July 13

Dear Friends,

It has been just over a week since I returned to the United States. I intended to write one more update for all of you before I left the Czech Republic, but things got very hectic at the end, with saying goodbyes and packing and cleaning the flat. I flew from Prague with a number of other teachers on June 29, and we had a layover in Helsinki before we flew to New York on the 30th. While in the Helsinki airport, we ran into several ESI teachers from Hungary and had a great time of sharing with them. We had known that they would be flying on the same day, but it was a complete surprise to see them at the airport getting their hotel vouchers. We all stayed at the same hotel that night, and were all on the same plane the next day.

I got off the plane in New York, while most of my fellow teachers continued on to various destinations. My dad came to pick me up, and then we both drove down to North Carolina. The time since I have been back has been filled with visits to my family (including a new nephew) and a trip to Richmond to be in a wedding. Now everything has slowed down, though, and there is some time to reflect on my last few months of teaching.

My last few months of teaching went very fast. In mid-May, I picked up lots of teaching hours at a soap and margarine factory several kilometers north of Prague. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday until I left, I took the metro north as far as it would go, then caught a shuttle that took me to the factory in 40 minutes. My classes there consisted of lots of people with varying skill levels, mostly two or three at a time. Once or twice a day, since it was a very busy time of year at the factory, a class would not come, and so I would sit in my little office and read or take a brief walk around the village. Nelahozeves (which was the name of the village) is as quaint as a village can be; it’s on the river, has a small castle and is the birthplace of the composer Antonin Dvorak. There is a bug-eyed statue of him in the main park. I have seen pictures and other statues of him, and he has never looked bug-eyed before. But this is his birthplace, and the people who live in his birthplace might know more about his eyeball protrusion than others. On the other hand, it could just be a mistake.

Since I was only there for a short time (and, as mentioned, the students were frequently no-shows), I did not get to know the students very well. Few of them knew that I was a Christian, and I could count the number of conversations we had about "spiritual matters" on one hand. I pray, though, that God will use the time that I spent there, both in their lives and in mine.

As for my other students. . . I did spend quite a bit of time with a former student from the gymnazium, Jakub, and we did have several good conversations. I even took him to the Prague Christian Library (almost accidentally; we were just hanging out and I needed to return a book). He never showed anything more than curiosity, though. I continue to pray for him. The good news is that Hope and Nicole, two ESI teachers who taught at his gymnazium this year, will be back next year. All of the students that I had at that school will have Christian teachers next year, so please pray that seeds that have been planted will grow.

On the whole, it was a good year, though not one filled with conversions. The Czechs are an extremely difficult people to get interested in Christianity. It is not that they are militant atheists; rather, they are a thoroughly secular people, and the spiritual is not even on their radar. Speaking with them about these things is like punching air. Europe is generally much more secular than the United States, and the Czechs are unusually secular even for Europe. I was not surprised to find it so difficult to be there, but I still feel that it was a good year. Many good relationships were formed, and I felt that I matured over the course of the year.

In addition to my teaching, the last six or seven weekends of the year were filled with trips. I did not intend to be so busy during this time, but it just turned out that way. Beginning in May, I went to Budapest one weekend because I will teach there next year and I wanted to drop off some things and see my new school. The next weekend, I went with one of my students, Vaclav, and his family to his flat in a small town in South Bohemia. (It was a good experience. I wrote some about it on my Web site) The next weekend, I went to Moravia because my church, the International Church of Prague had a retreat there. Then I went to Cesky Krumlov, in South Bohemia, for an annual canoeing trip down the Vltava with ESI teachers from the Czech Republic and Hungary. The following weekend was the ESI year-end retreat at a cottage near Jicin. It was wonderful to see the teachers from around the country one last time, to fellowship and to hear about their years.

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, I have decided what I will do next year, and it involves moving one country to the east and one to the south (Or one to the south and one to the east. It really doesn’t matter). I’m moving to Hungary, to teach there at a secondary school. I made this decision a while ago, after a lot of prayer and thought. One reason for it is that I much prefer teaching at a school to teaching at businesses. The students are more enthusiastic (not necessarily about what you are teaching, but the important thing is that they have enthusiasm in the first place), and I don’t have to spend so much time traveling. If I remained in the Czech Republic, I would have wanted to return to the gymnazium where I originally taught, but that did not seem likely. Soon after I made the decision to go to Hungary, that school reduced its number of ESI teachers from five to two, which seemed like a small confirmation. 

Another reason is that my roommate, Caleb, is returning to the United States this year. So, even if I stayed in Prague, I would have to get a new roommate. I would also probably have lived in a new flat. Even staying in the same country would have involved some transition.

My final, and biggest, reason for moving is that it just felt like the right thing to do. The school seemed like a good fit; I know my roommate next year and he’s a great guy; the teachers in Hungary are wonderful people. If I could have chosen a situation for myself, the only thing that I would have changed would have been the city, Budapest. It is a great city and there is lots to do there, but I am honestly more comfortable in a smaller town. Also, I feel that it’s easier to get a feel for the culture in a small town. So ideally, I would have moved to a less bustling place, but Budapest is in fact bigger than Prague! But I am still excited about what God has planned in Budapest.

This summer, I will spend most of my time in North Carolina. I will go to Pasadena for a couple of weeks, to help train the new ESI teachers. I also plan a trip to Michigan to visit relatives. Please pray that I will use my time wisely this summer, since much of it is unstructured. I hope to do a lot of studying of the Bible, Hungarian and Hungarian culture.

I also plan on sending a support letter for the coming year, so you will probably be hearing from me again soon.

Thanks to all of you for supporting me this year. It was such a blessing. I thank God for all of you!

Love in Christ,

Elliot