Culture Shock

Do you ever look back at one period of your life and still blush as you recall something you said?  I remember sitting in Sunday School as a 15 years old teenager.  Feeling very comfortable in my surroundings and confident with my Biblical knowledge I challenged our teacher: "Is there anything you can teach me about the Bible that I don't already know?" Fourteen years later I'm the one being challenged.  Recently, I've taken an interest in several books written by very different authors from different perspectives.  They share one focus though - that we, as Christians must continue our search for who God is.  The Challenge of Jesus by N.T. Wright is a quest for the historical Jesus.  Wright shivers at the notion that we - whether Roman Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, or Evangelical - know exactly who Jesus was.  I believe...that each generation has to wrestle afresh with the question of Jesus, not least its Biblical roo...

                                                                                   Orahovica December 2009 Although Croatia has a similar climate to that of New England’s, it typically receives less snow. I haven't been here during a major snowstorm so I haven't had the chance to compare snowfall (and the reaction to it) in Croatia to the hysteria I experienced in New England. So when it began snowing the other day I started asking questions. How long is it going to snow? How much will we get? What roads should I avoid? Will there be any cancellations or delays? It just goes to show...

Owning and driving a car in Croatia is much different than owning and driving a car in America.  I've touched on the shock of driving in Croatia, but being a car owner is just as....well, shocking.  Just yesterday I was asked why my car was so dirty (blunt honesty is also a specialty here). The thing was, my car wasn't dirty - according to my standards.  I didn't have old McDonalds bags crumpled in the back seat.  I didn't have apple cores or lollipops sticking to the floor mats.  I didn't even have any toys for Enoh or crumbs from Enoh laying where Enoh usually sits.  Granted, my dashboard was a bit dusty, my floormats had some dirt on them and I had a coffee mug in my cupholder.  But that's it.  I had vacuumed the car a week earlier, and I had washed it a few days ago.  I didn't consider it "dirty" but everyone who was riding in my car did.    People here clean their cars a lot .  They wash their car...

Today was a first for daddy and me. My parents and I were invited to meet St. Nicholas (Sveti Nikola) in one of the schools where they teach English. Being from America, daddy thought Santa and St. Nick were one in the same. Though there is much debate on the issue, St. Nick didn't look anything like the red-suited bowl full of jelly bellied fella we saw in the American malls last year. Nor did his entourage include reindeer. Instead there was a horse and carriage in front of the school as we arrived. We walked inside and saw St. Nicholas talking with the schoolchildren. We also saw his rival Krampus who managed to scare me, mommy and the whole first grade class. According to tradition, if you're naughty you receive a stick from Krampus rather than a present on St. Nicholas day. I don't know how they knew, but I got a bag full of goodies which my parents promised to help me consume. Then I got to meet them face to face - much to my dismay. All's well tha...

I have a thing for Chinese food. Not the fancy Chinese restaraunts with the nicely folded napkins and wine glasses. For me, the smaller the restaraunt, the better. You've seen the ones with only one table and a chair inside. Or the ones in the food court with the nice lady handing out sesame chicken samples. That's what I'm talking about. So a few weeks ago, when we made the short trip over the border to Hungary and went to an American looking shopping mall, I was ecstatic to find a "Chinese Bufe" restaraunt. And the funny thing is, I half expected them to speak English. 99% of Croatia is made up of Croats, Serbs or Slovenians. They all have generally the same skin color. So when I see anyone from somewhere outside the Balkans my brain immediately reverts back to melting-pot America. Well these Chinese cooks and food-hander-outers still had their Chinese accents, but here they were accompanied by the Hungarian language of which I know only one word. Thankfully whe...