How was Christmas?

It's a sunny day in Šumperk!!! I'm going to head into town shortly to purchase a few New Years Eve decoration supplies. But first... a Christmas update!

Mirek, Daniel & I

Daniel and I had a very nice Christmas here; we spent the morning with our neighbor, Pavla; she had invited us to her place for cookies and tea. (I had just woken up when we took the pic, so excuse groggy morning self) - 

 

Pavla came with Daniel and I to Kostel Jinak's 10pm service that night as well. She was so surprised when Daniel never turned toward one of the Catholic churches; that's all she was familiar with. So it was even more surprising when he led her toward the Bata shoe shop, up the stairs, past a second hand shop, and into a room across from a travel agency. Everyone at Kostel was extra gracious with greeting Pavla and welcoming her; we had a handful of visitors that night, so there was excitement all around! Pavla was commenting how amazing it was to see so many young people at a church when the band got up to lead the music - that's when she saw our friend, Bea, playing the saxophone. Pavla's late husband played the saxophone; it's something she tells us about often (perhaps because it is an easy thing to communicate between language barriers, but there is so much love, joy and sentiment in these stories as well). When Pavla heard the saxophone, her night was made! As we walked home that night, Pavla was so excited to learn that our friends, Petr and Lucka, live in a building that she used to live or work in as well! Pavla seemed so pleased with the whole occasion and said she would be interested in joining us again.

Our Christmas Eve afternoon was spent with  Vašek, Lida, and Libor; we enjoyed a giant plate of sushi (over 100 pieces), shrimp, carp, potato salad, and tuna. We watched "Home Alone," opened gifts (I played the role of "baby Jesus" to pass out the gifts), and enjoyed each other's company.

All that sushi!!!!

Carp & Potato Salad

Photo Credit to Libor!

Photo credit to Libor! Christmas selfie!

Christmas Day, Daniel and I took the opportunity call our families and wish them all a very merry Christmas. We also went to Vašek and Lida's home again to watch a movie and eat leftover Christmas dessert.

Everyone is still on break, relaxing and enjoying these holiday weeks. We're gearing up for a New Years Eve event at Kostel Jinak this week as well. Daniel and I have been trying to get together with people while everyone is a little bit more free right now. And, I'm particularly excited to have a whole day with Daniel this weekend - we're planning on a 1 night trip to visit Prague this Friday/Saturday. 

Ways You Can Be Praying -

- pray for continued connection with Pavla, continued excitement from visiting Kostel Jinak, and that she might be interested in joining us again

- pray for visitors to attend New Years Eve with us at Kostel Jinak

- pray for good conversations as Daniel and I meet with people this week

- pray for safety in our travels to Prague

Extra pics:

We went out for pizza 12/23

We went to a hockey game!

I went walking, here are some of my pics -

Odds & Ends

Warning: This post is probably a little boring, but it is full of things people have asked about; plus a few odds and ends/lists/stories that have popped into my brain over the past couple months. I'll do an update on Christmas, how it went, thoughts from our neighbor, pictures, etc next time. 

Embarrassing/Funny Stories:
- The proper greeting in all situations here is, "Dobrý den" (good day), "dobrý" meaning, "good." One morning, as I was walking to meet a friend for lunch, I passed by a group of construction workers. As I had just walked by, I heard, "Dobrý!" I had heard this single word used occasionally as a shorted version of "Good day;" so, meaning to not be impolite, I turned back around to wave and return the greeting. A full body-turn and a mid-wave later, I realized, They're saying 'good' as in 'it's all good' to signal each other that it's okay to move their construction supplies and truck!" They weren't greeting me after all; but the beginnings of my supposedly-reciprocated gesture had already been spotted. I had to think quickly how to cover my embarrassment. Of course, I turned my wave into a smooth but awkward dance move and pretended to be singing a far-fetched "Dobrý den" version of "Oh What A Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma, and continued on my way.

