Let it Snow

Let it Snow!
Our first snowfall of the season! My students were excited and talking of snowmen and igloos and all the wonderful things one could do with the small ice crystals tightly packed together. Yet to much disappointment the snow was gone before we had a chance to enjoy it. We talked about thanking God for the snow and one of my students asked if we could ask God for more. Up till now we have been learning to pray by thanking God for the gifts he gives us; the idea of asking God for things was a new novelty. I explained that prayer wasn't like making wishes and that sometimes God answers our prayers by saying no, or not right now; but that does not mean we can't ask. So they prayed for snow so that we can make igloos. It made me think as to how many times I treat prayer like a wish list, hoping for my wishes to come true. Or pray with the thought that I am asking for too much and to not be disappointed when God doesn't answer. Though I should not be surprised that I have a creator that cares enough about the child who longs for snow to fall.

Between Here and There

It's a Zoo Out There!

Between time teaching and planning I have had the opportunity to explore Prague and the beauty it has to offer. At the end of September we had a Czech holiday (Czech Statehood Day celebrating St.Wenceslas) It was also the 80th anniversary of the day the Prague zoo opened, so I took the opportunity to explore the Prague zoo. It was a wonderful time seeing some of God's most amazing creatures up close and it never ceases to amaze me how creative our Creator is.

I am Canadian

Currently I am the token Canadian on staff at our school. In honour of Thanksgiving I invited 7 of my American friends to join me in celebrating a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner. Turkeys are not easy to come by so I opted for chicken. I did manage to find a pumpkin in order to make pumpkin cheesecake, red cabbage for rotkohl and a jar of cranberry sauce. Was nice to celebrate a little taste of home.

Blessed!

Happy Thanksgiving! I always enjoy this time of year. The crispness in the air, the pumpkins in the market, and that reminder to take time to reflect on what we are thankful for. I am thankful for so many things! Ultimately I am thankful for such a faithful God. So much has happened in the last few months and is amazing to see God's fingerprints shine brightly on all the things he has touched in my life.

I have an ever growing list of things to Thank God for and if I were to write it all down I would never be able to get to bed. I think the top things on my mind have been how thankful I am for God's faithfulness, that He fulfils his promises and that He listens to the prayers of His children. A big answer to prayer has been that my long term Visa has been approved! Praise the Lord!

I have been blessed beyond belief and overwhelmed by God's love and blessed to see answers to prayer.

Praise God from whom all Blessings flow!

    
Explorations of Prague

Set out on my own today to explore Prague from the lens of my camera and this is what I captured:

Flea market at Náměstí Míru - Everything was laid out on rugs and carpets; you could find anything from antiques to baby clothes.

  

After exploring the square I went to explore  Malá Strana and Petrin Hill

I was proud of myself for climbing the stairs rather than taking the funicular.

 

 

 Petrin tower is a smaller version of the Eiffel tower. Figure I will pay to climb it when I have other people touring with me.

 

  View of the city coming down the hill. 

 On my way home stopped to take a snapshot of the Vltava River.

Living at the Tower of Babel


In the last few weeks I have really come to appreciate the uniqueness and creativity God had in creating different languages. What a neat way to challenge people than to confuse their languages. This September I feel like I have been plunked into the confusion of the Tower Babel  surrounded by different languages, trying to communicate with those around me. This year I have the privilege of teaching 4 (come January I will have 5) students, who all speak different languages. Czech, Italian, Polish, Korean, and all are at different levels of learning English.
   We do face our moments of frustration when words are not enough. I have a young Polish boy desperate to communicate with me. He tries Czech and wild hand gestures and you can see his thoughts convey that perhaps if I only speak louder my teacher may understand me! I can only imagine what their day in the classroom must be like. I can picture myself to be like the teachers in Charlie Brown cartoons: Mwaha maw mwa mwah muaaaaw.
  Some days I wonder if I am getting through to them... are we learning anything? Yet there are those moments when I can see the cogs turning and the little light bulbs turning on and I get excited. One of those moments was when I introduced the children's picture Bibles. The majority of my students have not seen a Bible before and aren't that familiar with the Bible stories. I read about Creation and Adam and Eve and when it was time to collect the Bibles the whole group of them clutched them tightly and shouted NOOOOO! It was something I had never experienced before. I don't know if they were enthralled with the cartoon pictures or that  the stories were so captivating. Either way it made me realize what a ministry I have before me and the joy it will be to expose these children to the gospel message and the word of God. Please pray for us this year as the seeds of the gospel are being planted in the lives of these children and their families.

 Snap Shot of my August

Being able to sum up my last month would be difficult to do and I find that I am way better with photos than I am with words. So here is a snapshot of my life so far in Prague.

 

Saying goodbye to Canada 

 

 Saying Goodbye to Tim Hortons

Penguins are just for you Rhonda :)

 

 Arriving in Prague - Settling in to my apartment with the 128 stairs

On my walk to school:

My School: Christian International School of Prague (CISP) - We share our building with a Czech school and a pre-school so it is a busy place to be.

My Classroom before:

My Classroom after:



Walking the Streets of Prague:

 Living in Prague still feels like a dream at times. People have asked how I am adjusting. I will have to admit not knowing the language can be intimidating.  My first day or two on my own (before roommates arrived and I was getting over jetlag) I lived on yogurt, granola and fruit because I could understand the packaging and it did not require cooking. However, now I have gotten into full swing and have even braved selecting the right flour to make pancakes and even attempted making chocolate chunk cookies! I have never seen so many choices of flour in such small packaging before!

We had our first day of school last Thursday and it has been quite the adjustment coming from a small North American class of 16 to an even smaller class of 4! Yes 4! Although it is a small class we do have our challenges, since we all come from different countries and speak different languages. Just in my class we have Korean, Italian/French, Czech and English. It made for a VERY quiet first day. Although English is new to my first graders I am amazed how quickly we are already learning to communicate. It makes for challenging teaching at times and yet it is exciting to see what all our unique differences bring to the table. Though we do not always understand each other the smiles and laughter stays the same and I look forward to our journey of learning together.

Welcome to Praha 2

I have arrived and I am settling in to my new home. My roommates will arrive shortly, praying that all Visas will be approved and flights will be on time!

Just a few pics of the view from my apartment. I live on Chodska and my room has a great view of Prague castle. Will post more pictures once we get more reliable internet in the apartment.

 View of Prague Castle from my bedroom window :)