Ring in the New

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

~Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Greetings from snowy Prague. Thank you for all the positive feedback after my last update. I am nearly finished with grades for this term, which is such a relief (grading can be a complex and draining process). I want to be fair and to encourage students, but also to send a message to those who aren’t putting in the required effort. Our flat has been a beehive of activity lately, as all four of us have been preparing tests, grading, designing final projects, and organizing our records for the end of the first term.

The pictures above are from a short trip I took to a city called Karlovy Vary in western Bohemia. It’s a beautiful and serene mountain town. The streets are dotted with mineral water springs, which you drink from out of thin little porcelain mugs. There were lots of old, interesting churches to see (always my favorite architectural/cultural sites) and I enjoyed the refreshing and tranquil time I spent there.

This weekend, we have our “spiritual renewal retreat”, which will bring all of the teachers from my program in the Czech Republic together in Prague for fellowship, encouragement, refocusing, and a lesson from my pastor. This time of year can be tough because the winters here are long, dark, cold, and gloomy.

One of the main things on everyone’s mind at the retreat will be decisions for next year. We have a deadline in late February to either commit to another year overseas or not. I desperately need God’s guidance in this decision, as I’m still a bit conflicted. I’ve heard that one year is not sufficient to make a difference in the lives of Czechs because the first year is spent adjusting and learning the ropes, and because it takes more time to create meaningful relationships. Most of my students are dealing with hardships at home as well as confusion and hopelessness. I try to uplift them and assure them that there is hope, and to challenge them to consider the meaning behind life, beauty, and suffering. However, sometimes I feel that I’m only skimming the surface of a vast ocean. In addition, part of me feels led to pursue opportunities back in the States next year. Ultimately, I want to follow God's perfect will. May I have the wisdom to see it and the courage to follow it. I am, as always, so grateful for your support. Until next time, čau,

Richard

Veselé Vánoce

Christmastime in Prague is full of life. The cold and stoic people I thought I knew so well have overwhelmed me with their warmth. My students have written me cards, baked me cookies, fixed me tea, drawn me pictures, and most importantly poured out their hearts to me over the past weeks. This may all seem very normal to many of you, but those of you who know a lot of Czechs know what I mean when I say that I wonder at times if they really have hearts at all, rather than a second mind lodged in each of their chests. (This is not meant to offend anyone, in fact the Czechs I know would probably laugh approvingly at that remark).

The snow has been falling for days, the Christmas markets are charming, the lights are shining all over the city, the medovina is hot, and I am learning and experiencing so much. I've had some excellent conversations with my new friends here on topics ranging from the latest action movies to the true meaning of Christmas. Actually, during my time here I've discovered how valuable a long, honest conversation can be.

I wish you all a happy Christmas season, and thank you so much for keeping me in your hearts and your prayers. It will be difficult to be away from home during this time of year, but it's ultimately for the best and I am in great hands.

As Christmas approaches, I am reminded how incredibly blessed I am. Not only because of my comfort, my safety, my health, my opportunity to live overseas, my amazing family, or my endless support from all of you, my friends back home. I am blessed because I'm loved without deserving love.

The main character in the book I'm reading struggled with the idea of undeserved love, insisting that "One must deserve love." Another character challenges him, "So I see you really fancy there's something in you that makes you worth loving." Frankly, whenever I search within myself for something, I come up empty. At the end of the chapter, the main character's mother reminds him what true love looks like. "Christ," she says, "will forgive everything...He will forgive your blasphemy and will forgive even worse. He will never fail us, and His light will reach us even in the blackest night." This time of year, it helps me to remember that the greatest love story of all time began with a little baby in a manger.

Merry Christmas

Richard

The Student Becomes the Teacher

Ahoj from Prague! I hope this long-overdue update finds all of you well.  I’m now nearly three months into my time here in the Czech Republic, and I feel like I’m changing even more dramatically than the leaves that paint the landscape in fiery reds and yellows and make the Prague Autumn so stunning.

My work here keeps me very busy. On Mondays and Tuesdays I teach all day at a high school (pictured in the last photo above), and for the rest of the week I tutor individuals in their homes and teach smaller classes all over the city. I also help organize and run English conversation events outside of school, giving my students a chance to come and discuss any topic they like with their “fun” American teachers. It’s a great opportunity to show interest in them personally and get to know them better. I’ve also had the privilege to help some of my students in a practical way with letters of recommendation and by proofreading essays.

