Czechmatediary

My mother-in-law just told me the other day that one of her friends received a Christmas ornament made in the Czech Republic. That led me to do a little research and I found this great article. It - once again - confirms the famous saying: “All roads lead to Prague” (not Rome!!).

For example, did you know that we used to be the #1 bead-making country? During the World War II the major bead-making factory became a shelter for the Japanese prisoners who in the midst of their stay also learned how to make these beads. When the war was over and they went back home where they spread the secret bead recipe and priced the Czechs out of the market! But the relentless Czechs did not close the factory down; instead of beads they started making Christmas ornaments - today’s pride of the country. (more…)

The first tangible sign of Christmas was our (the kids) letter to Jesus. Yes, that’s right, in the Czech Republic Jesus brings the presents while Santa is on vacation or something ( I also remember bragging to my fellow classmates at school when I was about 7 years old that I saw Jesus’ feet just as he was flying out of our apartment window). Anyhow, when my brother and I were really little and didn’t know how to write yet, we would draw out the list of things we wanted for Christmas. My list always looked something like this:
1) dog
2) cat
3) Barbie

And I would usually end up getting a bunch of clothes.

Second, getting the Christmas tree. I don’t remember much about that. The only thing I remember is how frustrated my parents would get trying to fit the stem into the tree stand. They kept trimming the stem down but somehow it never seemed to fit! But that is probably just a universal law….

Third, getting the carp. (Speaking of carp, my husband loves this one. He says, “Honey, here in the U.S. carp is actually used as bait to catch real fish…”) That event I remember quite vividly. Since I am a big animal lover, going out and buying a carp was a stressful day for me. I remember feeling sorry for those fish at the seller’s stand, how stuffed they all were in this one tiny bucket with about 6 ounces of water in it. (more…)