Visiting Cousins and a visiting cousin

Over a month ago, I posted our last blog and as you can imagine, we were pretty busy. We flew back to Canada to attend Sarah's cousin's wedding at the end of September and stayed for about 5 days. The wedding was super fun and we want to say congrads again to Justine and Troy and their families. It's a shame weddings can only happen once with the same people.

Over here, school has kept us occupied, but we have still left enough room in our schedules and our apartment for people to come visit. My cousin, Scott Taylor, is currently finding himself in Europe and he found himself staying with us for a few days. He's doing what everybody dreams of doing or regrets never doing - traveling for a few months while he can still stomach affordable mystery meat and temporary bedrooms. But in all seriousness, the only regret I have about Scott staying with us is that we didn't convince him to stay longer. It was terrific having him here, he was an ideal guest (made us dinner, twice! Two more times than me) and everybody should follow his lead.

Our past month was filled with school activities like Culture Day, Parent/Teacher Conferences, Harvest Festival, after-school clubs, and two school campouts for Sarah. Also, we've started Czech lessons, Bible study, took a weekend trip to Cesky Krumlov, took a weekend trip to Karlstejn Castle to witness a Medieval Festival (there isn't enough space on the internet...), celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving, and have loved every minute of it.

We are always thinking of home and the people there, but we are so happy and blessed to be living in Prague. Sarah and I begin a week's holiday today and tomorrow we're meeting some Aussies from the school for a road trip to Switzerland through Germany. We still seem to have to pinch ourselves.

Anyway, that's a very brief update on the many things we've found ourselves doing over the past month. If you want to comment on these, just reply to our email.

Long Time, No Blog

Wow. It has been a very long time since I have been on this website, nevermind visiting the website and deciding it wasn't a good time to write an entry. In my absence from blogging, Sarah and I have been to Austria with Sarah's friend Sarah Higgs, we have met the staff we are working with at Riverside School, we have met our students and begun classes, and I haven't had another Wait... What? moment. However, with all that being said, we have really enjoyed ourselves, we are alive, and we are settling in very well. A few weeks ago, Sarah mentioned that when we just arrived, we were so cautious about which streets we were walking down because we didn't want to get lost and now we're navigating public transit on all sides of the city without breaking a sweat. We feel pretty lucky and very blessed to be here. If you'd like to read about Austria and our new experiences at Riverside, you can read the next two blogs.

Riverside School

Sarah and I have been in Prague for exactly one day and one month. We have adjusted well to the culture, our apartment, we're getting better at the language, and we have just begun to meet the staff and families of Riverside School. The many planets of the "Settlingintoprague Universe" are almost completely aligned.
We are now faced with the challenge of getting used to our jobs - the actual reason we are here. Upon first glance, the school is situated on the west side of the Vltava river across from high cliffs that overlook the schoolyard. It's a very picturesque location. Next, the interior of the school gave us the impression that each staff member contributes much more that just curriculum. The walls were decorated with incredibly bright, 3D artwork and pictures of school activities were scattered on various walls. We felt that if the staff are just as great as our first impression of the school, then we have really been blessed with a perfect situation.
Sure enough, the staff here consists of teachers who are committed to the school both professionally and personally. Each person supports and lives out the Christian ethos of the school. We felt so welcomed into their community as newbies, even though they had 23 new staff members that year! We could have easily been lost in the crowd, but people seemed excited to meet us. Either they are fakers, or they were excited to meet Sarah and polite to me.
I'm teaching Year 4 (Grade 3 in North America) and the kids are really great. I have kids from 7 different countries who all speak with their own unique accent. It's very cute and I'm very happy to be teaching this class. (Also, I'm teaching the son of a Czech hero - a former professional soccer player who played for Liverpool when they won the Champions League and then for a local team in Prague. I'm really looking forward to meeting him because the staff says he's a real gentleman - a lesson to all you pro athletes who might be reading this.)
Anyway, things are going well and we're very blessed.

Sarah and I would also like to give a huge shout out to Immanuel Christian School and Durham Christian High School. Both schools gave Sarah and I our first teaching jobs and provided us with very high expectations for any school staff and school community we will be a part of in the future. Thanks to Fred, Jasper, and the staff at both schools for giving us a chance.

