Culture Shock

It's not the fact that God chose to go to another world or take on a different form that strikes me. It's that God would choose to come to our  world. The Word was clothed with this sort of skin.  God became one of us . And He communicated with us in an imperfect human language much like the one I speak. Augustine calls Jesus the 'divine humility'. Fully God and fully man, Jesus embodied God's descent and provided the way for our ascent. He became a foreigner so we would no longer be foreign. Divine humility. The Infinite being found in a manger. The Absolute encountered as human. Our Savior Jesus Christ. May you also be filled with wonder today in that moment of peace. Merry Christmas!

Our primary reason for coming to the States this fall is to visit family and friends. Secondly though, and the reason why we're here for a longer visit, is so I can spend a semester studying at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary . I've decided to go all in.  I'm taking four classes. Doing so has been a challenge because, among other things, each class is considerably different from the others. There have been several points along the way in which I've asked myself, where's the cohesion between all these classes? Sunday was one of those times because I had a chance to engage in the contents of each one of my classes at some point throughout the day. In my Old Testament class, we are required to read the entire Old Testament. On Sunday morning I read the book of Ezra. Later in the morning I had the privilege of attending Grace church in Oxford Massachusetts where my father gave a homily. During the service, I recited the Nicene Creed with the other pari...

During the summer of 2008 I rediscovered Vivaldi's Four Seasons . Ironically, it was the Winter movement that especially caught my attention around the time Enoh was born in August. Ever since, I've associated it with his birth. Vivaldi - Four seasons winter Enoh is our summer baby. Taken summer 2009 in Croatia Ian became our winter baby in January of 2010 (pictured in front of Enoh here).  Taken winter 2012 in Croatia In September of 2011, Emily became our autumn baby.  Taken Fall 2012 in Massachusetts And arriving in Spring of 2013: Baby Bohall number 4! Of course we didn't plan it this way. But given the four seasoned climate in Osijek where they have been/will be born, it's certainly appropriate.  In addition to living as an American in Croatia, being a father of a "baby bunching" family can sometimes be a shocking experience. As I mentioned in the introduction to my blog when my wife was pregnant with our first ...

I like Croatia. So when I received an email from a representative of likecroatia.hr  wondering if they could ask me a few questions about living as an American in Croatia, I was happy to  oblige . The thing is, if you've stumbled across this blog because you're planning on traveling to Croatia or even moving to Croatia and you want more information - this blog won't help you that much. Let me suggest you head on over to likecroatia.hr . They've got a slick, easy to navigate website that includes daily updated stories and articles, a way to book a flight, and a simple restaurant search app for the iphone. If you are planning on traveling to Croatia for any reason,  likecroatia.hr should be your number one resource. That being said, let me extend an open invitation to visit the Culture Shock weblog whenever you feel so inclined. Like any good Croatian host would say, you don't need to call or even knock. Just come on in. Despite t...

"One regular coffee!" the newest occupant of the cafe bellowed before even sitting down. He said it as if the simplicity of his order justified the interruption it caused the waitress and the other patrons. His friend quickly corrected him. "No...no, no. one irregular coffee!" he shouted with a straight face, mocking how seriously the first character took his order. I chuckled with some of the others. Of course there's no such thing as   an irregular coffee. But is there even such a thing as "regular coffee"? In Boston regular coffee includes cream and sugar. They'll give you black coffee in other parts of the U.S. if you order regular. I'm not sure what the customer in our cafe was picturing when he ordered but I would guess he received an espresso with milk (pictured above). In other words, what's regular is not always easily defined. When I first conceptualized a culture shock blog I did so in the strict rubric of my "regula...

The fact that I haven't blogged much lately has more to do with three kids under four than lack of material. Still, I've gotten fairly comfortable in Croatia. I feel like I've adapted to some of the major cultural differences and have identified and come to terms with those things I can't adapt to. I'm not shocked very much anymore as a foreigner in Croatia. But now we're back in the States for five months. And since I've come back a few times already, I was prepared for some of the things that shocked me previously.  The fact that there's far greater  diversity  didn't surprise me. The ambition and self-promotion that comes across whenever you turn on a TV or radio was expected. Even seeing how much  food  is wasted hasn't surprised me as much as it did in the past. Here are four things that did take me off guard when I came back this time. - Entertainment.  The other day my wife went to the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew her licen...

I saw this one on a door near the piazza in Osijek the other day. Unlike most of the others in our series, this sign did come with a caption explaining its intent. I'll post it later if no one guesses correctly. Thinking outside the box may help.

