Home at Last

Remarkable though it sounds, I began life this side of the ocean with little of either jetlag or culture shock (so far). In fact, I think the transition from Chicago to small-town Oklahoma was actually harder! (Except, of course, for the fact that Oklahomans do speak English.) After years of planning to be here, it just seems so right to finally be "at home". Praise God!
After five days at a conference with colleagues from all over Europe, I arrived in Prague last Tuesday. With help from a teammate, I have gotten my bus/tram/train passes, begun visa paperwork, registered for my first Czech class, and purchased a bed at IKEA (that's "ee-kay-uh", for those of you familiar with the store on the American side of the ocean). I attended church at a small church plant in Prague, visited a mall (apart from the language and the parking lot full of Skodas, you would never know you were shopping in a former communist country!), shopped for groceries, and found my way--with some trial and error--from my home in the "suburbs" to my class in Prague ALL BY MYSELF!
I am living with three Czech women in a town southeast of Prague. I walk about 20 minutes to the train station, then ride the train for half an hour, then switch to the Metro (subway) for about 15 minutes, then walk another five minutes to get to class. In a few weeks, I will (probably) switch to the university for more intensive lessons in Czech. In the meantime, I'm working on establishing a rhythm. That's my life in a nutshell.

Praises:
Getting here! (and getting a running start)
Wonderful teaching and fellowship at the conference last week
SKYPE (if you don't know what this is, ask)
Finding a good language course starting at just the right time
Having Czech roommates to help me learn the language

Prayer Requests:
For healing from a cough that has redeveloped over the last few days (I finished a course of antibiotics just before arriving in Prague.)
For the ability to absorb a lot during my language courses
For visa paperwork to be finished with a minimum of hassles
For me to be a blessing to my roommates and teammates
For wisdom figuring out some easy and inexpensive solutions to getting some paperwork, books, and other things that got left behind in the trans-Atlantic move