Vienna, Schladming, and Salzburg

Once we boarded the bus for Vienna, I thought to myself, "I'm setting myself up for failure. I live in the most beautiful city in Europe and we're going to see another 'beautiful' city. Everything I see will be compared to Prague." Fortunately, Vienna turned out to be very beautiful. The Hofsburg was a beautiful sight and so was the Parliament Building and the Rathaus. On top of the really beautiful buildings, the sculptures on top of each corner of each building were breathtaking. They were full of emotion and white as snow against the blue sky. It was really cool to see. Unfortunately, Sarah had a splitting headache for most of our first day. So on the second day we went to see Dr. Sigmund Freud at the Freud Museum. It was really cool to enter his old apartment and office where he practiced psychoanalysis. All in all, Vienna didn't turn out to be a bust.
Next was Schladming where Sarah spent three months at Bible school while we were dating. It's a beautiful town in the middle of the Austrian Alps. We spent two nights there at a small B&B and climbed a mountain (see my profile picture on Facebook). We enjoyed some time with one of Sarah's professors and had a drink while listening to an outdoor polka band. With the hike, we were now tired for Salzburg.
I should mention that Sarah and I had the great privilege to spend this time with one of Sarah's friends from Bible school, Sarah Higgs. Yes, THE Sarah Higgs (see Sarah's "Friend List" on Facebook).
Not to fear! When we got to Salzburg, we went to bed immediately and got up to take a bicycle tour around Salzburg. It was no ordinary bike tour, it was the Sound of Music Bicycle Tour! I had never seen the movie, so to bike around with some drooling fanatics who had traveled to their personal Mecca was a treat in itself. Even though I had never seen the movie, I enjoyed the tour because it was a great way to see such a really beautiful city of only 200,000.
What a relief. I was afraid the cities in Austria were going to be just like any little brother who begins seeing muscles in the mirror, only to have big brother Prague flex right behind him. In simpler terms, Vienna, Schladming, and Salzburg turned out to be that really great little brother who sometimes beats you at certain sports.

Wait... What?

One of my favourite short-lived TV shows from this year was called Sports Show with Norm MacDonald. He had a terrific segment called, "Wait... what?" where he would begin showing a video clip and then something within the clip would be very out of the ordinary which made you say, "Wait... what?" Take this clip for example. If the link doesn't work, I apologize.
Anyway, I had one of these moments last night when Sarah and I went to the movies.
We were standing in line to get snacks before seeing "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" when we decided we would like some popcorn and some Coca-Cola. It wasn't a difficult choice and is rather cliche, but nevertheless enjoyable. We approach the counter and in my improved Czech, I ask if the girl behind the till if she speaks English. Success! She understands my Czech, doesn't think that I'm German, and she speaks English.
Confidently, I ask, "May I have a Coke?"
She nods and asks, "Medium or Large?"
"Medium please."
She turns to fill up our coke and comes back and places it in front of us. Next, I say, "And some popcorn too, please."
Our server asks, "Salty or Ham and Cheese?"
I respond, "Salty."
Wait... what?
Did she just say Ham and Cheese? Sarah and I stared at each other trying to read the others' eyes as to whether or not we just heard the same thing. Ham and Cheese? As a popcorn flavour? There were so many other flavours that my mind could have processed without flaw, but Ham and Cheese? I mean, there's caramel corn, sweet corn, extra butter, and now they have Ham and Cheese? It took us a while before we gathered ourselves and walked into the theatre, but we both agreed that we need to try Ham and Cheese popcorn when we see our next movie.
Whenever anybody goes to a new culture, I'm sure there are many "Wait... What?" moments, so this will be a weekly feature in the blog. Thanks for reading this week's "Wait... What?"

Free Ballet

I had a headache on Sunday, so we decided it would great idea to take a long stroll to the Vltava River in the bright noonday sun. Only elementary kids could contest Father Sun in contributing to a splitting headache. After weaving and winding through the city, we sat overlooking the river and had a cappuccino. It honestly was a beautiful day, so we decided to move from our cafe down to the riverside and rented paddle boats like giddy tourists, but unlike giddy tourists, we knew better and brought some wine and cheese into our vessel. As we're peddling through the mucky waters of the Vltava, we meet some Aussies who are in the middle of months of traveling. We hang out for a couple hours, and then spend some time around Charles Bridge until dusk. Luckily enough, that night there was a free ballet/musical performance on a stage just below the Charles Bridge. We are lined up along the south side of the bridge with hundreds of other tourists watching a poor man's dress rehearsal, when all of the sudden a massive wind and rain storm hits the bridge. Performers and audience alike are shocked and everyone began rushing for shelter, but because there are only two exits/entrances on a bridge, you could only imagine the chaos of everyone trying to get to shelter by doing their best George Costanza. It just might have been the most exciting part of the show. Oh, and my headache was gone!

