Culture Shock

"Faith is simply following, following its object. Faith is going a way which is marked out and prepared." - Karl Barth If faith can be defined this way, isn't faith exactly what the magi and shepherds were demonstrating when they traveled to see the baby? The star and the desire to worship the newborn king of the Jews were the only motivating factors for the wise men. The throng of angels and their heavenly song prompted the shepherds. In other words, these two groups of people were not drawn to Jesus because of their faith. They exercised faith because they were drawn to Jesus.  Their worship of Jesus was completely outside the realm of tradition or religion.  They knew nothing of the reason for the season, or the Christ of Christmas. The only appropriate response was to go and see what it was that had been announced. The way had been prepared. But that's all they knew. They were filled with awe, wonder and probably confusion.  There was no sense whatsoever...

"Just let them do it..." our host whispered to her husband, "...it's what they do in America". My wife and I had been living in our pastor's home for close to a year.  They cooked for us.  They paid the electric and water bills. They insisted on buying the groceries.  All because we were volunteering in the church they had served in for the last 30 years. The tradition in small town Croatia is to cook a big meal on Sundays.  We're talking soup, then freshly cooked beef, pork, chicken (or all three), potatoes, freshly picked vegetables, and a homemade cake with cappuccino, coffee or tea to round things off.  They don't let you stop eating either.  Here your "no" doesn't mean no until you've said it at least 10 times. So I thought it might be nice to take the burden off our hosts one Sunday and invite them out for čevapi at the only restaurant I knew of in town. After all, in America taking someone out for dinner is a nice way...

In June 2003, during my first visit to Croatia, Pope John Paul II came to Osijek.  The only thing I remember about that day was that the whole city shut down.  There was not a car on the street, not a business working.  Osijek was a ghost town.  Most had gone to the airport landing field - the only place in the city that could hold the throng of people ( 220,000 in a city of fewer than 100,000) who came to see  Papa. The city put up a large cross for the event. _______________________________________________________________________ The other day, I took my car to Osijek to be serviced.  The Kia station happens to be very close to the cross. As I was walking to a cafe I stared at the symbol, amazed by the simplicity of the structure juxtaposed by the immense meaning it carries.  I looked forward to spending more time in contemplation when I returned. When it was time to pick up my car I started back along the same path I had walked just a few...

These two signs just popped up in Orahovica.  What do they mean?  What's their relationship to each other?

I just realized another reason why Paul calls us Christ's beloved children in the same verse he calls us to imitate Christ. Today I was working with Ian to clean up his magnet letters.  He was having some trouble concentrating on finishing the job...until I helped him.  Then, the faster I worked, the faster he worked.  Before I began, I was concerned that my help would cause him to just stand by and watch while I finished the job.  But, knowing that we wouldn't do anything else until the task was completed, he imitated my pattern and did the same. There aren't many teachers that prompt us to do anything like children.  But Paul had seen the natural tendency children have to imitate and knew that there was no better relationship to call Christ's followers to than that of a child. Isn't it amazing that in the act of imitating Christ we work together to further His kingdom?

Enoh has been "doing school" with his Mommy lately. In the Croatian activity book we have for him, there are several pages that encourage the young student to place stickers in their appropriate environments.   Petra has shown Enoh where some of the stickers could be placed strategically in order to make the picture look complete, but she found that he had the habit of putting all the stickers on one section of the page.   When she asked him why he didn't spread them out he said... ..."because mommy - they're friends!"

I recently finished an author whose grasp I cannot escape. German theologian Ernst  Käsemann explores the Gospel of John in The Testament of Jesus  and claims some surprising results - the boldest of which I disagree with strongly.  Yet,  Käsemann  has deepened my understanding of Jesus.  H ere are some quotes from  Käsemann's book I found especially meaningful: On Theology: "Faith does not limit itself to theology and theology cannot guarantee faith, much less be a substitute for it.  Without theology, however, faith cannot be kept alive and proclamation cannot rightly be made." On Unity: "Christian unity exists concretely only so long as it remains a task to be fulfilled." "Christian unity must not merely be demanded, but also be rightly understood, rightly substantiated and taught." On Love: "Love in John means something other than an emotion and it transcends even the sphere of ethical decisions.  Love does not merely ...

. Never underestimate the importance of a good meal. 

