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Happy third birthday to my blog!

Snowdrop flowering in Stromovka Park © Ricky Yates

Today my blog is exactly three years old. My first ever blogpost was published here on 4^th February 2009. So today is both a time for a little celebration as well as an occasion for some reflection on what I’ve written in the past as well as what might appear here in the coming year.

For any of my readers who are statistically minded, this is post number 163. In my first year, I published 73 posts, in my second year it was 48. In the past twelve months, I’ve published a further 41 as I will deem this post to be the first of my fourth blogging year.

The reason for the disparity in numbers stems mainly from my prolific period of writing and posting in November and December 2009 when I wrote in detail about our long distance trip to Turkey. That apart, it has normally been just under one blogpost a week. In the coming year my goal is to publish at least 52 posts – an average of one a week.

The aim will still be that as outlined in ‘About me – including a photo’. That is, to reflect on ministering here in Prague, to English-speakers from a variety of backgrounds and countries, and living as an expat myself in this fascinating city, as well as the wider Czech Republic. However, I do probably need to update the photograph that currently appears on that page. My hair is now far greyer, there is slightly less of it, and the shirt has long since disintegrated!

I shall try to continue to keep a balance between writing about everyday experiences seen from an expat perspective, recording my travels around, and occasionally beyond, the Czech Republic, together with addressing theological and ecclesiological issues. I’m aware that sometimes there is an imbalance between these things which I hope, corrects itself over a longer period of time.

According to Google analytics, this blog receives on average, between 60 and 70 visitors a day. Yet I get increasingly frustrated that so few of those visitors ever bother to leave me a coherent and relevant comment. My thanks to the two most faithful ones who do – Perpetua and Karen.

This issue was so clearly illustrated to me when I was standing at the Church door and shaking hands with members of the congregation after our Midnight Eucharist last Christmas Eve. A former member of the regular congregation, who still has a flat in Prague but is now based in London, shook my hand and warmly thanked me for the service. But he then said, “Whatever you do Ricky, don’t stop writing your blog”. I was most grateful for his words of encouragement. But that was the first I ever knew that he read and enjoyed this blog as he has never left a single comment!

Therefore as my blog enters its fourth year, if you visit here and regularly to read my musings, please tell me! Leave a comment – tell me if you agree or disagree with what I’ve written. Tell me if you would like me to focus more on a particular area or concern. Likewise, comments on Facebook, when I post a link, are also welcome. But I really would like to also have them here too.

My glass of wine is alongside my computer. I’m raising it and saying, “Here’s to year four of Ricky Yates – An Anglican in Prague!”

My Diamond Jubilee

Senior — Receipt for the renewal for one month of my Prague public transport Open Card.

In 2012, Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee – it is sixty years since she ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom. Whilst the major celebratory events to mark Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee are planned to take place on the first weekend of June 2012, in hope they will benefit from warm, sunny British summer weather 🙂 , she actually ascended to the throne on 6^th February 1952 following the death of her father, King George VI.

Twenty days later, in the upstairs bedroom of a suburban semi-detached house on the outskirts of the city of Coventry, another significant event took place – I was born. Therefore, just like Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, in 2012 I too, celebrate my Diamond Jubilee!

I often wonder whether the day of my arrival in this world was indicative of my future character. I was born on a Tuesday which was the local district midwife’s day-off! Was I being difficult or awkward, right from the beginning? I’ll leave others to judge on that one. At least I did avoid being born three days later. If I had arrived then, I would only be celebrating my fifteenth birthday this year!

My sixtieth birthday is the first of three landmark family events this coming year. At the end of March, my eldest sister June and my brother-in-law Garry, celebrate their Golden Wedding Anniversary. Then on the last Saturday of July, my son Phillip will marry my future daughter-in-law Charlotte, a ceremony that they have asked me to conduct. I promise that both of these events will feature on this blog in due course.

However, being aware that once my ‘Diamond Jubilee’ had taken place, I would be entitled to cheaper travel on Prague public transport, yesterday I renewed my ‘Open Card’ for just one month rather than for a whole year. But the system was already aware of this forthcoming significant event – the last four days have been given to me at considerably reduced rates. Why? Because I have been categorised as ‘Senior’! Whilst I will continue to complain about Czech bureaucracy, at least it has recognised my Diamond Jubilee.

Ecumenical Service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Joel, Dominik & Dušan — From l. to r; Mgr Joel Ruml, Archbishop Dominik Duka, Bishop Dušan Hejbal leading the Ecumenical Service © Aleš Cejka and used with his permission

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity takes place each year in the northern hemisphere, between 18^th -25^th January. On the evening of Monday 23^rd January, Sybille and I, along with three other members of the St. Clement’s Anglican congregation, attended the main service held in Prague to mark this important week.

