A December full of baking

Dobrý den everyone,

and welcome to my first blog entry.  My name is Juliane but most people here in the Czech Republic call me Juli. I am 18 years old and together with Livia this years foreign volunteers here in TOTEM. I am honestly not sure where I should even begin. Somehow it feels like I have been in Plzen for more than just 4 months. So many things have happened in so little time. I guess what they say is true, time flies when you are busy.

The months I have been here have created many fond memories that I will look back on with joy. Of course, not everything is always sunshine and rainbows. Especially the grey days in November and December have not always been motivating. But there is always something that helps keep me going. Talking with Livia, my family and friends from home or a good book and coffee, just to name a few. I am really glad for Livia. She has been my steady pillar in a sea of new information. We got to know each other pretty quickly, something you can’t really prevent when you are living and working together. We manage well, we have a set role distribution (me cooking our meals and her doing the dishes for example). Before coming here I was a bit worried about living with a stranger, even though we had some contact via whatsapp, you never know how a person really behaves until you meet them.

We were allowed to participate in a special event on the first of december. It was an afternoon full of creative crafting.

We decorated the TOTEM christmas tree together

Aside from the special events, we are also attending our language conversations (German and English in my case). I especially enjoy talking with the seniors and hearing about their life experiences. Trading stories with them and learning more about “must see” spots in Plzen and the surrounding area has been amazing. Some of which I already checked out.

We also had the pleasure of meeting Laila personally in December. She and her sister came to surprise the seniors with a visit. Later that week they invited us to brunch. We went to a really cute cafe and spent a few amazing hours there. The cafe definitely has the potential to become my favourite one in Plzen.

Livia and I spent a day in Praha. It was a fun day full of interesting conversations and Christmas markets.

Here is a picture we took on the train on our way back to Plzeň.

Since it is December, I have been baking every weekend. I really enjoy baking, especially around Christmas time. My family has been baking christmas cookies every december since me and my brother were little. It’s a lovely tradition that I plan to continue every year. This year, I got to share my baked goods with my German conversation courses and Livia.

It’s crazy to think about christmas already, like I said, the time seems to fly here in Plzeň. I am leaving on the 20th of December. But I am not going home directly, I will make a stop in Karlovy Vary where my dad will pick me up.  We will drive to Crottendorf, where, together with my friends and family, I will visit a crafting workshop to make the typical German “Räucherkerzen” on the weekend before Christmas. There is not really a fitting translation so I will try to explain it as best as I can. It’s basically a smoking cone used during the christmas time to make the home smell pleasant. The cones are made from the resin of the Frankincense tree, charcoal, potato flour, sandalwood and beech paste. These substances are ground together, stirred into a moist dough, and then shaped. After drying, they are put into the so-called “Räuchermänner” ,which are wood figures created in the Erzgebirge, to look like the figures themselves are smoking. They come in different forms like snowmen, Santa Claus or figures dressed in the typical traditional costume. We will spend the weekend in Crottendorf and go home after.

Veselé Vánoce and see you next year.
Juli