The little dance the figurines do every hour however is something else entirely …

The most spectacular thing about witnessing this hourly display is by far the crowd. In the evenings as people are out for dinner (or beginning night tours), crowds of literally hundreds of people all look up through their cameras at the clock.

Crowd watching the Orloj

The bells ding, dads grab their children and rush them into prime viewing position, the little figurines do their little figurine dance and the golden chicken pokes its head out of a little doorway.

Then out of the sound of ringing bells comes … (now this is the part I like most) … a spontaneous cheer and round of applause from the crowd. Hoorah! The golden chicken lives another hour! Hoorah!

The golden chicken content with its reception retires into its room, the little doorway closes and the place is deserted once again.

It’s the spectacle of the crowd which keeps drawing me back to this place and not the hourly jiggling of ancient mechanical puppets. If you’re interested, there is an online version of the clock which gives you a sense of all the parts – except of course for those cute figurines and the captivating crowd. For that, you really need to visit Praha in person.

At my hotel in Boskovice, I had a great, but short, conversation with the receptionist. It was partly in Czech and partly in English but I forced myself to use as much Czech as possible. We spoke about music and I learnt that she was studying multi-media at university and had a 5 year old daughter named Ann. On saying goodbye (once my lift arrived) Lucie lamented that the conversation was too short.

Church in Boskovice

So, here began my experiment. This morning I decided to call the hotel on the phone with the pretence that I was thinking of visiting again in a week. I figured since I knew we could have a conversation in person, having one over the phone would remove the visual aspects and truly test my language skills.

This phone conversation was close to a disaster. It was full of “sorrys” and much nervous laughter from both sides. At one point I was speaking broken English, as if that would help. To at least rescue the situation and finish things up nicely I resorted to using Google translator.

One nights sleep and a successful conversation turns into mud.

The inability to use facial expressions and hand gestures really did make things very difficult. Whilst not a true scientific experiment, I realise now first hand that whilst learning more vocabulary might be good, it isn’t the complete picture. You can fill many gaps in your limited language knowledge by being confident, animated and by using hand gestures.

Luckily for me I’m Italian so this comes naturally!

I’ve moved on from Nové Město (New Town) to Staré Město (Old Town). It’s much nicer than the Wenceslas Square area if only because of the small back alley roadways which tends to hide the huge volume of tourists around. Having to wait until 2pm to check into my hotel forced me to get out and walk about town.

Karlův Most in the background

I did the obligatory walk down Karlův Most (Charles Bridge). I like to think of it as “my bridge” given that my name in Czech would most likely be Karel. Given that it’s my bridge, I wish they wouldn’t do all that restoration work on it whilst I was in town, but the grand effect still impressed me. It is lined with amazingly detailed gothic statues and every one of Prague’s caricature artists. I made my way along some little streets in Malé Strane (Lesser Town) and walked over a different bridge.

Rudolfinum

I Czeched out (get it!) the Rudolfinum which is now home to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Dvořak conducted the first Czech Philharmonic performance there in 1896. It was once the administrative office of the Nazi party during WWII. On the roof stand statues of various famous composers. Apparently there is a Czech novella about this period. As the story goes, the labourers tasked with removing the Mendelssohn statue didn’t know which one he was. So in their wisdom they proceeded to topple the statue with the biggest nose. This just happened to be the statue of the great German composer, Richard Wagner!

During the Nazi occupation in 1940s, Rudolfinum was restored for the German Philharmonic Orchestra. Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, ordered that a statue of composer Mendelssohn-Bartholdy has to be removed from Rudolfinum, because of his non-Aryan origin. The workers accidentally began to remove a statue of Richard Wagner, Hitler´s favourite composer. Fortunately, the mistake was recognized soon enough.
http://www.prague.cz/rudolfinum/

Kavárna Slavia - Art Deco restaurant

I spent some time in a little bar across the road at the Museum of Decorative Arts. After a little while I walked back towards my hotel and found a gorgeous Art Deco restaurant. This was my chosen place for lunch. The service was wonderful with no extra unrequested but still charged for bread and the food was great.

