Mluvime Cesky! ...Jenom trochu :)

I love the czech language. As complicated and confusing as it can be ("The sounds are not always the same. Sometimes we just say them in a different way. You just have to know.") it is, in my opinion, so beautiful. I love to listen to women chat with each other on the tram and a group of friends all talking in czech at once. I just think it is so neat. The English language is not a very pretty language. Maybe that's because it's my native tongue. But compared with Czech, it sounds so lame. I had my first "intensive language course" today. We learned a lot. More than my brain could comprehend long-term. But at the end of the 3 and a half hours, I didn't want to stop speaking czech. I kept repeating the four or five different phrases I had just learned. Luckily, my friend Jeongmin was very encouraging and listen to me repeat myself. And also try to read every single sign we passed. One of the great things about doing this ISEP-Direct instead of ISEP-Exchange (I know that doesn't mean much to most of you, but it's not all that important) is that I receive a LOT of benefits - one of them being the opportunity to continue the czech language course throughout the semester without having to pay the normal fee (the intensive course is just 4 days long). I am so excited to learn more of the language and to use it in the city. As we were walking back to our rooms this evening, I overheard a mother and her son having a conversation and I actually understood the majority of it. It is so much fun. My roommate (you remember Magda?) was telling me that when she was home in Poland last week, she would get confused with which language she should be speaking. She would start to speak to her mom in Czech, then switch to English, then realize she needed to be speaking Polish. I want to be like that someday. She thinks she's crazy. I would definitely agree, but crazy in a really awesome way.


Apart from learning Czech, today included a trip to the bank where we are supposed to open a czech account (unfortunately I am a fool and forgot my paperwork, so lucky me I get to go back again tomorrow!) and a welcoming reception hosted by the International Student Club. At the reception I met a lot of new people. I have been in much better spirits today (partly thanks to my happy digestive tract, mostly due to the grace of God) and feeling much more like myself, so it was really fun to interact with other students. One of the strange things about being a native English speaker in a place where English is the common language is I have this feeling of responsibility. I'm not sure why, but for some reason I feel that it is my job to make others feel at ease in speaking English and to encourage them to speak about more than their names and home countries (a typical conversation starter these days). So tonight at the welcoming reception I prompted my new friends to share things like their favorite foods and their most embarassing moments (hilarious with people from so many different cultures). I also had a fun conversation with a few of the girls about dating and engagements. There's this couple from Finland that are here together and they are engaged and apparently in Finland, it is typical for the boy and the girl to exchange simple bands when they become engaged, and then at the wedding is when the boy will give the girl the bigger ring, usually with a diamond. Quite the opposite of in America. And to be honest, I kind of like that. Because in America, you never know when a boy is engaged! Just something I found interesting...


Apart from having silly conversations with Finnish people and Dutch people and Polish people and South Korean people (oh yeah, and one other American boy from LSU), the welcoming reception was stock piled with all sorts of fun and interesting food. I was so excited to finally be able to digest food properly and to be able to try traditional czech food, that I ate SO much. Some good, some bad. But all exciting! I'd tell you what all I ate, but to be sincere I don't even know! I know there was some escargot (not sure I'll ever eat that again...), lots of different kind of cheeses served in many, many ways, these yummy little pastry puff things filled with "a tasty surprise"(as the Finnish boy called it), lots of fruit (pears filled with cheese and some other strange chunks..) and some other stuff that was good, not great. :) Oh yeah, and wine. Everywhere you turned, there was a server with a full tray of wine. I tried some white wine. It was the worst tasting wine I'd ever had. Not that I'm a conoisseur of wine, but the few I've tried tasted better than the wine we had tonight. I stuck with orange juice the rest of the night. Overall, though, it was a ton of fun and very memorable!


After we finally figured out how to get back to Vinarska (our dorm) I came back to my room to FINALLY unpack all of my stuff. I'm sure Magda was excited to find that she could actually walk to her desk without stumbling. A bunch of people are going to a party tonight at the international student club Mandarin. I seriously debated whether I should go or not and finally decided against it, simply because I don't know my way well enough around the city yet to be able to leave by myself if necessary. Even though I don't plan on drinking while I'm here (except for my one taste of the most famous czech beer I promised my friends here I would try), I do plan to go to some of the parties at Mandarin (every single wednesday night and all weekend!) because I think that's what Jesus would do. You might disagree with me and think it best for me to just stay clear of that whole scene so as not to damage my witness or something, but as I've been reading through the Gospels, I am reminded that Jesus spent the majority of his time with sinners and there are even times when people accuse him of being a drunkard and a sinner himself. I know that I will have to be careful with how I handle myself and to go with an attitude of humility, but I do believe that God can and will work through me in strange and mysterious ways at Mandarin and I'm excited about that. So just be praying for me, that I would have the right words and the right attitude.

Somehow my sporatic thoughts and scattered memory turned into a big long jumble of words! So on that note...

OH. I decided today that everytime I blog, I will highlight one new friend I have made and ways you can be praying for them. So today, it will be Jeongmin since she and I spent the majority of the day together. Jeongmin is from South Korea and she is dating a New Jersey boy who is currently studying in Cambridge. She is so sweet, but has quite the vocabulary (I am still surprised at how many times I've heard certain four letter English words being dropped since I've been here!). Jeongmin doesn't know Jesus and seems to feel that life is best this way. Today I let her listen to one of Sam's songs (and let me tell you, it was so hard to do... ;) and she loved him. (well, his voice) I hope to share more of his music with her as a sort of way to share the meanings with her (thank you sam for having such awesome, conversation starting music). You can be praying for my relationship with Jeongmin, that the language barrier between us (not huge, but still existent) would not hinder us from talking about deeper, more meaningful things. Pray that she would acknowledge the hunger within her for the Lord. That the Lord is the true source of life and not wordly things. Pray for me, that I would be bold and take advantage of every opportunity God gives me to speak truth into her life. But most of all, pray that God would be glorified in everything I say and do, not just in regards to Jeongmin, but in general. I am so thankful for this opportunity. I know it is not a technical mission trip, but I feel that in a way, that is what God intended when he brought me here. To build relationships and share his love.


Thank you all for your love and support. Your emails and comments mean so much to me and have come at just the perfect time. It is hard being here, away from all things familiar and comfortable, but everytime I am feeling discouraged or homesick, God uses one of you to encourage me and remind me that He is sovereign and ever-present here with me. Yesterday I was inspired to read Ephesians 6 (thanks Mama B :) and I love Paul's request at the end of his discussion of the armor of God:

"Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."

Please pray this for me, as well. But even more, I pray this for each of you. I pray that you would desire this kind of faith for your lives.

"Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love."

-Heather