The two biggest holidays my family celebrates are Christmas and Easter. During Christmas, my family celebrates Jesus’ birth in much of the same way as the traditional Czechs do. We celebrate Christmas Eve (Štědrý den) at my grandpa and grandma’s on December 24 of each year. Its Czech name literally means "Generous Day", probably for the wealth of food that has traditionally been served for Christmas dinner. Due to the fact that we are catholic, we first go to church around 4 pm, and after church, we then go to my grandpa and grandma’s house where we celebrate with a big dinner. The traditional Christmas Eve meal is usually served around 6 pm and includes one of the most popular pastries originated from the Czechs. A fruit bread, called koláce, is served consisting of three different fillings which are poppy seed, apricot, and peach. Even though this popular tradition usually is served on Christmas Eve, my family also serves this pastry at many of our other holidays we celebrate together. Other foods we eat during our Christmas dinner are salad, prime rib, baked potatoes, and garlic bread. After dinner, everyone around the table may sing Christmas carols before moving to the Christmas tree, which is all lit up and beautiful. By then, presents have been placed under the tree and Santa Claus arrives for all the little kids. Everyone opens their presents and visits or plays games before we have our midnight lunch. Our midnight lunch consists of many different foods such as tiger meat, pig’s feet, pickled herring, and another of Czech’s popular dishes called Kutia. Kutia is a wheat grain usually served only on Christmas Eve.
Easter is another big holiday celebrated by the Czechs. Czechs are known to eat a wide variety of meats, such as pork, beef, turkey, chicken, duck, hare (similar to rabbit), and venison (deer meat). Easter at my grandpa and grandma’s house, my grandma makes two of those meats which are turkey and duck. We also have many other dishes which consist of mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and many different salads. One of the most favorite soups my grandma makes at Easter is chicken noodle soup with roloche. Roloche is a special bread which we dip in our soup. At Easter we may also have a scavenger hunt for the little kids. My grandpa and grandma usually put quarters in plastic Easter eggs and they will fill one egg with 10 dollars. Of course everyone is on the hunt to find that one 10 dollar bill. The parents are usually playing cards in the afternoon. The women usually like to play the card game tick while the men usually like to play pinochle. We celebrate thanksgiving much like Easter.
One of the biggest events we use to celebrate our heritage is known as the Czech heritage days. We have one night that was usually held at the KC club, now at Eagles club, where the Czechoslovaks would meet and celebrate by having a Czech meal and watch Czech dancing. When I was about 9 years old I participated in the dancing. We had to wear our own “kroj”, which we would call a folk costume or dress. Women’s kroje are made of more expensive materials such as fine brocades and silk, in softer colors, to emulate the wealthy and nobility. Skirts are made of a fine wool, linen or brocade, and are worn below the knee. Designs are generally woven in, not embroidered. However, embroidered ribbons are sometimes added. The women also wear a vest over their blouse. Men’s kroje generally wear knee length knickers made of a soft yellow or light brown suede or wool, knee-high socks, mostly white in color, and tall black boots or sturdy black shoes. Their white embroidered shirts have large sleeves, ending at the wrist. The shirt is always tucked into the knickers/pants. Their vests worn over the shirt are of embroidered suede, felt or a complementary color in a fabric of rich brocade. The music in which we dance to is old time music. People will enjoy the night of dancing and singing along with eating many of the Czech foods.
My heritage is really important to me because it determines who I am and where I came from. Everything we celebrate and most of the foods we eat are all taught by past generations. I want to carry on the past generations to my kids some day to experience many of the customs I have experienced, and so they know where they came from. As tradition has shaped our past and continues to follow us in the future, it is our link to who we are and who we will become.