- The landing after each stair set in our apartment building recently was relabeled to coordinate with the elevator level numbers. Prior to this update, if anyone came over, I'd have to explain, "If you take the stairs, we're on level 5; if you take the elevator, press the button for level 4." I mostly took the stairs, so I always remembered "level 5." However, one day, after a trip to the store for a lot of groceries, I decided, "I'll take the elevator this time." I was relieved not to have to haul all those groceries up all those stairs and I happily climbed in, set down the groceries to give my arms a rest and waited to reach my level. When the elevator doors opened, I went to the door and pulled out my keys to unlock so I could I enter. However, my key wouldn't go all the way in the door handle; I've had the experience in the past where - if Daniel's keys are in the door handle on the opposite side, my keys won't go all the way in. So after trying to jimmy my keys in the handle unsuccessfully, I began knocking on the door and yelling for Daniel to come get his keys out of the opposite handle and let me in. After about 2 1/2 "Daaaaaaniiiiieeeeel" yells, I suddenly realized, *gasp!* This isn't my door! This isn't my entrance rug! This isn't my shoe bench. This isn't my apartment. *gasp!* What if someone is home and they're coming to answer the door - and they think I've been trying to break in - and I don't speak enough Czech to explain myself!!!!!!! I could hear footsteps approaching the door and I was mortified. I grabbed my bags and dashed for the stairwell! I escaped to a shadowy corner just as a woman opened her door and started yelling, "Ano? Ano?! Ano?!!" and a few other things I couldn't understand. She hadn't seen me, so I was okay; but I was so confused how I'd gotten off at the wrong level. I didn't know where I was suddenly. I was totally disoriented with all the excitement. So, I took the elevator back down to ground level, looked in the building entrance to see if my mailbox was there (I thought perhaps I was in the wrong building totally; the idea seemed to make sense at the time). I saw my mailbox, so I knew I was in the correct building. I walked back up the stairs and made it home safely. I must have hit "level 5" for the elevator button originally, instead of level 4. You have no idea how glad I am to have our level numbers all matched up and coordinating with the elevator now.

Things I'm most glad I packed:
- leg warmers
- hat
- paints/markers/art supplies
- a few small gift-y type things
- ground cinnamon
- 1 fancy dress
- Czech phrasebook & dictionary

Things I wish I hadn't packed:
- hand warmers instead of just mittens
- 1 less sweater
- 1 less pair of shoes
- fewer spices (we have a great selection here actually, including a few favorites: red pepper, cumin, basil, and curry)
 - 2 fewer necklaces

Things I wish I had packed:
- 1 extra pair of socks
- 1 extra undershirt

What I did pack:
- 2 suitcases total (including the carryon), plus my 1 personal bag/purse; this included:  4 sweaters, 2 undershirts, 2 tshirts, 2 long sleeve shirts, 4 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of pants, [of course underwear], 2 pj's, toiletries, 5 pairs of shoes (both black & brown boots, hiking shoes, dress shoes, and the shoes I wore on the plane), 2 scarves, an umbrella, 5 necklaces/4 sets of earrings

Notes for anyone in the future:
- Just pack 1 week's worth of clothes total
- Bring a few extra small gifts
- Be ready at all times to bake or cook or purchase food from a store; always have snacks on hand
- Language/communication is essential
- Know how to cook from scratch; no box mixes :)

Rare/Non-existent foods in our area:
- Sour Patch Kids candy (non existent)
- hot/spicy foods
- cranberries (I found some at Makro last week but they're not in any stores here in Šumperk; a guy from Kostel who went to cullinary school actually didn't know what cranberries were)
- molasses (non existent) 
- brown sugar (non existent; there is raw sugar here that is called "brown sugar" though)

I'm sure this list will grow, morph, perhaps change altogether with time. These are things that came to my mind for now though. 

Christmas in the Czech Republic

Ahoj! I'm sitting at my dining table, drinking a cup of Caramelized Pear tea with a caramel wafer cookie [set the wafer on top of the mug and the caramel melts inside! You can find the same wafer cookies at World Market or Trader Joe's, I believe]. It has been a full few past days! I have found a love for hockey [we went to a local game last night; Šumperk's team lost, but it was so much fun!], we ran a quick trip to Olomouc for a tiny bit of Christmas food and gift shopping, we've had our usual weekly meetings with Vašek, fit in English conversation, enjoyed an English Conversation Christmas "party," attended a kids' Christmas concert, and of course have been prepping for Christmas ourselves.

A couple highlights from the above list of events:
- The English Conversation Christmas "party" was a night with both levels of understanding combined for a Christmas themed conversation. We played more games, giving people the opportunity to share what they like most about winter, brainstorm Christmas-related words to go with each letter of the English alphabet, and talk about what their family's Christmas traditions are. Everyone brought a Christmas treat to share. One guy that attends the conversation works at a candy store. He brought Daniel and I each a Christmas gift - a chocolate CD and a chocolate "ipad." 

