It has been two weeks since I added anything to this blog, so I will take keyboard in hand this early Sunday morning and try and catch up with a few events of the past three weeks.
I left off with the fact that my cousins Linda and Bill were visiting us from Tulsa and that they brought us a good supply of such life essentials as chocolate chips, brown sugar, barbecue sauce and other goodies. These were much appreciated. That is the good news. The bad news is that Bill was hit by a car while in a pedestrian crosswalk. He was not hurt badly, but was very, very sore the rest of the stay here. He was a trooper and continued to site see even though he was in quite a lot of pain. An approaching car did stop at the crosswalk and Bill and Linda proceeded into the street seemingly in safety. But a second car failed to stop and hit the left rear of the stopped car and then swerved to the left and went into the crosswalk and struck Bill. It was quite scary as the police, ambulance and all came and took him to a hospital where he was x-rayed and pronounced free of broken bones.
We had a great time with Bill and Linda and hope that such a thing does not happen again to other guests! We are careful when crossing the street as the rule is that when a pedestrian is in a painted crosswalk, he/se has the right-of-way. However, as in most of life, rules are broken by those in a hurry and those who think they can get away with breaking a rule. We seem to have perhaps the most trouble crossing everyday at the street that runs by our apartment. Drivers seem to dare you to step out in front of them so we are very careful on that street. Other streets seem much more tame.
We put Bill and Linda in a cab at 5:00 AM and they left for the airport on Oct. 17th. The cab ride took twenty minutes only at that time of the day, but can easily take forty minutes later in the day. It also was less expensive than in other major cities – including KC.
The last two weeks have been quite busy at school – grade reports due, various teachers gone for a day or two that I needed to help cover for, a staff meeting resulting in a crackdown in discipline at the secondary level, visa/passport registration with Czech Foreign Police, repairing a curtain rod that we pulled off the wall when we hung our sheets on it to dry….
But beginning yesterday there was temporary halt to the busyness as we began a three day holiday from school. I think the holiday is for the creation of an independent Czechoslovak State in 1918. Anyway, we have three days off as the official holiday is two days and CISP has added a third off at the school. This is good timing as we have been going non-stop since the middle of August.
I should be on a retreat with the secondary school students over this weekend, but was just too tired to want to go. Liz and I wanted some time together without cares as we are generally with people and tasks too much of the time – this is not retirement. This is not a complaint either as we want to do as much as possible while here, but slacking off from time-to-time at our ages is acceptable I think!
Just to let you know that it is not all work here, Saturday before last we went site seeing with Leah and Rachel and went to a lovely botanical garden and an exquisitely restored castle not far from where we live in Prague. We had been taking trips outside of Prague on Saturdays, but decided to stay closer to home that day. We had a great time and always enjoy the company of our young friends from the school immensely. Leah teaches a 5th – 6th grade class and Rachel of course is the student teacher who is living with us for three months. Rachel is easy to live with and a great joy to us. Last week she became Liz’s charge after spending six weeks with Leah. So now every night they work together planning the next day’s/week’s events.
Also what made last week busy was that Liz and Rae co-wrote, directed and produced a play about Joseph and “Doing the right thing”. It turned out to be an amazing skit that was well attended by parents and grandparents. It was performed during the elementary school Chapel time on Friday morning. I will include a couple pictures of this event that should be self-explanatory. Note the variety of looks and ethnic groups represented in Liz’s class. There are two Americans, one South African, one Indian, two Koreans, one Cuban/Italian, one Canadian/Russian, one American/Czech, one French/Belgian, one of this and one of that – quite a little United Nations meets in her classroom everyday! On Tuesdays and Thursdays three Czech kids come also – and a Russian child is slated to arrive later in the school year.
Great news is that we are now legal to stay in the Czech Republic until June 30th on paper. We started the paperwork for obtaining long term visas last February and just finished up last Tuesday. We ended up paying a business to do the finalizing of our visa/registration with the Czech Foreign Police as there was a good possibility that would have had to leave the Schengen (sort of EU) area and return. We actually had tickets to Heathrow in anticipation of leaving Prague briefly, but the business was able to arrange things so we do not need to leave – saving us some money. Money talks here just as in the rest of the world.
