For the past seven summers, I have had a tradition to find a door to Narnia while roaming around the streets of Prague. Each year, I find a different and unique door - many times with images of lions carved into the woodwork; however, I may have accidentally stumbled upon another Narnian entrance as I was walking to the church last week. The beauty of this country never fails to amaze me, and the frost makes these winter trees glisten on even the foggiest of days. Not only does Czech reflect the beauty C.S. Lewis describes in Narnia, but the love of God that I see here is sometimes so evident that I feel Aslan might as well be standing right beside me.
The idea of experencing a "Narnian Wardrobe Week" may not be so far fetched after all considering my Superstar English Students are working through an extended course on the topic of "Clothing" (with some American Culture rolled into the lesson). We have plowed through two lessons of vocabulary practice, and they are still ready for more! The paperdolls with the changing clothes were a positive motivator for their continual practice and forming sentences about the character's apparel choice. Additionally, another favorite activity was a model show we held that challenged the students to talk about their partner's outfit. Groundhog Day was also introduced last week, and we chose different clothes for Punxsutawney Phil so that he would be prepared for either an early spring or longer winter. The kids all had fun making their own predictions and them playing a few rounds of Shadow Tag as an added bonus!
Paperdoll Outfits
Model Show
Besides teaching the Superstar Kids each week, I also have a wonderful adult class that meets to practice English through a variety of topics, conversation starters, and games. Last week, they also practiced the topic of "Clothing." However, this talented adult class was able to practice all the clothing vocabulary in one lesson! One of my favorite parts of this class is that it can simultaneously bring community and competition to an activity. Each of them may be at different levels of studying English, but they are each able to bring a different dynamic to the group that allows the others to be challenged and consider the topic diversely. During this lesson, I introduced "Hangman" with clothing apparel and a challenge to beat the teacher. They were so good at this game that I am convinced they let me win one just to make ME feel better!
After missing a week of time with these kids due to having the flu, I was more than eagar to ge back into the regular club schedule. I am convinced that their silly faces and spontaneous hugs were the best recovery medicine anyway! Amazingly, I think the amount of girls coming to club is continuing to rapidly expand. The Fuzzy Posters, colorful pipecleaners, and Shinkydinks I brought back from America have been big hits with this group - and it has convinced me that creativity and artistic ability is not something these kids ever seem to lack!
Silly Faces
I'm never lonely when I work the snack bar... :)
One of the kids' favorite activities is the Bouncy Castle at club. When we took it out this past week, the room echoed with lots of giggles and kids calling "Kendra, look at me!", "Watch this!", "Did you see that, Kendra?!", "I can do that too! See?" They sure help me work on my multitasking skills as I watch all of them tumble and do cartwheels on the bouncy castle.
Bouncy Castle Buddies
On Thursday, I was overjoyed when one of the little girls I hadn't seen since LetFest showed up at club! She has been in my LetFest class for the past two years, and each summer we have really bonded. Througout the time at club on Thursday, I received many "tackle hugs" and, unlike Peter Pan, I gained a second shadow... which is a wonderful blessing.
Tackle Hugs
Last weekend was a weekend to remember as friends from our youth group and clubs in Boskovice and Letovice joined together on our Winter Retreat. We all packed our things into five cars and headed for the highlands on a great adventure. The snow seemed higher, the weather seemed cooler, and the frost seemed to cling tighter to the trees, and yet the fires roared louder, friendships bonded closer, and laughter contagiously lingered. During the day, I joined my friends on the slopes as we went downhill skiing and snowboarding. It was my first time downhill skiing, but I found it came naturally! Maybe it was the size of the hill or the fact that I had good teachers and encouragers, but after the first run, I was addicted to the adrenaline! That first day skiing, I ended up making friends with the person helping at the ski lift. He was an older man, but I simply began smiling and saying "thank you" each time he helped me. Eventually, he talked with me a little more each time, and he visibly looked more excited to be doing his repetitive job when my friends and I were in line. At the end of the day as the slopes were closing, he asked me a question I didn't understand, so I told the man that I am American - to which he responded "I'm Polish!" (My friends said they were surprsied I understood him because they could tell he was not Czech by his accent - I never would have known!) I told him I would be back the following day, and he said he wouldn't be running the ski lift again, but doing other work on the hill. Still the next day, he excitedly found me just to ask how the skiing was that day. Nothing could beat the fun I had those days on the hill surrounded by great friends!
Winter Retreat Group
I loved seeing the cross at the top of the ski hill!
Going Down the Hill
My First Time Downhill Skiing
After spending the majority of the day skiing and snowboarding, we would then return back to the camp and join the rest of the group who had stayed behind. As a whole group of 27 people, we split into four teams and played many different competition games for team points. Some people found their skill for Charades, while others used their knowledge of videos to identify soundtracks; there was a competiton challenge fit for everyone. We also had games of Live Action Mafia that would continue through the night and made even the most casual walk through the hallway to the bathroom a risky "life or death" situation. However, each night Mafian games were suspended for an hour to share Bible stories and testimonies. The youth pastor asked me to speak about God's power one night, so I shared the story of Jonathan fighting the Philistines in 1 Samuel 14 and talked primarily about God's power to cause a ripple effect through one obedient man. I was encouraged at the end of the retreat as we went around in a circle and numerous attenders said they especially enjoyed the program times of the weekend when we talked about the Bible and our testimonies. It was most evident in the new group of Boskovice boys we brought with that they enjoyed the programs. One boy even said "I didn't think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did." God is certainly watering and caring for the seeds with this group!
At the conclusion of Winter Retreat, I was definitely sad to end the fun weekend, but I was also delighted that these two different groups of kids from two different clubs in two different cities had connected so well! I knew it would be interesting to see how it affects the future youth group and club events, and it was an absolutely perfect idea to have a sleepover club the following week to bring most of the group back together again. My illness actually relapsed again last week, so I was only able to make it to 11pm at the sleepover before my body sent an SOS to return to bed. Still, I had lots of fun playing table games, foosball, group games, and listening to the kids recall Bible characters in a team challenge.
Watch a short video about the Sleepover Club here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGnskGX7V6k
With all the beautiful nature I experienced these past couple weeks as well as the unmistakable presence of God and exceptional friends, I can easily relate to the joy the Pevensie children must have experienced exploring the wonders of Narnia.