I felt right at home in the Czech Republic on my birthday last week. Many of my friends from the US sent me wonderful boxes full of goodies and notes to remind me of their love, and my friends here in the Czech Republic didn't let me feel homesick for a moment. One of my friends took me to Brno to see the downtown and shop in their wonderful shopping mall. Many people go to Brno to shop. After several stores, I wasn't quite sure how they shopped there, because everything was so expensive. Then we went to some cool stores with good prices and I felt like I could see where they found some good deals. We had a lot of fun and I'm glad that I got to spend time with Ilona and her boyfriend Jirka.
I went back to Policka after that to teach a class and practice with our Band. Then after our rehearsal some of my students took me out for Pizza. I didn't realize they would give me gifts, too. They brought me some very nice things like cds of cool Czech music they play at the dances so I can learn them, plus they gave me a puppy. Maybe it sounds silly for someone to give a stuffed animal to someone turning 27, but they know how much I miss my little dukster, so they bought me a little, cuddly dog. We named him Jerry(Žerik) which is a common Czech name for a dog. I think one of the most touching things from my Birthday were the Birthday greetings. Instead of singing Happy Birthday, when someone presents you with a gift, they shake your hand as they say many blessings and wishes for the coming year and give you a kiss at the end. I got such a feeling of joy and friendship from this ritual. Like I said, no one let me get homesick for a minute. It was definitely one of the best birthdays ever.
(To make it even better, we had tons of snow, as you can see:)
