Culture Shock

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...