Pepa: my pet fish, my dinner.

The Czechs don’t eat turkey for Christmas, no no no. It’s much more interesting than that. Every year, we buy a carp from these vendors on the street. The vendors will happily kill and gut the fish for you, but in families with small children, the carp is usually taken home live and allowed to swim in the bath for a few days. I have fond memories of playing with the Christmas-dinner carp when I was little. My mum told me there have been occasions when the carp accidentally died of “natural causes” before the dinner, but as kids we never noticed. I guess my parents managed to quickly rustle up a new one from somewhere? Or maybe we just ate the dead one? Who knows.

Many people give a name to their carp – “Pepa” is a popular one. Often, people form such a strong emotional bond with their carp that they are then unable to bring themselves to kill it and eat it. Every year, Czech TV stations urge people not to release their carps back into the river because the temperature shock caused by going from a warm bath at home to a cold December river usually kills the carp anyway.

Our carp is usually fried in batter and eaten with potato salad. Choking on a carp bone is a common accident on Christmas Eve in the Czech Republic.

What the British say, what the British mean, what others understand.

My friend P. showed me this wonderful little “translation guide” which perfectly illustrates how the English love to beat around the bush. Cut it out and keep it in your pocket.

A bittersweet goodbye, Czech-style.

How does a Czech patriot honour the memory of their former president who recently passed away? According to my friends, the right thing to do is to drink black beer. And so I obliged, ordering a pint of black Kozel after a very cultural evening spent at the State Opera in Prague on Wednesday. If there is one thing I love about my fellow Czechs, it has to be the dark sense of humour.

From Wednesday to Friday this week, the Czech Republic declared three days of official state mourning after the death of Václav Havel, who had been the first president of  democratic Czechoslovakia and, later, the Czech Republic.  Havel was one of the few politicians who had actually earned genuine respect from people. He had been a playwright and had a certain way with the words, being able to express the nation’s mood and to inspire us to be better people, year upon year. During the Communist days, Havel had spent many years in prison for repeatedly speaking up against the regime; this was a man who was not afraid to make immense personal sacrifices for the freedom of his country, a man who stood up for what he believed in:  “Truth and love will win over lies and hatred.”  To me, personally, he represents this kind of hope that’s almost extinct in our society today, this hope that you don’t need to screw someone else in order to get ahead.

>>We thank you, Václav. <<

So on Thursday, me and my friends continued mourning, this time at Café Slavia, where Havel used to be a regular guest. The café is located right next to the National Theatre, and is a famous hangout for actors and anyone connected with the arts. The café was full of TV crews recording interviews with anyone and everyone who remembered Havel coming there, including the lady who works in the cloakroom. We ordered a Czech dessert called “rakvičky” -- I think it was translated on the menu as sweet caskets, but it literally means little coffins. It’s basically coffin-shaped meringue served with whipped cream. We stuffed our faces, we mourned, and we laughed. It all felt so appropriately Czech.

 

>> “Hope is not the belief that something will turn out well; hope is about believing that something is worth the effort regardless of how it will turn out.” A poster remembering Havel in the centre of Prague. <<

>> In Wenceslas Square, hundreds of people came to a light a candle for Václav Havel by the statue of St. Václav, the patron saint of Bohemia. It was all quite poignant, really, and I never use words like poignant.  <<

Make Love Not Porn

I came across Cindy Gallop in a Czech newspaper today and I just had to share her funny and daring TED talk. Cindy is an older woman who dates younger men. Her mission on the Internet is to spread awareness of the extent to which hardcore pornography affects young men's perceptions and expectations of sex. While dating younger men, she has noticed that many of them seem to think that what you see in hardcore porn is the way you have sex. How very true. Haven't we all come across a guy who expects real women to act like porn stars? Cindy has taken it upon herself to start a discussion about what is real and what is healthy when it comes to sex. I think she's a legend!

http://makelovenotporn.com