"Welcome to Hluboká nad

Vltavou in the Czech Republic"

A greeting from Krista's 8th grade English class

Dramaták...Drama Club

Both of the girls go to a drama club every week. Rebekah, especially, is a natural-born actress. Her drama teacher has already set aside the main role for next year's play for Rebekah...remember these plays are in Czech! Here are the girls at the Mother's Day production saying poems for mom. Rebekah chose to be a rock star and Roxie a frog.

Biblická skupina...Bible study group

Since January we have been having a Bible study group that meets in our house twice a month. We have anywhere from 10-14 people who regularly come. Many are from Hluboká and České Budějovice, friends of mine and students of Dan. This has been a really special time for us and for the members of our group as we journey together on God's path. Some people that come are believers in God and some are not. But, we are all interested in talking about spiritual things. We are so glad that God has given us this opportunity to have these people in our home, talking about Him, and growing deeper friendships.

Rebekah (11) and Roxanne (8)

ECC...English Classes for Czechs


Since January I have been the entire ECC (English Classes for Czechs) staff - teacher, director, party planner, etc. My friend and co-worker Janet had to return to America last December, so I combined some of the classes together to make it all work. The semester ended last week on June 3, and all the classes celebrated by having a cookout in our OM garden. It was a really fun time. I cannot emphasise how much I enjoy teaching - Krista always commented that she thought I was made to be a teacher, and now I think she may have been right. I love all my students and will really miss them this summer while we are in America. I am hoping to involve more of them next semester in our home Bible study - already a few more have expressed interest in attending next semester. My hope is that we will eventually expand to two Bible studies - one for Christians and one for those who are just interested in learning more about God. Also, I am hoping some of the women will be interested in joining Krista's women's group which we hope to begin in September as well. For now, I am just happy to have the opportunity to be a teacher here at OM, and make friends with such wonderful people.

Hlubocký zpravodaj...Hluboká news magazine
We were just interviewed for our local magazine and here are some pictures the photographer took of us. Unfortunately for me, the magazine chose the worst possible picture of me to put on the cover of the magazine. My face looked like a huge cheese wheel with no discernable chin. My students were very excited to ask me the next day "Paní Učitelko, co se s vámí stalo?" (Teacher, what happened to you?) Ah well, such is life...nothing like a front cover ugly picture to knock you down a couple of notches. On a good note, the three page interview was great and we got to talk about why we feel that God has a plan for us here and why we followed Him all the way to CZ...it is an awesome opportunity for everyone in our town to hear why we are here...

Roxie má narozeniny...Roxie's birthday

Roxie turned 8 on May 25th and we celebrated by inviting everyone she knows (36 kids)...so, obviously, we weren't going to have it at our house (I don't like kids THAT much). We went to our local park that has like a bounce house\trampoline thing, cool King Arthur type fort and playground equipment. Roxie was so excited that alot of her friends came. I had made cupcakes (an oddity here in CZ) and the ubiquitous chlebičky (open faced sandwiches to you and me). The kids had a great time bouncing and playing together and Roxie was thrilled! And my house stayed clean!!

Veselé Velíkonoce...Happy Easter

Here I am being whipped by my friend, Martin, with a pomlazka. This is the traditional way to celebrate Easter in the Czech Republic...boys accompanied by grown men whipping neighbor girls and women in exchange for chocolates, colored eggs and hard liquor (for the men). God has been completely removed from the holiday not unlike in the states where we have easter egg hunts and celebrate by decorating eggs and buying chick and bunny decorations at Target. I just want you to know that it totally hurt when Martin whipped me.

Random firing of my synapses

I really meant what I said, that our lives are in color now, but I have to tell you , although color isn't boring, sometimes it is painful and always it is challenging and often it is beyond difficult. But I don't think I would have it any other way. I really feel like what we are doing is making a difference, and I know that I am being refined in the fire. Sometimes I can feel him pulling ugly layers off of me and it HURTS!! Things are good between us as a family and I think that makes all the difference, that home is a sanctuary.Work is insane, I have no idea what I was thinking when I agreed to work with middle schoolers at a local Czech school when I couldn't speak Czech. But I see now that God set this up and it was good that I was ignorant because had I known what I was in for I would have said no...Now I see that He has toughened me up here and it has been like a boot camp of sorts and I have seen Him work through me at the school...and I know there is more to come. I have built relationships with the teachers and students and through these relationships we have seen our bible study grow...it is exciting and very overwhelming to see God move...I often feel like a bystander at some great play that he is producing. Some days it totally sucks. Like when I just can't get the Czech words out of my mouth to say what I need to say...some days I feel foreign and different, and even WEIRD. Some days my students are out of control and I hate my job and I get a migraine in the back of my eye and I have to drink wine to calm down. Some days Rebekah cries because school is difficult and I wonder if we made a mistake bringing them here. Then we pray and wake up the next morning and things are OK again. Then we have a day where we see God moving and we know we are right where we are supposed to be.