The language is also getting better. Still not lengthy conversation but the niceties in the restaurants and hotel reception are all pretty good. Tonight I’m going to try and find a few jazz clubs I’ve been told about so perhaps some opportunities to converse with locals will occur.

A change of style in Prague over the last decade or so. Today I did a tour of the Prague Castle which is quite an amazing place. The restoration works the are doing are truly extraordinary and very sympathetic to the original build. During communist reign the old historic buildings were all left to crumble in the elements. The “fashion” was for large bland apartment buildings and communal living. Since the end of communism the old buildings have picked up favour again and they are insanely expensive. Like, really, really, truly, insanely expensive.

View from Prague Castle

Czechs seem proud of their history and achievements but not completely proud of their people. The first Czech guy I met who was on my flight from Dubai said … “The Czech architecture and buildings and things are really great. The Czech people … not so much.” Basically they will take any opportunity to rip off a tourist. Thankfully, I haven’t experienced this at all yet which is great. The buildings I’ve seen and people I have met (albeit briefly) have all been great.

There is a stark difference between male and female police officers. My second live contact with a Czech person was a female police officer working at customs. She seemed to enjoy looking at my passport and the places I’ve visited. If I was going to  be arrested at that moment, then I certainly wouldn’t have complained. Most female Czech police officers I’ve seen so far are hot. The male customs officer however spend a huge amount of time looking at all the blank pages of my passport until he found one he liked and then stamped it.

There’s a homeless problem in Prague. Perhaps I don’t notice it back at home but not 10 minutes will go by until I see a homeless person ruffling through a garbage can. I don’t know if this was a problem during the communist time or if it has only become an issue since commercialism has taken over.

View of Národní Muzeum (National Muzeum) from Václavské náměstí (Wenceslas Square)

Commercialism is rife! I have never seen a more beautiful and historic McDonalds store anywhere. From the people I’ve spoken to it seems that they have become so opposed to their communist past that they have become incredibly right wing in their philosophy. Their newly elected government is chipping away at free university education and free healthcare. Whilst some of these reforms will no doubt lead to more sustainable growth for the country, I wonder what it will do to the culture of their people.

On the language front …

Czech people in Prague prefer speaking English. At first, ordering simple things off a menu in Czech, buying a tram ticket and saying prosím (please) or dekují (thank-you) went totally unnoticed. I’ve kept trying though and once I built up a little confidence (and got the little voice in my head to say “stuff them if they don’t want to speak Czech, I’m going to anyway”) things seemed to change. By far, most people still speak to you in English here but if I pretend to speak confidently in Czech then they do respond quite positively which is nice. Am looking forward to a few actual mini-conversations though so that’s my challenge for tomorrow.

So what does English sound like to non-English speakers? It’s something I’ve wondered about in the past. Now there’s a fun and entertaining way to experience what it’s like to hear English and not understand a single word.

In 1972, an Italian guy, Adriano Celentano, composed and performed “Prisencolinensinainciusol.” This song uses typical English phonemes which makes it sound like English but is in-fact complete gibberish. The dancing is also pretty awesome.

Some words of warning, don’t listen to it too much or you may become addicted to it, like me!

Prisencolinensinainciusol

In de col men seivuan
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

Uis de seim cius nau op de seim
Ol uait men in de colobos dai
Trrr – ciak is e maind beghin de col
Bebi stei ye push yo oh

Uis de seim cius nau op de seim
Ol uoit men in de colobos dai
Not s de seim laikiu de promisdin
Iu nau in trabol lovgiai ciu gen

In do camo not cius no bai for lov so
Op op giast cam lau ue cam lov ai
Oping tu stei laik cius go mo men
Iu bicos tue men cold dobrei goris
Oh sandei

Ai ai smai sesler
Eni els so co uil piso ai
In de col men seivuan
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

