english camp reunion

so tessa and i didn't actually go to english camp this year, but we were still allowed to go to the reunion with the awesome pardubice youth group.

so we relaxed in the mountains, and these mountains were amazing. they were so steep that it literally took my breath away. on saturday we went out in groups, blindfolded, and had to do some crazy things in the mountains. unfortunately there are no pictures from it, but we had to:
-all be blindfolded (but one person - our leader)
-one person had to be "sick" and carried up the mountain (that was me)
-two people had to have their legs tied together

cars even had to stop for us. 5 people walking up a mountain, blindfolded. one blindfolded person being carried by a blindfolded person, two blindfolded people with their legs tied together. and one leader, laughing at everyone. it was great.
my favorite memory is skipping down a ski slope, holding eliska's hand, with these amazing views in sight. can't beat it.

plus we got to spend time with some pretty amazing people. my camera died (of course), but i got some good shots of the mountain.

meet some friends.

this is lucka. she's one of the sweetest people you'd ever meet

eliska is one of my faves. she does some great embarrassing things which i always catch her doing :) she'll also be teaching us some czech!

tessa, burak, me, and terka. such fun girls. these two went to english camp this year and now come out to the youth group.

tessa, anca, lucie, burak, petra, me, and terka...my discussion group this past weekend :)

mushroom hunting 101

czech people go mushroom hunting.

i love mushrooms, and tessa and i were grocery shopping with a czech friend. we went to get some mushrooms, and she looked at us inquisitively and told us just to go into the forest. so we did, twice.

the first time was unsuccessful, but we learned what a good mushroom looks like. we went again a couple weeks ago, and we're still eating mushrooms from then. but tessa has those pictures :)

here's some documentation from our first attempt.

this is a bad mushroom! only good for pictures :)

adults

how i came to czech and began teaching only adults i have no idea.

but it happened, and while i don't mind it (and even at times enjoy it - not dealing with discipline, that is), i'm not passionate about reaching out to adults.

but they're pretty cool nonetheless.

they grew up in communism and witnessed the revolution, so they can compare the now and then. i've never learned so much about pre-revolution before.

pre-revolution, they all learned russian in school (they were under russian rule) and were told they'd never need to learn english. a few weeks after the revolution, russian wasn't allowed to be taught, and the russian teachers had to start teaching english. this meant that most of the time, the "english" teachers were only one lesson of english ahead of their students.

during communism, if your family outwardly disagreed with the party, you weren't allowed to study at the good high schools or go to university. Babicka (grandma in the Kotas family that's been taking care of us) wasn't allowed to teach because she was a christian. and if you were too smart, the same rule applied. i suppose they understood that they could be overrun or outsmarted.

one guy was studying in prague at the time, and went to some of the protests on the square. but he was home with his family during the days of the actual revolution, and when he returned to prague he didn't know that anything had happened!

all the men had to join the army for a year, either after high school or college. they apparently didn't do much, but if you were the best at a physical activity, you ccould have the weekend off.

amazing stories - i'm thankful that my parents and grandparents don't have stories like this to tell!

present or past perfect? or past simple or present continuous?

i hate tenses. to my core.

czech (though not an easy language) has three tenses. they're called past, present, and future.

so it's hard for them to differentiate between our different tenses - or to figure out when each tense is correct to use.

for example:

present simple: i run
present continuous: i am running
present perfect: i have run

(note how present perfect uses present tense "have," but past tense "run")

so, how do you tell people who are learning english when to use each of these? thankfully someone else came up with the rules. i have them copied down somewhere in case someone asks me.

last week i taught a lesson (singular lesson; i refuse to teach more on this terrible topic) about tenses, and we had an argument in class about several things, namely the following:

a) What were you talking about when I (come)____ in? Of course the correct form is came, but the argument was about why it couldn't be "was coming"

b) How long have you lived on your own
   1. in this flat?
   2. before you met Lisa?
well?

c) (fill in with correct past or present perfect form of have)
Carla says she ____ sent the email, but I'm sure she _____ because I've checked three times and it's not there.
my certain tough student argued that it should be past tense "had" because of the verb "checked"

uff. i can answer these questions (and will, if you so desire). but come on...how annoying are tenses?

am i a missionary?