Would you give up your citizenship? I've been going through the mandatory five year process of acquiring permanent residence in Croatia. Every year, I've renewed my visa. Last month I passed a language test. Turns out, my last obstacle will be passing a culture test I wasn't aware of until a few days ago. My knowledge of the Croatian constitution, amendments and laws will be the difference between attaining residence and having to go through the whole five year process again. Despite the bureaucratic inconvenience that would be, a phone call with a friend caused a bigger discomfort to situate itself in my psyche. See, attaining residence would allow me to apply for Croatian citizenship in a year. My wife and three kids already have dual citizenship. In my thinking, in another year I could become the bi-cultured individual I'd always dreamed of becoming. That's just a half joke. There's something about the idea of dual citizenship that nudges the ego up a no...

The retired gentleman sitting alone at the table next to me seemed suspiciously quiet. There's only one person who dares sit by himself in this cafe - me. So when a half hour passed before anyone else joined him, I was only half surprised when he turned to me and asked, "do you have internet on that computer?" "Yes" I responded. "Go ahead and look me up." "Excuse me?" I said, quite surprised. "Type my name in and see what comes up." "I'm sorry, where should I type your name?" "YouTube", he responded as if everyone born in the 1930s was on the video sharing site. "Oh..." I said, even more confused than before. Maybe it was the fact that his self-promotion wasn't dressed in twitter or facebook. Or perhaps it was because I couldn't simply block or unfriend him. In this case, "no" would require a verbal, face to face answer. I tried to recover. "...Ok, what is y...

In the first of the series of signs posts, I mentioned that one of the advantages of having signs without words is that people from various countries can understand the intent of the sign. But when two of my American friends and I came across this one by the Drava river in Osijek yesterday, we were stumped. Any ideas?

It's become a family tradition to go to Slovenia for the May 1st holiday. But seeing that I'm only 7 months old, it was my first time enjoying the scenery. And mommy made sure I enjoyed it.  Of course we did some of the standard things...saw some small pigs, and some big ones. We ate well. And my brother continued his tradition of making music on the farm. So what is it that I'll remember from my first trip to Slovenia outside the womb? Nothing. But let's just say prvi maj  2012 was all about tricks. Enoh balanced on a rope. Ian took the road less traveled.  There were plenty of handstands to go around. Mommy's s tric  showed how much fun farmers can have.  But my brothers sharing was perhaps the biggest trick of all.  Even though I didn't do a whole lot...  I had a great time getting to know my cousins.  It seems like every May...

If I had a kuna for every double take I receive in the cafe I frequent, I'd have enough to finance the opening of the first Starbucks in Croatia. I've been in this country for five years now, so I know that sitting by oneself at a table with only a computer is rare. Unheard of. At least in small town Croatia. Since I started working towards a master's degree in the fall, I've been coming to this cafe at least 3 times a week while our son is in preschool. Despite the music, and the conversations around me, I find it a pleasant place to study for a couple hours. But, there is no doubt I am a fish out of water. To my right, five elderly ladies order čaj and compare medical conditions and prescriptions. On the other side, two suits discuss local politics. And here am I, reading about Pannenberg's doctrine of Christ, frequently stopping to type notes on my laptop - with no one to talk to. I've had some sympathetic coffee drinkers try to help. One elderly gent...

His name is Slobodan, which means "free". You can tell, just by spending a half-hour with him that he is constrained by nothing. One day last fall, he and I had plans to take down the bunk-beds used for camp in order to begin making a nursery in our church.  But he had changed his mind by the time I arrived at his house. "The wind blew yesterday and we have to go get the chestnuts that have fallen in the woods" he explained in a hurry.  This was after he told me to come in, sit down and eat the mushrooms sizzling in the frying pan he picked from the forest floor in the morning. So rather than working in the church, we went to pick chestnuts. Pastor Slobodan is recently retired - from his job as an agriculturalist.  Most pastors of evangelical churches in Croatia have full-time jobs besides their responsibilities as a pastor.  Now that he is no longer working his main job, he'll be able to spend more of his time doing what full-time pastors do. But his...

