Categories
365 Czech Republic

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

Benjamin Franklin said, “Early to bed and early to rise makes and man healthy, wealthy and wise.” But I don’t think our man Ben meant rising at 1:30am because our family tried that today and it really doesn’t feel healthy, and I definitely don’t feel wise. We did, however, find it a great time to get some email done and do a little more grocery shopping!

We literally went to the grocery store at 6am today, right when they opened. Since we had breakfast around 3:30am, we had plenty of time in the morning to get ready and leave the house. Sadly, because of our early day, the kids weren’t as cheery about it as we were and they were starting to get tired by the time we got there. Bethany knew we at least needed some lunch food and so we prepared ourselves to just buy one meal and leave, so that’s just what we did.

Living in Czech (6/28/14)

Our afternoon was quite uneventful. We put the kids down for a nap around 8am and Bethany and I were working on communicating with our shipping container company and even finishing up some last minute details that we didn’t do before leaving the States (like canceling our U.S. cell phones). Bethany got a little laundry done, but there is no dryer here so she put out the washed clothes on a drying rack (below) and set it near a sunny window. Don’t worry, we’re just airing out our clean laundry, not our dirty laundry. Dad joke.

Living in Czech (6/28/14)

Tonight was really the highlight. Our friends Mel and Amy Ellenwood who have been actively helping us during the transition invited us over for dinner. It was a great meal complete with red quinoa, noodles with balsamic vinegar and veggies, bratwursts, amazing pork chops, and chicken hot dogs for the kids! The Ellenwoods even have a nice garden in their backyard where the kids got to pick and eat fresh raspberries off the vine. It truly was a fun night and we’re so thankful to have other missionaries near by to help and support us and occasionally throw in a pork chop!

Living in Czech (6/28/14)

IMG_2398.jpg

IMG_2400.jpg

IMG_2404.jpg

I’ve driven in Los Angeles enough to know that you need to read the signs. Sometimes you can’t park on one side of the street on the 3rd Thursday of every month, other times you can only park between 1-2pm, and just this week I read about a “1 Minute Parking” sign on an L.A. street. Needless to say I know I’m supposed to read the signs. But what if the sign is in Czech and it lists numerous times and days!? I stared at the sign below for a while before finally deciding we were fine to park there on Saturday night after 13:00 (aka 1pm). Was I sure? Nope. Is that just life right now? Yup. Now back to bed!

Living in Czech (6/28/14)

Categories
365 Czech Republic

Jet Lag, Courage, and Ice Cream

You would think that on our fourth full day in Czech we would be over our jet lag, but today may have been the worst yet. We’ve heard it takes about a day per hour of time change to adjust, so for us that would mean it would take us nine days to be fully adjusted to our new time zone. Sing it with us, “Whooaaooohhhh, we’re half-way there!” Our “nap” this afternoon accidentally turned into a five hour sleep session so we’re definitely still struggling.

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

Since we were all awake by 4:00am this morning we had breakfast at 5:00 and then went for a walk around 6:30. The weather was wonderful today. All the clouds cleared for the first time since we’ve arrived and we had a brilliant sunny day. On our walk we passed by what appears to be the town square with a water fountain in the center. There were lots of little cart stand owners starting to setup their shops, and we saw they had many different items for sale from wooden trinkets to roasted nuts.

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

Walking through town is like being on a movie set–everything just doesn’t seem to be real. Everywhere you look there are fresh flowers, like on the street lights (above), and we joked that the only place we’ve really seen those is on Main Street in Disneyland.

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

Our walk this morning took us to a park along a river which doubles as the border between Czech Republic and Poland. Since it was early, there were a lot of people walking their dogs. It’s really fascinating to hear people talking to their dogs in another language. The park is very nice and we even found a play area for kids which Titus and Avery loved.

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

I’m realizing it does take a little courage to go outside and try something new. Bethany asked me to go to the store before dinner for some bread and milk and I definitely hesitated. You just fear you’ll be stuck in line, unable to speak Czech and come home with nothing. But I’m so glad I finally did it! Going to the store is a language learning opportunity and now I’m sure I’ll never forget the number four because that’s how many pieces of bread I had and the lady at the check out counter kept saying it to me!

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

After dinner we ventured down to the street to get some ice cream. We can see the ice cream shop from the window of where we’re staying and we figured even if it was hard to communicate it be worth the effort. Avery was able to get a strawberry sugar cone and Titus a lemon/vanilla cone. The girl at the ice cream place realized we spoke English and she spoke a little herself so she was able to tell us what each thing was. The kids thought it was great fun which is always a joy for us.

Living in Český Těšín (6/27/14)

Although it was a somewhat uneventful day, the smallest things are big events. I know we’re tired and jet lagged, but our world has been flipped around for sure. Some things are familiar and other things are just simply foreign. That might sound simplistic, and maybe it is, but even the simplest things can be a challenge. I’m thankful for the time we have right now to just adjust and take the posture of learners.

Categories
365 Czech Republic

From Sour Milk to a Spaghetti Meal

Bethany and I were pretty proud of ourselves. We went to the grocery store all by ourselves, I picked out a little thing of milk, and Bethany got the correct amount of Czech crowns (money), we paid for it and left. Both of us were even talking about it after we got back to the flat we’re staying in. “That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be!” I said proudly. “Yeah!” Bethany agreed. Then she took a drink.

20140626-191259-69179121.jpg

In my defense it was clearly marked “mléko”, or milk. What I didn’t know was this was some kind of “special” milk that Czechs enjoy to be healthy. After Googling it for a minute, I think it’s some kind of fermented milk…I don’t know! Unfortunately for Bethany, she was the first to try and as fast as she drank it was as fast as it came flying back out and into the sink. And there it was…our first trip to the store as a family for one item, and we failed. The moral of the story, you ask? Look for milk that is marked “čerstvý” or fresh.