i suppose the picture of the missionary is glorified (perhaps romanticized?) to some extent...going to foreign countries, sacrificing family and comfort, helping communities to grow and thrive.

and so i feel a bit disappointed when i take a step back and review what i've been doing the last months.

because i'm just busy with work. seriously, every evening this week i've been at work. and when i'm not at work i'm doing something where i get frustrated with language and having to learn a new culture. today i walked for an hour because i missed the only available bus back home and i was outside the city, and during my annoying walk i just got more frustrated with all the boundaries i have right now. then i went to work for a couple hours.

so there's my little, boxed-in picture of my pity-me-self.

the big picture is that i've only been here six (or seven?) weeks, my schedule will be settling down, and i won't just be working. the big picture is that part of my ministry is to my flatmate (failing at that one), the family that has blessed us so much, the students that i teach and prepare lessons for, and the church that i am a part of and that God loves.

thankfully the bigger picture is that God is greater than any of my frustrations or annoyances. i didn't expect most of what's happened here, but God did. he's got this one covered.

reveling in the knowledge that my burdens are not my own.

the one where i dare to compare

not so long ago, a student asked me what the biggest difference between czech and america is. the biggest thing? everything's different! let me give you some funny examples of how different czech is...

i generally see this more at schools, but in some public restrooms, the toilet paper is on the outside of the stall. so, in front of everyone, you have to decide how much toilet paper you'll need before you're in the comfort of a private stall. being new at this concept, i generally forget about the toilet paper rule and start going before i realize. you learn your lesson fast though.

the other week i was at the train station, filling out paperwork for a bus pass. it was 9:59, and as i turned around to hand my application to the lady, she began closing her window and hanging up a sign saying she would return at 10:30. she knew we were there and hadn't warned us she would be leaving. commence the eye rolls!

i was traveling to prague to visit some friends. fresh off the train, i literally jumped on the number 9 tram which takes me directly to their house...so i thought. the tram broke down a little under half-way there, and the driver jumped out to light up a cigarette since either a) there was nothing he could do about the situation, or b) he didn't feel like fixing the problem. i ended up walking most of the way to their house and taking random trams whenever i could. thankfully i'm familiar with prague's public transportation system and the area, or i would've been at a complete loss.

i bike to the university, and the other day (i was in a skirt) was supposed to be one of the nicest days we've had. about half way there it started pouring - hailing actually. i went under a tree but got soaked, so decided just to keep heading to school. of course then when i got there i was a total mess. everything in my purse was ruined, and so for the next two classes i taught in a soaking wet outfit and with my stuff spread out all over the floor and desk to dry off. hardly professional.

all of these are negative (albeit funny - now that i can look back on it), but believe me - there are many wonderful things about being here. like mushroom hunting, 3 years of maternity leave, awesome bread, and some really cool people.

sights about town

i'm currently at the mercy of my camera and tessa's computer. my camera battery lasts for all of five minutes, so i'm very limited on taking pictures. i also don't have a computer, so i jump on tessa's to upload pictures when i can. i took a walk around our neighborhood the other day - now you can enjoy what i see too :)

the name of our street...there are nicer road name signs than this one :)

awesome road that i get to ride my bike down several times a week

cobblestone and crunchy leaves :)

svestky (plums) grow everywhere, and you can just pick them off the tree and eat them!

the tram stop right near my house

potravinys are these awesome little stores where you can buy anything. this one is a 30 second walk from my house!

trash!

our yard

the front door

see our names?

the creepy hallway where our storage closet is!

"...and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense..." Is. 8:12-14

i glorify myself. i focus on how much others like me, how much time i give to others (i give my time for my own selfish gain), how great i am at certain things.

and so when i fall short of my own self-proclaimed greatness or compare myself degradingly to others, it hurts that much more.

so as i was meditating on it this morning and asking God for his truth, he opened my eyes to my bitter, estranged heart.

why am i here? in czech, and in general in the world? for sure it's not for my own glory. 

Oh Lord, I've missed the mark greatly. When I remove my eyes from you and focus on my own importance, i fall into misery. i get easily annoyed with others and annoyed with myself. 

may my ways be steadfast (Ps. 119)

and lead me in the way everlasting (Ps. 139)