Sunday, June 28, 2009
A New Perspective
Ok so usually I write theological ponderings on this blog and for the most part I have really enjoyed it. But to be honest I know I do a terrible job at keeping it up. Part of it is that I'm busy and the other part is that it takes a lot of thinking and concentration to punch out one of my ideas. Not that they're so great but lately it has seemed like a lot of work to put one forth. Plus when no one comments it's a little demotivating. So I have moved my theological thoughts to a differnet blog where I won't be the sole author. Feel free to check it out, it's under the fellow bloggers list Concert of Thought. There is already a post there so enjoy!
So this blog will then become my way to update and entertain those who are curious about my life here in Czech Republic. I try to keep in touch with people as best I can and am not the best at it. Often times when I do communicate with them I leave out many aspects of life here in Czech. So I will do my best to try to update this blog with quips and updates from my expereince here.
Unlike in USA, I rely heavily on public transportation to get around. Not using public transportation much before coming to Europe my adaption to this lifestyle wasn't always easy. I couldn't just leave and go wherever I wanted whenever I wanted. I have to follow someone elses schedule; and forget about traveling anywhere far after 9:00 pm. You lose control to be on time as you have to hope that your bus or train arrives on time.
Sometimes this can drive me up the wall. Like today, we got up at 5:45 in the morning so we could catch a bus from Strakonice to Prague. We really wanted/needed to go to church so we could give some "homework" (or as I like to call it our 'relationship investment project') to the pastor who is giving us premarital counseling. The bus was scheduled to leave at 6:25 and the next bus was leaving at 10:00 am much too late to make it to church.
So, Ola's mom, bless her heart, woke up at the crack of dawn just to drive us to the bus station. When we arrived we are shocked that there is in fact a line of people already waiting for the bus.
Now it's quite common for lines to form waiting for the bus to Prague. In fact there have been many times when the bus was so full that I had to stand all the way there.... 90 minutes standing in a bus aisle is not fun.
But this morning there was a line, but not too many people, nonetheless I was quite shocked to see anyone there. So we waited... then we waited and waited some more. 7:00 still no bus. One by one the line dwindled down until it was just us. By that time we resigned our fate to going back home and getting some more much needed sleep. We called Ola's mom and she was ready to come pick us up. Just as the phone lines disconnected the bus came around the corner. There were floods in the surrounding cities and that caused the delay.
On top of all that can go wrong with public trasnport there is also a language barrier that I must overcome if I am to travel alone. Usually it's ok unless things don't go according to the plan. One of my favorite moments was when I was traveling alone to a town outside of Prague alone becuase of work. I boarded the bus and the told the driver where I needed to go and paid my fee. The bus driver gave me back double the change I was supposed to get, except I didn't realize until I sat down (near the back of the bus). Having my conscience pricked because I noticed the error so early I was compelled to go up there but a bit nervous as to how to explain in broken czech what happened. I was a little nervous how the driver would react if I just stuck money into his face again.
But I did and even though I don't understand czech that great I couldn't believe what I heard! Here is my translation of what happened:
Me: Excuse me sir, I have too much change .
Bus Driver: Huh, (seeing the money) Aha, ok good! I can see you're not a czech and you're not black, so that's great. Thank you very much!
So this blog will then become my way to update and entertain those who are curious about my life here in Czech Republic. I try to keep in touch with people as best I can and am not the best at it. Often times when I do communicate with them I leave out many aspects of life here in Czech. So I will do my best to try to update this blog with quips and updates from my expereince here.
Unlike in USA, I rely heavily on public transportation to get around. Not using public transportation much before coming to Europe my adaption to this lifestyle wasn't always easy. I couldn't just leave and go wherever I wanted whenever I wanted. I have to follow someone elses schedule; and forget about traveling anywhere far after 9:00 pm. You lose control to be on time as you have to hope that your bus or train arrives on time.
Sometimes this can drive me up the wall. Like today, we got up at 5:45 in the morning so we could catch a bus from Strakonice to Prague. We really wanted/needed to go to church so we could give some "homework" (or as I like to call it our 'relationship investment project') to the pastor who is giving us premarital counseling. The bus was scheduled to leave at 6:25 and the next bus was leaving at 10:00 am much too late to make it to church.
So, Ola's mom, bless her heart, woke up at the crack of dawn just to drive us to the bus station. When we arrived we are shocked that there is in fact a line of people already waiting for the bus.
Now it's quite common for lines to form waiting for the bus to Prague. In fact there have been many times when the bus was so full that I had to stand all the way there.... 90 minutes standing in a bus aisle is not fun.
But this morning there was a line, but not too many people, nonetheless I was quite shocked to see anyone there. So we waited... then we waited and waited some more. 7:00 still no bus. One by one the line dwindled down until it was just us. By that time we resigned our fate to going back home and getting some more much needed sleep. We called Ola's mom and she was ready to come pick us up. Just as the phone lines disconnected the bus came around the corner. There were floods in the surrounding cities and that caused the delay.
On top of all that can go wrong with public trasnport there is also a language barrier that I must overcome if I am to travel alone. Usually it's ok unless things don't go according to the plan. One of my favorite moments was when I was traveling alone to a town outside of Prague alone becuase of work. I boarded the bus and the told the driver where I needed to go and paid my fee. The bus driver gave me back double the change I was supposed to get, except I didn't realize until I sat down (near the back of the bus). Having my conscience pricked because I noticed the error so early I was compelled to go up there but a bit nervous as to how to explain in broken czech what happened. I was a little nervous how the driver would react if I just stuck money into his face again.
But I did and even though I don't understand czech that great I couldn't believe what I heard! Here is my translation of what happened:
Me: Excuse me sir, I have too much change .
Bus Driver: Huh, (seeing the money) Aha, ok good! I can see you're not a czech and you're not black, so that's great. Thank you very much!