Teaching our kids two languages felt more like an experiment than anything else at the beginning.  We decided, when Enoh was in the womb, that Petra would speak Croatian to our children while I spoke English.  Enoh was confused for awhile - and he began speaking much later than many toddlers.  There were times when I thought maybe we were being cruel to the little guy.  But my wife deserves credit for convincing me to stick with it.   It's paying off.  Enoh seems to already understand who to speak to in English and who to speak to in Croatian without really thinking about it.  Of course, he doesn't know either language well yet.  But he gets by in both.  I've been surprised at how quickly he has learned. Here's a glimpse at what a bi-lingual conversation looks like at 1-and-a-half years old (Ian) and 3 years old (Enoh):

Quality Croatian music videos as creative as this one (scroll down to see the video) are very rare.  Here are 10 reasons why this one is worth blogging about: 10. It promotes Croatia.  I'll be honest, it's hard to find 6 guys so fist-pumpingly excited to live in this country. 9. It does so without showing a glimpse of the coast.  Don't get me wrong, the Croatian coast is amazing, but sometimes people don't realize there's a lot more to this country than the Adriatic. 8.  It's a catchy song. 7. Trombone - a rare instrument in this country. By the way, I was playing at a funeral one time (no, not that one) and after looking at my trombone one of the participants asked: "Jel' to srpski truba?" "Is that a Serbian trumpet?" (Apparently anything that's foreign must be from Serbia.) 6. It makes my boys dance.  And I mean dance. 5.  The blue truck.  Blue trucks are the stereotypical Roma vehicle in Croatia.  Maybe I'm read...

Dear Friends, After taking Emily and Petra to a local office to apply for our daughter's citizenship, I am not surprised that  Steve Job 's life was less celebrated here in Croatia than it was in America. Believe it or not, this picture was taken in October of 2011. It's not that the internet, personal computers, electronic handheld devices, or various other communication systems are not utilized in Croatia.  By no means!  It's just that they are not used in the places where they could arguably be the most useful.  This worker was very friendly.  And if he was confused, it stemmed more from our daughter being born into a unique (for small-town Croatia) dual citizenship marriage. Yes, typewriters are still used all over Croatia.  I find this strange in a land that is becoming more and more like Western-Europe everyday.  My inclination is to hang this cultural difference in the closet that already holds most of the shocking things I've encounter...

As we were waiting for our third child to arrive, my wife and I took a trip down memory lane.  The vehicle was this blog.  As we were finishing, I heard something I never thought I'd hear: "Honey, I'm so glad you started this blog." The culture shock never ends. It's with that in mind that I continue to blog despite more craziness in our house than ever before.  This post will take a look at the birth of one third of that craziness. Fortunately Petra didn't have 59 hours of contractions like she did with Enoh , nor were the last few hours of labor as difficult as they were with Ian .  The speed with which our third arrived is a remarkable thing indeed.  Here are the details of the last half hour before our beautiful daughter was born.  Petra's contractions began around 8 pm on the 20th, then got closer and closer until the morning of the 21st: 6:07 am: Petra opens the front door to begin our short trip.  Despite being in the middle of a contra...

His expression changed completely when I told him about the pool.   The toys, friends and comfort of the house which had satisfied him just seconds ago were quickly forgotten when prompted to search for a container of liquid refreshment. As we began, he led himself - despite the fact that the path was new.   The first obstacle was a steep incline. It proved difficult, but his anticipation pulled him up and the stronger hand behind him pushed when he needed it.   There was no time to look behind him once he accomplished the climb, though he was proud.   “I did it daddy!” he said with his eyes fully focused ahead and his legs renewed with a simpler plane to walk on.   He did not seem surprised that he didn’t need a leader, despite the fact he had never walked the path before.   His feet automatically followed the shape of the way and though there were rough spots and rocks his forward gaze smoothed over the effect they had on his stride. He walked confiden...

This is one of those obvious ones.  The sort of thing that would lead one to start a Culture Shock weblog in the first place.  I'm surprised it's taken me this long to bring it up. Lines in Croatia are like government; you know they were designed to make life more orderly for the average citizen, but when all is said and done you often feel like you've been put through the wringer. To begin with, you rarely hear the phrase "excuse me" here in Croatia.  The Croatian phrasebook I learned from inexplicably left out all forms of "excuse me" . If an American wants to learn the correct way to say "excuse me" in Croatian they won't find it in the introduction, the "practical" section, or the dictionary.  In this case, the omission will teach you step 1 of how to pass someone who is in your way: Don't say anything at all. Just move the limb that's obstructing your path.  Or simply squeeze around them.  If worse comes to w...

Guesses?