- The kids' Christmas concert was with the children I help with on Tuesdays. All the parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters came together for this special event. It was a HUGE opportunity for people to brave stepping inside the church!!! The other weekend - for the Christmas concert at Kostel - I had written Christmas-y verses in Czech on painted backgrounds and hung them on pillars inside Kostel. Lida and I both were in awe that God had orchestrated allowing these people to [hopefully] read these Scriptures around Kostel as they watched their children's program. The kids were all dressed up, and they all did an amazing job with their singing, dancing, instrumental debuts and skit. Their talent is incredible! I have a few videos linked at the bottom of this post, but I'm kind of sad I didn't get a clip of them singing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" in English.  

So what are we doing for Christmas? And, what are the differences between Christmas in the States vs Czech Republic?

Czechs celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve; Christmas Day is more just a day of rest. The typical day starts with a few toasts to the holiday with family, perhaps going for a walk or lighting candles for relatives that have passed; cooking, cooking, and more cooking until the food is ready; eat a lot and continue eating all night. Then, open gifts in the evening. Santa Clause is not a thing here; however, it is said that "Baby Jesus" brings the gifts. I've been asking around if this suggestion of Baby Jesus bringing gifts adds to the idea that Jesus is a mere myth. Some people had never thought of it that way; some have said, "Definitely, yes." I found a few postcards with Santa on them while in Slovakia. A Czech friend here was so excited to see them but laughed, because she knew that these postcards were made for tourists - she said that the red coated "Papa Noel" is from the Russian traditions and guessed the postcards were Russian-made. There are no Christmas stockings here, but my parents were awesome enough to mail Daniel and I each a stocking! Thanks, Mom & Dad! 

The food - when I show people the pictures of the Christmas ham that I would normally eat in Minnesota, they say they've never seen anything like this before and that they don't sell them in Czech [I think they do in a larger store here called Makro - similar to Sam's Club, but it's geared toward restaurant and business owners]. Traditionally, Czechs eat carp over potato salad with carp milt soup beforehand. Since carp is super strong though, most people have steered away from that tradition and have opted for schnitzel or salmon. This week, I noticed people rushing in the morning to line up next to big blue barrels next to wooden sheds - I told Daniel, "Something exciting is happening; I just know it!" Sure enough - it was carp for sale!!! People choose their Christmas carp from one of the many stands around town. They catch it in a small net, weigh it, and they can choose to kill it at the moment with a club to the head; or, they can take it home, let it swim in their bathtub and they'll kill it themselves on Christmas Eve so it is fresh for cooking. I failed at getting really good pictures of this process but scroll down for a few shots.  There's one other food tradition that I've heard of: the golden pig. I've heard a few versions of this folklore pig.
1. Eat all day and in the evening you will see a golden pig in the street. 2. Wait all day to eat your big meal in the evening and you will see a golden pig. AND 3. Eat vegetarian and you will see a golden pig. 

I've been baking in preparation for tomorrow's Christmas Eve celebration. I possibly have royally screwed up the cake. It's supposed to be a vanilla cake with cranberries, pecans and orange zest. I have a backup peach-cobbler in mind though. We're going to Vašek and Lida's home for celebrations; Libor will also be there. We'll be eating sushi, tuna, and a little bit of carp [just for Vašek and I]. At night, Kostel is hosting a Christmas Eve celebration. Daniel and I invited my neighbor, Pavla, and she's excited to attend with us. Please, please, please be praying for her!!! This is her first time in a church apart from an Advent concert! We also invited all those that attend English Conversation with us.

Christmas Day, Daniel and I will exchange gifts, open our stockings, and I'll make soup. This is a long post, so I'll wrap it up now. Enjoy a few pictures & videos below! And, as we say in Czech - Veselé Vánoce! Merry Christmas!

Mistletoe being sold in town

Hanging out after our Christmas English Conversation

Hanging out after our English Conversation

A familiar sight! Salvation Army still does bell-ringing here!

One of the carp stations in town

Choosing a carp

the Carp

Kids preparing for the Christmas program

Kids doing their Christmas program skit

SHORT VIDEOS from the KIDS' PROGRAM:
Video 1
Video 2

We couldn't miss the Star Wars movie - even while abroad; these amazing people dressed for the occasion!!!

