A Prague Christmas

It's Tradition!

Some have asked what are some of the different things you experience being overseas, especially at Christmas. One thing I have been learning is how attached we can become to traditions. The things that make you feel at home. The little things like favourite Christmas treats like egg nog and candy canes to decorations, Christmas movies and reading of Christmas stories. 

 

 

A very traditional Czech Christmas food is potato salad and carp. On the street corners you will see the fish mongers with their barrels teaming with large carp waiting to be weighed, bought and carried home in a bag or bucket, to be placed live in the bathtub until it is time to prepare it to be eaten. When asked if anyone really likes this bony fish, many will admit they don't; however, we eat it because: It is tradition! I participated in this tradition again this year, admittedly not the best tasting fish but buried in spices not too bad. Many thanks to the Pearce family who carries on this tradition every year.

 

Finding Family

Christmas is a holiday that often is equated with family. A time to gather together, share in laughs and enjoy one another's company. So what do you do when your family is kilometres if not oceans apart? Thanks to technology communicating overseas has become so much easier! So thankful for those who invented skype and decided to make it available for free! I got to watch my nephew open his Christmas gifts, see my parents, talk to my brothers and see my dog. 

Along with technology I also find it helpful to adopt a family. What I love about the international community is the necessity to become family. To be the silly Aunts and the adopted nieces for one another. This year the Parker family took in the orphans (those without family here) and we had Christmas brunch, read the Christmas story, lit the Jesus Candle, opened presents and played games. Though international life is a revolving door of people coming and leaving it is a blessing to meet so many different members that will be a part of the heavenly kingdom.

Telling the Christmas story

Showing off new Christmas clothes

Playing with the Jones sisters

Made with love and the best mittens ever!

Merry Christmas!

Life outside the classroom

A German Christmas

This Christmas I can praise the Lord that I have been healthy! Think it is the first Christmas in a long time that I have had no cold or other injury to slow me down. So this year I got to join some friends on a road trip to the German Christmas markets in Dresden, Germany. We first took a detour to Sieffen, a small town just across the Czech border that celebrates Christmas year round. At one time it was a tin mining town. However, when the mine began to dry up the town needed to find a new trade and they turned to wood carving and toy making! I always love going to Germany at Christmas as it brings back many childhood memories of Oma and Opa and traditions I had from my German roots.

Christmas Time is Here

Celebrating the Christmas Season

I love the Christmas season, especially as a teacher. The excitement that the kids bring, and all the fun projects to be done; and above all exploring the true meaning of Christmas.
In the busyness I didn't get too many pictures taken, but I did manage to snap a few on our last day when we made Graham Cracker houses and snowmen ornaments with the grade five class. After my first year where we did houses with over 25 kids I thought, never again. But with 6 I thought we can handle this. Afterwards I wondered how I ever managed to do it with 4 times as many kids! It is a messy business but well worth the mess!

 

 

Our Christmas Concert was kept quite simple this year with just a few songs and a Bible verse.

 

We did have Santa come to visit and had a photo taken with my class and some of our homeschoolers that come for PE and Art classes. It was quite humorous to watch their interactions with "Santa." 

The Dutch celebrate on the 5th of December with Sinterklaas; so when Santa asked my Dutch student what she would like for Christmas she matter of factly stated, "we don't do presents on Christmas." My other student knew that Santa was really one of our teacher's husbands and was not really into playing the game of what you would like for Christmas. "I know who you are, you're Mr. Corpus!" 

Indeed for my students Santa is as real as a Disney character; for fun but not what Christmas is all about. I really enjoyed our times discussing the Bible story and exploring with them how long it would take to get to Bethlehem from Nazareth, what it would have been like to be a shepherd in the field and what does the Bible tell us, and what have we interpreted ourselves. We had an all school Christmas chapel where we had a game with Christmas Trivia. When it came to the question what did the inn keeper tell Mary and Joseph we had to review what the Bible said, only to discover no inn keeper! It is neat to watch them discover what parts of the story have been our own interpretations and what the Bible truly tells us. But taking away all the details we go to the heart of the message. Jesus came to save.