Aaron's movie reviews

Ok, while I havent been able to see as many movies as I would like to have seen, I figure this would be a good time to give, the maybe 2 people that read this, my thoughts on movies I have seen recently, and what movies I am looking forward to.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
A- I think this movie is definitely one of the better films of the HP series. Obviously as they are growing up, the content gets more mature. I'm glad David Yates is directing the next 2 (for those of you who dont know, the last film will be broken up into two as per all of the important content.) and I think that this is Daniel Rad's best acting... My only complaint was the ending. Obviously we all know who dies, but the scene should have been more... dramatic, emotional... im not sure, but I just didnt feel the loss as big as they could have made it. overall.. go see it.

(500) Days of Summer
B++
I was going to give it just a B+ but... it really is a good movie, I just dont think I can put it in the A category. The director, who has come from directing music videos, stepped in the way of the story too much. I LOVE artistic directing, but at times it was distracting. The story is about Summer seen through the eyes of Tom.. and how our rose-tinted glasses can make us see more than what is really there and can therefore skew our reality. The parts are cast perfectly and played perfectly. My biggest critique is the director getting in the way... and the fact that it reflects my life too much that it makes me depressed! Moving on.

Away We Go.
A-
From director Sam Mendes, I walked out of the movie feeling happy, optimistic, encouraged about life. I guess that is a reason we all go to movies. We know this life is pretty messed up and things can look really shitty at times, but somewhere inside of us, we can choose to believe it will work out. John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph play off of each other amazingly. And the supporting cast is unbelievable. (it just took me 5 times to try to spell that word without spell check... damn our education system and microsoft). Go see the movie it is great!

Sadly, that is all the movies I have seen recently. My goal for the next 2 weeks:
G.I. Joe... which I know will suck but I have to go see it.
The Hurt Locker.. which is being hailed as one of the best war movies ever made
District 9... I'm a sucker for aliens and peter jackson (I KNOW he didnt direct it)

What I wont be seeing is:
The Time Traveler's Wife... of TTW as Dudney puts it. I might actually have her write a review of it, come to think of it.
Bandslam... because who besides tweens care about it.
and sadly I wont be seeing Inglorious Bastards... SHOCK! but I am trying to stay away from movies with just gratuitous violence... and lets face it... its Tarintino.. with Eli Roth... its going to be over the top.

ok.. that's all for now.

Sick Sucks

last night I woke up at 3 in the morning after having a dream that my toes had fallen off of my right foot... im not sure what that means, but upon waking up I realized I was totally sick with the flu. Dad said that a lot of the Texas Rangers got sick with it the other day, so I guess it only attacks people who's bodies are in amazing shape and look amazing. It's science.
So I've spent all day today laying around.. getting an I.V., trying to sleep but not wanting to because my dreams are freaky when I'm sick, but I did manage to get a phone interview for a graphic design job... so we will see how appealing I sound on the phone when I cant breathe out of my nose at all...

Back home for 2 weeks

It is just now hitting me that I am home, I have been home for almost 2 weeks and I am finally getting used to the idea that this place is my new home. I kind of assumed that as many "big moves" as I have made in my life, that this move wouldnt be too difficult. But after spending a year in the slow leisurely pace of Prague, its like sitting in the Lazy river at wet n wild and then getting immediately thrown onto the Geronimo... ( I know it is hurricane harbor now, but it will always be wet n wild to me).

But with that drastic change, it has been pretty cool. I have got to reconnect with a lot of friends that I havent seen in years. The most intense reconnection was friday night at Chris Lee's wedding. I was one of the groomsmen and it was an awesome wedding, but it was a bit overwhelming to try to catch up and see everyone in that short period of time. I felt like I was totally ignoring my kick-ass date (sorry Laura).
Here are some pictures of the wedding and us golfing before! Erin is an amazing photographer fyi.. you should all hire her for... everything.
http://eephotography.squarespace.com/blog/2009/8/10/amanda-chris-wedding.html

All-in-all I'm still very much in a transition period that will continue for the next few months. I still have to find a job, an apartment, a car... preferably in that order. But I know I have really good times ahead with some awesome people. I'm just putting my faith that God will provide and reward my constant searching and emailing for jobs.

Time for church and sushi with laura and A-gib.. so it will be a good day!

Zeus Brought the Lightning

Sitting in a pub with frank drinking Mythos beer. We got rained on on top of the Acropolis today, but it was awesome. We watch the storm roll in over Athens and there was some awesome Lightning.
Just thought I would post a couple of pictures so you all could see.
Tomorrow, we head off to Sifnos.

