Ples 2015

Written by Jadon

 Ples is the Czech word for “ball,” and at its most basic level, it is the Czech equivalent of Prom—though much more structured and with an emphasis on honoring graduating students. For instance, students invite their families and friends, rather than a date; tickets cost about $10; and various scheduled events for and performances by students occur throughout the evening.

All the teachers are also formally invited by the students, and Brittany and I were excited to go. Excitement quickly mingled with nervousness, however, when we learned that both of us would be part of the performances…dancing a waltz, each with one of our graduating students. Fortunately, the Wednesday before Ples (Friday), time was set aside for dance practice in the gym. I am very lucky to have had such a wonderful and gracious teacher in my dance partner, because I would be lying if I told you I was better than a bad “waltzer.”

As she taught me the steps, promising it was fine when I stepped on her feet, I found that I was becoming less worried about being embarrassed and more worried about her being embarrassed at her graduation ball in front of her family and friends. This desire to be an (at least) adequate dance partner led to, that’s right, dance practice by myself in our living room, my empty office, and—I will admit—the more spacious classrooms after my students had left…

And Friday came; not without a few hiccups, but with much better prepared feet since Wednesday morning.

The first event of the evening was a choreographed ballroom dance by sixteen of our students, including my dance partner. Then all the 1^st year students (the freshmen) marched onto the dance floor, making a circle around each of their respective class teachers (there are five classes for each grade level at our school). To honor the 1^st years and welcome them to the school, a few words where said, and the class teachers pinned ribbons on each of their students. Pictures ensued, and the 1^st years marched out.

The Ballroom Dancers

 Then came the 4^th years (the seniors), but they did not just march onto the dance floor. One class entered dragging their class teacher to his execution, though he was spared long enough to take a big group selfie. Another entered to a synchronized walking lightshow. Another came on in cardboard engines and train cars, with their class teacher in a conductor’s hat, brandishing a whistle. After some ceremony, including some letters to the class teachers from the students (we think); each of the 4^th years was presented with sash signifying their new honored status. More pictures followed, as did parachutes.

The parachutes where quickly stretched across the five circles, and as the cheering rose and the colorful chutes moved around the room, parents, teachers, and friends rained money down on the five classes. At one point an entire wallet with credit cards and a cell phone fell past our balcony, though on accident. But my favorite part was the few students from each class elected to furiously sweep the floors for excess change, and try to keep up with their ever moving class parachute—a job much more difficult than it sounds, especially with the following classes sweepers lurking.

A couple of the parachutes ready to catch the money

 And then it was time for the dance.

The 4^th years all moved to the edge of the ballroom floor, and we lucky few moved into position.

I’m pretty sure it wasn’t effortless and graceful, but I didn’t miss any steps. Well, except after our impromptu spin—I wasn’t good enough to even start thinking about a spin on Wednesday, and I believe the conversation during the dance on Friday went something like “Did you practice?” “A lot.” “Maybe, in a minute we could try a spin.” “Uh, (worried look on my face), how does it work.” “Like this.” And there it was.

And then the dance was over. It turns out three minutes isn’t really that long. I should also note, Brittany’s waltz had lots of spins, and I’m certain she looked much better than I did.

 

Me waltzing with Zuzana

Brittany getting ready to waltz with Michal

Anyway, after the student-teacher dance, the students dance with members of their families, and after that, the dance floor opens up to everyone, though the dancing is still ballroom based—the more Prom-like dancing is saved for the less showy after-party.

Finally, toward the end of the evening, it was time for “Midnight Surprise,” which is some kind of surprise performance by each of the five 4^th year classes. Complete with choreographed dance routines to popular songs, costume changes, and famous movie scene recreations, each of the surprises was followed by massive applause and cheering.

And that pretty much wrapped up the night. With the “Midnight Surprise” the atmosphere relaxed; families and teachers started their journeys home and students stayed to celebrate with friends and classmates. Well, wrapped up the first half. There was a big after-party planned at a different venue; but for us, we were heading home: more culturally informed, better ballroom dancers, and, despite our earlier nervousness, excited for next year’s Ples.

Praises:

- An enjoyable evening at Ples!

- We have officially finished our first semester (the semester ends in January here, not December) and submitted all our grades on time!

Prayer Requests:

- Drama Club. We're finished with the read throughs, so this week starts the real work of blocking scenes & memorizing lines

- Visa issues. We have, again, run into some snags with our visa. We will give a larger update when we know more details, but prayers for wisdom in decision making & peace with results. 

Next Year

Written by Brittany
When we were first talking about if we wanted to go live and work overseas, it was a difficult question. We had both done international traveling, separately and together, and we both knew that we wanted to travel more. But a desire to travel is not enough to sustain you through a year of living and teaching in a foreign place. As we thought and prayed about it, we came to the decision that we should to do it, but only for one year.

