Czech Christmas: Carp in the Bathtub

Written by Brittany
For most Czech people, today (the 24th) is the main holiday. Today they will get together with family and eat their traditional foods of fish soup, carp, and potato salad. Their potato salad is a little different than what we're used to in the States, and my students thought it was really funny when I told them we traditionally eat potato salad in the summer at picnics, since to them, it is definitely a winter food.

The carp is the most interesting aspect of the Christmas celebration. There are carp sellers outside who sell live carp, which people then keep in their bathtubs until Christmas Eve. You can also ask the carp seller to kill the fish for you. I talked to several students about this. Some said their family has never taken home the carp live, others said they used to but everyone fought over who would have to kill the fish after they'd had it a couple days. And then there were some who said, "of course we keep the fish in our tub, why wouldn't we?" To which I really had no answer.

Carp Sellers out in Prague

Carp in the bathtub - to be clear, this is not our bathtub. I got this picture off Google.

NPR published an article about this tradition earlier this week, so if you'd like to know more, click here! The article is about Slovakia specifically, but many of the traditions are similar if not the same in the Czech Republic.

We are going to make the potato salad this year, but our bravery is not going to extend to the carp. We did buy some fish at the store which we intend to make in the same way, so we're going about 75% traditional.

The plan is to do a mix of Czech traditions (with the dinner tonight) and American traditions (still opening the majority of our presents on Christmas morning). My mom, step-dad, and sister are here to celebrate with us, and we are excited for our first Czech Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all our friends & family back home! We hope you have had a beautiful Christmas season, and that you continue to celebrate and relax in the Peace of our Lord.

In conclusion, here's a new version of a favorite Christmas song. Many of you have probably already seen it, but it's definitely worth watching again! (And if you don't have Pentatonix's Christmas album, you really should buy it.) Merry Christmas!

Czech Christmas: St. Nicholas Day

Written by Brittany

This past Friday, December 5, was St. Nicholas Day here in the Czech Republic.

As my colleagues explained it to me, there are three "people" who are the main part of the day:
1. The Devil: his main job is to scare the children, making them think they've been naughty and that they will be taken away. He can also give lumps of coal (or potatoes) to the "bad" children.
2. The Angel: her main job is to reassure the children that the devil is lying, and that the children were good & they will be safe. She also asks the children to sing a song for St. Nicholas to help change his mind about the children being naughty.
3. St. Nicholas: once he has been swayed by the singing, he gives the children candy or presents and reminds them that they will come again next year. (My colleagues also wanted to be very clear that St. Nicholas is not Santa.)

St. Nicholas Day chocolates you can get at the grocery store

 You can see these three walking around together on December 5th each year, though where we were we only saw a couple little kids dressed like devils, and all the workers at our grocery store had devil horn headbands on.

I was also told that parents can hire the devil, angel, & St. Nicholas to stop by their house (as the man in the video below describes). That way their children definitely have the St. Nicholas experience.

This link is to a great video where a Czech man describes the holiday. There is also some pretty funny animation to go with it:
http://hello-unknown.com/special-editions/christmas/josefs-terror/

We'll try to keep updating with other Czech cultural traditions we learn this holiday season!

Christmas Card Reminder

Just a reminder to people who want to support us this season by sending Christmas cards: Cards would need to mailed by this weekend (Saturday, December 6) for us to receive them before we leave school for the Christmas holiday. But if you don't get them in the mail by then, please still send them! We'll just as happily open Christmas cards in January :)

Our address is:
Jadon & Brittany Huddleston
Gymnazium
Arabska 14
160 00 Praha 6
Czech Republic

Thanks to everyone we've already gotten cards & packages from! They (and you) are such a blessing!

Remembering: 10 Years Later

Written by Brittany

This week has been hard. Thanksgiving is always a hard holiday for me as I am surrounded by people and yet try to individually prepare myself for the coming and passing of December 2^nd yet again. And this year I have been working to come to terms with the fact that it has been 10 years, a full decade, since my dad died.

