It's crazy how quickly this month came and went! Time flies when you're having fun, or at least when you're constantly busy! As you can see from the slightly blurry picture, there have been a lot of fun bike rides through forests to different parts of the city. In this picture, all of the English teachers and I were taking a day trip to one of the lakes 60 km away. Of course, I was trying not to fall off my bike while taking this picture so it is not the best quality, but I chose it because it accurately expresses the joy I have had spending time with everyone here. I was even able to attend an ice hockey game (the Czech national sport) in the neighboring city, Hradec Králové, which means "Castle of the King". Everything is so beautiful here, it's hard NOT to see God in all of it!
Moreover, I am finally starting to get the hang of not just teaching but my role as the "conversational" teacher. At first, I was attempting to mimick what the other English teachers were doing, but then I realized that my class was meant to be different. After a lot of trial and error, my students are finally starting to enjoy my activities and SPEAK to me! It is honestly a miracle! I didn't even know that some of them could speak for the first few weeks!
And, now, I am starting to understand why teachers love their job so much. Although it is a lot of hard work, not much pay, and not many people appreciate the difficulty of this profession, that first smile to light up a student's face when they start to enjoy learning makes it all worth it. My teacher friends would always tell me that exact sentiment, but I never truly believed it until I experienced it for myself.
It is not just my teaching that has improved this month, but also the community I have found. Last month, I had mentioned that I had found an American family of believers to take me in and show me the ropes of this city. Well, they introduced me to a whole group of English-speakers, some from England, some from Canada, an English teacher from Germany, and a girl around my age from Pennsylvania! AND, they are all believers! They do a bible study together once a month, which will be nice to have to get filled up again in the Word and God's presence. ( I am so excited for the amount of people at churches here, but it is hard to get much out of the sermon when I don't understand it.) Then, also, I found out that the girl from Pennsylvania, Andrea, lives right across the street from me here! It has been so nice to have one friend that I can hang out with that is more my age and that also has the same beliefs! God is so good!
There are always ups and downs in life, but God has blessed me with a lot of ups and gotten me through the downs that threaten to waver my faith in His faithfulness. I am so grateful to know Him, because I definitely couldn't have done this all without Him. I can't wait to see how He will grow me next month!