A few belated videos from the Kostel concert the other weekend:
Tereza & Lida
Lida
Trocha Klidu
they're a big deal here!

Ways You Can Pray for Us:

- we have just 1 month left; pray that we can keep present-minded & use every moment as a gift for God and His purposes

- pray for us to have the spiritual sensitivity, the eyes to see and ears to hear the ways that we can be making the most of our last month here

- pray for Pavla's experience at Kostel. It is a more casual, relaxed time to hang out together tomorrow really, but it's hard to fully explain that to her with our limited language abilities. Pray that she really enjoys her time, that she'll feel included and not out of place [for being most likely the oldest person there]

- pray for our English Conversation friends to attend the Christmas Eve gathering at Kostel

- pray for our families in the States to still be filled with the fullest joy at Christmas despite our absence

- pray for new believers here to really feel the specialness and understand more fully the meaning of Christmas

- as with any event, holiday or special occasion, pray against the potential stresses or little ways that Satan tries to rob us of our joy

Convo's & Cookies

I'm in between trays of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies right now. My bff, Rachel, was kind enough to send an awesome care package with some cookie mixes; so they're being put to good use for our English Conversation Christmas party tonight. We're planning on reviewing Christmas/winter words and use them to play a few games. Everyone was asked to bring their favorite Christmas treat to share, so I hope we get some interesting contributions!

I have an English conversation with a girl just before the party as well; we're watching TED talks [that have Czech subtitles] as our source of conversations.

Maybe you saw our Facebook posting the other day that I had an amazing conversation with some people about Jesus. We talked about a wide range of things - differences between Jesus' teachings and others' teachings/the exclusivity of Jesus; the authenticity, validity, and historicity of the Scriptures; the idea of a conceptual God vs a relational God; absolute truth vs absolutely nothing; context being essential for interpretation... and so much more. Please pray for these people that I spoke with. They are not Christians but do have Christian influence in their life. I tried to be respectful of their views, but I never know with cultural and language differences if that translates well.

I also had a surprising bit of a conversation with a friend who is a new Christian. She didn't know what we celebrate at Christmas, so I was able to explain that this is the time of year to remember Christ's birth. Christmas is my favorite, so I was a little shocked that someone wouldn't know what Christmas is about. But that's a huge difference between here and the States - being surrounded by churches galore and part of a culture that has somewhat "Christian" values as an undertone. As much as I think I "remember" Christ's birth and observe the real meaning of Christmas, this conversation with my friend was incredibly humbling to remember His Grace that I am even aware of His birth at all.

Big, exciting news: Our neighbor, Pavla, has accepted our invitation to go to Kostel Jinak with us for a special service on Christmas Eve! She has never been to church apart from an Advent concert. This is a huge deal!!!

These last few days of this week are quite busy for students right now; they're cramming in last-minute work and tests before their 2-week Christmas vacation. They will probably also be doing homework during their break since their semester doesn't actually end until mid-January. So when they return to school, they'll be facing finals for the semester.

A batch of cookies needs my attention now, but I thought I'd get a quick post accomplished! :D

Hope you're all enjoying your Christmas preparations!

How You Can Be Praying:

- health; Vašek is on the mend, but quite a few people have the sore throat, fever, and congestion going on

- English Conversations to go well, be helpful and fruitful for people

- the family I spoke with about Jesus

- Pavla, our neighbor

- students' studies, exams and R&R during their breaks

- the new Christians; fullness of understanding and joy this Christmas season

- safe travels for those visiting family and friends for the holidays

- pray again Satan's desire to steal glory and attention away from God this Christmas

Travels & the Weekend

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your patience as we try to crank out another post here. I hardly had any wifi access last week, and Daniel was busy with his own travels and hosting English Conversation by himself.

We both had amazing weeks of adventures. Daniel visited Prague for three days. Vašek went with him on Monday but returned the same time. Daniel used his Couchsurfing.org connections (we love couchsurfing!!!) to stay with a guy in the city. He walked to far ends just outside the busy hub bub of tourist attractions and enjoyed the peacefulness of the outskirts. He did a little shopping as well and got himself a warm winter coat. :) 

English Conversation went well for him. The first group talked about types of clothing and where you might wear those items to (party clothes, winter clothes, hiking clothes, etc). It was a good opportunity to review weather related and celebration type words. The second group talked about media: music, tv, movies, etc.

