Days 30,31, and 32

This week has focused on English lessons.  We’re not sure if our students have learned anything, but we sure have learned a few things.  First, we learned that we don’t actually use correct grammar when we speak.  Second, we learned why we were not English majors in college.  After each lesson we have frantically studied up on riveting topics such as the difference between present perfect, past perfect and simple past tenses.  We now know how we should have been speaking these past 35 years. 
Yeah, yeah, we know we are older than 35, but that was a nice round number, and we are not willing to associate with the next round number just yet.

Oh, and we learned one more important thing.  English classes are much more fun when held at the bowling alley!  This week we met with the ladies’ group at the Tachov bowling alley.  The alley is in the ice hockey arena, and consists of four lanes.  Bowling is more or less the same here as in the US, except that the lanes are a little narrower and a good bit shorter.  However, for some reason it seemed even harder to do well than in the US.  Or perhaps we should say it seemed harder to do no more poorly than we usually do in the US.  So, who can tell us if that last sentence used proper grammar?  Not so easy, huh?

Our next larger commitment starts on Saturday evening with Bicycle Camp, so we rearranged our teaching schedule a little bit so we could take a mini trip for two days before getting back into things.  This has given us the opportunity to give Daniel an early birthday present by taking the boys to the Playmobil Fun Park outside Nurnberg.  Both boys are big into Playmobils (little German action figures of sorts), so this seems like a great fit.  Phil is pretty excited too.  Nurnberg is the closest major German city to Tachov (about 1 ½ hours away).  This afternoon we arrived in Nurnberg and were able to spend a few hours downtown seeing the sites.  Nurnberg was heavily damaged in WWII, but a surprising number of historical (as in hundreds of years old) buildings have been preserved or restored.   The not-so-historical Italian restaurant we found for dinner rounded out a wonderful evening.  The weather, though a bit chilly, was warm enough so that we could eat outside – a wonderful European custom.  We bought Eric a Germany baseball cap at a souvenir store, to which he announced, “Now I’m a real German boy!”  Of course he said this in English – using perfect grammar, we might add.

Tomorrow we’re off to the Playmobil park!  It makes us reminisce about our LifeSigns youth in Sterling heading to Kings Dominion in Virginia this week.  Hope you all have a blast. 

Some photos:
Daniel and Eric playing Floorball at youth camp, a favorite summer sport in this hockey-loving country.

Daniel on the football (soccer) field.

Daniel and Eric posing for the Washington Post "KidsPost."

Bowling with the ladies' English class and Michal, our other student.

Teresa with the Tachov Hockey club mascot.

Days 27, 28 and 29

So did anyone expect youth camp to end quietly?  Of course not, but we have to admit this was unique!  On Friday night the youth were invited to don their finest medieval armor and to ambush the knights of the neighboring children's camp, who were doing a big medieval re-enactment thing.  In short, we put on black trash bags and went into the dark forest to beat the little children with sticks. 

Ok, so it wasn't exactly like that.  There was this whole complicated legend the children's camp was re-living.  Our part came when they had to capture the sword of the neighboring kingdom.  We were the dark knights who were trying to protect the sword.  So, we hid in the pitch black pine forest and laid in wait for the children to arrive with their wooden shields and swords.  Then we jumped out and a ferocious battle ensued, with exploding firecrackers, swordfights, tiki torch lanterns, and the like.  We must say, it was pretty wild to say the least.  Actually it was total pandamonium.  Every 10 year-old's dream! 

Of course the battle was pre-scripted so that after the 2nd 10-minute skirmish the children won and we had to flee through the trees with the children in pursuit.  With the pitch darkness of the forest, the thick smoke of 25 minutes of firecrackers and burned out tiki lanterns, this proved quite challenging.  Fortunately for us, the children had been instructed that they were not to hit us in the head with their swords.  Phil's wooden stick (sword) was used purely defensively we assure you! 

Those of us who made it back to camp (some of our youth were taken prisoner we think) were rewarded with a bonfire where we roasted sausages.  No s'mores here.  In the Czech Republic campfires are for large cuts of meat!  Especially after fighting hoards of enemy knights. 

Camp ended the next day with a series of powerful testimonials from the youth.  We were deeply moved by conversations we had with some of the youth and young adults.  God was clearly present in this place.  It was a privilege to be welcomed here and to be able to contribute to the teaching and mentoring of these awesome youth.   

While language has been a barrier, there have been times when the barrier actually turned into a blessing.  Sometimes a silent prayer offered with a hand on the shoulder of a crying youth is more valuable than any words we could have offered.  When Phil was counseling a young lady who was sharing some deep struggles she was facing in her life, the need for translation slowed the conversation to half speed.  This allowed/required Phil to truly listen, and gave him time to prayerfully consider his responses.  Surely there is a lesson in this.  The scriptures call us to be quick to listen and slow to speak (James 1:19).  Living this out was a powerful case study for Phil that he won't soon forget, even as he works with people in his own language.  So much so, in fact, that it caused Phil to wonder if this one conversation was perhaps the reason God called him to the Czech Republic this summer.