Ai ai smai senflecs
Eni go for doing peso ai
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

Uel ai sint no ai giv de sint
Laik de cius nobodi oh gud taim lev feis go
Uis de seim et seim cius go no ben
Let de cius end kai for not de gai giast stei

Ai ai smai senflecs
Eni go for doing peso ai
In de col mein seivuan
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

Lu nei si not sicidor
Ah es la bebi la dai big iour

Ai aismai senflecs
Eni go for doing peso ai
In de col mein seivuan
Prisencolinensinainciusol ol rait

Lu nei si not sicodor
Ah es la bebi la dai big iour

Being of the “Google generation” my natural inclination is that I can always look things up when I need them. I am expecting myself to do a little refresh study before encountering each situation so that should also help with the confidence once I’m in the country. For example, before heading out to eat, I will review my restaurant phrases. Before heading out for a random walk, I will review my directions and asking for help phrases.

As a means of measurement however, looking through the “10 most important things” list, I feel that I have learnt enough of those to get around and ask for help. There are a few areas which I have not yet had any study on and others where I still have some more work to do.

Things that aren’t on the “10 most important things …” are the Conversational Connectors, adverbs, restaurant/food words and conversational phrases. I have learnt a smattering of these but really need to get stuck into getting more before I leave.

Asking questions

Many language textbooks I’ve seen recently, including the travellers “common phrases” focus on short, one response question/answer. This is great if you only intend to ask for directions, order a beer and go to the bathroom. Having these types of quick conversations allows you to say “phew, I’m glad that’s over with.”

• How are you? Good thanks, you? Good thanks.
• How much is that? 100CZK. I’ll take one, thanks.
• Where is Wenceslas Square? It’s down that road. Thanks.

Having “conversations” like this might make you feel good about having used the language but they add little to your experience of the people you meet and your experience in actually truly using a new language. These types of questions are limited and do not open up a conversation. They are purely fact finding.

I’m obviously interested in seeing the sights, but I also want to learn about real people. Their life, opinions and feelings. It’s not quite appropriate for me to ask “So, what do you think of being Czech?” Instead I need to have enough language learnt so that I can build a rapport with people and engage in a real conversation.

So, my next language goal is to learn how to ask interesting questions.

Step 1: Extending your answer

Asking an interesting questions, begins with an interesting answer. Because most simple questions will begin with “who, what, why, when, etc.” you can almost plan and practice your responses.

Moses McCormick is a well known YouTube polyglot. He has developed a technique called FLR (Foreign Language Road Running) which you can learn about through a series of YouTube videos. The first step focuses on answering questions. In particular responding to interrogatives (who, what, why, when, etc.).

interrogative: (noun, grammar) A word (pronoun, pronominal adjective, or adverb) implying interrogation, or used for asking a question: why, who, when, etc. (source: wiktionary)

Extend your answer

• Stranger: What do you do?
• Me: I’m an IT Manager.

You could say:

• Stranger: What do you do?
• Me: I am an IT Manager for a business school. It’s like a small university and more dynamic. It’s interesting work for me.

This is great for the common what, when, why type questions. I’m (very) slowly building up a list of these for my own practice. You can then begin to take this even further using another technique called “Conversational Intimacy Connectors.”

Anthony Lauder describes these as:

… small glue phrases between burst of factual information, that show you are “sharing” your thoughts with the other person.
Anthony Lauder – Conversational Intimacy

These are used to help both give you space to think and like Moses’ tip above, extend your answer into something more interesting. They also help to keep the flow of a conversation moving along. Here is a somewhat un-natural example with the connectors in italics.

• Stranger: What do you do?
• Me: (That is a good question.) (Firstly), I am an IT Manager for a business school. (More specifically), I manage the team that designs software for the business. (Secondly), my hobby is woodworking and I spend a lot of time on that.

Or even more simply:

• (Sorry for the inconvenience, but), (can I have) another drink?