This Ecumenical Service was held in Kostel sv. Vojtecha, a large modern Church attached the Roman Catholic Theological Faculty of Charles University. It was led by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Prague, Dominik Duka and the preacher was Mgr. Joel Ruml, the Moderator of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, (by far the largest Protestant Church in the Czech Republic), who is also the Chair of the Czech Ecumenical Council. They were assisted by my Czech boss, Bishop Dušan Hejbal of the Old Catholic Church, who is also Vice-Chair of the Czech Ecumenical Council.

Members of various other smaller Czech Churches also took part by reading from scripture and in leading intercessions. It was noticeable that amongst all of these there was only one woman! Obviously the service was all in Czech so I didn’t understand too much though I did get the response to Psalm 122. ‘Do domu Hospodinova pujdeme s radostí’ – ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord with joy’.

I was disappointed that at the end of the service, the host Roman Catholic Church had made no provision of light refreshments to encourage those who attended to stay around for post-service fellowship. Also, there was no opportunity to meet with the various Church leaders who had taken part – they all just processed out during the last verse of the last hymn and disappeared! Thus there was sadly, little opportunity to build good ecumenical relationships.

The other matter that saddened me was the actual way the service was officially organised. The invitation to attend came jointly from the Czech Ecumenical Council and the (Roman Catholic) Czech Bishops’ Conference. The reason for this is that the Roman Catholic Church is only affiliated to the Czech Ecumenical Council, rather than being a full member Church. The evidence of this can be seen on the order of service below. On the left is the logo of the Ecumenical Council, whilst on the right is the logo of the RC Czech Bishops’ Conference.

This situation reflects the official attitude of the Roman Catholic Church in any country where it can be described as the ‘majority Church’, which is the reality in the Czech Republic, even allowing for the general low level of Church attendance and Christian belief that there is here. When the Roman Catholic Church is a minority Church, as it is in England, Wales & Scotland, then it chooses to become a full member of the national ecumenical body.

This is not a criticism of individual Roman Catholics, many of whom are very ecumenically minded. Nor is it a criticism of Archbishop Duka himself as I have a great admiration for him as he spent time in prison during the Communist era, because of his underground Church activities. I’ve twice previously had the privilege of meeting him and found him warm and very supportive towards the English-speaking Anglican Church in Prague.

Rather, it is a criticism of the official view that emanates from Rome, which is that it alone is the Catholic (i.e. universal) Church and that the only way to bring about Christian unity is for everybody to rejoin the Roman Catholic Church! Sadly, under the current Pope, that attitude is unlikely to change.

Encouragingly, there are movements within Roman Catholicism that are calling for change such as ‘We are the Church ‘and the Pfarrer Initiative in Austria. I think there are one or two more blog posts coming shortly to address these issues. Watch this space!

Prague – minus the tourists

St-Vitus — The west front of St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague © Ricky Yates

Last Monday evening, Sybille and I took the tram from Podbaba to Vozovna Strešovice and from there, walked through the back lanes to Hradcanské namestí, the large square lying immediately to the west of Prague Castle. As we did so, the only other people we saw were a young couple who were walking the same way as we were and whom we thought were probably Russian. Whilst we can tell when people aren’t speaking Czech, we have yet to be able to clearly distinguish between other Slavic languages!

In front of the west gates of the castle, there was a small group of Spaniards with a native Spanish speaker as their guide. But as we entered the first two quadrangles of the Prague Castle complex, we were surrounded by the amazing array of architecturally beautiful floodlit buildings, including the west front of St. Vitus Cathedral, with hardly a soul in sight. We basically had the whole place to ourselves. We were enjoying Prague – minus the tourists!

This is our fourth winter since moving to Prague in September 2008. Therefore we knew from previous experience that, following the Epiphany weekend in early January, through until late March, Prague has what can best be described as its non-tourist season. It is the period when you can walk around all the amazingly attractive sights of the historic centre of Prague, with very few foreign visitors surrounding you. But even then on Monday evening, we were still astonished as to how few people there were around.

For anyone reading this blog and wondering when is a good time to visit Prague, the answer I would give is between now and the third week in March. And if you want a really good financial deal, be adventurous and come without having pre-booked accommodation. At this time of year, there are regularly signs outside of hotels in the city centre saying, “Rooms available tonight” at remarkably reasonable prices.

Of course, you need to come prepared for the weather. Normally by now, there would be snow on the ground. But as I wrote in my earlier post, ‘Winter weather and walks’, we still have yet to experience really cold weather this current winter.

As someone who has chosen to live in Prague, I realise how very easy it is to complain about how, for much of the year, the city can feel almost overwhelmed by the number of tourist visitors. And yet they make a major contribution to the Czech economy and keep a considerable number of people in employment.

