Let the Olympics Commence

After today's events, there is no doubt in my mind that I will be an English teacher overseas.  These people, and this place, have re-kindled the spark inside me that was nearly quenched from the drudgery of college work. Not only has God given me the ability to get through to my students so they feel at ease, but I just immensely enjoy my time with them.  We laughed and sang and acted and learned together today in a way I did not think was possible with the language barrier that exists.  The day started with prayer, of course,
with the team followed immediately by a typical Czech breakfast. After that, it was time for lessons.  I was struggling at first to get past mine and my students nervousness with the new situation.  But the bugs were worked out after a 30 minute break where I regrouped with my translator and switched strategies.

Vojta was a high roller in our game of Toss Up

 The next part of the day was spent playing outside of our beautiful hotel.  We had the "winter" Olympics today.  I have no pictures because I was participating, but let me tell you, I have more new things this first day of camp than a year of regular life back home.  I skied in the grass, curled on a driveway, slalomed in a field, and shot put with a real live shot put ball.  I did poorly on everything obviously but my team took first place out of all the campers in spite of my inept performance.  Needless to say, this was an amazing day.  Check out the grounds!

Upon completing dinner, it was the American's turn to entertain the campers so we all gave translated introductions of ourselves and shared a crazy talent we had.  The highlights of the talents were Kelsey and LaVerne's performances.  Kelsey claimed to be the fasted diaper changer ever and proved it to be true when she went head to head with fellow mother, Lanka. Kelsey pulled out all the stops by changing her baby CC...BLINDFOLDED!  LaVerne displayed her perfect coordination and impeccable reflexes when she managed to catch 19 out of 20 quarters off her elbow. Her challenger, Radim, managed to catch 1 out of 20.  It was a wonderful time for everyone involved.

Finally, we all finished our evening at the camp fire where I played guitar and sang, everyone simply enjoying each others company.  So there you have it folks, today in a nutshell. There are so many stories I would love to tell but they will have to wait for another post.  Thank you all for reading!

Ciao!