Our return to Tachov was uneventful, and allowed Phil an opportunity to contemplate his sermon for this morning.  Teresa and the boys noted that the sermon sounded suspiciously similar to what they had heard from Phil during the week at youth camp.  Impossible!   It was a small congregation this morning, as Pastor Milan and several other congregation members had headed to Vacation Bible School Camp.  With Phil covering the sermon this morning, and a series of English classes we are holding this week, we are needed back in Tachov.  Next week Bicycle Camp starts, so more devotions also need to be written.

Today ended with a short football (soccer) game that Daniel and Phil were invited to participate in by some congregation members.  Phil was very proud of Daniel, who played well and demonstrated many of the skills he has been learning in Sterling.  After one and a half hours, as we were both preparing to die of exhaustion, everyone finally headed for the sidelines.  Unfortunately it turned out that was only half time.  Another hour of play followed.  We will sleep well tonight.

Some pictures:

Phil preaching again at youth camp:

Eric building a cross:

Temelin Nuclear Power Station:

Daniel peeling potatoes at youth camp:

Eric learning how to play ping pong:

The dark knights protecting the sacred sword:

One handsome dark knight:

The battle rages on.  Phil is the red/blue guy holding the torch:

After the skirmish at the fire pit:

Days 24, 25, and 26

We are nearing the end of an eventful youth camp week.  Activities throughout the day have kept us quite busy.  At the end of Phil's 2-hour seminar on Wednesday, even he was growing tired of his voice.  So, for his sermon the next evening he decided to introduce the youth here to some onetimeblind skits.  This went over quite well.  In addition, we have been leading Bible studies every morning and "English Conversations" each evening where we discuss topics like, "Why does God allow suffering?"  "Is God okay with birth control?" and "Is assisted suicide okay?"  We've had some great and thought-provoking discussions.  Tonight's topic will be premarital sex.

Many of these topics have touched on the life experiences of the youth, so we have had some wonderful opportunities to open doors for ministry.  Often, because of language limitations, these conversations are then carried forward individually by the other leaders.  We are grateful for our role in being the outsiders who can raise topics from a neutral and non-threatening position.

Every afternoon we have our recreation activity.  Last time I wrote about soccer and softball.  Those went quite well.  Now, try explaining American football to people whose closest concept of it is rugby.  One thing was clear - they did not want to play 2-hand touch.  They wanted to tackle!  It was the most unusual game of football we have ever played, to be sure, but everyone seemed to have a great time, and only a couple of kids were limping at the end of it.  One kid (the Pete Perhach look-alike) declared in his broken German (he speaks no English), "I don't think I will play American football anymore.  My leg is sick!"

We have been struck by the tremendously warm welcome we have received here at the camp.  Always one of the youth is by our side to translate as needed (it is always needed, though we have gotten better at figuring out the gist of what is being talked about at any given time).  Many of the youth and adults have stopped to thank us for being here, to share their appreciation for the messages and sermons, to thank us for teaching them how to throw an American football, and the like.  We get the sense that we have truly been valued here, which is a good feeling.

Yesterday was the all day trip - a canoe trip - for the youth.  Because of the threatening weather, we opted out and instead went with a smaller group to visit a castle about 20 miles south of here.  It was called Zamek Hubloka nad Vltavou.  I think the Vltavou part refers to the nearby Vltava river which flows through Prague as well.  

On the way to the castle we drove past a large nuclear power plant that provides 20% of the Czech Republic's electricity.  When I say, we drove past, I mean almost directly under!  The road we were on couldn't have been more than 50 feet from the edge of one of the huge (150 meter high) cooling towers.  It was a pretty impressive sight.   Unfortunately, because of the driving rain we did not get good photos.

At the castle the weather broke and we had a nice, cool afternoon of about 70 degrees.  We checked the weather in the USA and saw that it is still 100 degrees everywhere - sorry guys.  Just don't expect us to come back with suntans.  The castle had been used without interruption from the 1200's until 1947 when the communists took it from the most recent owners, the Schwarzenberg family (still a powerful force in Czech politics).  It was definitely a glimpse into the lives of the aristocracy.  Certainly no expense was spared in this place.  Photos were not allowed inside, which is a shame, because it was opulent to say the least.

Tonight is the final evening of Youth Camp.  Tomorrow we will clean the camp and then return to Tachov in the afternoon, where Phil's Sunday sermon and English students await.