For someone under 30, a decade seems like a very long time. It’s over a third of my life. I remember past years having the thought, “Wow. Three years is a long time to be without a dad…but it will just get longer…one day it will be ten years.” And now that day is here. And now I think, “one day it will be 11 years…”

Reflecting on your Grief is an interesting, humbling process. I was 17 when my dad unexpectedly passed away, and I spent the next 4 ½ years, basically my whole college career, angry. Not at any particular people, not even at God, just angry. I went through the Grief Cycle a few times, each time really hating that it’s a Cycle, not just a Grief Line. Then I came back to anger and just got stuck. During this time I know I became selfish in my relationships, and I am blessed (and kind of amazed) that so many people stuck it out with me. I know I still struggle with that selfishness. And I often find myself wondering how I would have dealt with it differently if he had died when I was older, instead of a weird mix of child & adult.

Grief surprises you. I found myself preparing myself for days that I thought would be difficult, like my 18^th birthday or my wedding day. Only to pass those by with very little sadness, and then be totally caught off guard by other days that I didn’t think to prepare for, like 4^th of July or the day Jadon & I got engaged. And, as happens every year, the week leading up to today has been more difficult than today itself.

There are many things I’m still sad about. I’m sad that my dad will never meet and love Jadon. I’m sad that my dad never knew me as a teacher/wife/missionary/adult. I’m sad that I only ever knew my dad as a child knows her parent, and not as two adults know each other. I’m sad that he will never know my children. And I’m sad that it’s so much harder to recall the sound of his voice or the feel of his hugs.

I, of course, rejoice in the knowledge that he loved the Lord, and one day I will see him again. But if you’ve known Grief, you know that while that thought is a blessed comfort, it’s not every day. Some days Grief is just sorrowful and maddening and hollow.

Time and the Lord are such healers, and the day-to-day now is miraculously easier than it was 10 years ago. It is often easy to speak about my dad, to laugh about things he said, to share memories with those who knew him and those who didn’t. But there are also precious moments of remembering that are still very difficult.

I feel like as a 10-year veteran I should have more answers about How To Deal. But I really don’t. I found people who would love me in a very broken state, and I clung. I found reassurances from the Lord (Isaiah 41:13 especially), and I clung. I found humor, and I clung. And I found Grace, and I clung. 

I held on very tightly to things that kept me up. So I guess that’s my great advice: Hold On. Cling to people, and pets, and God. Cling to light, and humor, and joy. Cling to your teddy bear, and your favorite songs, and your 6-hour Pride & Prejudice miniseries. There will be days where you just barely stay afloat. And that’s ok. You Will Make It, even through days when all you can do is cling with your fingertips.

Each year when I taught at Olivet, on December 2^nd I told all my freshman students about losing my dad, and coming to school, and being so angry. I told them the biggest mistake I made was not being honest about how hard it was. And I told them that if they need someone to be honest with, then they should come find me. So I guess that’s some advice too: Be Honest. (And if you reading this need someone, come find me.) I wanted to appear strong, and in control, and “oh, I’m fine.” But that wasn’t truth, and I suffered more for it.

And one final thing I’ve learned: Remember Your People. The ones you’ve lost and the ones you still have.

At our wedding, Jadon & I had a tea station set up in memory of my dad, and there was a list of things I learned from him that I set out as a way to include him in that day. So that’s what I’ll end with. Some things that I wrote 2 ½ years ago seem truer now than when I first wrote them.

Thanks for reading. For my friends, mom, Katie, (and grandma) who have been around the last 10 years, thanks for all you did, even when you thought you weren’t doing anything. For all of us who feel the sting of Grief: Hold On. Be Honest. Remember Your People. 

One of my favorite pictures of my dad, an especially good one to place on a tea station :)

 Things my dad taught me:

·      Tea is not just for “tea time.” It is for all times.
·      Amazing Grace is the most appropriate song no matter the occasion.

·      It is always a good idea to be self-deprecating. Especially if you are a foreigner.

·      Be fluent in a language other than your own.

·      Keep track of your gas mileage – though I still don’t understand why.

·      Heaven is something we do not understand, something we will not understand until we get there. But it is good. And it should always be your goal.

