Silent night..

er.. quite ordinary night. Here anyway. The city over people are sitting around their tables choking on carp bones. Well by now they're probably opening their presents, post carp and potato salad. Depends on the family I guess. And hopefully people have been lucky to avoid to many bone accidents.

Here, it's a regular Tuesday eve. Well.. one of us didn't go to work today. Actually both of us (all 3 if you count Cooley) didn't go to work but in the case of one of us, that is me, (and Cooley if you're counting her) it's all too typical, but for one of us, the worker, the whole week is off, Christmas in the middle of the week really makes everyone.. well, take the whole week off.

So we're sitting here as usual on an evening, on the computer, watch a few shows, have dinner.. yell at the cat not to chew the Christmas tree and vaguely plan all our business tomorrow. Yes, we're doing it the traditional way, that sit he traditional north American and in fact Australian way of doing the pressies and main dinner thing on Christmas day, December 25th. We get up, whenever we get up. Probably have a breakfast, shower and stuff because we like to take dorky photos with the tree and want to look nice for it, and then open our, I guess pretty modest presents under our extremely modest tree, and then set to first cleaning this place up cos it's a total dump at the moment and get to cooking. In the evening we'll have our usual "orphans" dinner, with a few vegan dishes and that not even loosely based on any countries Christmas dinner as far as we know, lots of drinks and the best bad Christmas movies we could find. See traditional.

I used to do it the traditional way, back in Australia when I lived near my family. That is the traditional Czech way, of having Christmas dinner of, well something, sometimes a kind of fish (never carp) crumbed and friend, but always something that isn't fish cos I don't like fish and the traditional potato salad, and then open our presents, on a hot summer night, barely minutes after the sun goes down. See traditional.

All the years since I've left, most of which have been spent in this country, I've done the dinner and presents thing on Christmas day, that is 25th. I guess I like to be contrary like that.

חנוכה שמח

Yeah, I can write backwards :). Actually not really, I just google translated that.. it is Hebrew and it does mean (according to google, haven't actually checked with Erik, who does know) Happy Hannukah. Or Happy Channukah.. depending on your preference. It is the first night today and we're beginning our holiday hosting season this evening, with an elegant eve of latkes and stuff, spinning the dreidel with friends. Yes, got a dreidel this year, couldn't find it last year..

It's a strange time of year and a strange year for this strange time, one of our country's most beloved men, Vaclav Havel, dissident playwright during the communist years, major player in the Velvet revolution and President of Czechlosovakia and then the Czech Republic, died just 2 days ago, so it will be a relatively subdued season this year, for the Czech Republic...

nevertheless, life goes on, people still celebrate, lights are up, music is playing.. and all around Prague there are pools on the street, with carp swimming around in them, awaiting their fate...

Fisheads are yummy!

Ew, fisheads!
Originally uploaded by Ms Kat.

If I'm not mistaken then it's the shortest day of the year today. And if I am mistaken, then that's just fine with me, because that means it was yesterday, and the days can finally start getting longer again so we can maybe have sunlight past the early afternoon again one day for fucks sake!

The solstice can be fun of course, but if you don't mind I'll wait until the other one to have a bonfire and dance around it naked. I'm rather partial to my nipples. There are other ways of celebrating however. Here in the Czech Rep, we celebrate Christmas our winter harvest festival in an interesting way. None of that Jesus or Santa bollocks, no eggnog or any of that crap! Here it's all about carp swimming around in pools for the last few days of their lives until they get bludgeoned to death by a guy on the street, beheaded, cooked and then eaten. Oh they do the presents thing, and put up trees, but it just wouldn't be Christmas Yule without the carp.