A video from worship at Camp:

Some photos:

Eric getting a hit during our softball game:

Phil preaching, with Slavo translating.  Slavo is a young man from Slovakia who is preparing for a 2-year mission to West Papua in Indonesia to translate the Bible into a native Papuan tribal language:

 Football Americky:

 Phil and Teresa acting out a skit during worship:

Zameck Hluboka nad Vltavou:

Days 21, 22 and 23

Today we finished the second full day of youth camp.  Teaching softball and how to throw a football were the activity highlights today.  We were pleased to see the quick progress and ability.  After our softball game, which ended with a score of 8-8 after 3 innings (ok, so the hitting was better than the fielding), the youth opted for a game of football (soccer), in which they are much more adept.  We had a great game on the nearby village field (every two-horse town in the Czech Republic has at least one beautiful soccer field, and usually a small soccer stadium as well).

Yesterday was Capture the Flag in the woods.  Mixer time included the crowd favorite, "Have you seen my goat?"  Of course, with the English language groups this was no problem to play.  When translated into Czech, however, the word "goat" has the slang connotation of "women's breasts," so once again we bumped into a language barrier.  Since we found it inappropriate to play "Have you seen my breasts?" at youth camp, we changed the game to "Have you seen my dog?"  The game went great from there.  Good thing God has a sense of humor.

Today's invited speaker was a former Czech Olympic athlete, Vladimir Kocman, who won a bronze medal in Judo at the 1980 Moscow games.  Since the US boycotted those games because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the USSR in turn boycotted the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, he was not able to compete against American athletes.  (The 1984 boycott encompassed all communist east block countries including the then Czechoslovakia).  He was proud, though, that he was able to compete in the 1983 US Open Games, where he also received the bronze, and thereby legitimized his Olympic success.  He passed around his medals, so we each got to hold an Olympic medal, which we found pretty special.  We spent a few tense moments praying that Eric would not drop one of them on the floor and put a big gouge in the side.  He didn't.  The story turned as Vladimir told of how his 6 year-old son was dying of leukemia during the very time he was at the height of his sports achievements, and how he would have traded his medals in a heartbeat to make his son well.

His quest for solace led him and his wife to the church, where he ultimately found peace and answers to his deepest yearnings for comfort, understanding, and a renewed hope.  The youth were spellbound by the 3-hour presentation (two hours this morning and another hour this evening), and many indicated that they were moved to take their own faith journeys to a deeper level.  We were particularly moved by the immediate bond Vladimir forged with the wheelchair-bound young lady who is among the youth in the camp.  It was as though he was drawn to her with a special message of hope, just for her.  So often we have witnessed how one man's perseverance through a trial in life becomes a gift to someone else in a time of need.  This was such a time.

The food has continued to be a highlight of our "authentic" Czech experience.  On the way to camp we stopped at the Misov (add an accent over the s to give a sh sound) Barbeque, where we ate barbequed pork chops with mustard, onions and cabbage.  The first night of camp we had boiled pork and pickled cabbage stew.  Sunday was potato dumplings covered with poppy seeds, bread crumbs, melted butter, and powdered sugar.  Interspersed have been vegetable soups of various kinds, and always great breads, especially at breakfast.  Meals have all been eaten outside, which is a wonderful custom, except the bees are ample.

While Americans can be accused of putting ice into every drink, the Czechs serve everything hot.  Hot tea is offered at nearly every meal.  The first night, the kool-aid (or something similar) was also served piping hot.

Tomorrow we have forest games, continued ping-pong tournaments, and another seminar.  We are also continuing the daily morning Bible studies (we are leading the English language group), and the evening English language discussions on current topics (we just completed a discussion on what - if anything - makes a war "just."  The discussion was deep and lively, and opinions where quite nuanced.)  Wednesday is Phil's turn to speak at the seminar, so he continues to prepare.

Oh, and we almost forgot - hair wrestling made a big splash!

Some pictures  (next time we might try to go high tech and add a video clip):

The Tachov crew getting ready to leave for Youth Camp.  2nd from the left is Pete Perhach's younger twin brother (he has all the same mannerisms and everything).   In the white tank top is Simon, aka Kyle Snoich's twin, though you can't really tell that from this photo because of the sunglasses.  Get him behind an electric guitar and it's an exact match.  We have also met a Dan Talbert stunt double and a Lauren Galbraith look alike.  It's kind of uncanny, we don't go around looking for this,  it's just that we'll look at each other and both say at the same time, "That kid really reminds me of ...". 

 Meal time at youth camp.  There are about 50 youth from ages15-20 here.

 Potato dumplings with poppy seeds, bread crumbs, melted butter and powdered sugar:

 Daniel holding the 1980 Olympic Bronze Medal for Judo:

The title slide of  "Mighty to Save" as we sang it in worship this evening:

 The band leading worship:

Days 19 and 20

A little bit about driving in the Czech Republic...There are two kinds of roads here - interstate highways and two-lane country roads.  The country roads vary from legitimately 2 lanes with a white stripe down the middle to what could only be construed as 2 lanes if you have a vivid imagination.  And then there are the dirt farm tractor trails you end up on after wondering why the GPS kept saying "recalculating!"  Of course, Phil changed the voice on the GPS to German because Czech would be useless to us, and hearing it in English was just to weird for him over here, especially when driving in Germany. 

