Big Pig 2006! Oink Oink!
This weekend I went to an event put on by Aiesec Brno called Big Pig. It involves a bunch of trainees, aiesecers, etc. in a small town in the middle of nowhere killing a pig and then cooking it and eating it. Yes, it was a big pig. We didn’t actually kill it, a professional did, and I didn’t actually watch the killing because….well…that’s gross!
So what did we do?
We got to the train station in Krizanov on Friday evening and were greeted by Eva-- who then informed us that we had to walk about an hour to get to the actual location of the conference (apparently the public transportation was not so good in the village). Anyway, it was completely dark and kind of cold, but still not that bad because we got some fresh air, and seriously I saw way more stars in that sky then I have in a long time. After about 45 minutes of walking one of the aiesecers in a large van picked us up, and we didn’t have to walk the last bit.
That evening there was not much of a program as the pig was only being killed the next morning so we amused ourselves by playing ‘Flip the Cup’ (thanks Will for introducing us to this wonderful game). Much beer was consumed and fun ensued.
When we woke up the only available food was bread, fried pig fat (or something along those lines), and sausages. So some of us decided to walk to the village to buy some beverages/snacks and some lunch as well. We walked to the village, and since this is the Czech Republic- pretty much nothing was open. We went into a casino/bar/restaurant type thing and attempted to ask where the store was and whether it was open.
First, Elina (Finnish girl who has lived in Czech Republic for over a year) goes inside to utilize her Czech skills and to ask:
-If they speak English
-Whether or not there is a store nearby that is open
Result: She comes outside and says that they don’t speak English, and there is a store nearby probably within 1km, but they don’t know if it is open (well, she thinks that’s what they said). Also, there is a guy inside who speaks German.
A-ha!! We had a trainee with us, Tillman, who is from Germany! We figured he might be able to communicate and clear things up. He goes inside to ask.
Result: The guy inside doesn’t really speak that much German and Tillman gets pretty much the same information.
We were prepared to go off in search of the convenience store when I saw through the window that they were selling Coca-Cola. I hadn’t eaten/drank anything all day and I am addicted to Coca-Cola. So I told the guys to wait for a second and I went inside. There were 2 people at the bar and a table of men with mullets enjoying an afternoon beer. I asked for the Coke, however it was in a glass bottle. Through hand motions I attempted to ask if it was ok if I took it outside (to drink during our search) and brought the bottle back. I cannot say that in Czech. I asked them if they spoke English. Stupid question, they obviously did not speak English and looked at me like the retarded foreigner that I am. I gave up and went outside.
Apparently I missed something very funny because while I was inside attempting to buy a Coke, the rest of the guys were standing outside and 2 little Czech girls were walking by minding their own business, not even showing recognition of the fact that randomly--in their town outside the casino/bar/restaurant-- there was a group consisting of a Danish guy, Italian guy, American guy, German guy, and a Finnish girl. However, the tranquility of their innocent stroll was soon shattered by Elina, the lovely Finn who startled them by asking them really loudly “DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH??”. To which she got the classic Czech answer, “Nerozumim. (I don’t understand).” And then the little girls got the hell out of there. Will did impressions of Elina for the rest of the night. “DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH??”
Anyway, after my departure, one very friendly mullet-man followed me and then showed us to a store. It was just a few blocks away, and it was closed. Luckily, the owner lived in a building attached to the store and he opened it just for us! How special!
Later on that evening we watched the hockey game (Finland won over Czech Republic…many an unhappy Czech that night and 1 happy Finn), listened to traditional Czech music, learned to polka, ate some PIG and participated in Topalky. For those of you who don’t know what Topalky is-- it's basically just boat races with beer. I am amazed at how fast some people can drink beer. One friend was on 2 teams, and they ended up playing each other. So, she had to start on the first team, run to the other side and finish for the other team. And there were like 2 rematches between them since they tied the first two times. She had a lot of beer that night. Luckily, one of her teams won! So it was worth it!