I’ve gained an overwhelming admiration for teachers these past months. While some cultural adjustments have been more difficult than others (trying to learn a bit of Czech has been no cakewalk), teaching has been my biggest challenge by far. I never imagined the amount of preparation and creativity required for every good lesson. I confess I’m learning far more than I’m teaching.

However, it’s been such a delight to get to know my students. The unique individuality of each one makes me so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of their lives. I regularly assign journal entries in order to get the students to think critically, to imagine, and explore new ideas (qualities that aren’t highly valued in this education system). One of my recent topics was “What is your dream job?”, and I was shocked to discover their skepticism about the plausibility of their dreams becoming reality. If nothing else, I want to be the one person to uplift them and encourage them to strive for what they are passionate about. Another topic I used was, “One day to live.” The students had to describe how they would spend their final day on earth, the idea being to get them to think about what is most important to them. In their responses, I could see a yearning for deeper meaning and purpose in life.

I’ve found a wonderful church community out here (mainly expats), which has blessed me immeasurably and helped sustain me during hard times. They’ve even given me the opportunity to be involved in praise and worship. We meet in a train station, and our little room is more crowded every week.

Pray for us this weekend, we are hosting a Thanksgiving feast for over 30 teachers from the program here at our flat on Saturday. I’m not even sure how we’ll fit them all in here, but it promises to be a great time of fellowship.

I do apologize for how long it has been since I’ve written. A little over a month ago, my computer completely stopped working, and for the time that I didn’t have one I felt completely disconnected from the world. I know that God was using the experience to remind me of His presence. I now have a brilliant new laptop and you will be hearing from me more often! As always, I can’t express how thankful I am to all of you for your incredibly generous support. Please feel free to write or leave a comment.

In Christ,

Richard

Shining a Light in the Golden City

It is magnificent here, even more so than I had imagined. I arrived early in the evening, weary but immediately in awe of this enchanting city. None of the teachers' luggage made it to Prague. You see, we had sprinted through London/Heathrow airport just in time to catch our connecting flight and our luggage must not have been so swift.  I was greeted at my new workplace (and home) by an American teacher named Katie who helped me get settled in and fed (she might as well have been an angel from heaven). We did get our luggage later on.

I am living in a flat right below the school where I teach (although I will be teaching courses in other parts of the city as well) and we have only to walk up a flight of stairs from within our flat to be at work. I live with three other guys who also teach at the school through the same program. They are all veterans at this and have been incredibly helpful!

The next morning, those of us who are new in Prague planned to meet at a central location downtown to tour the city (and also to fight off jet lag by staying awake all day). Of course, my first action as a resident here was to disembark at the wrong tram stop and thereby get hopelessly lost for nearly an hour. Mind you, my aimless wandering during this time would have been quite pleasant under any other circumstances. Rest assured, I have since learned the Czech phrase for "next stop."

As we strolled through cathedrals, past elaborate synagogues and churches, over ancient bridges, down winding cobblestone roads overlooked by a towering castle (the largest in the world), I noticed one unpleasant sight in the midst of all this beauty: construction. Charles Bridge itself is undergoing extensive renovation, which means ugly scaffolding and other eyesores between you and the beauty you came to see. Even the intricately sculpted statue of Christ on the cross is encircled by a rusted chain-link fence.

I've now taught several classes, and I will dedicate my next post to how teaching is going, but for now I will say this: my students are very bright, and they have already challenged me to devote myself completely to this incredible task. As a young foreign teacher I have the unique opportunity to show genuine interest in their lives. I pray for the ability to do so, and to demonstrate my heart for them in a practical way through my teaching and my interactions with them outside of class.

I wanted to keep this short and sweet (too late), but there are simply too many things to share. I could tell you about sitting through hours of meetings in Czech with my new colleagues, some of whom are more patient with me than others; I could tell you about my newfound appreciation for how easy things were back home (for example, being able to read signs or food packages). I could explain how my relationship with God has already been challenged and deepened here through trials and forced reliance on Him, but I have written too much already. Most importantly, I am experiencing how inadequate I am on my own, while learning what power there is in submission to God's will.

There is a sense of detachment from all things spiritual here in the Golden City; a repressed, melancholic despair lingering beneath the surface and beneath all the beauty, masked as self-reliance and enlightenment. It serves as a barrier to the light, like a rusted chain-link fence between the people and the redeeming love of Christ. I feel hopelessly underqualified to shine a light here, but in my heart I know that God is stronger than the fence; that nothing can stand between Him and the people He loves. If I can play some small part in tearing down that fence, then I have a purpose for living that is greater than myself.
Thank you all for making it possible,

Richard