Here's a list of things I've spent more time doing lately than paying attention to American politics: - changing diapers - reading about the best strategy to incorporate when forming a baseball lineup - blogging (and you know that has been rare) - washing my car (rarer still) What's my point?  Following what's going on in D.C. has become rarer than a Chicago Cubs 5 game winning streak.  Yet anyone who googles "Orahovica" or "Culture Shock Croatia" (which happens more frequently than I thought) can find out my political views in under 1 minute flat if they click on the " politics " label on the right hand side of the blog.  They (you?) may be surprised to find out that though I am an Evangelical Christian, I quite unashamedly would have voted for Barrack Hussein Obama in 2008.   Of course the next question is "well what do you think of him now?" I surrender.  I simply don't know enough to offer an opinion. I haven...

Our two year old, Enoh, is close to being potty trained.  But he's not quite there yet.  So every opportunity I have to help him remember to go to the bathroom is a valuable one.  For example, today, after his nap I said: "Enoh, what's the first thing we have to do after our nap?" After pausing to rub his eyes, he responded with enthusiasm: "Wake up!" Unable to correct him, I laughed and admitted his answer was better than the one for which I had devised the question.  As I sat and waited for him to finish his business I began to think about the implications his response had on my life.  So I went to the revelation of Truth itself and found this written in Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus: "Wake up sleeper..." As a strong believer in the fact that there's "no text without context" I backed up a bit to find out what it was that Paul was getting at here.  He's talking about being visible.  How are we supposed to be v...

Wonderfully terrifying The measure of which A being Or not yet? Or more so? Is so closely intimate Harrowingly acquainted With our deepest Our blackest Our coldest But infinitely higher And separated Outside of ourselves Oh the heights to which we can reach And grasp! And hold! Not my grip It could not hold the weight Of thick vapor Of massive hollowness No I am nothing And the audacity Which compels my mind to step up On crippled legs Or beaten back That was his doing His perfectly glorious intercession

Any guesses what these three signs in Ljubljana Slovenia mean? 1. 2.  3. 

New Yorker  1983    The longer I'm married to my wife the more I realize how amazing she is.  As the mother of 2 boys under three and another one in the womb, a part-time youth worker who gives it her full devotion and the one in charge of all the logistical details of 4 weeks of summer camp, somehow she finds a way to get it all done well. So her birthday today is not just a celebration of another year.  It's a day to celebrate the life of a devoted mother, selfless wife and an uncompromising woman of God. Petra, you are amazing. Volim te do neba visoko.

I've been like a little kid the last few days.  Just ask my wife.  She'd tell you I've been giddy, maybe even a little immature.  Why?  Because I'm excited about the first baseball game ever in Orahovica.  A few thoughts: New things are hard to find in this part of the world.  No matter what aspect of life we're talking about - religion, recreation, raising kids - people like to do things the way they've always been done.  So the fact that so many people are involved in "America's pastime" here in small-town Orahovica is exciting.  I'm proud of my team (made up of both boys and girls) who have been disciplined and dedicated to learning a sport they've never watched.  I'm thankful for the team from Slavonski Brod who are driving from an hour + away to play against us.  I can't imagine having an easier time arranging this event than I've had with their coach. Thanks Garret for making this such a pleasure to organize! Who'...

Daddy always said there's a reason why the words "creation" and "Croation" are so similar.  Well there's another wordplay mommy likes to point out - sLOVEnia.  We had the chance to make the 5 hour drive to small village Slovenia this past weekend.   Of course we got to spend time with our four cousins who live there.  We also saw some of their pigs.  My brother's not nearly as brave as I am so mommy had to hold his hand on the pig while daddy took the picture.    We also were able to participate in the annual Day of the Region.  They always bring out all the animals.  Again, my brother looked... ....while I was glad to touch.   Even daddy didn't care to pet this guy.  On May 1st they always decorate a really tall tree and put it up.  If you thought your Christmas tree was tall last Christmas, take a look at this one.   Here's the final product: We got thrown around a bit... My brother got to rock out with his cousin...

So, are you fat...or just pregnant again? After hearing this in Croatian I had two questions for the recipient (my wife) of this comment:      A. Is that really what she said?!?      B. How did you manage to keep your composure?!? Disclaimer: This blog is called "Culture Shock" not "Generalize Croatia".  Many, many, many people would not make a comment like this to my wife.   On the other hand, let me tell you two reasons why there is a greater chance Petra will hear this question again in Croatia rather than in America (besides the fact that we don't live in America): 1. Eastern Europeans often tell it like it is.  I've gained more weight during Petra's 3rd pregnancy than she has.  And if  it weren't for some of my friends, I really wouldn't have known.  I saw a mother publicly rub her daughter's belly the other day and tell a bunch of people how her daughter had been gaining weight....