It started with a confession: "Jeremy, I'm a little tired, would you mind taking the wheel?" Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't object at all. I love to drive. The only thing keeping me from immediately accepting the invitation to hop in the drivers seat was the fact that there was a stick shift next to it. But I didn't have to say a thing. "Dad! You know my husband has never driven manual before, don't you?" "Well, he can learn now" my father-in-law said as we sped down the highway along the Adriatic. "He lives in Europe. He's got to learn sometime" he reasoned. Unable to argue with him, after stopping at a rest stop, I reluctantly changed seats, put on my seat belt and turned on the car - without pushing in the clutch. The car's lurch indicated how offended it was that an American driver was trying to control it. "Maybe this is good" I thought as my head whipped back to it's original position. ...

Grammar is not always fun is it? The Croatian vocative case is a prime example.  My sister-in-law, who teaches Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian in the States has informed me that the vocative case is dying out. You can still apply the vocative to the name Sara and call out SARO!  But, when I call for my wife, I am not allowed to change the last vowel. Instead, I have to say PetrA!  The only explanation is that the vocative case is dying a slow death. Moment of silence please. Diminutives are a different story. In my experience, diminutives are one of the highlights of learning Croatian. The suffix "ica" is added to many female Croatian nouns and BAM!, you have a smaller, more feminine, perhaps more fragile, cuter form of that object. Dictionary.com defines diminutives as: "pertaining to or productive of a form denoting smallness, familiarity, affection or triviality". Drop to droplet is an example of a diminutive in the English language. Let's look at some Cr...

Happy International Women's Day! I'm not sure there are many Americans who know this day exists, but here in Croatia it's a pretty big deal. According to wikipedia , some parts of the world use March 8th to show respect, appreciation and love towards women while others focus on women's social, economic and political achievements. Here in Croatia it's definitely the former rather than the latter. So I'll take this opportunity to offer one big reason why I'm thankful for each of ladies I'm closest to.  Emily:  Thank you for your smile. It  makes any day better, no questions asked.  Petra:  Thank you for your untiring love for our family. You often stay up later and get up earlier than I do, showing that being a mother of three under four is one of the most difficult jobs in the world. Yet you do it so well.  Mom:  Thank you for caring enough for our family to ded...

"Americans just buy new computers whenever their old one has a problem, but here in the Balkans we take pride in renewing old things." My friend's response came in perfect Croatian form; blunt honesty towards a general group of people, directed straight at me. I can understand. My question probably sounded disrespectful to the one who had put hours into diagnosing and partially fixing my 5 year old computer. But I was merely trying to keep him from having to invest more time into my machine. Plus, if you can save some money, isn't it worth it to just buy a new computer rather than bother with the old one? He's right though, many people in this part of the world value restoration. After all, they have been at it for much longer than we (Americans) have been.  Investing time and hard work into an old something - be it a car or house or computer - provides more satisfaction than simply buying a new one. He put his money where his mouth was too, offering to b...

The most surprising thing about culture shock is that cultural differences affect me more now than they did five years ago.  Was D.A.R.E. really as effective in lowering the number of smokers in America as it seems? The sign in the cafe I'm sitting in says : 'pušači umiru mlađi' - 'smokers die younger'. Yet, I can't imagine smoking being any more hip than it is in Croatian cafes today.  Which is more virtuous; the wisdom of saving money or the generosity of spending it on others? I've found it harder and harder to save when people who are less privileged give so generously while having not a lipa in savings.  I think the farmers who were blocking various Croatian main roads and highway entrances with their tractors were smart. Annoying, but smart. In some ways they got what they wanted - an increase in the price of milk. Now they're headed back to their farms.  Speaking of smart, I continue to be impressed with the Croatian education system. ...

During this time of global economic crisis, my impression is that if one is looking for a job, the sign business is the place to go. More and more signs are popping up all over Croatia. Is it due to the fact that standards now have to measure up to those of the EU? Regardless, I've figured out that the red and white posted signs must be temporary and indicate wintry weather. Here a few of them - some of which are self-explanatory (are they necessary though?), and the last one which is not. Any guesses for number 3? 1.    2.   3.

I love the snow. Since it began falling a little more than a week ago, my boys and I have enjoyed it immensely. Some of the enjoyment has come from the fact that it normally doesn't snow as much in Croatia as it does in the parts of America I've lived. But the snow and cold temperatures have greatly affected those in Eastern Europe who are less fortunate. 200 people have died in the last couple weeks - the majority in Ukraine. Sarajevo has seen more than 39 inches of snow accumulate - keeping some from receiving basic necessities. The Danube has been shut down for shipping in four countries. A bus was stuck in a tunnel for days in Serbia. A hospital in Split, Croatia used their two year supply of cement in five days for all the patients who came in with fractures from falling on the ice. These are just a few examples of the difficulties this unusual cold streak has brought to Eastern Europe. Please keep this part of the world in your prayers.