For some reason I am not able to download videos onto my blog...I have no idea what has happened to my brain rendering me incapable of accomplishing something that mere months ago I was able to do without thinking. Maybe it is the Czech culture slowly eating away at my brain and causing some sort of early onset dementia...I don't know. But, for those of you inclined to watch videos of our experiences here in CZ please go to http://www.youtube.com/my_videos

This dance was nigh incomprehensible. A girl and a boy dance together while suspending a ball between their foreheads. They may not touch the ball. If the ball falls they are out. They danced to a Czech version of "Staying Alive" by the BeeGees which was completely hysterical.

Here is Roxanne with her friend from school, Markéta, also known as "Sensitive Girl" as she cries alot.

Here is Rebekah with her friends from her class. From left to right: Magda, Rebekah, Šárka, and Jana.

Some of Rebekah's classmates.

Maskární Ples...Masquerade Ball

In celebration of the beginning of Lent (masopust) the children at school have a masquerade ball. While this no longer has any religious affiliation, the tradition still holds fast. So my girls dressed up and they spent the morning at school dancing and playing games.

Images of winter here in Hluboká nad Vltavou,

Czech Republic

Here we are walking along the Charles Bridge (Karlův Most) in Prague

Here we are standing around a geocache spot trying to look inconspicuous...I guess when you are geocaching you must do everything in secret so as not to alert others of your presence while rummaging through rubbish bins or investigating sewer drainage pipes. This man in the cap was also geocaching and as we were obviously looking around for the geocache he muttered to us out of the side of his mouth, "two meters to your left". We then knew we had found a comrade in arms and a helpful one at that. So we all opened the goecache together. Our new friend is from Slovakia and spoke perfect English and had already found 15 caches that day.

The view from Tom and Dawn's hotel window in Prague.

Jedeme do Prahy vlakem....

We are going to Prague by train

On our final day with Tom and Dawn we headed to Prague with them by train. They had to be in Prague that night so we decided to make a day of it so that we could spend as much time together with them as possible. The train trip was really nice...see our youtube videos for footage of how to operate a Czech train toilet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp-26lH74_g

Český Krumlov ve zimě...Cesky Krumlov in winter

Here are some pictures of our trip to Český Krumlov with Dan's brother, Tom and Tom's wife, Dawn, while they were here visiting us in February. This is a protected UNESCO world heritage site. A meticulously maintained medieval village. Very beautiful in winter...and very cold.

Coyan Reunion...Coyanovi Sraz

We haven't seen Tom and Dawn in almost two years though both of their daughters (Mallory and Ciera) have been to see us. So it was well overdue, their visit to the Czech Republic. It worked out perfectly as Dawn is a teacher and had her spring break exactly when we had ours. So they hopped on a flight and came to see us. We were together for four days (they spent a few days on their own in Prague and Berlin) and we had many adventures. You can check out the full details at Tom's blog www.tomcoyan.com

We spent time sightseeing (Praha, Hluboká, Temelín (the nuclear reactor)) and sledding, talking, eating and hiking around...oh and geocaching (don't know what geocaching is? Neither did I.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching

Pictured above we have found a cache in an antique train by the train station in České Budějovice and another cache in a tree stump in front of Hluboká castle where we had been sledding. Tom and Dawn are really into it and they found many caches while they were here. It was really fun, like a scavenger hunt for grown-ups. We were so glad they came and look forward to seeing them in 4 months when we get back to the US this summer.

More snow pictures...here we are on a forest hike with Danny's brother Tom and his wife Dawn.

Konečně, sníh....finally, snow!!

For the last three weeks it has snowed almost constantly. We have had a couple of feet of it here in our town. We made our first real snowman (complete with coal eyes and mouth and carrot nose) and found a killer sledding hill right in front of the castle. We can get going pretty fast on it. We have taken many snow hikes in the forest and have just enjoyed it so much. The snow also coincided with spring break and Danny's family visiting, so it was just perfect. AsI am typing this now I am looking out the windaw and watching the snow cascade down!!!

Off to the gynecologist

Well it has been a couple of years since I visited the gynecologist...I was hoping to wait till I got back to the States, but I fear I can put it off no longer. Medical care here is just not as good as it is back home and since I am so picky about my dentist and he only gets access to my mouth, you can imagine what horrors I have been envisioning in the days leading up to my gyn. appointment.
1. In my 20 odd years going to the gynecologist, I have only ever had female doctors and "here there be men".
2. Doctors here are not so particular about hygiene...i.e...wearing gloves, paper on the examining tables and so on.
3. My friend who made the appointment for me told the doctor that I am American. His response was, "Is she fat? Because I don't think she will fit on my examining table." She assured him that I was not only thin but very pretty (her words) and he smiled and said, "Well then, I am looking forward to her appointment." EWWWW!!!
So, I am completely grossed out...but I have to go anyway. I will tell you how it goes.