Most people drive pretty respectfully here except for young people (same as anywhere I suppose), and delivery van drivers (I guess they get paid by the minute).  Passing can be a bit of a sport, especially on a two lane road with poor visibility (as in, why would that stop anybody from passing you).  Overall, though, we've felt quite safe on the road, though Teresa has not yet mustered the courage to try to remember stickshift driving.

Speed limits are easy:  Inside any town - 50 km.  Outside any town - 90 km.  On the highway - 130 km.  We like driving in kilometers much better than in miles because they go by so much faster.  Also, it sounds much more impressive to say, "I was driving 130!"  Then there is also the fact that the metric system is logical (1000 mm = 1 m, and 1000 m = 1 km), as opposed to the American system where 36 inches is a yard, and 1760 yards is a mile. Who came up with that nonsense??  Road signs are pretty universal throughout Europe, so if you are familiar with them in any European country it is easy to adapt here.  Just occasionally do you come across a construction sign that has some warning in Czech that you pray doesn't say something like, "Turn around before you drive off the unfinished bridge, you idiot!"  To our good fortune apparently none of the signs have meant that yet.

Phil and the boys ventured to the car wash today.  It's funny how every little thing is a challenge the first time (the post office is a challenge every time).   Standing in front of the car wash, with the instructions all in Czech (and the phrase book at home), we opted for the cheater's approach of watching someone else do it first, and then following suit.  It's a good thing too, because you drive your car into the automatic car wash, get out, walk back to the entrance, punch in your code, watch your car get washed, then go back to your car, get back in, and drive away.  Surely this would have gone calamitously wrong had we not watched the other guy first.  It would have made for some good newspaper headlines though, "Dumb foreigner and two children sucked into car wash."

English evenings have concluded now, after what we believe were four successful evenings.  The cookout was a bit of an adventure with the $5 grill we bought at Tesco (nominally equivalent to Walmart), the rain, and the fact that Phil had forgotten this thing called lighter fluid.  That's probably better, because who knows what kind of explosive concoction he might have accidentally purchased.  Pastor Milan bailed us out with a bottle of clear liquid that said bio-something or other on it.  It was very flammable and did the trick.  The umbrella smelled like charcoal for a couple of days, but all of the hamburgers were quickly eaten and apparently enjoyed.  Teresa's cheesecake was also a success, though standing in the milk aisle trying to distinguish between whole milk, half and half, soy milk, condensed milk, evaporated milk, or whatever else there might have been was trying.  Of course the little translation dictionaries were useless for such finer points of language, so a couple of quick text messages to the pastor's wife saved the day.

Tomorrow morning we leave for a week of youth camp - yay!!  It is about 3 hours away, about an hour south of Prague (we still intend to get there at some point).  We were pleased to discover that "Ninja" is well known by the Czechs, and that their rules are substantially the same as ours - except for one nice formality at the beginning we might introduce in Sterling.  We look forward to "capture the flag," football, softball, and many other activities with the youth.  Phil will be giving a 2-hour seminar on Wednesday, a sermon on Thursday, and we will both be helping to lead English language discussions on current topics each evening.  In addition, Phil has been asked to preach again next Sunday here in Tachov after we return.  That must mean either that they liked it the last time, or that it was so bad they are giving him another chance.  Either way, Teresa and the boys have made him promise to keep it a bit shorter this time.  Daniel also said to Phil today, "I'm going to be really tired of your voice by the end of all this.  Please don't be offended if I don't come to your 2-hour seminar."  No offense taken.  The next sermon will be out of Philippians - which has always been a favorite for Phil - probably chapter 2.

Some Photos:
A quick game of Ninja with Pastor Milan:

 Teresa and the boys at the castle in Cheb.  (Not pronounced cheb, but some difficult gutteral sound that can't be spelled phonetically in English):

 Daniel and Eric walking in Tachov:

 Teresa, atop the castle tower in Cheb, looking out at the cathedral:

 Phil teaching the "fruit game" to the English students:

Days 17 and 18

We've noticed as we've walked around town that people don't greet each other in the street here.  Granted, we are strangers in what is a fairly small town, so we figured this might have more to do with us.  However, in Europe it is not unusual to make eye contact and nod or say hello or share some cursory greeting as you pass people in the street.  Not here.  Here it is more common to look straight ahead and pass by without any acknowledgement.  We have found this difficult to get used to because it feels a bit cold and distant, so we asked Pastor Milan about it.