·      If you want to make teenagers pay attention when you’re talking, mention kissing.

·      Story telling is the best way to communicate any truth.

·      Find your home and cherish it. The words “Welcome Home” are not to be taken or given lightly.

·      Everyone has faults, everyone makes mistakes, and everyone deserves to be forgiven.

·      The King James Version is the best version of the Bible. (Though I’m pretty sure he said this only because his name was James.)

·      It’s ok to cry.

·      You don’t always have to act your age.

·      Making time for your child is never the wrong choice.

Every time we said goodbye, at airports or in parking lots or even just on the phone, he asked, “What do you always remember?” Even when I got older. Even when I was a teenager and the answer was a little embarrassing. Every single time. “What do you always remember?” And every time I’d answer, never doubting, even now, that it was true: “Daddy always loves you.”

My dad taught me a lot of things, but one of the most important lessons was that just because you’re not with a person doesn’t mean you aren’t loved. Just because you can’t be together doesn’t mean you’re forgotten. And just because you may not see someone for months, or years, at a time does not mean that they aren’t looking forward to the day they see you again. If anything, they’re looking forward to it more.

An old favorite of me & my dad

“To have been loved deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever.”   -- J.K. Rowling

"If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share." - W. Clement Stone

We are sad to be away from our friends and family this Thanksgiving, but here you can read what we are thankful for this year, and it’s almost like we’re sitting around the table with you :)

This year we are thankful for:

Technology! Being able to Skype/Facebook/email has made this overseas transition so much easier.

Classes that are conversation based! There isn’t much grading outside of class and that is a welcome change.

The Czech people! In American there is this terrible attitude that if people can’t speak English, they shouldn’t be living/working there. If that was how people here felt about Czech, we could never do what we are doing.

Students! Even though some days they are slightly frustrating, they always make for an interesting day & a rewarding job.

Food/Housing/Paycheck! And all the good things that come with a paying job. It’s easy to forget, but we are lucky to have these basic, wonderful things.

Hamburgers and Vanilla Coke! And other American foods we can find here to remind us of home.

Each other! This missionary experience is fun, challenging, and it makes it even better to share it.

God’s constant care! There have been many times these last few months when we’ve thrown up our hands and said, “You have to do this. It’s too much for me.” These have been difficult but growing moments, and God’s involvement in our lives here so far has been clear to see.

You! The support we’ve had from our friends and family has been such an encouragement.

Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends & family! Eat lots of food for us & enjoy time to relax with loved ones and remember all God has provided for you this year.

Small Thanksgiving decorations we found in our flat

When, if not now? Who, if not us?

Written by Jadon

This last Monday (November 17^th) was a national holiday here in the Czech Republic. One week after the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany in 1989, thousands of students in (then) Czechoslovakia marched downtown and peacefully protested the communist regime, only to be violently suppressed by the police. Hundreds were injured. This only ignited the support for the anti-communist protesters. The next few days were peppered with country-wide strikes, with both young and old protesters now showing their desire for change. Protesters showed their support by shaking keys, not only as auditory support, but also signifying the unlocking of doors, and telling the communist leadership to go home. On November 24, 1989, the entire ruling party resigned, and on December 29^th, just a few weeks later, Václav Havel became Czechoslovakia’s first democratically elected, ending 41 years of communist rule.

Today these events are referred to as the Velvet Revolution, and as a commemorative plaque here in the Czech Republic states “When—if not now? Who—if not us?” (English translation).

November 17^th is now celebrated as a national holiday (translated: Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day), honoring those students that took a stand for something better. As far as I can tell, however, it is usually just referred to as “Student Protest Day.” Classes are cancelled and student led protests ensue.

This year—the 25^th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution—was no different. Student protesters gathered to call out Miloš Zeman, the current Czech President, for his atrocious behavior, and demand his resignation. Thousands of students held “red cards” aloft symbolizing the ultimate football (soccer) penalty for misconduct for which a player is thrown out of the game. Cries of “Resign! Resign!” and “Shame! Shame!” rained down on the president as he and his peers from Germany, Hungry, Poland, and Slovakia unveiled a new plaque in honor of the 1989 events.