This coming Thursday, we're going to be having a combined Christmas party for both groups. We'll play Christmas games and everyone is supposed to bring their favorite Christmas treat to share. I still need to brainstorm/refine my ideas for games. You can pray about that!!!

Lenka and I traveled through Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava last week. We were thankful to have some awesome connections with friends, global partners, and couchsurfing for our overnight accommodations. It was interesting to hear updates of the refugee crisis in each of the areas we visited. You can be praying for the amazing opportunities that Cru friends are experiencing with the refugees currently. So many open doors to share the Gospel! Just two weeks prior to our arrival in both Vienna and Budapest, streets had been closed and borders were majorly congested. Many groups are working tirelessly to love on and care for the refugees right now, and progress is being made.

Lenka and I both agreed that Vienna had the most amazing and widespread Christmas decorations while Budapest had the best Christmas markets (they had more handmade and unique items) and Bratislava had the most beautiful Christmas tree. It was nice to end in Bratislava, a smaller, quieter place compared to the large cities of Vienna and Budapest. 

I got back home Friday evening, and Saturday was back in full swing again with action and activities. Daniel and I attended a married-couples' morning of study and talk at Kostel. Then I had an incredible 3 hour hike with some girls for English Conversation. The view was breathtaking, and I'll have to post pictures next time. Saturday evening was the Kostel service, and Sunday evening was a concert! I'll also save pictures and videos of the concert for next time. :)

This week is full of English Conversations - some new and some returning people. A lot of beginner level, which is a lot more challenging.

Ways You Can Pray for Us

- pray for ease and flow of English Conversation meetings

- pray for us not to face the blues too much with being away from home for Christmas

- pray for health for Vašek, the pastor here; he's fighting a sore throat and a cold currently

And now a few pictures of our travels!

First - Daniel's trip to Prague:

And then mine & Lenka's trips to Austria, Hungary & Slovakia -

Our first Christmas Market in Vienna

Buildings seemed extra large in Vienna

No really, the buildings were HUGE in Vienna!

View of Danube River from Budapest Castle

At Budapest Castle

St. Stephanus Christmas Market, Budapest

Budapest Parliament Building

Sunset over Danube in Bratislava, Slovakia

Bratislava Christmas Market

Bratislava Christmas Market

View from Historic Downtown Bratislava

And we ended our trip at a Cat Coffee House in Bratislava

St. Nick's Day & Prom

This is going to be a shorter update even though this past week has been chalk-full of activities. Daniel and I both have been busy meeting up with people, doing English Conversation one-on-one and for our regular Thursday groups. It has also been a week with a lot of excitement, leading up to St Nicolas Day! 

All week I have noticing angels and devils and St. Nicolas's running around town. This pic was taken from my kitchen window. Just a normal day. Last night, there was a big parade that went through the streets. We watched it from the Kostel windows since we were beginning our church service at the same time. 

Also, the tree in the city center was lit and there's a mini Christmas market that switches from selling ornaments and toys during the day to selling hot ciders, cocoas and wines in the evening.

This week was also PROM for us!!! Yep, we really went to prom. And, this was my first prom ever since my high school only offered a formal banquet event. The prom here was incredibly different than I could have imagined. The night started with a ceremony to crown the seniors. Then came an awesome orchestra and folk bands for a long period of traditional and folk dances. Daniel and I tried to go out for a waltz, but someone out in the crowd stepped on me and that ended my optimism for the moment. Most Czech students take two years of traditional dance lessons during high school, so they looked like professionals as I watched from the balcony.

I'm running short on time for posting right now, so I'l just do a few pics with captions for the rest. 

Ballet performance for intermission

This awesome "folk-beatbox" band performed at the Kostel concert last November; they're local and everyone loves them. Check out that cute mini couple on the stage!!! They were hamming it up the entire performance. And no, I don't think they had any relation to the band.

Ways You Can Pray for Us This Week:

- both Daniel and I are having a vacation week more or less. Pray for some good ol' fashioned R&R for us please

- I'm traveling with my friend, Lenka, to Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava today through Friday; pray for our safety, good bonding time together and that we catch all our trains and buses on time

- Daniel is going to Prague for a couple days, so pray for his safety as well

- Daniel will be leading English Conversation on his own this coming Thursday, so you can pray for him to not be nervous, for the people to understand him and that they'll be engaged with the topics.

Thanks so much everyone, for your continued prayers!!!