Doing this gives the conversation a sense of flow and draws it out a bit. It also indicates that you’re keen to talk about more than just yes/no facts. You can easily take this to a point where you begin to sound quite naff, but it is a good way to get into a rhythm of saying more than yes or no.

Step 2: Throwing back a question

Both of these techniques have helped increase my confidence in Czech (although I am very far from mastering them). My intention in learning this language however isn’t only to be capable of speaking it. I want to be able to have a conversation, and a conversation goes both ways.

The simplest way I know to achieve this is to throw back a question at the end of your answer. “So, what about you?” is the easiest, but there are many other options to help extend a conversation. Anthony has some of these in his connectors which he terms “Passing connectors.” Given I want to focus more on this area, I like to think of these as “Conversational Questions.”

Examples of Conversational Questions …

I’ve seen numerous tweets and Facebook conversations on this topic today. Therefore I thought I might clear the air for you all. Now, this is a layman’s perspective, from a guy raised in the northern suburbs of Melbourne who has no legal background or study whatsoever. I do however have a love for my country and an interest in the political systems which govern it so well.

Who do we actually vote for?

House of Representatives

Notably distinct from the American system, the general populous of Australia do not vote for who leads their political parties.

Australians elect members directly to parliament. Those people then form a “government.” They are infact all equal in the Australian parliament. It is only the notion of political parties which separates them.

It is that “government” who elects a Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is technically selected and sworn in by the governor-general. All ministers “shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor‑General” – s. 64 of the Constitution of Australia.

The constitution does not mention political parties, nor does it mention the office of the Prime Minister. These notions come through the Westminster tradition and are used to help ensure our parliament doesn’t descend into chaos. Tradition dictates that the party with the most seats in the House of Representatives (Lower House) becomes the ruling party with the leader of their party becoming the Prime Minister.

So, whilst you may think you are voting for the Prime Minister, you are in-fact not voting for the “leader of the house.” Unless you are one of the lucky few, you won’t see the potential Prime Minister listed on your ballot sheet. You vote for the person who will represent your area in Parliament.

Who can become the Prime Minister?

To become the “Prime” Minister of Australia, the person must …

• be elected as a member of the House of Representatives or the Senate, or become members within three months of the appointment, and
• they must first be sworn in as a member of the Federal Executive Council if they are not already a member.
  Wikipedia – Prime Minister of Australia: Appointment

Australia has even had Prime Ministers born in other countries. Two from Scotland (Reid and Fisher), two from England (Cook and Hughes) and even one from Chile (Watson). We now we have one from Wales (Gillard).

Does the PM need to be from the ruling party?

Absolutely not. They don’t even have the be the leader of the ruling political party. For a moment today the Labor Party leader was Julia Gillard and the Prime Minister of Australia was Kevin Rudd. I understand that this situation is technically able to continue. It is tradition which dictated that Rudd should hand in his commission to the governor-general and for the governor-general to swear in the new Prime Minister Gillard.

Infact, there have been numerous occassions in Australia’s past where the office of Prime Minister was held by someone who wasn’t a member of the major party.

Following a resignation in other circumstances, or the death of a prime minister, the governor-general will generally appoint as prime minister the person voted by the governing party as their new leader. There have been four notable exceptions to this:

• When then prime minister Joseph Lyons, leader of the United Australia Party (UAP), died suddenly in April 1939, the governor-general, Lord Gowrie, called on Sir Earle Page to become caretaker prime minister. Page was the leader of the smaller party in the governing coalition, the Country Party. He held the office for three weeks until the UAP elected a new leader, Robert Menzies.
• In August 1941, Menzies resigned as prime minister. The UAP was so bereft of leadership at this time that the Country Party leader Arthur Fadden was invited to become prime minister, although the Country Party was the smaller of the two coalition parties. The government depended on support from two independents, who two months later voted against Fadden’s budget and brought the government down, paving the way for John Curtin to be appointed as Labor prime minister.
• In July 1945, John Curtin died suddenly. His deputy, Frank Forde, was sworn in the next day as prime minister, although the Labor Party had not had an opportunity to meet and elect a new leader. Forde served for eight days until Ben Chifley was elected leader. Chifley was then sworn in, replacing Forde who became Australia’s shortest-serving prime minister.
• In 1967 then prime minister Harold Holt disappeared while swimming on 17 December and was declared presumed dead on 19 December. The governor-general, Lord Casey, commissioned the Leader of the Country Party, John McEwen, to form a government until the Liberal Party elected a new leader. McEwen was prime minister for 23 days, until the election of (then Senator) John Gorton.