Milan said, "No, this is not uncommon here.  It is important to remember that during communist times everyone was suspicious of everyone else.  The system encouraged people to report their neighbors when they were unpatriotic, and so people generally learned to keep to themselves and to share only with close family and friends."   Furthermore, he told us that because Tachov is so close to the German border, communism was much more strict here.  Ironically, the proximity to the west made this one of the most strictly controlled areas of the Czech Republic.  Only good communists were allowed to live here, and suspicious activity was considered especially threatening becuase it suggested a risk of someone attempting to flee to the west.  Milan told us that as you go deeper into the Czech Republic there is a thaw, and people are much friendlier to each other and to strangers.  Even 20+ years after communism, Milan finds this aura of mistrust to remain one of his greatest obstacles in ministry.

All that said, we have received an exceedingly warm welcome from all we have come to know personally.  This week we are in the midst of English Evenings.  Teresa has been preparing American pasta salads and desserts, and we have been teaching English, doing presentations about Virginia, and generally having a great time.  Last night as we were playing "Have you seen my goat?" (a youth group favorite in Virginia) one of our English students accidentally announced, "Have you been my goat?"  Laughter ensued and continued for the next 2 hours as we continued the games, activities and lessons.  Later, after our presentation about Virginia and Washington DC, someone was very interested in American football, and in particular Eric's favorite team, the Washington Skinheads.   Redskins - Skinheads - not so much!  Oops!  As I said, we spent two hours laughing together.  (Incidentally, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches went over like a lead balloon).

This week Phil has been working with Pastor Milan on an extensive application for Tachov UMC to become a host site for a General Board of Global Ministries long-term young adult missionary.  (It seems like everywhere we  go these days, Phil is engaged in finding a successor for himself!  Hmmmm...)   This would be a great windfall for Tachov UMC, as it would take a burden off of Milan and Dana with the English teaching ministry, and it would allow the church to expand into new ministries.   The hope would be to start computer training for the economically disadvantaged and marginalized populations, to expand the mother and toddlers ministry, and to develop an after school club at the church for children and teens.  By marginalized populations, we mean immigrants, and in particular the Roma (gypsy) community.  Another story for another day.  Phil's English ability, and his experience with writing job descriptions and proposals have been helpful.  If this appllication is unsuccessful, a previous UMVIM volunteer couple has offered to return to Tachov to continue the English teaching ministry in the fall, so that is a blessing all around.

Some photos:

Phil getting his haircut.  Notice the hairdresser is nowhere to be seen.  When the camera came out, she quickly disappeared.  Well, for a $5 haircut you have to keep your expectations realistic.

 Phil after his haircut. 

(Ok, so we don't know who this guy is. We just found the picture on the internet).

Phil, Milan, and some of the firemen:

 Alright, next time some more pictures of Teresa and the boys...

Days 14 15 and 16

This morning Phil preached for 45 minutes.  Teresa and the boys were very gentle about letting him know that it was a couple of illustrations too long.  In Phil's defense, much of the time was dedicated to translating into Czech, which was done seamlessly by Pastor Milan.   Phil preached on Hebrews, chapter 11.  Church, which begins at approximately 10:00 AM was over before 12:00, which Pastor Milan assured us was perfectly normal and the sermon was not too long.   Those who know Phil know he has always had difficulty being brief.

Ok, now a little more history.  As we wrote about earlier, many of the people around here speak at least some German.  Before WWII, there was a large community of Germans living in the Czech Republic.  Clearly, the war did not ingratiate the Czechs to the Germans, and at the end of the war most Germans were forcibly expelled from the then Czechoslovakia.  It was not until the end of communism in 1989 that Germans were once again welcomed in the Czech Republic.  This time they came as investors as German industry came to open factories in the Czech Republic where labor costs are lower. 

Tachov is now the home of several large factories, most which supply parts for automobiles built in Germany and other western-European countries.  In fact, these factories have become the major employers in and around Tachov.  This is a significant change from the communist days, when the uranium mines near here were the primary employers.  The mines have since closed.

As with everything around here, if you wait long enough, you will find a personal connection to the history here.  That occurred again today when Milan and Dana invited us to spend the afternoon at the vacation cottage of Dana's dad and his wife.  To get there you go east for about 45 minutes in the direction of Plzen on increasingly smaller and narrower roads until you find yourself on a two-track farm path used primarily (or perhaps exclusively) by tractors.  You go another couple of kilometers and you arrive at a small settlement of about 10 homes bordered by a forest on one side and endless fields of rapeseed and wheat on the other.  Rapeseeds have traditionally been used to make vegetable oil, and more recently for biofuels.  We spent a delightful afternoon with Milan and his family and with Dana's dad and stepmother.