People with their red cards protesting in central Prague

 Many of my students took part in the protests this last Monday, and it is encouraging to see young people (though I’m not old) taking a stand for what they believe and getting invested in the future of their government and country. Some of my students where disheartened, however, believing that their protest fell on deaf and defiant ears. But as one student said to me, “Maybe sometime he might hear, but what matters is that we told him.” And I can’t help but think that they not only told their president, they told five presidents. Five presidents and the world.

Praises: 

- We have made it 3 months in our new home!

- We have another Teach Beyond member coming from Budapest to stay with us this weekend. 

- We are very grateful for Skype/Facebook/email...all the things that make it easy to stay connected & not feel so far away.

Prayer Requests:

- Positivity as we enter into a holiday season away from family

- During the next few weeks we're hoping to make the decision if we'll come home in July or stay in Prague for a second year. Prayers for direction & a peaceful decision.

- Prayers for the city we live in as the people use their voices and push for change.

 

Christmas Cards!

We have had a couple people ask how they can support me & Jadon this holiday season as we spend it away from home & family. And we have thought of the best way people can do this: Christmas cards! It would be wonderful to get Christmas cards and feel connected this season. The only catch is, they would need to be mailed by December 5, because we get our mail at school, and we'll be leaving for break on the 19th. BUT if you send one late, we will just as gladly open it in January :) The address to send to is:

Jadon & Brittany Huddleston
Gymnazium
Arabska 14
160 00 Praha 6
Czech Republic

Thanks so much for all your support this far & wanting to support us further!

What's There to Complain About?

Written by Brittany
This has been a very crazy and very difficult week, probably the most difficult so far.

For those of you who have been keeping up via Facebook/email/Skype, you know that we left for Berlin last Sunday afternoon to apply for our long-term visas and employment cards. Jadon, myself, and our teammate Annie had an appointment for 1:00pm Monday afternoon. We were prepared with all the right documents, but these appointments are always stressful. Thankfully the woman at the Berlin office was incredibly kind and helpful, and she really made us feel more at ease. She also helped us apply for another short-term visa because the visas we were on expire in 5 days, not nearly enough time be processed & approved for the long-term ones.

Thankfully, we were approved for the short-term visas, but we had to return to Berlin late Thursday night to pick them up at 10:00am Friday morning. While this really went as well as we could have expected, it is difficult to do four 5-hour bus trips in one week, especially when we never really had much time to explore/enjoy the city. We were in Berlin for 36 hours total this week - 20 on Monday & 16 on Friday.

This was also a difficult week at school. We are at the end of the quarter this week, and we needed to give the names of the students who were failing our classes or the students who had not turned any assignments in. While this seems simple, because we teach a conversation class, every student has some grades because they get participation grades every day. So though some students may be struggling or missing assignments, none are failing and all have at least two grades in the grade book. It took a lot of communication, miscommunication, apologizing, translating, explaining, and frustration for us to express this to the teachers we work with and for them to explain to use exactly what they are looking for with these lists.

More than a language barrier, we really had an experience barrier. We are used the the US system where if a student is struggling, their name goes on a list. Or at quarters, you submit all students' grades, not just the students who have zero assignments turned in (how do you get to November and have zero assignments turned in?!). Whereas the teachers we work with could not understand the confusion. Our confusion was met with looks of "Of course this is how you do it, why would it be different?" And I'm positive there are things in the US school system that I would struggle to explain to an "outsider."

So all these things added up to a week of frustration, exhaustion, homesickness, etc.

Then, on Friday night, we got right off the bus from Berlin and went to the One Republic concert, which we have had tickets for since August. It was an amazing show (of course) and a fun way to end the week, but more than that, for me, it was a perspective check.

One Republic sings a song called "Good Life," which if you like One Republic or are a casual radio listener, you will know (and probably love) this song. You can listen to the whole song below, but part of the song goes:

"We all got our stories but please tell me
What there is to complain about."