AND... SCENE

So today I finished my last class of the year. I had a fun little party with my 2.G students (6th grade). They were sad that I wasnt coming back next year, and to be honest, I'm a little sad. I know home is where I need to be, but knowing this may be the last time I see many of them.. It's not easy. It's been a pretty emotional week. Goodbye's are never fun. But with the sadness, I am excited of the next stage in life. I have no idea where God will take me. For now its Dallas, but very quickly that could change.

So this afternoon me and joseph are meeting up with the whole Czech team to have our end of year retreat. It will be really good to see everyone one last time all together. I volunteered to do the end of year slide show. So I thought I would post it so any of you who want to watch it, feel free!

ESI slideshow from Aaron Rector on Vimeo.

give and take

So as my final days in Czech Republic are upon me. I was getting a little nostalgic. Thinking about leaving this place after being here a year. Then very quickly after, I started thinking of things about here that I am very happy to leave behind. So I thought it would be good to make a list. Things I will miss and things I'm ready for in America.

Things I will miss:
half liter beers for a dollar... all the time, everywhere
Subways, Trains, and trams
Bo Bagel breakfasts
Walking through Old town square early in the morning the morning after it snowed, before anyone is there.
Svíčková ( an amazing czech dish)
People walking so much more to get around
Talking at Pubs
Dancing at Lucerna
Great conversations with students



Things I am ready for in America
A bathroom that is INSIDE of my flat
No more Czech winters
Not having to walk a 4 miles twice a week in Czech winters at 7:00 am
People wearing deodorant
Somewhere to go eat breakfast! (besides bo bagel)
Having a normal schedule
An abundance of Cheddar Cheese and Sushi
Watching sports! holy crap. This long without watching only ONE basketball game.

I'm sure there are more I will add on later. But this is enough for now.

Even with this list. I will be sad when I leave here. With all of its ups and downs. Czech Republic will hold a very special place in my heart for a very special time in my life.

updating for 5 months

these are my blog updates over the past 5 months... these are from emails or personal journals.. because i am bad about updating... more to come.After talking to a friend, I realized I really need to keep up with this. So.. they are late, but here they are.

April 14th, 2009 part 2

The Great Train Robbery
If you havent read the post leading up to this, we were in Poland for Easter... and so the story continues.

I think I am a pretty cautious person. I am alert, attentive, and I definitely am protective. So when we got on the train Saturday night to head back to Prague I took it to heart when the nice old ticket taker on the train told us to be careful of thieves.

So back up a second. By Saturday we felt that we had seen much of Poland, spending 3 full days there, and Britt, Frank, Ashley, and I really wanted to make it to church service on Easter at our own church. So we decided to cut the trip short by a day and leave late Saturday night on the overnight train. Gina, however decided to stay one more night with our friend Maggie.

So we are in a sleeper car for the overnight train back. Next to us there is a group of American girls studying in Europe. We say hi and retire to our room. For the trip, Frank and I did what we always do.. buy beer, because.. really it makes the trip so much better. So the ticket guy comes by pretty soon after we take off and tells us to make sure to lock our door at night because "the gypsies" could come and rob us. (I put gypsies in quotes because obviously it could be anyone but they blame all thieving on the gypsies).So we look on the door and realize there are like 4 locks on it. one at the top. Two in the middle and one on the ground. One of them in the middle was a hardcore deadbolt that no one could have picked. So we took this picture because we were shocked at how crazy the locks were.

So now that we were safe and locked inside we felt safe. So we started drinking. The girls werent drinking and frank and I started. However Frank was drinking very slow. We were all talking and having a good time, and when I finished my beer, I just picked up another one. Not to mention before we got on the train, we were at a restaurant eating dinner, and I definitely had at least 2 beers there. So we are traveling and I am just drinking and drinking.. pretty soon I open the last beer and Frank's like.. "man, I've only had one. Did you drink all of them?"

I was drunk. I didnt mean to. I wasnt planning on it mom and dad, but I was. I tell this part because it matters in the story.

