Russian Christmas
As Czechs were escaping to their hideaways for the Christmas holidays, the Russians were coming out in hordes. On Czech Christmas (Dec. 24), Russian speakers were everywhere in the Prague downtown. There were of course some Czech stragglers doing their last-minute shopping, as well as some Asian tourists, but the Russian speakers were dominant. They celebrate their Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7, so those living in or visiting the CR have the best of both worlds. They can partake in the Czech festivities and then do their own Christmas shopping once the "až" discounts have begun. Czechs again had a Chinese Christmas this year, with many of the items under the tree coming from the Middle Kingdom (even some of those beautiful "Czech" books). But as the number of Russian immigrants, tourists and investors increases, so will the importance for many Czechs of a Russian Christmas.
Glossary of difficult words
hideaway - a place used as a retreat or a hiding place;horde - a large group of people; an army or tribe of nomadic warriors;
to straggle - to stray or fall behind others in a group;
to partake - to join an activity;
až - the Czech word for "up to," such as discounts of "až" 70%.