While they performed, they projected pictures from all over the world where the band has toured, but many of the pictures were of Prague. And it is such a beautiful city, and there are so many wonderful people, and though it is not always easy, it is always an adventure. And in that moment I just felt a little God-nudge. Look where you are. Look what you're doing. Remember how I'm with you? What's there to complain about?

Praises:
- Everything worked out going to & from (and to & from) Berlin
- We now have visas until February 2015
- No school Monday! A 3-day weekend will definitely be a welcome rest.
- That God continually nudges, and He does so in ways & from places you don't expect

Prayer Requests:
- That we are approved for our employment cards & that they are processed quickly
- Continual understanding and grace, both given to us from others and that we are able to give it to them
- That we are the Light and Love we are supposed to share with everyone, even when we are frustrated, exhausted, confused, homesick, etc.

Paris!!!

Written by Jadon

Well if you read last week’s blog, or have been in contact with us in some other way, you probably know that we just got back from a 4 ½ day vacation. To Paris!!!

All this week we have been blessed with a vacation from teaching, because it is Fall Break at our school. So last Friday, after school, we dashed home, packed our bags, and headed to the airport to catch an evening flight to our holiday destination. We didn’t arrive to our hotel until at least midnight, but our taxi ride from the airport gave us glimpses of beautiful Paris lit as it is at night. Just enough to get us even more excited for the next day.

Saturday morning, we walked about 15 minutes to Notre Dame, and though we were really excited to see it, we decided to grab some breakfast first—from a French café with the cathedral just outside our window, of course! During breakfast it started to rain, and then stopped, and then started to rain again, and then stopped. And of course we were enjoying delicious croissants and freshly squeezed orange juice, so we didn’t mind much, especially since it had stopped raining “for good” by the time we were finished.  But the loitering/indecisive/camera-clicking tourist of course all started heading into Notre Dame, so we decided that it would be better to come back later.

 

View of Notre Dame from breakfast

So instead we got on a sightseeing bus.  You know, one of those buses with open-air seating on the second floor ideal for viewing the city, and if you plug in your headphones you get to learn interesting facts about the city around you. This gave us wonderful views (though a bit gloomy due to the overcast background) of the city and many for her sites.

That evening we headed back to Notre Dame, and this time went inside. We tried to take some pictures, but they don’t do any justice to the beauty that you can see in person, and hear—the pipe organ and the cantor…beautiful. More of that later. Anyway, we had also booked a night tour from the same sightseeing bus, so after dark we climbed back onto the bus and braved the cold to see Paris lit up at night (and also to see the Moulin Rouge, which wasn’t part of the daytime tour).

Day Two!! Sunday we woke up early and headed to Notre Dame again (it was a favorite) this time for the Sunday morning service (mass). We arrived early so we walked around the grounds a bit, and discovered, that Notre Dame not only still functions as a church with regular services and a priest available for confession, but it also has a small tent at the back of the grounds, removed from most of the tourists, where it serves at least a breakfast to the poor.

After the mass at Notre Dame (one of the major highlights of the trip), we headed to the Eiffel Tower. If we had planned a little better, we would have known to show up first thing in the morning, but as it was, we stood in line for at least two hours just to get to the second floor! Then probably another 45 minutes or so in line to get to the top. It was fun to be in the Tower, but the long line really put a damper on it. So if you go, show up early! Then Sunday evening we took a small boat cruise which this time was expertly timed (on accident) to be during the sunset. Afterwards, we explored the Latin Quarter until bed.

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

 Day Three!! Learning from our mistake with the Eiffel Tower, we arrived at the Louvre fairly early, and basically walked right in with no wait whatsoever. Deciding to press our luck, we headed straight for Mona Lisa, and though it was still crowded, we actually got quite close without too much trouble. We also got to see Venus de Milo, some Monet, some Michelangelo, and so many other wonderful and beautiful pieces of art. But the Louvre has over 16km worth of galleries, so it was a big day of walking.

With the Mona Lisa

That evening, we explored the booksellers who line the outer banks of the Seine—the river that flows through the center of Paris—bought some Parisian chocolate, and generally just enjoyed ourselves.