Knife sharpening 101

Most of the time here in the Czech Republic I feel quite at home, like everything is normal. Every now and then though I feel completely out of place or have an overwhelming feeling that I am in another country. Today was that kind of day.

I was in the cafeteria at school and I was standing by the metal bucket that contains hot tea. I was dispensing myself some tea and I casually looked over at the kitchen office window where one buys the lunch cards. Standing in the window was the lunch guy who sells the cards. He was sharpening a knife that had to have been at least 18 inches long. He was using smooth, slow strokes and had a quasi maniacal look on his face as if he was really enjoying sharpening this knife. Now this isn't so shocking until you realize that he was facing a huge line of children who were eagerly awaiting their lunch. I was in the middle of what looked like a line of children awaiting some horrible execution from lunch man slash executioner. I wish I had had a camera...this was a really creepy scene that I don't think would have occured in the states apart from a Wes Craven film at your local cinema.

A January Morning

The Czech language is often very poetic and colorful. For example, the word "January" in Czech is "Leden", which literally means "the time of ice". The other day the ever-present winter overcast cleared up, and I took the opportunity to take a walk into the forest. Most of the snow has melted, although the frozen ground still has a satisfying crunch under my feet. Just beyond our house at the edge of the forest is what looks like an old train car. It is a beehive, and our first summer here we could sometimes hear the buzzing of bees from our window. Last summer the bee population dropped precipitously, and what few bees came seemed slow and lethargic. Now in the dead of winter, it sits silently with it's small colony huddled inside.

In the middle of the field behind our house sits a hunting chair. These are everywhere in the forests and fields of Czech Republic, and are used by hunters during season to hunt deer. We like to climb up these and take a look, although in this particular one last summer a group of angry wasps (the insects, not the demographic) chased us out.

A few kilometers from our house, a footpath runs beside the mighty Vltava River. This river flows through Prague and is crossed by the famous Charles Bridge. Here near Hluboka it is now frozen and especially beautiful on this winter morning.

A few hundred meters above the Vltava River, the trail climbs up to the top of this hill called "Baba". "Baba" is Czech for "granny", but usually in a negative sense, like an old crone. I'm not sure why it is called Baba, as it is really a lovely peaceful place. This pic is taken on top of the hill. There isn't much here now, just a starkly beautiful forest saving it's strength for the coming spring.

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

There is a saying here that "Češi umí". It literally means "Czechs know", as in they know how to do just about anything. For example, if something breaks, rather than call the repairman, they will often figure out how to fix it themselves. In another example, just about every Czech woman knows how to cook every typical czech food. Another thing many Czech men know is how to cut wood and start a fire. With energy costs in Europe extremely high compared to the USA, many town or village dwellers rely on wood for heating. This is becoming a lost art in the cities, however, as most city residents live in blocks of apartments.

For me in California, having a fire meant putting the duraflame into the fireplace, turning on the gas, pressing the ignite button, and then enjoying the peaceful ambiance of my 1-lb cylinder of petroleum-soaked compressed sawdust. However, here the situation is quite different. For example, Duraflame-type "logs" can be purchased here, but they are viewed as a silly luxury for the lazy rich, as they are small and expensive (about $4 US for a mini-sized chunk of instant fire). So this past fall our friend Milos decided to teach us to be like proper Czechs and learn how to cut wood and start a fire. Milos works as a woodsman (really - a woodsman), and he brought us a few carloads of wood. He also brought us a big tree stump to use as a chopping block, and sold us a proper axe. My first few attempts at splitting logs were a mix of funny and scary, as I often missed the log entirely with my axe (kind of like swinging a golf club too hard and completely missing the golf ball) and a few times almost sucessfully performed self-amputation with it. But now I have really got the hang of it, and enjoy pretending to be Paul Bunyan out in the yard splitting logs. Here is a pic of one of our piles of split logs...

Krista has become quite the expert on getting a good fire going. She knows just what size kindling she needs, and which logs to put in first, and how to arrange them. Most cold winter nights, I come home to a nice warm fire in our small fireplace. This is not just for ambiance, but is very practical. Compared to most American houses, our house is quite small at about 900 square feet. Also, unlike most american fireplaces which are set in one of the exterior walls, our fireplace is right in the middle of the house, and the chimney comes up right between the three small upstairs rooms. Combined with the small size of the rooms, the fire manages to heat the entire house from a small fireplace. I guess when it comes to being very efficient with heating, "Češi umí".