Once we made that decision, we looked for organizations that had one year contracts, but the best part about our contract was that if we wanted to extend to a second year, we could. There were no commitments past the end of the school year, which made us feel safe, but if we did adjust well and enjoy our work, we could stay longer.

And that is what we have decided to do!
The Huddlestons will be in Prague for the 2015-2016 school year!

Yay!!!!!!!!

Again, this was not an easy decision. We have adjusted well, we love our school and our students, we are definitely enjoying the extra travel opportunities, but we also miss home. We miss people and places and even our things. During the week following Christmas break, I think we were the most homesick we have been so far. So as we were trying to make this decision, we tried to look at what we should do, not just what we were feeling. Because feelings change, and we didn't want to make a decision based on our homesickness of the moment.

Our thoughts were these:
*Professionally, we should stay. We're creating a curriculum from scratch, and it seems almost unfair to create something like this and only use it once. It's a lot of work for just one year!
*Relationally, we should stay. We are getting to know our students better & better, and really that's why we came here in the first place. To create relationships with students and our colleagues. And while we've begun those, we can do so much more with another year.
*Personally, we should stay. This has been a major growing time for us both individually and as a couple. We are learning a lot and thriving in a difficult situation where it is very often just the two of us, and this is something we know we'll be able to look back on during future difficulties and say, "we did Prague, we can do this."
*Spiritually, we should stay. God is working hard on us, and we in turn need to work hard for Him. While we know we can do this back home, we can also do this here. And so far, as we've been settling in here, we haven't done as much in this category as we should, so we're looking forward to expanding ourselves in this way.
*Travelly, we should stay. (I know travelly isn't a word, but I couldn't break the pattern.) There are still SO many places we want to go and see, and while this is clearly the most superficial aspect of our decision, it definitely still has weight.

So even though we are missing birthdays and vacations and parties. Even though we miss our people. Even though thinking about Olive Garden & Cracker Barrel make us want to get on a plane ASAP. Even though we can picture all our stuff in our storage unit and just want to unpack it. Even though homesickness can be a real bummer and a real challenge.
We are staying. And we're excited!

PLUS, we will be in the US this summer during the month of July into the beginning of August! So, please come see us! Please join us for breakfast at Cracker Barrel, lunch at Olive Garden, and dinner at your house ;)

We are so grateful for all the support we've had these first 6 months, and just ask for that continued support over the next year & a half.

Praises:
- Finally a decision for next year has been made, and we are excited about what it will all bring!
- The winter weather here has not been nearly as difficult as we were thinking it would be (knock on wood)
- It may seem silly, but we've been able to do a lot more reading while we've been here, and for people like us, that's a big happy deal :D

Prayer Requests:
- Drama Club will be a continued request until the middle of April. We are so looking forward to seeing how it comes together & are very excited to be working with our students on this project
- Continued good health
- That connections we've made here will continue to grow and that new connections will form

PS. Karina, I hope this was exciting enough for you ;)

Holidays!

Written by Jadon

 The first week back at school, we ask many of our students about their holidays. Whether they told us stories about the family visiting their “cottage” (a second, smaller, more rural, vacation home of sorts), or stories of multiple Christmas celebrations due to parents being split-up, or just stories of spending Christmas at a grandparent’s house; family was almost always mentioned in their holiday events.

As I look back on my pre-holiday season mindset, I remember thinking that the upcoming holidays might be difficult, not only because we had to teach regular classes on Thanksgiving, but also because the holidays wouldn’t be the same. Thanksgiving and Christmas are holidays full of traditions—Yahtzee and Loopin’ Louie duels, opening Christmas stocking on Christmas Eve, Christmas parties/gift exchanges with friends, to name a few of ours—all of which are meaningful not because of what you are doing, but because of who you do them with. And this year, 4500 miles from home, we would be missing out on all those meaningful moments.

Or so I thought.

Not only were we able to Skype (a wonderful invention for people in our situation) with sixteen of my family member on Thanksgiving Day, we also “attended” a Christmas party of friends (pictured below), and got to have other various Skype meetings with family and friends around the holidays. But best of all, family came to visit! Brittany’s family made the long flight over here to Prague, and we were able to spend Christmas, Christmas Eve, and many other days with them. And, of course, we probably started some new traditions too.

Skyping with friends back in Bourbonnais! 3am our time/8pm their time

 

New Christmas tradition: fish & potato salad for dinner

 All in all, it was a much better holiday season that I was expecting. Yes, it was different, but it was good. And despite the distance, being with family made it so.

Praises:

- We received lots of Christmas cards! Thank you. It was really a blessing.

- We recently rediscovered a devotional book, which had gotten a back seat during our move from the States. We were in the middle of it, and are really enjoying getting back into it together.

- We have a working oven!! We got it just before Christmas, and it has been an exciting and timely addition to our kitchen.

Prayer Requests:

- We are the heads of the English Drama Club at our school, and we have now cast our upcoming play! There is a lot we have a lot to accomplish in the next few months.

- Dealing with occasional homesickness, while still remaining focused here.

- Continued good health