Day Four!! Tuesday we woke up really early to meet our tour bus, which would take us to the Loire Valley, a region in France known for its castles and (like the rest of France) its wine. It was a long day, and half of our time was spent in the bus just getting to our destinations, but it was well worth it. We got to see three very different castles:  Chateau de Chambord, the man’s (or hunter’s) castle; Chateau de Nitray, where a family still lives. And they served us lunch! And finally Chateau de Chenonceau, the lady’s castle.

Map of our trip from Paris to the three castles

Chateau de Nitray, the family castle

 Day Five!! We didn’t really do much on our last day (half day). We slept in, went back to our favorite café, enjoyed to beauty of Notre Dame once more, and finally headed to the airport to catch our plane home.

Until next time, Paris!

  We of course took lots of other pictures, which you can find here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.922954370577.1073741839.69601108&type=1&l=3f368f58fb

Praises:

-Neither of us has been sick for some time now! (An extra blessing since we were so excited for Paris)

-Despite a setback or two, and with some answered prayers, we had a wonderful time in Paris.

-We still have a few days of vacation left, and we are enjoying them.

Prayer Requests:

-In just a few short days, we (and a teammate) will be heading to Berlin to try and get our Visas sorted out. So please pray that we are able to gather all the needed documents, and accomplish our goal in one trip to the embassy.

-After a week long holiday, and great trip to Paris, it will be really hard to get back into the teaching and planning routine.

The Visa Saga Continues

Written by Brittany

Many of you followed our visa journey back in August as we tried to get our visas to leave on time for the Czech Republic. Well, now that journey continues, and it's just as crazy as last time.

When we were preparing to leave, we did not have much time to acquire our visas, so we got visas that lasted for only 90 days, because they had the fastest turn-around time. These visas expire on November 20. We thought renewing our visas once we were here would be much easier than acquiring them in the first place, but a law change that happened at the end of June changed that.

According to this new law, 90 day visas cannot be renewed in country. Which means, we will have to leave the Czech Republic and go to a Czech embassy in a different country to apply for long term visas and employment cards. When we first heard this, it was definitely overwhelming. We thought our visa frustrations were over, but as we are quickly learning from other ex-pats, these frustrations never really end.

Thankfully our supervisor, Jessica, knew of a consultant, Richard, who we could hire to help us make the appointment at an embassy, figure out what documents we need, and all the other details. Jadon, myself, and our teammate Annie (who is in the same situation) hired Richard, and he has already been a great help.

So what we know as of right now: The three of us have an appointment at the Czech embassy in Berlin, Germany at 1:00pm on November 10. We're still waiting to find out exactly what documents and other things we need.

Please keep us, Annie, and our other teammate Dennis in your prayers as the four of us try to navigate these confusing visa waters. We are so grateful to have Jessica for her practical and emotional support.

Unrelated to visas: This past Saturday, Jadon & I traveled to a small town called Český Krumlov, about 2.5 hours south of Prague. The whole town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (a place that is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as of special cultural or physical significance). Which basically means that the sites are preserved for their value. 

View of the town from the Castle

Our bus left Prague at 8am, and we were in the town from 11am-8pm. We were able to explore the castle and the many winding streets, as well as enjoy some delicious food, coffee, and just relax in the perfect weather. It was one of the best days we've had here so far. (To see more pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.919632976677.1073741838.69601108&type=1&l=81de5de8b9)

Praises: 
- Fixed washing machine AND a microwave!!
- Health. After a full month of sickness, we are both finally feeling back to normal! (And prayers that we continue to feel that way.)
- We leave for Paris in FOUR days!!!
- Our health insurance cards are finally here! It seems like many things we have been waiting on are coming together.

Prayer Requests:
- Obviously the visas are our main request right now. That we do everything correctly the first time and that we can remain peaceful and patient as things get figure out.
- Traveling. We will be flying to Paris (!!!) on Friday and returning next Wednesday. Prayers that everything we've booked works out and for safety as we travel.
- Our oven is still broken. We aren't sure where we're at with that, but hopefully it will be fixed or replaced soon.
- We are starting our Bible study with two of our friends here tomorrow, so prayers that the Lord can use that to strengthen our personal relationships & our relationships with Him.

