Culture Shock

It was one of my first visits to the Adriatic Coast in the summer of '07.  It happened near a city called Zadar, but this story could have happened anywhere in Croatia - anywhere in the Balkans for that matter.  I ordered a drink at a recommended pizzeria.  It was a friendly place - one of those restaurants where the waiter will have a conversation with you and you realize he's not doing it just to get a bettter tip.  And you know when you've had one of those days when the first thing you want to do when you sit down is have an ice-cold drink?  It was one of those days. So when the waiter brought a tiny glass of water with no ice, I got hotter than I already was.  "Can we ask this guy for some ice?" I tried to ask my wife cooly.  Petra laughed and told the guy I was a foreigner and I like ice.  He smiled, turned and hurried to the kitchen, returning quickly with an ice-cube.  One measly stinkin' piece of ice. "I can handl...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again; parents can learn a lot from their kids.  Ian is a smiler. He's had a bad cough for the last two weeks, and the doctor isn't sure why the anti-biotics haven't worked. But he's always ready to give a smile - even after a coughing fit. And when, as a parent, I see those smiles, it makes me want to pass along the joy.  Thank you Ian, for every one of your smiles.

We're always so quick to point out the differences aren't we?  America is big, Croatia small.  Europe is old, America new.  The list could go on and on. But when my friend Laci and his family came to visit the other day he pointed out one of the similarities between the two cultures: Laci is Hungarian and I am American.  But the process of preparing the grill, cooking the meat, and enjoying a conversation while doing so is not so foreign to either of us - even in a country neither one of us grew up in - Croatia.  In fact, the table often seems to be a symbol of unity, a place where relationships grow.  Go back to Jesus and Zacchaeus.  The fact that Jesus wanted to have lunch in the tax collector's house was unheard of.  But it was there, at Zacchaeus's table, where repentance took place and a life was changed. ___________________________________________ I lost the importance of a shared meal during college.  But since we've moved t...

While I haven't been gone fishing during the last few weeks, and my absence has been for good reason, I feel I owe my regular readers something .  But yet, I will be gone doing something that is relaxing, enjoyable and vacationish - spending time with my brother and sister-in-law on the Adriatic Coast for the next 4 days while they visit.  It is their first visit to Europe after all.  So if you still frequent the Culture Shock Weblog - Thank you!  Let me recommend a past post that takes a look at some of the beauty of Croatia. 

Who needs a sign when you have black spray paint?