Since we now had our passports in hand and were legal immigrants, we took our first trip outside of the CR yesterday. We woke up about 4:30 AM, got ready and left home at 5:30 to walk to the metro to go to the main train station in Prague. This takes us about fifteen minutes. There we finally found the proper ticket window for non-Czechs to buy international train tickets and purchased two round trip tickets to Dresden – a two hour twenty-one minute trip. We found the train very comfortable and spacious until the conductor came to check our tickets and told us we were in first class and had second class tickets. No big deal as the lady sitting across the aisle made the same mistake. We found a second class compartment occupied by three ladies and entered – they looked like a quiet bunch and were very so. After a long stretch of silence we found out they were Russians going to Berlin. They live in Prague like we do however. The youngest of the here spoke pretty good English and helped us out by explaining a few things about train travel in Europe to us.
Arriving in Dresden, we found it very chilly. It was 34 degrees F when we left home and it seemed even colder in Dresden. First priority was a latte.
Second priority was getting Liz a winter coat as we had not brought a proper winter coat along for her. Dresden seemed to have a much more modern downtown area than Prague – because of WWII I am sure. We found a nice, long, black, down-filled Puma coat that seemed just right, so we bought it and she wore it the rest of the day except for a period in around 1:00 PM when it finally seemed to warm up. The amazing thing about Dresden is the great mixture of very old (by our standards of old) and very modern juxtaposed. About 12:30 after three hours of site seeing and shopping we felt slightly famished and decided to forego German food for a meal at McDonalds. That is about the only place you can get a large soda drink so we occasionally indulge the ubiquitous McDonalds in the 
Europe.
Then we went on being tourists and walked and saw a few more sites – see pictures below. We then decided to end our touring after about four hours of walking interspersed for an hour or two of breaks for one meal and two stops for coffee – necessities in Europe.
We went back to the train station and tried to find when the next train was leaving for Prague – but had some difficulty reading the schedule. When we finally figured it out (it should have been easy) we realized that the train was leaving in twelve minutes so we rushed to the platform to find no one else there. Then we realized there was a note that must have said that the train was forty-five minutes late, so we sat down to read. I then decided to go to the WC. Upon arrival there I found you need a half Euro coin or equivalent change to enter. I of course did not have such. But there was a bank just across the hall from the WC – but it was closed. So I went back up to the platform and Liz and I pooled our coins and came up with three 10s and one 20 – what a relief (ambiguous statement).
The train did arrive about forty minutes late and we boarded and found a compartment all to ourselves. I pulled the seat cushions in the seats across for us forward to use as footrests and we relaxed and hoped no one else would join us in the six-person compartment. No one did all the way back to Prague so we had a comfortable trip. It got increasingly colder in the compartment so I turned the thermostat up – no help. We put our coats on and watched the beautiful river and cliffs views pass by. The Elbe (or Vltana- the Czech name) river really winds its way from south to north and train follows this winding path. The trees were spectacular in their coloration. The cliffs, the river and the setting sun all made for an eye feast of color and changing scenes.
We arrive in Prague about 6:00 PM and then got to the apartment about 6:30 as we made a brief stop at one of the potravinys run by VietNamese here in Prague. We had decided that broccoli soup would be a good treat for two chilled travelers. We picked up the ingredients and continued home. Then we had a restful evening. We turned the TV onto NASN (North American Sports Network) and watched some of the second half of the KU/TTU football game. But we soon lost interest and went to other interests.
We were proud of ourselves for sleeping so late this morning – until six o’clock. But when I turned the computer on I realized we had forgotten that European DST time ended early this morning so we really got up at 5:00 AM. We are having trouble sleeping late so we end up going to bed early and creating a cycle of too early at both ends.
We will head to the Baptist Church later this morning – a church we really like – great worship, great teaching, great people. See pictures below to check out where we have been and what we have done.