News Article

I know I already posted today, but I thought this news article might interest you...

The Germans

After a 5-hour hike, we got on the train back to Prague and the ticket officer on the train didn’t speak English. However, my Czech was so bad, he immediately concluded that we were from Germany! He smiled, began blathering in German, and motioned that everything was going to be OK because in his mind, the language barrier had been broken. I guess my eyes weren’t glazed over enough for him to realize the Canadian flag on Sarah’s backpack wasn’t serving as a patch. For the remainder of the train ride, our officer occasionally walked by, smiled at his new German friends, and once he either told us the time or the number of stops remaining. Again, in German. Sarah and I began discussing if it was socially acceptable to correct him and tell him we aren’t from Germany, even after multiple “conversations” in German. Our conclusion – tell him in Czech that he spoke German very well and be done with it.
Unfortunately, our ticket officer was at the rear of the passenger car when we exited, so we never got the chance. However, at least he thinks that his many years of German language study finally paid off for the "Mullers".

Hiking in Bohemian Paradise

Yesterday (Aug. 12), Sarah and I decided to head far out of the city and explore the rest of the country. We weren’t sure where to go, so we got up early, traveled to the train station, sat down on the ground and played a card game called Monopoly Deal. The winner got to choose our destination. After Sarah won, she selected a very pretty town southwest of Prague, near the border of Austria, but the4-hour train ride didn’t leave for another two hours. Sarah then deferred to me. My selection was a national park northeast of Prague called Cesky Raj and the train left in 20 min. We agreed this was a very careful and thought out decision, so we bought two round trip tickets, covering a travel distance of 102km, costing us 320 crowns or $18.60. The day was off to a frugal start.
We arrived in a town called Turnov and began asking questions about how to get to the national park. We kept getting the same answer – “You’re here.” We were in the heart of the national park and didn’t know what direction to go. We asked the tourist centre and they told us of a hike through the Hruboskalsko Rock Towns. It was incredible! We really enjoyed that hike and we would visit again.

Culture Shock

We have been in Prague for one week now and we have down lots of sight seeing and picture taking. It has been very magical as we wander around our new nation’s capital exploring all the nooks and crannies. We have discovered some awesome local restaurants, majestic cathedrals, and wide-open parks. However, some things have surprised us in a different way. For example, as we travel underground along the metro lines, the public bathrooms have become privatized – 5 crowns per use. I was desperate, so I walked into the bathroom with 5 crowns in hand only to find a woman sleeping at the payment desk. Without breaking my stride, I selected my urinal of choice and began to take a complimentary tinkle, without stirring a mouse. I was careful to use the faucet quietly and we know that the air blower would surely wake her, so forget dry hands. I walked out comfortably and satisfied with my rogue bathroom break.
Our second adventure comes to us on behalf on my beautiful wife, Sarah. As she tirelessly shifts furniture around the room in order to appease her neurotic husband’s OCD for efficient coffee table placement, she takes a break to plug in our North American surge-protected power bar. Sarah isn’t dumb, so she applies a power adapter to the end of the power bar chord so that she can plug it into the European outlet. Sure enough, it worked! ...Until she flicked the switch to “ON.” A flash so bright it could double as a stun grenade fills our bedroom. Sarah leaps onto the bed away from the smoking power bar and all of the sudden we’re in the dark. My fear was that we knocked out the power for the entire building, but sure enough, just our entire apartment. Talk about good news... We spend ten minutes at the fuse box with a flashlight pinned between my teeth and a Czech/English dictionary in my hands. Everything was flipped back into its upright positions but no power. Enter Hradhart - a South African who lives three floors above us. Hradhart comes to point out that the fuse box for our floor is what we need and they are located outside of our apartment. He simply opens up the box, flips the switch, and we’re back in business. Thanks Hradhart, we now know to use voltage converters, not power adapters. We're learning.

