Monday, October 16, 2006
Once upon a weekend dreary
It seemed like Ostrava was in a state of mourning this weekend. The sky was perpetually gray and the air was cold and foggy. It was somewhat fitting for our mood as the Arrows fell in the fourth game to the 11-year champions Brno Draci to lose the championship, and as we watched our good friend David wave goodbye from his taxi on the way back to Scotland.
Although the week wasn’t all sad. We had our first youth film night on Friday and I was delighted to see that four of my students came. Perhaps they actually do understand me after all! Last night was my first concert with Revelation. We sang in a packed house for the Seventh Day Adventist youth, who made the experience twice as enjoyable by dancing, singing, and doing the wave during the concert. From the perspective of the veterans, however, it was not the best performance we’ve had. I realized I didn’t know some of the songs as well as I thought, and was so busy trying not to knock over the microphone while I was clapping and swaying that I kept forgetting which part of the song we were singing! I did enjoy it though, and I look forward to future concerts.
I think I’ve begun to settle in a bit more here in the Czech Republic, although often I wake up from dreams where I’ve been at home or in Clemson, and I’m really thrown off when I realize where I am. There still is sort of an “I’m in Ostrava?” reaction sometimes. It seems like I’ve been here forever and I still have such a long way to go. I find myself starting to worry about the winter. Everyone makes such a big deal of it, how much they hate it, how dark it is, and how I’m going to be cold and miserable for the next seven months. It’s not the most cheerful thought, but at least I get to wear all my fun winter hats. Perhaps I’ll take up knitting.
Czech fact of the Week: Czech people reuse grocery bags, and I mean they really reuse them. At home I refuse to throw them away, but I always get irritated at the mass-pileup of plastic. We save them just in case we need them, but how often do we use them? Czechs take their own grocery bags to the store. If you forget a bag, they do have some you can buy if you can’t fit everything into your purse. It’s not a bad idea, actually. Saves on plastic pile-up if nothing else. So next time you make a run to the nearest Bi-lo or Kroger, and the bag boy asks if you want paper or plastic, you can just smile as you take out your bag from last week and say, “no thanks, I brought my own.”
Joke of the week, compliments of Scottish David:
Two fish are in a tank. One looks at the other and says, “Do you know how to drive this thing?”
Verse of the week:
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26)
Although the week wasn’t all sad. We had our first youth film night on Friday and I was delighted to see that four of my students came. Perhaps they actually do understand me after all! Last night was my first concert with Revelation. We sang in a packed house for the Seventh Day Adventist youth, who made the experience twice as enjoyable by dancing, singing, and doing the wave during the concert. From the perspective of the veterans, however, it was not the best performance we’ve had. I realized I didn’t know some of the songs as well as I thought, and was so busy trying not to knock over the microphone while I was clapping and swaying that I kept forgetting which part of the song we were singing! I did enjoy it though, and I look forward to future concerts.
I think I’ve begun to settle in a bit more here in the Czech Republic, although often I wake up from dreams where I’ve been at home or in Clemson, and I’m really thrown off when I realize where I am. There still is sort of an “I’m in Ostrava?” reaction sometimes. It seems like I’ve been here forever and I still have such a long way to go. I find myself starting to worry about the winter. Everyone makes such a big deal of it, how much they hate it, how dark it is, and how I’m going to be cold and miserable for the next seven months. It’s not the most cheerful thought, but at least I get to wear all my fun winter hats. Perhaps I’ll take up knitting.
Czech fact of the Week: Czech people reuse grocery bags, and I mean they really reuse them. At home I refuse to throw them away, but I always get irritated at the mass-pileup of plastic. We save them just in case we need them, but how often do we use them? Czechs take their own grocery bags to the store. If you forget a bag, they do have some you can buy if you can’t fit everything into your purse. It’s not a bad idea, actually. Saves on plastic pile-up if nothing else. So next time you make a run to the nearest Bi-lo or Kroger, and the bag boy asks if you want paper or plastic, you can just smile as you take out your bag from last week and say, “no thanks, I brought my own.”
Joke of the week, compliments of Scottish David:
Two fish are in a tank. One looks at the other and says, “Do you know how to drive this thing?”
Verse of the week:
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26)
# posted by Jessica @ 2:49 AM 