So after some arguing between me and Ashley (you would be arguing if she told you "you cant prove to me that vegetables exist, scientifically.") We all went to bed with the door securely locked.
**BANG BANG BANG**
I look down at my watch and it is 5:30 a.m. Me and ashley (who slept on the bottom two beds) open the door and see the ticket man standing out in the hall.
"The gypsies. The gypsies."
And then he takes off down the hall... Weird. Well I decide to take this opportunity to walk down the hall to the restroom. As I am walking back I see in the empty room next to ours a purse sitting on the seat. Weird.
So I go back in the room and lay down. a few minutes later the ticket man walks by with the purse in his hands. He gestures with the purse. "Gypsies steal." and offers it to us seeing if it was one of the girls purses. We shake our heads "no" ... just catching on that the purse had been stolen apparently.

So we start to talk. "Nothing of ours got stolen did it?" we start looking around. My ipod is still by me. My $700 nikon camera is sitting on the floor right beside me. "looks like everything is here."
Then ashley says. "Well, guys, this morning I woke up and our door was wide open. did anyone go out? in the middle of the night?"
None of us had.
So then we get a little nervous, when the American girls next door poke their head in.
"Did you guys get anything stolen?"
"we dont think so"
"Well one of the girls had their purse taken off of them while they were holding it asleep and they took $300 out of it and her camera and her ipod and some other stuff in our room."

So we all start looking around and we check everything, and sure enough, Ashley had $5000 crowns ($250) and some other Polish money taken out of her wallet. We look around and dont see anythign else that was taken.
"so how did they get in?"
The ticket guy comes into our room and comes and looks at our window. The lock on it had been broken.

So this is what happened:
We all fall asleep. I am a very light sleeper, but because I had too much to drink, I was out and not getting up. At about 3:00 am we were stopped in Ostrava for about 45 minutes. While we were there, someone broke in through our window. came through and took money out of Ashley's purse. Went out of our door, leaving it wide open and went into the American girls room next to ours. ( who hadnt locked theirs well.) They took the purse from one of the girls and took it into the other empty room. Emptied it out and left what they didnt want there.

Crazy... and the worst part of it all was after we got home, we went and ate at our favorite American Breakfast place. As we were leaving, the sun was coming up. so I reached in my bag and I realized they stole my sunglasses! :) ok.. so it wasnt so bad.. but they were armani.. and really cool.

So anyways... But it was Easter... and Jesus has risen!

April 14th, 2009

A Polski for your thoughts.
Spring is finally here.. warm weather means being able to go outside and not freeze instantly.
So this past weekend was our Easter break, and it was a memorable one to say the least. Britt, Frank, Gina, Ashley, and I decided we wanted to take advantage of our long weekend. (we actually get thursday, friday, AND monday off!) So we decided we would make a trip to Poland, Krakow to be exact.

The train ride is about 9 hours, so the best way to get there is to get an overnight train. So on Wednesday night we all met up at the train station in Prague ready to go, but when we got to the ticket counter there were no more sleeping cars available on the train. (now in our defense, we were going to reserve them before, but we heard from some very experienced traveler's and friends that we wouldnt need to.) So we had to settle for one compartment with no beds for the 5 of us for 9 hours. We knew this wouldnt be fun... so frank and I did the only reasonable thing.
Bought beer.
However, even the beer did not help after a few hours when everyone wanted to sleep.. without going into many details.. either make sure to get a sleeping car.. or agree that no one will sleep, because except for britt, who can sleep through and on anything.. it was a miserable miserable night.

However, we arrived the next morning in Krakow and made our way to our hostel. Granted it was 6 in the morning, and no one except britt had got any sleep to speak of. and we wanted to crash for a few hours, but sadly we couldnt check in until noon... so we had 6 hours of walking around.

So we decided to go find breakfast. So we went and got money out of the ATM and thus began the 20 ours of complete and uter confusion. See.. to convert from US dollars to Czech Crowns to Polish zloty (which we continued to forget the name of, so we started just calling them Polskis .. which is actually what you call just polish people.. like Americans or Czechs. The girl at the hostel front desk didnt think it was too funny) got very very VERY confusing... I still blame it on the lack of sleep.

So we went to breakfast and when we got our bill we started converting the money and what the general consinsus was that the food in Poland was extremely expensive. our average meal was 300 crowns (or about 15 dollars).. we couldnt believe it.

So we realized we werent going to be able to eat out much while we were there. So for the rest of the day we walked around beautiful Krakow. Saw the biggest Market Square Center in all of Europe, covered in booths and decorations getting ready for Easter. It was awesome, but extremely expensive for everything. We were starting to freak out a little and thinking we might have to cut our trip short because we didnt want to spend that much money for 3 days.

