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Project 2 – AUTUMN in Velke Mezirici and its surroundings

In the Czech Republic the climate is continental and the weather changeable. In summer the temperatures are as high as over 30 degrees Celsius, but it freezes and snows in winter. Autumn is a time of the year when the landscape gets coloured and trees cast their leaves. Leaves fall from leafy trees like birches, oaks, beeches and poplars. There is only one conifer that sheds leaves - larch. The first slight frosts come in early November and the weather is windy.

In Velke Mezirici autumn became linked with “Drakiada”. It is a competition for children who fly their kites on October Sunday. If the wind blows, the kite flies high in the air like a “dragon”. It is a frame of wooden sticks, covered with paper and with a long string tied to the middle. The winner is a child with the most beautiful kite. The competition is often visited by entertainers and popular people, who support the competitors and help the onlookers stay cheerful.

Autumn is also a time of harvesting. Many kinds of fruit ripen and we gather apples, plums and pears and pick potatoes and turnip. People in the country rake up the fallen leaves and take them away from their gardens.

Fishing out ponds is another autumn activity. In Czech ponds, pikes, carps, pikeperches and tenches are farmed. Of these kinds, carp is the most popular fish, exported to other countries.

In this country it is served fried with potato salad as a traditional Christmas dinner. Trout farming needs clean water and areas without air and water pollution. In the Czech Republic there is no sea and fish is not on the menu so often. We import cods, herrings, mackerels, but we mainly eat pork.

In autumn huntsmen shoot pheasants. It looks like this: The pheasants are released from the avairy in the wood. The huntsmen form a circle round the wood. Their helpers without shotguns lift up the pheasants from the ground and let them fly. The huntsmen start shooting flying pheasants.

When the pheasants are dead or wounded, they are brought to the huntsmen by their dogs. If you think pheasants cannot fly, you are wrong.

In autumn people begin to buy Christmas presents. Christmas is a topic of our next project.