I've learned to have as much confidence in the weather forecast when it's snowing in Croatia as Ahmad Bradshaw had when he reluctantly tripped into the end-zone on Sunday evening. None. Don't get me wrong. It's not because the meteorologists here don't know how to do their job. It's not even that they don't have weather portions of the daily news.  As I've said before , they just don't make as big a deal about it as they do in America. And, living in small town Croatia, near a mountain and  away from any of the bigger cities, it's difficult to find a forecast that tells me what's going to happen in my neck of the woods. So I found this Norwegian site that gives me the weather prognosis - even for our town of 4,000. From what I can tell, they do a better job predicting the weather here than any other source. Which leads me to last weekend. We had some friends come over soon after the storm began. They had planned on returning ho...

Milk has been on my mind more than you would normally expect a beverage of such bland taste to be.  Here's why: 1. Enoh spilled his milk the other day...and didn't cry. I gained some confidence as a parent when I realized that he is already following the advice of at least one famous proverb.  2. A friend came over to take care of Ian while I took Enoh to preschool and Petra was away. Being Croatian, she decided to warm up the milk in the microwave before pouring it on his corn flakes. Being American, I was repulsed. Being a toddler who eats just about everything, Ian didn't seem to mind.  3. After looking at the stats they keep here at blogger, I realized that the most popular post I have written in my 3.5 years of blogging is the one on acerpohobia . And you know what is even more bizarre than the majority of my traffic coming from a few thoughts about a phobia most people don't know exists? The fact that they are doing so because I spelled it wrong! So t...

(Photo by: Jeremy Bohall "Ribbit...ribbit...ribbit!...Daddy, what does a butterfly say?" Enoh was engaged in the processes of learning and teaching. Prompted by the animals on Emily's walker, he tried to teach her the sounds he knew while asking me about the ones he didn't know. "I'm not sure what a butterfly says, Enoh" I told him.  Undeterred, he quickly relayed the information to his favorite pupil. "We don't know what a butterfly says, Emily," he explained sympathetically. As a teacher, there were a few things I was reminded of as I watched him: 1. I teach best when I have recently learned something I am excited about. 2. There is probably no one who benefits more from a lesson I prepare than myself. So why not prepare the best I can? Then, there's a good chance the excitement and hard work will rub off on a student. 3. In one way or another, shouldn't we always be a part of both of these processes? Shouldn't...

Two. It's the only number you know how to say. And you use it to count everything. "Two, two, two...two." Today is your second birthday. Last year saw your hair grow curly. You took your first steps. You learned to eat by yourself. You began following your brother wherever he goes. You learned how to put puzzles together. You also continued smiling. Never lose that smile, Ian. It makes everyone else smile too...too...too. Ian Rahim - "God is gracious and compassionate." You are a gift to us. Happy Birthday Ian.  Volimo te do neba visoko! (Photo by: Jeremy Bohall)

(Photo by: Jeremy Bohall) "It's a given that culture powerfully influences thoughts, emotions and behaviors...We see things through a cultural lens that tints, magnifies, shrinks and otherwise shapes our perceptions."  - Dean Barnlund from Communication in a Global Village Arranging these glasses randomly on our guest's place-settings has created a few colorful conversations since Petra bought them a few years ago.  Is it possible to  generalize the mindset of a particular culture? If so, what glass would you put next to an American plate? A Croatian?

For some reason, my boys take greater delight in eating their fruit when they each have a cow watching them.

Disclaimers: There is a picture in this post that may be shocking. A name has been changed.  A few days ago, over lunch: Petra:  Jeremy, today Velimir Mrki ć is going to come around 5:00 with some pork.  He's donating it to the youth for the New Year's party.  Jeremy: Ok, what do I need to do? Petra: I don't know. He just said he wanted to bring the meat here before taking it to the church. Jeremy: Ok. 5:00: No Gospodin Mrk ić 6:00: No Gospodin Mrk ić 6:30: Petra attempts calling Mr. Mrk ić  - no answer 7:30: We have a Skype call scheduled with my relatives in America 7:45, in the middle of our Skype call: Mr. Mrk ić  is at the door with a bloody baby pig.  And a friend. After ending our conversation, running to get my keys, the keys to the church and preparing to get the car started,Velimir tells me that I can ride with him.  And he has the keys to the church. The question of what my job was continued to run through...