Culture Shock

Since we moved to Croatia, many people have asked me what I miss most about the States. My response is #1: Family and friends, and #2: Baseball.  Of course the former makes a lot of sense. The latter, on the other hand, in a culture where baseball is just in the movies, takes most off guard.  Regardless, my most recent trips to the States represent these two reasons. Last year I went to western New York to celebrate my grandparents’ 70 years of marriage . This year, in fact, right now , I am arriving in Boston to enjoy the Cubs' first trip to the World Series in 71 years. That may sound like a trivial reason to cross the Atlantic, but this is where I come back to reason #1. Having gained a love for the Cubs from my father and having shared it with my brother, it will be a joy to watch several games with them. I'll also be able to visit close friends in Chicago, whom I haven’t seen in three years, and whose children I’ve never met. I will be able to have my cake a...

As I mentioned earlier in the week it's time to wrap up this blog. And although I don't have much more to say, I do want to conclude fittingly. The theme of this blog has been culture shock. Originally I started it primarily as a way to process the move from America to Croatia. But it also had a faith-based component from the beginning. In the end, the transition from one culture to another, and in a way living in two cultures at the same time, has a lot of relevance to our situation in this world as christians. As I made reference to a few days ago, we're waiting to go to our true home. C.S. Lewis says it well:  " If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” But while we wait, we're already living and working in the new kingdom. This tension is both difficult and exciting. It's hard sometimes because we see the imperfection all around us. It's ex...

What goes through a child's mind when they find out they're moving? Since we decided to move to Zagreb, I've heard that moving is one of the most traumatic things a child can go through. This NY Times article says that the effects can be felt even into adulthood. Looking back at my own experience, I remember not being happy about moving. However, doing so as a child and teenager is what helped me adapt fairly easily to life in Croatia. Another thing the linked article talks about is the difference moving has on introverts vs. extroverts. Predictably, it's more difficult on the former than the latter. From my own perspective as an introvert, moving wasn't pleasant, but it brought about more personality flexibility. I am now more extroverted than I used to be. One of the positive things about moving to Zagreb (vs. somewhere outside Croatia) is that we have friends and family there. Our children have acquaintances and we already have a local church we're re...

The fifteen of us were in Poland surrounded by wooden structures of various shapes and sizes. We had traveled 12 hours from Croatia to live in tents for a week. In my calculation we formed the smallest campsite of all the villages that totaled 7,200 campers. We were at Royal Ranger (RR) Eurocamp 2016. This was the second RR camp I had attended in two years, but by far the biggest camp I had ever been to. The hosts had prepared for nearly four years and it showed. The infrastructure and organization could not have been better. In attending the leaders meetings every morning at camp I saw that there were some minor challenges here and there, but overall it was obvious they were ready when we came. On the second day of camp I was asked to share a message during the village devotional time. In similar situations in the past I'd have said no. I only had two days to prepare. The theme wasn't one I had spent much time studying. But the answer fell out of my mouth before I real...

Where is home? Petra and I lived in Orahovica for 9 years - longer than I've lived in any one place in my life. Without a doubt I considered Orahovica home. The house we lived in, our four kids who learned to eat and walk there and the daily routine all contributed to us calling it home. So how will it be possible to call Zagreb home now? For Enoh, our eight year old, home was most about his teacher and his classmates/friends. Here in Croatia you have the same teacher from first to fourth grade. Of our four children, this move is hardest on Enoh because of the relationships he has in Orahovica. That's what I remember most about our moves when I was a kid/teenager. Sure, I missed the cornfields and apple trees I grew up playing around in Iowa and the field I spend hours playing home-run derby in in Wisconsin. But it was the friendships I missed most. It's the friendships that created the greatest pull back to Croatia for my wife. Upon moving to Croatia 10 years ag...

It's been 10 years since we moved to Croatia, 9 since we began living in Orahovica and 8 since I started this blog. Of the three, only living in Croatia will remain. Yes, we are moving. We will begin calling Zagreb - the capital of Croatia - home next week. And so this blog will come to its inevitable end. Over the last few years I have blogged with less frequency. Acclimation to Croatia, more responsibilities and other outlets for writing have rendered it less useful. Its eventual end has been apparent for awhile. After this week it'll be official. However, the move and decision to end the blog give me a great opportunity to share some final thoughts. Over the next few days, I plan to post daily. These posts will be influenced most by the events of this summer and our move. This blog has provided me the opportunity to process a lot of what I was going through during my first years in Croatia. Although it has lost its importance to me, I value reading what I wrote in t...

I watched the clouds roll by quickly above me as I tried to fall asleep. Only a mat and sleeping bag protected my back from the pebbles on the ground while my face lay bare to the open sky. I was joined by another leader from Macedonia and 12 teenagers from various former-Yugoslavian countries. We were camping next to a lake in the rugged mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of the Royal Rangers Junior Leadership Camp.  One of the challenges specific to this camping trip was that we packed no tents. Instead, we brought ponchos that would serve as shelter. There are various ways to set them up, but because they can't be closed or sealed there's no surefire way to prevent rain from coming in. We decided to connect the ponchos to make a long tent for the 12 boys.  As one of the leaders, I went to bed last. That meant I could lay with my head outside the shelter in order to watch the ever-changing scenery above me. But as I lay with my head exposed, I thought ab...

“I’m going to lose my goggles so I can find them!” We were taking a three day family vacation at an indoor pool complex in Slovenia when my oldest son Enoh unknowingly contextualized one of Jesus’ sayings. I thought about following up his remark with a conversation about Jesus but as soon as I saw him throw his goggles in the air and turn around with his eyes closed, I realized I was the one receiving the lesson.  Usually we talk about the act of losing something as a mistake. When we lose our keys, phone, or glasses it’s always a matter of misplacing something or forgetting where we put them. But here Enoh was making a conscious effort to lose his goggles. And not only that, he was trying to lose the one thing that would normally be most helpful in finding something lost at the bottom of a pool.  Did my seven year old just help me understand the Bible?  Jesus’ words as recorded in Matthew 16 are about making an effort to lose something - namely one’s l...