Tourists

Once we felt comfortable with our apartment, we decided it was time to head out and see the sights that Prague has to offer. We jumped onto the Metro (subway) and met up with Al for Thai food in Wenceslas Square – a very popular tourist spot. After dinner, we were about to part ways when two Canadian girls stopped us and asked us for directions. They were headed down to Old Town Square and needed to find their hostel as well. After directing them towards the city centre, Sarah and I decided we would do the same. As we walked, we saw the two Canadians again and invited them to join us for the evening. As we entered Old Town Square, it felt like we had entered a new world where centuries of culture and tradition had been preserved. Spires, balconies, and clock towers sprung into the sky and as dusk fell, all four of us went to a rooftop patio overlooking Old Town Square for coffee and dessert.
The next few days consisted of more tourist attractions including Charles Bridge, Frank Gehry's Dancing House, and simply wandering to find the coolest places around our new city. We have yet to visit Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral within the castle walls, but we will soon stroll across Charles Bridge, weave along the cobblestone streets and enter through the gates of the world's largest castle. We are continually in shock of the city's beauty.

First Meal

After getting our bags through the door, our landlord offered us some tea, we went over the basics of the flat (heating, water, garbage, etc.) and then suggested an authentic Czech meal for dinner just around the corner from us. Once they left, we ventured into our new neighbourhood and sat down for some Bohemian cuisine. The menu was extensive, not War and Peace extensive, but maybe People magazine extensive, but without their insightful columns. We asked for authentic Czech food and the waiter came back with two plates. The first plate (Sarah's) was chicken breast coated in a potato-type breading with sauerkraut and the second (mine) was gravy with sides of beef and bread dumplings. The former of the two was tastier, but half of the latter could feed an army. The food was honestly not bad at all and I would definitely have it again, not to mention two pints of Pilsner Urquell beer cost us 50 Crowns or $2.90 Canadian. All in all, a good first meal in the Czech Republic.

July 31st – Departure

Our final day in Canada went extremely smoothly. Like Jed and his family, we piled all of our possessions into the truck and shipped out to the airport. We were to meet my parents and Grams at the airport during check-in so that we could have a final meal with everyone before we left. During check-in, we were graciously bumped up to economy-plus, which was a very nice privilege for a commoner like myself, even if my seat is the Oriental Avenue compared to first class’ Boardwalk. Once the bags had disappeared through the doggie-door along the conveyor belt, we settled down for the finest meal Pearson airport has to offer – Swiss Chalet. A half-chicken dinner later, we were waving good-bye to our parents while sprinting through security. After navigating through Heathrow airport or what could have very well been Escher’s “Relativity,” we found our gate and boarded the plane for Prague.

July 30th – Countdown

The past few days have been a tired blur of packing, lifting, selling, and driving. We have spent the weekend packing an endless amount of “necessary items” and somehow ended up with 11 bags with sizes ranging from large to Winnebago. The bags can only be a certain weight and we can only store a certain amount at Sarah’s parents place, so we have made multiple trips to Value Village to bless the community with our hand-me-downs. I’m looking forward to hearing about a former student to show up at school wearing Mr. Muller’s gently-used dress shoes.
The packing pattern consisted of filling the bag, closing the bag, weighing the bag, opening the bag, rearranging the bag, closing the bag, weighing, opening, readjusting, closing, etc. until each bag was a trim 32kg or 70.5 lbs.
We eventually gathered our belongings, cleared the apartment of all things Muller, handed over the keys, and broke a window. Our damage deposit was ready to be returned in full, but thanks to Dave losing a battle with a grocery cart, our co-op needed to readjust the figure. Off to Belleville for a sleepover before we jump on a plane!

July - Preparation

For the month of July, Sarah and I travelled all around the GTA and beyond to visit family and friends before we departed for Prague on July 31st. We scheduled our time accordingly. In order to see everybody before we left, we visited family in the first two weeks of July (PFO, Brampton, Toronto, Belleville, cottage) and visited friends in the third week of July (Mississauga, K/W, Muskoka Woods, Priceville). We purposefully left the final week of July open in order to move our things out of our Oshawa apartment and see some last minute people in Oshawa (the Immanuel families, Wes and Kristin Wood).
Amongst all this travel and visiting, we were trying to sell the car and our furniture, get Sarah certified to teach canoeing, and build our “RAFTs” appropriately. It was a difficult process to say the least. The weight of moving overseas for two years definitely puts pressure on an all-important final farewell.