Maybe I didn’t get the full BIG PIG experience since I didn’t even eat that much pork and I didn’t watch the pig die…but I’m ok with that!
So what did we do?
We got to the train station in Krizanov on Friday evening and were greeted by Eva-- who then informed us that we had to walk about an hour to get to the actual location of the conference (apparently the public transportation was not so good in the village). Anyway, it was completely dark and kind of cold, but still not that bad because we got some fresh air, and seriously I saw way more stars in that sky then I have in a long time. After about 45 minutes of walking one of the aiesecers in a large van picked us up, and we didn’t have to walk the last bit.
That evening there was not much of a program as the pig was only being killed the next morning so we amused ourselves by playing ‘Flip the Cup’ (thanks Will for introducing us to this wonderful game). Much beer was consumed and fun ensued.
When we woke up the only available food was bread, fried pig fat (or something along those lines), and sausages. So some of us decided to walk to the village to buy some beverages/snacks and some lunch as well. We walked to the village, and since this is the Czech Republic- pretty much nothing was open. We went into a casino/bar/restaurant type thing and attempted to ask where the store was and whether it was open.
First, Elina (Finnish girl who has lived in Czech Republic for over a year) goes inside to utilize her Czech skills and to ask:
-If they speak English
-Whether or not there is a store nearby that is open
Result: She comes outside and says that they don’t speak English, and there is a store nearby probably within 1km, but they don’t know if it is open (well, she thinks that’s what they said). Also, there is a guy inside who speaks German.
A-ha!! We had a trainee with us, Tillman, who is from Germany! We figured he might be able to communicate and clear things up. He goes inside to ask.
Result: The guy inside doesn’t really speak that much German and Tillman gets pretty much the same information.
We were prepared to go off in search of the convenience store when I saw through the window that they were selling Coca-Cola. I hadn’t eaten/drank anything all day and I am addicted to Coca-Cola. So I told the guys to wait for a second and I went inside. There were 2 people at the bar and a table of men with mullets enjoying an afternoon beer. I asked for the Coke, however it was in a glass bottle. Through hand motions I attempted to ask if it was ok if I took it outside (to drink during our search) and brought the bottle back. I cannot say that in Czech. I asked them if they spoke English. Stupid question, they obviously did not speak English and looked at me like the retarded foreigner that I am. I gave up and went outside.
Apparently I missed something very funny because while I was inside attempting to buy a Coke, the rest of the guys were standing outside and 2 little Czech girls were walking by minding their own business, not even showing recognition of the fact that randomly--in their town outside the casino/bar/restaurant-- there was a group consisting of a Danish guy, Italian guy, American guy, German guy, and a Finnish girl. However, the tranquility of their innocent stroll was soon shattered by Elina, the lovely Finn who startled them by asking them really loudly “DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH??”. To which she got the classic Czech answer, “Nerozumim. (I don’t understand).” And then the little girls got the hell out of there. Will did impressions of Elina for the rest of the night. “DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH??”
Anyway, after my departure, one very friendly mullet-man followed me and then showed us to a store. It was just a few blocks away, and it was closed. Luckily, the owner lived in a building attached to the store and he opened it just for us! How special!
Later on that evening we watched the hockey game (Finland won over Czech Republic…many an unhappy Czech that night and 1 happy Finn), listened to traditional Czech music, learned to polka, ate some PIG and participated in Topalky. For those of you who don’t know what Topalky is-- it's basically just boat races with beer. I am amazed at how fast some people can drink beer. One friend was on 2 teams, and they ended up playing each other. So, she had to start on the first team, run to the other side and finish for the other team. And there were like 2 rematches between them since they tied the first two times. She had a lot of beer that night. Luckily, one of her teams won! So it was worth it!
Maybe I didn’t get the full BIG PIG experience since I didn’t even eat that much pork and I didn’t watch the pig die…but I’m ok with that!
posted by Aruna at 2:23 PM
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