There were only five other cases where someone other than the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives was prime minister:

• Federation occurred on 1 January 1901, but elections for the first parliament were not scheduled until late March. In the interim, a caretaker non-elected government was necessary. In what is now known as the Hopetoun Blunder, the governor-general, Lord Hopetoun, invited SirWilliam Lyne, the premier of the most populous state, New South Wales, to form a government. Lyne was unable to do so and returned his commission in favour of Edmund Barton who became the first prime minister and led the inaugural government into and beyond the election.
• During the second parliament, three parties (Free Trade, Protectionist and Labour) had roughly equal representation in the House of Representatives. The leaders of the three parties, Alfred Deakin, George Reid and Chris Watson each served as prime minister before losing a vote of confidence.
• During the 1975 constitutional crisis, on 11 November 1975, the governor-general, Sir John Kerr, dismissed the Labor Party’s Gough Whitlam as prime minister. Despite Labor holding a substantial majority in the House of Representatives, Kerr appointed the Leader of the Opposition, Liberal leader Malcolm Fraser as caretaker prime minister, conditional on the passage of the Whitlam government’s Supply bills through the Australian Senate and the calling of an election for both houses of parliament. Fraser accepted these terms and immediately advised a double dissolution. An election was called for 13 December, which the Liberal Party won in its own right (although the Liberals governed in a coalition with the Country Party).

So next time you have the privilege of voting in this wonderful country Australia, spare a thought for who you are actually voting for.

The table is designed by the architect and builder of the home, Steve Hanson. Steve’s houses are quite remarkable but not in a “look at me” kind of way. He has somewhat of a Lloyd Wright philosophy where the house relates to the landscape and to how the people live amongst it.

This table design is no exception. As Steve puts it … “[The table top] reflects the geometry of the house … with the bottom rail being a metaphor for the roof.”

I’m very much looking forward to seeing this piece in situ. It will surely be a pleasure to build something designed specifically for the environment where it will live.

So, onto the table …

The entire table will be made from recycled wood. The top is Ash with a Spotted Gum feature. The base is all Spotted Gum.

Steve’s design is very elegant and simple in appearance, but has quite a few technical challenges I am looking forward to tackling. The angle of the bottom horizontal rail in particular is going to be critical. This rail is pivotal in ensuring the table sits at the right height and all the other pieces fit together nicely.

I’ll get started on the project this weekend by preparing and sizing the timber for the table top. Once I’ve done that I’ll hit the library and study up on my trigonometry!

This box is made using three different timbers. Now whilst they aren’t all native to Australia, the trees this wood came from did grow in Australia. Much like our multicultural population I guess!

• Tasmanian Huon Pine with a birds-eye figure for the lid
• Melbourne English Elm of the MCG variety for the inlay and the sides
• Queensland Maple for the trim around the sides

This was the first inlay work I have done and I set myself a bit of a challenge. I wanted an image of something Australian on the lid. I ended up choosing the leaf of the gum/eucalyptus tree. Sending koalas drunk all over the country is exactly the message I was going for here.

Gum leaf inlay

Unfortunately I didn’t capture any footage of me making the leaf itself as I was concentrating far too much to remember to hit record! I did however record most other parts and have turned it into a little 6 part series. The final video is below and includes some shots of the entire process.