It turns out that this small settlement used to be a German community.   After the Germans were evicted, the Czech government allowed Czech families to purchase the land for weekend cottages.   Dana's family was able to get one of these cottages.  Now, here's where the history gets interesting.  After the fall of communism, several of these German families (or their children) returned to this community to see what had happened to their former homes.  Dana's parents have gotten to know one of these families, and have befriended them.  They now regularly visit one another, and share a bond forged by their common history on this small patch of land.

About a week ago we also had the opportunity to visit Plzen, the closest larger city to Tachov.  Plzen is perhaps best known for Pilzner beer.  Apparently Pilzner beer uses a special brewing method that involves three cycles of boiling the malt, as opposed to one or two cycles used for many other beers.  We know this because we toured the factory of Pilzner Urquell.  The extensive tour took us all through the brewery, the bottling plant, the beer cellars, and most importantly for Eric - on a bus ride between the various parts of the factory!

We also climbed the 301 steps to the top of the Plzen Cathedral, and we allowed ourselves to be sucked into the Plzen ghost museum - a giant among tourist traps.  The pouring rain did not dampen our spirits, though it did dampen our bodies.

Tomorrow the English Evenings begin for the next four nights, so Teresa is feverishly cooking American macaroni salads, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (yes, we found peanut butter yesterday!) and preparing apple crisp to feed the assembled students.  The theme for tomorrow is food, so we will be playing the fruit game, learning idioms like "cool as a cucumber" and "flat as a pancake" and discussing how to order food in a restaurant in English, how to navigate a grocery store, and how to do all the things we wish we could do in Czech.

Some photos:

The boys at the Namesti Republiky (Republic Square) in Plzen:

 The Sunday School classroom in the church: 

Teresa and the boys in the beer cellar at the Pilzner Urquell brewery in Plzen:

Days 12 and 13

When you enter a Czech home, you are expected to take off your shoes before you go in.  In the entrance stairwell of our apartment buiding there are mountains of shoes in front of each door.  It seems kind of silly to us, but it does keep the floors clean inside, which is nice.  Fortunately Pastor Milan taught us this custom on our first day, so as to avoid any major errors on our part. 

This week the spin dial outside our apartment points to our name, which (according to the previous UMVIM volunteer's book of helpful hints) means we are responsible for sweeping and mopping the entrance hall and staircase for our building.  The three apartments on our floor share this responsibility once each 3 weeks.

The boys received a package from Grandma and Grandpa yesterday.  The poptarts were a huge hit.  We have been very proud of the boys, who have taken to apartment living with ease, and who have shown no major signs of homesickness.   Eric refers wistfully back to our "old brown house,"  and both boys talk often of their friends back home.  Beyond the occasional bumps associated with sharing a one-bedroom apartment, they have done extraordinarily well.   Daniel helps to prepare lessons, do the shopping, etc.

This week the focus has really been on preparing.  We have been preparing Phil's sermon, preparing English lessons, and preparing for the week of "English Evenings" next week, including lessons and food - we will be bringing different "typical" American picnic foods each night.  This poses somewhat of a challenge as Teresa rifles through her recipes.  Have you seen marshmallows here?  No.  Ranch dressing?  No.  Jello?  No.  Hamburger meat (that is not mixed with pork)?  No.  Fresh spinach?  No (this one surprised us).   Marzetti slaw dressing?  No.  Sweetened condensed milk?  Well, we think so, but you try asking for that in Czech!  The stores are full of amazing foods, but to cook "American" is tricky.

We are also starting to look ahead to the week of youth camp, which happens the following week.  We think Phil scared Pastor Milan a little when he added "hair wrestling" to the agenda, but Phil knows our youth will be very proud of him for passing along this tradition to the Czech people.

Last night was Phil's dinner with the firemen.  Of course, dinner did not involve any food - just beer.  With a little bit of forethought, Phil should have anticipated this.  The big meal of the day is eaten at lunchtime in the Czech Republic, and in the evening is usually just a light snack of some sort.  This is  a pretty healthy way of living, as you burn off the calories during the day, and you don't go to bed on a stuffed stomach.  What better evening snack than a stop at the local watering hole?  This posed a bit of a challenge for Phil, whose tolerance for alcohol amounts to about one small glass of beer, and here beer is not served in small glasses. Nonetheless he got through the evening in a respectable fashion without offending his hosts or making a fool of himself.
 
The firemen are a delightful bunch of family men (even Jerry the heavy metal loving young guy with the mohawk.  Ricky Duncan would love this guy!  He had to leave early because he didn't have a babysitter).  Each of them also has a particular love for some interesting or exotic pasttime, so there was plenty to talk about.  The chief, Pavel, came with his wife, who speaks very good English and German.  They both play hockey (one of the Czech national sports), and he enjoys spelunking (caving) and mountain climbing.  Lubosh is the professional soccer player (the other Czech national sport).  He plays for the Tachov team, which is in the fourth league.  The season starts on August 11, so we will be able to catch a game before we leave.  Martin is a biker, and he rode his bike there that evening. Biking (bicycling that is) is a huge pasttime here as well.  On the country roads you will see many bikers everywhere.  Milan (not Pastor Milan) is into climbing, cliff diving and rapelling down waterfalls.  He showed Phil some cell phone videos of him and Jerry doing this.  We have a word for this in English - "crazy!"  As the evening wore on, the English speaking got tiresome for everyone, and they relapsed into the much more comfortable German.  The other Pavel was not with us last night. 