Likewise, they also make quite a contribution to the life of St. Clement’s Church. It very rare for us to have a Sunday service without visiting tourists in the congregation. Nearly all of them express grateful thanks for the opportunity we give them to worship in English, whilst they are visiting Prague. And some of them are quite generous towards us financially which we greatly appreciate. However, you would be amazed at the variety of currencies that appear in the collection!

The most recent example was Christmas Day morning 2011. For our Family Eucharist that day, we had a congregation of about 110 people. Of those, only about 25 were regular members of our worshipping community, as so many of them go back to their home countries over the Christmas season. All the rest were visitors spending Christmas in Prague.

I shall seek to make the most of the next two relatively tourist-free months in Prague. But I am very aware that much of what I enjoy living here only exists because Prague attracts so many visiting tourists.

Winter weather & walks

Where is winter? It is a question I’ve been asking for several weeks. This time last year, there had been snow lying on the ground for about seven weeks. Until yesterday, when we finally had a few heavy snow showers, there had been no snow at all in Prague this winter.

The temperature this evening has just dropped below freezing and the forecast is for temperatures of below 0 degrees Celsius for the next four nights at least. But there is still no sign of any serious snow.

There is a very good reason why I want some serious snow and for temperatures to remain below freezing for many days at a time. To ensure that the mosquitoes are kept at bay!

In the Autumn of 2008 when we first arrived in Prague and throughout the warmer months of 2009, we suffered from an abundance of mosquitoes here in the Chaplaincy Flat and elsewhere. Then two successive severe winters caused their numbers to drop to a handful. I fear that a mild winter might just allow the Prague mosquito population to recover!

In the meantime, a few evenings ago, we did experience this wonderful sunset, the picture being taken from one of the balconies of our flat. The floodlight pylon belongs to the stadium of FK Dukla Praha who, like the rest of the football clubs in the Czech Gambrinus liga, are on their mid-season break which started in early December and doesn’t conclude until late February. In view of the mild weather we have experienced so far this winter, they could still be playing!

As I mentioned in my recent sad post about Sam the dog, one of the many great things he did for Sybille and I was to get us out walking far more than before we adopted him. He became our ‘weight loss programme’ because he exercised us as we exercised him! We are both determined to continue walking just as much as we did when we had Sam so as to maintain our weight loss which between us now exceeds 30 kilos.

Most days, we would walk from the Chaplaincy Flat to the extensive and beautiful Stromovka Park, which lies about twenty-five minutes walk away from where we live. Through doing this, we got to know numerous other Czech and expat dog owners and improved our ‘dog Czech’ no end.

Mobile phone — Talking on my mobile phone © Ricky Yates

However, one behavioural habit which I regularly observed and continue to observe, annoys me intensely – dog owners and parents of young children, who go to the park, but then spend the whole time they are there, talking to someone else on their mobile phones!

The most extreme example I remember was of a woman we met, just by the entrance to Stromovka. She was pushing a buggy with a baby in it; was also holding onto the hand of a toddler and had a dog on a lead. She also was responsible for a slightly older toddler walking in front of her and for a second dog who was off-lead. But at the same time as all of this, she had her head bent to one side to hold her mobile phone next to her shoulder, in order to have a long conversation with one of her friends. I know women are meant to be able to multi-task, but…….

What conscious or sub-conscious message does such behaviour send to either the children or to the dogs? Why do people need to have such phone conversations if they are going to the park in order to spend quality time with their children &/or their dog(s)? Mobile phones are incredibly useful but they can also be a curse.

My photo is of a young woman walking across Václavské námestí/Wenceslas Square, also talking on her mobile, though admittedly, without dog or child in tow. But I hope I make my point – it is perfectly easy to say in response to a call, “I’m in the park with my dog/my children. I’ll call you back when I get home”.

Historical Restaurat — Historical 'Restaurat' in Malá Strana © Ricky Yates

As part of our ongoing walk programme, as well as walking to and around Stromovka Park, Sybille and I have also recently started walking around some of the more central areas of the city, particularly as they are currently relatively free of tourists! However, I’m afraid I cannot resist posting this further wonderful example of Czenglish we spotted one evening recently in Malá Strana. What might be on the menu at a ‘Restaurat’?

Finally for this post, below are two photographs, both of which brought a smile to my face as I hope they will for the many readers of my blog.

This year, New Year’s Day was a Sunday. Our Church Treasurer Gordon is a Scotsman and marked Hogmanay, by coming to Church in his kilt. I did jokingly suggest that he could put the collection in his sporran to take it home to bank the following day! I should add that it is post-Eucharistic coffee rather than a wee dram that he is drinking!

And alongside is an invitation to ‘Explore the meaning of life’ – in Czech!