Sakura's first Easter holiday in the Czech Republic

Sakura's first Easter holiday in the Czech Republic
Sakura Onoda
Sakura Onoda
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Hello, I'm Sakura. I am from Japan. It's been 7 months now that I've been in the Czech Republic. I am expecting to learn a lot of new things in Czech. Because Czech is very, very far from Japan.  I thought that there would be some cultural differences between the Czech Republic and Japan. And there are. Do you have any idea if there is an Easter celebration in Japan? So many countries have Easter celebrations. But to be honest, I've never celebrated Easter before and I only knew about egg hunts and bunnies. It was my first Easter celebration. 

Beránek ACC18E11-F5C9-4479-B5B1-8C949152B420

Before Easter, my host mother baked Babovka, which is a typical Czech cake. Basically, it looks like a big Kanure, but it was made to look special for Easter. It was shaped like a sheep. Because it is a symbol of Jesus Christ and Beránek means little sheep in Czech. I really like Babovka, after Easter I ate the head of the Beránek. I felt a bit guilty about eating the head, but it was delicious.  

Pomlázka 

It is Easter stick. Czech boys make them themselves for Monday. My host father taught me how to make them and I made them on Sunday. It is an integral part of Czech Easter. It is contained the energy of youth, health and spring. 

Vajička 08B26B96-8BB4-426E-8120-7F0171480355

Vajička means eggs in Czech. I colored eggs with my host sister and her friend. First, we prepared hot water, vinegar and colors in bottles, we put eggs in the bottles and 5 minutes later we took eggs out of the bottles. The eggs were really good colors, purple, red, blue, green and yellow. It was like an experiment, and I became a scientist. After coloring the eggs, I decorated the eggs with stickers and sequins. We made them very gorgeous and cute. 

Easter Monday 

There is one interesting Czech tradition. The boys go from house to house in the neighborhood with their Pomláska.  The girls wait at home and entertain them. They whipped the girls with their Pomláska while singing. Pomláyka has power in it and the boys give it to the girls by whipping them. The boys have to go until midday. If they go to the houses in the afternoon, the girls throw water at them. 

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In the morning we prepared some food some chocolate and eggs in the garden. I was at home waiting for the boys to come and when they came, I was whipped. The first person who came to my house came up with an original poem every year. Some of the boys were in costume and dancing with songs. I gave them chocolate and colored eggs. The great thing was that everyone came before noon, and I didn’t water anyone. It was a really good and fun experience for me. I really enjoyed Czech easter and I will do it in Japan.

Hikaru's Krakow trip

Host family

Students coming to Czech Republic