It is nice to start to get to know people here in the Czech Republic - Michal and the other English students, the firemen, some of the church people...  It makes our time meaningful, and it helps us appreciate the culture much more than we ever could as tourists.  It is also nice when the conversations turn to God, faith, the church, the end of communism, and life in general.  Almost every conversation eventually ends up there.  It seems that everyone believes in "something," but that 40 years of communism has bred a great deal of mistrust of the church.  The search for purpose and direction and meaning (and the church) here is obvious.  However, the church here has to rebuild from the ground up.

The end of communism (now about 20 years old) is still reflected on as a positive and a negative.  For the older folks, who lost job security and a strong social welfare network, it is seen more negatively.  Their worlds were up-ended, and they were not in a position to retool for western job markets and capitalism.  On the other hand, today's high school students, who never knew communism, are fully engrained in western thinking.  The people our age, who experienced both systems, tend to stop and think for a minute before answering.  Something like, "Well, no more waiting in line for bananas" comes out first.  Then concern about their parents and about some of the negatives about free market capitalism follows.  Usually this leads to discussion about the fact that we only get 6 weeks of maternity leave in the USA, where they get 4 years of support from the state when they have a baby.  As I've said before, everything here has a complex history.  Politics and religion are not exceptions.

Some Pictures:
Primda Castle:

 Phil sitting on Central Europe's oldest toilet at Primda Castle:

 Eric buying groceries at the Billa Market:

 Phil reading scripture in church, as Pastor Milan translates:

Days 9, 10 and 11

It was pretty magical to sit in church on Sunday morning and watch a 17 year old kid (who looks just like he could be Kyle Snoich's Czech twin) play guitar and sing, "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" and "Open the Eyes of My Heart" in Czech.    We asked him his name, but it wasn't Kyle.  The moment definitely connected two worlds for us.  Same songs, same gospel, same God - different languages.

At the end of the two hour service we closed with a service of communion where we all stood in a circle and passed the bread and the cup from person to person.  This was a very personal and moving way to celebrate the Lord's Supper.  The teenage girl next to us seeemed appreciative when Phil offered her the body and blood of Christ in English. 

Young people here tend to speak English pretty well.  Older folks are more likely to speak German (or only Czech).  Between German, English and Czech Phil should be able to successfully navigate a haircut this week.  Then again, one of the firemen has a mohawk, so who knows what the result will be.

Sunday afternoon we headed to Germany to visit Phil's aunt and uncle in the Black Forest.  When we arrived in the evening Phil was in for another treat.  Phil's aunt was singing in a choral concert with the Karlruhe Baroque Orchestra, and she invited Phil to attend.  The concert was in a beautiful large old Baroque style church with ornate carvings on the altar and in the vestibules.  Even a tone-deaf classical music luddite like Phil was awe inspired by the the music of Mozart and Hyden echoing through the vaulted sanctuary, being sung in God's house as it was intended.  As he sat in the back pew of the filled sanctuary, much of his sermon for next Sunday began to write itself.  Funny how that works.

God's handiwork is evident inside the sanctuary and out.  Throughout our trip we have been delighted by the many wildflowers in bloom everywhere you look.  The combination of the cool, wet climate and a dispensation not to immediately mow everything down results in spectacular vistas of yellows,  blues, reds, purples and whites along every roadside, along the edge of every forest, and even in many backyards.  (The idea of weed killers would be an afront in this eco-conscious culture).

Speaking of eco-conscious, when you fill your gas tank up with $7.50/gallon gas a few times, you begin being a little more eco-conscious yourself.  I won't complain about $3.50 gas anymore.

Our English student this evening wanted us to explain when you use "would, could and should" and why there are SO MANY words in the English language that mean exactly the same thing (just pull out your thesaurus if you think he's wrong).  How do you tell a non-native speaker when to use the word "count" or when to use "enumerate, tally, compute, sum, calculate, tabulate, total, or score."  Of course, "count" is actually a guy who ranks right up there with a duke.  Hmmm.

Our student works for a German company running an assembly operation in the Czech Republic.  The company is preparing to bring a factory online in Bulgaria, and the common language is English.  Of course none of them are native English speakers, so some of the translations get pretty muddled.