Adding the Extras

Written by Brittany (Sorry if this post is weirdly highlighted. I can't figure out how to fix it.)

Since our last blog post, we have managed to keep ourselves pretty busy. Settling into a routine here, and finally adding "extra" things to our schedules. Between the 25th-30th of September, we went to a classical music concert, sightseeing at Prague castle, our first Sparta Prague hockey game, and a Shakespeare performance. (To see pictures of our busy week: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.912944754927.1073741837.69601108&type=1&l=9465abf401) We also began drama club, and I began meeting with some students after school. This has been a fun week adding in all the extras, and also a pretty big "oh yeah, this is what it's like to have a busy life!" Jadon adds tutoring this coming week, and then I think we'll have all the main extras added in.

Prague Castle

English Drama Club met for the first time for a little over an hour on Wednesday afternoon. It was a great experience! There are some students who have graduated from the high school, but continue to come back for drama club (they go to nearby universities). They, and other younger students who have been in EDC before, are a great resource for us, as they know how everything works. We played a couple "ice breaker" games with them, and finished with an acting game they chose. It seems like this is going to be a wonderful way for us to get to know students better and to build connections.

Cultural Tidbit: Nearly every Czech female has a last name that ends in "ova." It essentially means "belonging to." So the female "belongs to" her father/father's name. And when you get married you'd have your husband's last name, plus "ova." So if you had a brother and a sister (or husband and wife), they would actually have different last names. It would be something like Dan Mifka and Denise Mifkova. Interesting, isn't it? We have also seen the last name changed with non-Czech names, like book authors or fictional characters. Here's a "real world" example for you: 

Praises:
- Drama Club! We are really looking forward to how this shapes our year & our relationships.
- We have one full month of school under our belts! Only 9 more to go ;)
- Making time for fun extras (hockey games, Shakespeare performances, etc.)
- In under three weeks we will be traveling to Paris for four days!!

Prayer Requests:
- Our stove and our washing machine decided to quit on us this week. Our landlord has been to look at them, and hopefully they will be fixed soon. (Silver lining: we are supposed to be given a microwave to tide us over until the stove is fixed! We have really missed having a microwave!)
- Health. We have been passing colds back & forth the last few weeks, and Jadon currently has a cough he hasn't been able to shake.
- Visas. There were law changes this summer, and the way visas & employment cards work has changed. Thankfully we have experienced people working with us, but it looks like getting our new visas & employment cards may be more complicated than we expected. (Though with our Chicago visa history, we really shouldn't be surprised.)
- Health Insurance Cards. We still do not have cards for our Czech health insurance through the school. All the forms have been sent in, so we're just waiting for the insurance company to send them back to us.

Our School in the Czech Republic

Written by Jadon

Well, we have lived in Prague for a month, and we are doing very well.

It occurred to us in the last few days that many of you who casually follow our blog or our Facebook accounts would probably like to know more details about our school and our classes.  Well you are in luck! This blog post is for you!!

The name of our school is Gymnazium Arabska (both of those words have accents on the last ‘a’, which I don’t know how type on my American keyboard).  The term Gymnazium indicates that the school is somewhat prestigious, and that all of our students had to apply and be accepted before they could attend.

Our flat is about a 12 minute bus ride from our school—only two stops—and there is also a tram line that will get us almost all the way home from school with only a few extra stops. So getting to and from school is quite easy, which is a welcome blessing.

In the Czech school system, teachers do not have their own classrooms. Instead each teacher moves around for each new class, similar to how a university teacher in the United States would. This means that instead of a classroom, both Brittany and I have our own offices, though we each share our office with two other English teachers. Fortunately, we do each have our own desks, so we can spread out all our stuff. Because we are always changing classrooms, we are getting our exercise doing extra sets of stairs—our school has four floors—and we are constantly checking our schedules to make sure we are headed to the right classroom.