Math and Physics - part of the reason we live in Prague.I left off with the fact that my cousins Linda and Bill were visiting us from Tulsa and that they brought us a good supply of such life essentials as chocolate chips, brown sugar, barbecue sauce and other goodies. These were much appreciated. That is the good news. The bad news is that Bill was hit by a car while in a pedestrian crosswalk. He was not hurt badly, but was very, very sore the rest of the stay here. He was a trooper and continued to site see even though he was in quite a lot of pain. An approaching car did stop at the crosswalk and Bill and Linda proceeded into the street seemingly in safety. But a second car failed to stop and hit the left rear of the stopped car and then swerved to the left and went into the crosswalk and struck Bill. It was quite scary as the police, ambulance and all came and took him to a hospital where he was x-rayed and pronounced free of broken bones.
We had a great time with Bill and Linda and hope that such a thing does not happen again to other guests! We are careful when crossing the street as the rule is that when a pedestrian is in a painted crosswalk, he/se has the right-of-way. However, as in most of life, rules are broken by those in a hurry and those who think they can get away with breaking a rule. We seem to have perhaps the most trouble crossing everyday at the street that runs by our apartment. Drivers seem to dare you to step out in front of them so we are very careful on that street. Other streets seem much more tame.
We put Bill and Linda in a cab at 5:00 AM and they left for the airport on Oct. 17th. The cab ride took twenty minutes only at that time of the day, but can easily take forty minutes later in the day. It also was less expensive than in other major cities – including KC.
The last two weeks have been quite busy at school – grade reports due, various teachers gone for a day or two that I needed to help cover for, a staff meeting resulting in a crackdown in discipline at the secondary level, visa/passport registration with Czech Foreign Police, repairing a curtain rod that we pulled off the wall when we hung our sheets on it to dry….
But beginning yesterday there was temporary halt to the busyness as we began a three day holiday from school. I think the holiday is for the creation of an independent Czechoslovak State in 1918. Anyway, we have three days off as the official holiday is two days and CISP has added a third off at the school. This is good timing as we have been going non-stop since the middle of August.
I should be on a retreat with the secondary school students over this weekend, but was just too tired to want to go. Liz and I wanted some time together without cares as we are generally with people and tasks too much of the time – this is not retirement. This is not a complaint either as we want to do as much as possible while here, but slacking off from time-to-time at our ages is acceptable I think!
Just to let you know that it is not all work here, Saturday before last we went site seeing with Leah and Rachel and went to a lovely botanical garden and an exquisitely restored castle not far from where we live in Prague. We had been taking trips outside of Prague on Saturdays, but decided to stay closer to home that day. We had a great time and always enjoy the company of our young friends from the school immensely. Leah teaches a 5th – 6th grade class and Rachel of course is the student teacher who is living with us for three months. Rachel is easy to live with and a great joy to us. Last week she became Liz’s charge after spending six weeks with Leah. So now every night they work together planning the next day’s/week’s events.
Also what made last week busy was that Liz and Rae co-wrote, directed and produced a play about Joseph and “Doing the right thing”. It turned out to be an amazing skit that was well attended by parents and grandparents. It was performed during the elementary school Chapel time on Friday morning. I will include a couple pictures of this event that should be self-explanatory. Note the variety of looks and ethnic groups represented in Liz’s class. There are two Americans, one South African, one Indian, two Koreans, one Cuban/Italian, one Canadian/Russian, one American/Czech, one French/Belgian, one of this and one of that – quite a little United Nations meets in her classroom everyday! On Tuesdays and Thursdays three Czech kids come also – and a Russian child is slated to arrive later in the school year.
Great news is that we are now legal to stay in the Czech Republic until June 30th on paper. We started the paperwork for obtaining long term visas last February and just finished up last Tuesday. We ended up paying a business to do the finalizing of our visa/registration with the Czech Foreign Police as there was a good possibility that would have had to leave the Schengen (sort of EU) area and return. We actually had tickets to Heathrow in anticipation of leaving Prague briefly, but the business was able to arrange things so we do not need to leave – saving us some money. Money talks here just as in the rest of the world.
