This past weekend was a blast! Friday evening, I spent time with Anicka. Anicka, Martina and I went bowling. Vsetin has a small bowling alley with 4 lanes and a small casino attached to it. It was surprisingly busy but most of the people there were hanging out, drinking beer. We had a lane to ourselves for 1 hour. We were able to play 3 games, 2 of which I won! :) I didn't break 100 points...but it was a lot of fun. Saturday morning I headed to Malenovice where English Weekend was held. The theme of the weekend was "A Trip to the USA". Students started arriving around 9:00am and we all checked into our rooms. We had an hour of introduction and getting to know each other and the first lesson was at 11. I taught about traveling through the airport and flying. We reviewed vocabulary they knew and I introduced them to new words such as "barf bag. Lunch was at noon and they served salmon and mashed potatoes. We had about 3 hours of free time after lunch. Some people went for a walk, some took naps, and I played ping pong and darts. At 4, there was another English lesson and at 5 Brad and I gave the powerpoint presentation.
Our presentation was "A Trip to the USA" and we talked about popular places to travel to in the US. We took them to Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Colorado, South Dakota, California, and Hawaii. Dinner was at 6 and we had Spaghetti with meatballs which was delicious. I led the evening program "The Money". I gave a presentation comparing the salaries and costs of things in the Czech Republic verses in the United States. I wanted the students to think about what money means to them and realize that what we spend our money on reflects what is important to us and what is in our hearts. Kevin Wolfe and I both shared part of our testimony afterward. I really just shared what God has been doing in my during my stay in Czech and why I came to Czech in the first place. Many students were asking what I was doing here and how can I work for free and how I got the money to spend 3 months abroad. So, it was a great time of sharing what God has done in my life and what is most important to me. After the evening talk, we had a time to hang out and talk with one another.Sunday morning, we had breakfast and then 3 more English lessons. For lunch, we had hamburgers and french fries. The students were asking me how to eat it which totally made my day. Some of them had never had hamburgers and french fries. Czech style hamburgers are not quite the same as an American hamburger but it was good. I told the students to pick up the french fries with their hands instead of using a fork and they looked at me like I was crazy. :) After lunch, everyone headed home. Overall, the English Weekend went great. I am so happy I was a part of it and hope that I can be a part of it again in the future.
After lunch on Sunday, Lucie, Vlastik, and I hiked to the top of Lysa Hora. The trail is about 10 miles long and most of it is very steep terrain. We started the trail at 1:30 and reached the top at 2:50. We made it in only 80 minutes which means we were averaging 8 minute miles while walking! It was quite the workout but totally worth it! At the top, Vlastik showed me the mountains over in Polland and the border between Slovakia and Czech Republic lies. It was a stunning sight! I hiked Lysa Hora last summer with the kids from camp but when we reached the top, it was so foggy, we couldn't see 100 ft. in front of us. So today, we could see everything and it was truly an amazing view. God's creation is magnificant and I am so happy and blessed to have had the opportunity to see it from the top of this mountain.
“We have seen that the Son of God created the world for this very end, to communicate Himself in an image of His own excellency. ... When we behold the light and brightness of the sun, the golden edges of an evening cloud, or the beauteous (rain)bow, we behold the adumbrations of His glory and goodness; and in the blue sky, of his mildness and gentleness.”
— Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
