Beginning of the End

Well, I’m sorry about my lack of posting recently. I’d give some reasons, but I’m reminded of the poster hanging in the weight room of the SP high school saying “No excuses, just results,” so I’ll just do better instead.

I did use up a lot of words this week completing my independent study project paper, which ended up at a whopping 34 pages, not counting the title page, abstract, bibliography, appendix, etc. I planned to post it on here but I didn’t have time to fine-tune it, or really even proofread it, and the thought of people reading it and then telling me about typos or something makes me feel a bit ill. Besides, I would like to get feedback and questions, so I would rather talk about it with you sometime, so next time you see me you can make my day by bringing it up. I do have to continue thinking about the subject a little, because on Monday I have to deliver a 20-minute presentantion on it, but after that I am done with college. I don’t know exactly how I feel about that yet, but I think I’m mostly happy about it.

While last week I devoted around 12 hours a day to sitting in school trying to write, this week should be much more of an adventure. Monday and Tuesday we have presentations, and I’m really looking forward to hearing about everyone’s project because I am a nerd. After that we head out to the Czech countryside for a three-day “retreat” and program wrap-up, and then the program is done. I originally planned to have an amazing adventure the week between that and when my family gets here, but for various reasons that’s not going to work out. It’s probably for the best, because I have a lot of little things to take care of in Prague, and I’m hoping I can help out with Christmas preparations so that Elena doesn’t develop a hernia, which might happen anyway. She’s been going a million miles a minute and takes every opportunity to tell me how tired she is and complain that “the men” don’t help her with anything. Last night she told me that Jan was at a meeting at the Elementary School, and when I questioned why she said sarcastically “Because you know it is very important for men to be out of the house when Christmas is coming.” It was so funny. She’s been very sweet to me lately, though, and I do feel sorry for her, but she’s so overdramatic it’s hard to be truly sympathetic.

Oh, and I should tell you about “Nikolas Day”. Czechs celebrate St. Nicholas Day the night before (so December 5). Traditionally, adults would dress up in groups of three, one as an angel, one as a devil, and one as St. Nicholas. They would visit children (arranged by the parents) and the devil would glare threateningly while they interrogated the kids about their behavior the past year. The devil carries a bag and chain for the sole purpose of “carrying the child off to hell” if they were bad. It’s quite terrifying, and I’ve heard many stories from adults about being scarred for life because of their fear of this devil. The devil makes a very specific noise, but I don’t know how to type it, so ask me to show you sometime. (Does the devil make a noise in English?) In any case, when it has been decided that the child has been good enough, the devil leaves and the angel and St. Nicholas make him/her preform a song or quote a poem, then leave candy, coal, oranges, etc. That was how it used to work. Now, kids dress up too and it’s more of a Halloweeny-Christmas extravaganza (out on the street everyone I passed was one of the three; and though there’s not much freedom as far as costume they get pretty creative). My host family didn’t do this, but late at night Elena called me downstairs where she had prepared a spread of various nuts, dates, and pineapple. As we were eating she said, “The children should look behind the curtains,” and when Simon and I did we found gift bags packed with peanuts, walnuts, oranges, and some chocolate. It was very cute, and also cool because when I was little “St. Nick” in the form of my parents always gave me oranges (which were okay) and peanuts (which I didn’t like), and I thought it was a bit rude of him, but I have renewed enthusiasm for these gifts because I now understand they are a remnant of my Czech heritage.