Since we now had our passports in hand and were legal immigrants, we took our first trip outside of the CR yesterday. We woke up about 4:30 AM, got ready and left home at 5:30 to walk to the metro to go to the main train station in Prague. This takes us about fifteen minutes. There we finally found the proper ticket window for non-Czechs to buy international train tickets and purchased two round trip tickets to Dresden – a two hour twenty-one minute trip. We found the train very comfortable and spacious until the conductor came to check our tickets and told us we were in first class and had second class tickets. No big deal as the lady sitting across the aisle made the same mistake. We found a second class compartment occupied by three ladies and entered – they looked like a quiet bunch and were very so. After a long stretch of silence we found out they were Russians going to Berlin. They live in Prague like we do however. The youngest of the here spoke pretty good English and helped us out by explaining a few things about train travel in Europe to us.
Arriving in Dresden, we found it very chilly. It was 34 degrees F when we left home and it seemed even colder in Dresden. First priority was a latte.
Second priority was getting Liz a winter coat as we had not brought a proper winter coat along for her. Dresden seemed to have a much more modern downtown area than Prague – because of WWII I am sure. We found a nice, long, black, down-filled Puma coat that seemed just right, so we bought it and she wore it the rest of the day except for a period in around 1:00 PM when it finally seemed to warm up. The amazing thing about Dresden is the great mixture of very old (by our standards of old) and very modern juxtaposed. About 12:30 after three hours of site seeing and shopping we felt slightly famished and decided to forego German food for a meal at McDonalds. That is about the only place you can get a large soda drink so we occasionally indulge the ubiquitous McDonalds in the 
Europe.Then we went on being tourists and walked and saw a few more sites – see pictures below. We then decided to end our touring after about four hours of walking interspersed for an hour or two of breaks for one meal and two stops for coffee – necessities in Europe.
We went back to the train station and tried to find when the next train was leaving for Prague – but had some difficulty reading the schedule. When we finally figured it out (it should have been easy) we realized that the train was leaving in twelve minutes so we rushed to the platform to find no one else there. Then we realized there was a note that must have said that the train was forty-five minutes late, so we sat down to read. I then decided to go to the WC. Upon arrival there I found you need a half Euro coin or equivalent change to enter. I of course did not have such. But there was a bank just across the hall from the WC – but it was closed. So I went back up to the platform and Liz and I pooled our coins and came up with three 10s and one 20 – what a relief (ambiguous statement).
The train did arrive about forty minutes late and we boarded and found a compartment all to ourselves. I pulled the seat cushions in the seats across for us forward to use as footrests and we relaxed and hoped no one else would join us in the six-person compartment. No one did all the way back to Prague so we had a comfortable trip. It got increasingly colder in the compartment so I turned the thermostat up – no help. We put our coats on and watched the beautiful river and cliffs views pass by. The Elbe (or Vltana- the Czech name) river really winds its way from south to north and train follows this winding path. The trees were spectacular in their coloration. The cliffs, the river and the setting sun all made for an eye feast of color and changing scenes.
We arrive in Prague about 6:00 PM and then got to the apartment about 6:30 as we made a brief stop at one of the potravinys run by VietNamese here in Prague. We had decided that broccoli soup would be a good treat for two chilled travelers. We picked up the ingredients and continued home. Then we had a restful evening. We turned the TV onto NASN (North American Sports Network) and watched some of the second half of the KU/TTU football game. But we soon lost interest and went to other interests.
We were proud of ourselves for sleeping so late this morning – until six o’clock. But when I turned the computer on I realized we had forgotten that European DST time ended early this morning so we really got up at 5:00 AM. We are having trouble sleeping late so we end up going to bed early and creating a cycle of too early at both ends.
We will head to the Baptist Church later this morning – a church we really like – great worship, great teaching, great people. See pictures below to check out where we have been and what we have done.
John with Martin Luther.
The beauty of the old Dresden is breathtaking and the size of the structures and number of statues exceeds anything we have in the USA.Liz in her new and warmer threads. Note the warm smile on her face.
1 comment:
I have so enjoyed reading your posts. Thanks for putting so much detail in them! Henry & I are giving some serious thought to an extended international stay. We'll see how it pans out when he returns from the middle east! Teri
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