Baseball and burek. 

Introduction: Soon after I arrived in Croatia, I noticed that most grocery stores had a new (to me at least), very organized way of ensuring that shopping carts were put back in their parking spot.  As far as I could see, the only negative was that you had to make sure you had a 2 kuna coin ($0.40 or so) every time you went shopping.  Otherwise you would not have the privilege of using a cart during your weekly shopping trip.   Story: But then I visited Hungary.  See, for some reason, there are certain grocery products that are less expensive in Hungary than Croatia.  So when I dropped my wife off at the train station so she could make her way up to Budapest, I did the shopping before heading back into Croatia.   Background:  I'll be honest, I'm not usually the one who grocery shops.  When I enter a grocery store, I don't think about getting a cart.  Usually my job in grocery stores is to pick something up that my wife forgot, or grab a sna...

Americans, any idea what this one means?  I found out after a close call two years after I moved to Croatia. 

It wasn't my first Croatian funeral, but it was close.  I hadn't even been to that many American funerals, nor had I played solo trombone at a cemetary before.  So this was a new experience.  After warming up with  Amazing Grace to begin the ceremony, I waited for the small village procession to move towards the grave that had been prepared a few minutes beforehand.  Like most outdoor funerals I've attended, this one was overcast, muddy and generally dreary.  The blacks, browns and grays made the event especially dismal.  We trodded over to the tomb in a sloppy line and listened to the preacher speak.  His tone was pointed, but hopeful, his message short but clear - a stark contrast to the rest of the funeral.  It was my turn again.  As I raised my trombone to begin It is Well with my Soul , I heard yelling in the distance.  I hesitated, but still began the melody.  When peace like a river...

I mentioned in my introduction that one of the aspects of culture shock I would be facing would be that of having a child.  Two and a half years later, that child is, well, two and-a-half years old and we have another one-year-old.  I have made the following observation: The amount of time one has to blog is directly influenced by the number of kids one has.  It's a plain and simple truth that I've found to be true on other blogs as well.  To my followers; thank you for your patience.  There is more to come.  I will keep updating.  Just not as often as I used to.

In Croatia, you rarely see someone enjoying coffee over a book, magazine or computer like you often see in the States. One of the classic scenes in a relational culture is a coffee shop filled with people on both sides of the table.  And it's not like everyone in America just goes out for a latte by themselves.  In fact, I would guess that most Starbucks coffee shops are frequented by pairs rather than singles.  But it's certainly not as universal as Eastern Europe.  For the last month, I've been taking a class and I'll tell you, for my money, there's no better place to study than a coffee shop.  Some may say there's too much noise, but headphones and music will take care of that.  Features like free refills, wi-fi and a close outlet for my laptop are easy to find.  Still other comforts like a fireplace and an assortment of different coffees and signs indicating when they were brewed are also common - especially at my favor...

It must have been the summer of '95 when baseball cards were overproduced and my best friend and I waited breathlessly for the Beckett price guide to arrive in the mail the first week of every month.  It must have been, because I can't remember another time we would've risked getting soaked and having our bike-rides severely affected by slippery streets in order to buy a pack of the new Topps Stadium Club at a department store more than a mile away.  I remember it well because I had never been afraid of lightning before.  But as we anticipated the last corner of the ride and slowed down just enough to make the turn without skidding out, I felt a sizzling sensation as the hair on my neck stood up.  SNAP!  It wasn't a boom or a bang.  It was a sharp crackle that quickly exploded right next to me.  A flagpole - within an arms length as I passed by - had just been struck by lightning. Even though I hadn't been hit, the feeling paralyzed me...

During our time in the States, we've had the privilege of hosting one of our friends from Croatia.  It's her first time in the U.S. so I was fascinated to find out what she would notice about the Land that "was made for you and me".  Would it be how big everything is?  Would she notice the cars, the billboards, the differences in the milk?  Well, yes, yes, yes and yes.  But her very first observation was of how Americans build their houses.  "They're so thin!"  She exclaimed after knocking on the wall at a Friendly's restaurant.  The comment reminded me of the Three Little Pigs.  Isn't it interesting that one of the most popular stories we tell our children exhorts us to build with brick?  Yet, I would guess that most houses in America are made of wood. Croatians - and I would guess most Europeans - have heeded the advice offered by the conclusion of the story.  The vast majority of houses in Croatia are made of br...