6-25-14_03

Thankfully, it didn’t ruin our day. We did spend some time this morning walking around our new town and just trying to get a feel for our new city. We are currently staying in a friend’s flat and as soon as our container arrives we’ll be able to move into our flat which is just down the road. It’s a great little city here. Everything is basically in walking distance and it’s just a nice place.

6-25-14_01

6-25-14_02

The above house is where we (think?) our new flat is. We’ll be living in the bottom floor. You’ll notice a large catholic church in the background. While we were walking around the bells from the clock tower rang out. I wonder if they do that during the middle of the night?

After our walk we all took a really long nap. The funny thing is it was 10:00am at that point and we had all been awake since 4:30am. Mel and Amy Ellenwood, who have been in Czech for twenty years, came by our place around noon to welcome us and help us get settled. Amy took Bethany over to a local pre-school to try and register Titus. Unfortunately there are no spots available yet, but they are aware of our family and they said the next open spot will be for Titus. Later, Amy took Bethany shopping for groceries and Mel helped get our phones working here, as well as helped me navigate the arrival of our shipping container. They are a precious couple and we’re so thankful for their help today and for answering all of our questions. These early days are not easy, especially with jet lag and little ones, but we are thankful that God provides friends and resources like the Ellenwoods to help keep our heads above water.

6-25-14_04

Finally, because of her time with Amy at the store, Bethany was able to make a great meal which we all really enjoyed. She even expressed to me at dinner that she was really encouraged by all the familiar brands and different types of foods that are available which we weren’t originally sure we would see. We sat down for our first home cooked meal and it was a delicious spaghetti with meat sauce and side salad. Thank you, wife, for your courage at the store today and for a delicious meal!

6-25-14_05

6-25-14_06

Categories
365 Czech Republic

Driving East and Foreign Police

Today was our first full day in Czech. Last night we planned to stay in a hotel near the airport because of our late arrival time. It was a great hotel, but unfortunately we didn’t do a lot of sleeping there. As a family we stayed up until around 2am because of our jet lag, but that didn’t last long and we all woke up around 5:30am. Since we were up we decided to make it to the hotel breakfast which started at 6:30 and then we went outside to jump in the rain puddles.

IMG_2196

IMG_2219Our good friend Kara (also a missionary in Czech) came to Prague and picked us up in a borrowed van. We packed that thing to the ceiling with all of our stuff and started heading eastward toward Český Těšín (pronounced Chesky Tesheen) where we’ll be living. We had to make it to the “Foreign Police” by 5pm in order to register ourselves in the country so we can begin our visa application process. Honestly, I was really tired while we were there, so thankfully Kara helped us and spoke Czech to the officer and got our paperwork squared away. I believe we have everything in place to get our application for visas rolling.

2014-06-25 16.10.36

Finally, around 5:30pm we made it to where we’ll be staying for a few weeks. Another missionary (her name is Rachael) is graciously loaning us her flat in Český Těšín while she is away because are waiting for our container to arrive in the country in the next few weeks. We have great accommodations here and it’s fun to see the little town that will also be our home. Bethany and Kara went to the grocery store tonight to get some food for us and the brought home some kind of flat bread gyro sandwich thing that was really yummy for dinner.

2014-06-25 17.21.50

No we’re super tired…I mean, really tired. Bethany is laying on the couch and we’re hoping to put the kids down for bed and see how long they and we will sleep tonight. Thank you for your continued prayers for us during this first week of transition. It was a really great day to catch up with Kara and just enjoy the Czech countryside while we drove. Please pray for the coming days as we will be more on our own and continue to explore this new place.

Categories
365 Christianity Czech Republic Family

This Is The First

We’re here. It’s ten minutes to 1 AM local time here in Czech Republic, our plane landed around 10:30pm and…we’re here. We have spent the last 16 hours traveling from Los Angeles, dragged about 12 pieces of luggage from the Prague airport to the hotel across the street…we’re here. We just had a literal midnight snack, and the kids are awake watching a movie on Bethany’s laptop, but we’re here.

Maybe it’s the jet lag, but in many ways it doesn’t feel real. I know I am sitting here many miles from all I’ve known as home, but we’re here. God has moved and used many incredible Christians to come alongside us to pray for us and to financially support us and now everything we’ve been praying for begins. I know every day won’t be like the first day, but there many new things to experience and to engage in. There are still a lot of “firsts” left to experience–that’s why I plan to write it all down.

This is the first. This is the first of what I hope to be an ongoing journal of what transitioning life to a new country and culture looks like. Lord willing, it will be daily. My hope is that for a year I can maintain some thought, long or short, from our days in Czech Republic. I hope it will be a testament to the Lord’s grace in our lives, what He is doing, how He is working, and just how our lives are being transformed into the likeness of Christ.

So to start things off I want to simply show you a few photos from today. Here’s how our first day traveling to Czech played out, in just a few photos (captions below each):

Driving to LAX

Here we are on our way to LAX. Our friend John was kind enough to drive. Thanks John!

At LAX with the family

Here we are outside of the international terminal at LAX. I truly rejoice that both of my kids are looking and attempting to smile for this!

Titus stared a huge wall

Titus stared at a huge digital wall of awesomeness.

We flew to Heathrow

We flew to London!
Our plane to Czech

And this plane flew us to Czech!

The kids slept a lot

These kids slept a lot…thank you for praying!

All our stuff arrived!

Every single bag arrived. I accidentally carried the wrong car seat from the airplane all the way to baggage claim, but I was happy to hand it off to another young family. Unfortunately for them, two of their bags were still missing…

Praha

Finally a photo of the Prague (Praha) airport from our hotel. Ok, now time for bed!