Mixes of languages are everywhere with so many cultures so close together.  So, it is useful that many packages are written in multiple languages (kind of like in the US, where you sometimes see French or Spanish on the back of your shampoo bottle).   Here there are usually at least four languages on every package.  Of course, that's where the usefulness ends - in the Czech Republic you find Czech, Slovak, Romanian and Bulgarian.  Gee, that's helpful!

Some Photos:
The log cabin being built by and for the Royal Rangers.  The Royal Rangers are the church's children's ministry, and operates much like the scouts, but with a Christian emphasis.   The rangers will be using this cabin for campouts and overnights. It sits at the edge of a small fishing pond.

Phil writing the blog, and the boys doing their homework in our apartment (yes, we give them a little homework to do each day - mean parents that we are).  This room serves as living room, dining room and bedroom for Phil and Teresa.  There is a separate bedroom for the boys.  Some of the toys are on loan from the pastor's son.  The apartment is painted nice bright colors, and it has easy to clean wood and tile floors.

 The playground near our apartment.  The equipment is a little old and rusty, but the kids don't mind.

Days 7 & 8

Today we visited Primda Castle, either the oldest or 2nd oldest castle in Bohemia (there seems to be some debate over this in the literature).  It dates back to the early 1100's and was built by a German nobleman and was then conquered and ruled by the Czechs for about 400 years before falling into ruin.  It is only about 20 minutes south of Tachov, so it was an easy mid-afternoon Saturday excursion.  Most importantly, though, the nice English speaking Czech couple there told us it has the oldest toilet in central Europe (consisting of a hole in the stone wall with a chute out to the outer castle wall - yet another reason not to storm a castle).  We each had the privilege of sitting on (but not using) this toilet.  Just think of the 1000 years of knights and noblemen we now have an intimate connection with!  After we left, Daniel proudly announced that he had sat on the oldest toilet, because he was last, and it was even older by the time he sat on it. 

Ok, now for the firemen I've been alluding to for so long.  One morning a week the firemen have an English class with Pastor Milan.  It started with the incident commander coming to classes at the church, and asking for classes to be taught at the fire station for his crew as well.  Phil was invited to come along as usual as the resident "native speaker."  The firemen are not as advanced in English, but their sense of humor easily made up for it.  They have a brand new fire station (only about 6 months old) and much of the lesson was spent comparing (in broken English and irreparable Czech) fire department procedures between Tachov and Sterling.  Good thing Phil's had some opportunity to talk with Ken Krohn and Jim Talbert about these things.  They were most proud of their ladder, which extends 23 meters.  We emailed Ken Krohn and discovered that Sterling's ladder extends 104 feet, or 32 meters.  When I shared this with the Tachov firemen their ladder immediately grew to 35 meters.  Boys will be boys.  They invited our whole family back the next day for a tour of the station.  Next week's class will be at a local pub, so the lesson will likely focus on food and drink.  We must say, after getting to know these guys, we feel much safer about living here.  They are all top notch.

For tomorrow we have been asked to give a short presentation about Sterling UMC and our ministries there.  That's what we will be working on tonight. 

Next week will start quietly around here.  Tuesday and Wednesday are national holidays, and school is now out, so many people are heading out of town this week, and the church will be closed for a few days.  With the exception of the English classes (including one student who requested private lessons from us) there will be little activity around the church.  We will take Sunday afternoon - Tuesday afternoon to visit Phil's aunt and uncle in Germany, and we will be back in time for an English lesson on Tuesday night.

Here are some more pictures from our first week in Tachov.

Our apartment building:
Our "flat" is the three 2-pane windows on the lower floor (below the flower boxes).

 Phil and Daniel teaching Virginia History at the high school:

 The ladder truck:

A fireman in full gear.  The main difference between Czech and American gear is the helmet:

 

Pastor Milan and his wife Dana:

 Some of the students in the high school class:
(Note, we asked their permission to snap this picture, but we don't have lots of pictures of our classes and students because it is sometimes a bit awkward to pull out the camera during these events, and we're not certain of the protocols surrounding picture taking, so we've erred on the side of caution.)

 A hunting lodge from the 1600's:  (this is another fascinating story, see below).

Remember the blacksmith who is a member of the church from a few days ago?  This is his house.  Pastor Milan and Dana took us to visit there.  His wife and 2 children were home and showed us around.  The house sits deep in the woods, several kilometers from any neighbors.  It was built by a local nobleman in the 1600's as a hunting lodge.  When the communists came into power in the 1960's, they seized it (and all private property) and made it an encampment for lumber workers.  The home quickly fell into disrepair and almost total ruin.  After communism ended, many people had land claims dating back to precommunist times, which the government had to sort out during a reconciliation process in the 1990's.  During that time Jan and his wife were able to trade their alloted parcel for this property.  They have been painstakingly restoring it by hand using traditional methods ever since.  Even the scaffolding is hand-made from lumber in the forest.  It seems everything here has a complex history.