Another aspect of being a roving teacher that we are just starting to learn is that each classroom is different. Some classrooms have whiteboards, others blackboards. Some have projectors and screens, others have no media capability at all. I had one classroom today equipped with a Smartboard—which I almost wrote on with my dry erase marker… The point is, if you are planning to show a Powerpoint with pictures of the various landscapes of the United States, you might have to change classrooms, trade with another teacher for the hour, etc… You get the point.  For the most part, however, there is always a work around.

As for our specific classes, both Brittany and I teach 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th years (sophomores, juniors, and seniors). We each have 5 classes for each year, that’s 15 classes in total for each of us! However, we only see our 2^nd and 3^rd years once a week for 45 minutes (which is not very long, though we are getting used to it), but our 4^th years we see twice a week. So we each have 20 classes to teach a week, but only four preps. This means that we don’t have a lot of class planning to do per week, but we do have a lot of remembering to do. After you have taught the same lesson 5 or 10 times, it is really hard to remember what you have said to whom, and what you haven’t. It is also hard to remember names when you have 206 students—Brittany has 214—and you only see some of them once a week.

But all our students have a really good handle on the English language already, and we are enjoying teaching them.

I’m sure I left some details out, but seeing as this post is quite long already, you’ll have to ask about anything else you want to know in the comments section.

Praises:

-We continue to feel more at home here in Prague and at our school.

-We found a delicious Mexican restaurant close to our church (Mexican cuisine isn’t very common here).

-Brittany planned our first excursion into Europe (Paris) over our first school break in October!!!

Prayer Requests:

-In October we start a Bible study, Czech lessons, and begin our responsibilities with the English Drama Club at our school. So, prayer that we don’t re-overwhelm ourselves in a few days.

-I have been asked to tutor three boys after school in English, and that will also probably start in October.

- Brittany will be working with three of her female senior students outside of class. 

Taken during some of our sightseeing last weekend overlooking Prague

Faith in Things

Written by Brittany

It’s very easy to be superstitious. Athletes, and fans, will wear the same socks, shirts, even (gross) underwear for their games. They have pre-game rituals that, as the commercial says, are only stupid if they don’t work. Even I have a teddy bear that has traveled with me everywhere since my friend Lisa gave him to me when I was 17, a St. Christopher (patron saint of travelers) bracelet I’ve worn every day so far in Prague, and a Blackhawks hat I wear every time I watch one of their games. And when I was in high school, I had my hair French braided for every standardized test I took. Do I put real spiritual stock into these things? No. Do they bring temporary comfort and confidence? Absolutely.

These first two weeks at school, our students have been doing individual presentations. They have to bring one important item from home and introduce it to the class, saying why it is important to them, what it represents, etc. This has been a great way to learn more about our students as well as assess their English speaking skills. What I didn’t expect to gain was insight into the spirituality of some of the Czech people and a small knowledge of where they place their confidences.

As students brought items from home, one word kept popping up: “talisman.” Objects ranging from necklaces, bracelets, and charms to an American quarter, a heart shaped rock, and a small, antique wolf statue. The students described these as things they keep with them when they take tests, when they travel, and just on normal days for protection and luck. Even if students did not describe their items as such, when their classmates asked them questions, the query, “Does it bring you luck?” came up frequently. The idea of an object granting luck and giving protection is clearly shared among many.

Coming from a culture where you don’t often hear people speak seriously about talismans and objects bringing protection, it has been interesting to listen to the students speak about their small faiths in these objects. We know there is a growing Christian community in the Czech Republic, but we also know that there are many, the majority, who are not Christian. Listening to my students, I just kept thinking these talismans, these objects, were perhaps how they were filling their Faith-void. 

I am not writing this to make a statement about the evil-ness of talismans and superstitions. And certainly not about Czech faith. I have been here just three weeks and would never presume to have anything more than an incredibly shallow, surface-level knowledge. But I am writing this to share an observation and a prayer. That these young people can learn that aside from short-term comfort and shallow confidences, talismans are not needed, that there is a Protector who brings never-ending comfort and strong confidence. I don’t know if Jadon or I will be called on to specifically share the Name and Love of Christ with any of these students, but I pray that we can lay a foundation and that we start them asking questions. When objects fail to live up to the faith we put into them, where can we turn?