrals have beautiful stained glass windows - I think the ones in this cathedral are among my favorite of all the cathedrals we've seen so far.

I must say that I was quite humbled by the history of this cathedral. For a brief moment, I imagined all the grandeur and glory of a crowning ceremony, with the pipe organ accompanying masses of people in their proclamation of alliegance to the newly crowned king. I became quite a small person at that imaginary moment. I guess I've always been small compared to the grandeur of the French court. But it sure was fun to stand next to that alter and imagine history occurring...

Paris came next - and to be honest, I think Paris just needs to be experienced as words are not going to express how mesmorized we all were with the city of lights! All I can say is that some day, I'm going to rent an apartment there for two months in the summer so that I can take my time exploring and experiencing its sensuousness!

Here is a sampling of the many photos we took!!

Notre Dame

The Paris Opera House...it's stunningly beautiful inside, or at least what we were able to see from behind the rope sure was.

An open market with strawberries that tasted as sweet as they smelled and appeared!


One must have a beret when in Paris!!
I think this was once a hotel....I think it may have set the standard for the 5 star rating system....
The Louvre

And here she is - behind the glass. I was so overwhelmed to actually be in the same room with the original. For so many years I have just talked about European history - It was humbling to finally be in Europe - in Paris - in the Louvre. I just couldn't keep back the tears...
The Arc de Triomphe

And of course, the Eiffel Tower, during the day and in the evening!


One of our favorite things about Paris was the long, lazy dinners. The desserts, especially, were amazing!

As we only had 2 days in Paris, we didn't make it to Versailles. We'll just have to go back!!

One last family photo from the Eiffel Tower

I must say, Mariana wears her beret really well!

Our final destination was Switzerland. On our way there, we drove through the Dijon region of France, and WOW what amazingly beautiful countryside - expansive and rolling and green! I was deeply impressed. As a side note, we found the French people to be very kind and gracious. One older gentleman went out of his way to offer us help, even driving us to locate our car once we got off the train in the Paris suburbs. We loved France...hopefully some day we can go back.

The Swiss Alps - I don't think anything can compare to such natural beauty.

The above picture was the view out the window of the Backpacker's Hostel we stayed at in Gryon, the very village where Edith Schaeffer still lives, for those of you who are familiar with L'Abri, the study center Mark attended 22 years ago and the reason for our trip to Switzerland. Witness Mark in his glory...


Below he is showing the girls where he lived while studying at L'Abri.
It's been quite some time since I've seen Mark this light in spirit - dare I say he was nearly giddy?

The limitations of our camera are quite apparent as none of these pictures capture the splendor of this region. You'll just have to imagine...


We had beautiful spring weather. It was even warm enough to have lunch out on the patio in the village of Villars - a ski resort town for Europe's elite.


Perhaps the most spectacular part of our time there were the sunsets. I will leave you with these images. I hope that you have enjoyed reading of our European tour! I certainly have enjoyed putting it together, for it amazes me still that we were actually in all of these places!!

Happy Spring to all of you!