However, that night Gina... level headed Gina... realizes that we were converting everything totally wrong, and that meal that was 300 crowns... was actually about 100. We are idiots.

So with renewed spirits and an abundance of cash! we spent the next 2 days walking around the city and even going out to visit Auchwitz which I reccomend to anyone. It is a very sobering place that no one can understand until they go. Ashley's friend maggie (who also teaches in Czech) even met up with us. So Saturday night we get on the train to go back.. and what follows is a crazy story.

Ashley, Frank, Britt, Me, Gina

This amazing looking kid playing the accordian on the street.

The beginning of the epic train robbery

March 21st 2009

Back in Czech

I'm back after an awesome break in the states. I had a blast. Sunday came flew down from New York just for the week. The week was filled with Family, Friends, pregnant sister, a Rocketboys show, watching the Mavs beat the Wizards, hookah, real tex-mex, and driving a car!

Ahh.. so many things that I have missed over the past 7 months. It definitely was a great break to give me the push I need to finish out the year. Sorry to any of you I didnt get to see while I was in town!

February in Cezch!

February 25, 2009
Hey everyone,
So I realized the other day that it has been way too long since I have written everyone. Life has gone into overdrive here and the weeks are passing like days. It is hard for me to believe that it is the end of February.
So Life has been good thus far. January was filled with end of semester exams, grades, and balls (their version of prom, but there are 4 of them each year and not at the end of the year). So January was a very busy month. Here in Czech, the semester doesn't end until the 3rd week of January, and as many of you teachers know, it is a busy time... Sadly I didn't realize how busy it was.... And ps... any of you thinking of being teachers. Don't assign 7 page long papers to non native speakers and give yourself only a week to grade them all before the semester ends. :)

Along with work, I have made leaps and strides in my relationships with my students. I think after the initial shock and terror of being a teacher wore off, I have now been able to focus on getting to really know some of the students. Most of my weekends are filled with going bowling or out to pubs with the students. I can see that they genuinely want to know me and why on earth I would leave America to come live in this small town... its a great way to bring up my faith.

So now for a story. This will take a little bit, but it is really one of the most memorable experiences since I have been here.
I teach a class of adults on Tuesday nights. I have got to know them pretty well. So early in December two sisters in my class invited me and Joseph to come to a Hunter's Ples with them in mid January.
"What is a Hunter's ples?" I asked.
"It is a ball (dancing ball) for a group of hunters in a small village close by."
"Sure, why not." I answered.
Jump forward a month and Joseph and I get dressed up and a car picks us up at 7 prompt and drives us to a small village about 10 km away. And just to put it in perspective, Kralupy, where I live, has about 20,000 people. this village had maybe 1000 people. There is one pub in the village.
So we arrive and there is a town hall type place above the pub. Upstairs we walk in, check our coats and are introduced to the coat checker as one of our students nephews. They walk us into the next room and this is what we saw. 3 men, dressed in green Hunter's jackets and green fedoras with feathers sticking out of them. They stood proudly next to a homemade rack, for lack of a better word, on which about 40 pheasants, ducks, and rabbits hung by strings. On the floor in front of the rack, was a bed of fir branches, on which lay 3 wild boars, and 4 wild deer. The ones on the floor were gutted, the birds and rabbits were not. We were amazed!
"What are these for?" we asked.
"You can win these in a raffle. Only 5 crowns a ticket." (about a quarter)
So... we... being stupid guys had our eyes set on the huge 200 lb. boar. Because, I mean... how often can you say you won a boar in a raffle, then took it home and cooked it over a spit (which is what we quickly decided we had to do because that is what they do on Lost)
So we bought 20 tickets and the night started. A terrible 3 piece band, with no drummer but an accordion, guitariest and piano player, started to play. And the people danced! Everyone got out there and started to dance, and it wasn't long before they pulled Joseph and I onto the dance floor.
Now in a room of 60 Czech people, the Korean-American and very bearded American with shaggy hair stood out like a sore thumb. So we started dancing.. and the way that many of the old people here dance, they get in big circles and just kind of side step back and forth... But then they started to push Joseph and I into the middle. To which we just decided to dance as stupid as possible. So we would do as many dumb moves ie Moonwalk, the running man, the lawnmower... accracross circle. All the while pulling in 40-70 year old ladies to do them with us. It was classic.
Everyone was having a blast. And joseph even did an impromptu dance with a girl we were with. They were the only two on the floor for the song and everyone thought it was hilarious.
So at the end of the night, they finally got around to doing the raffle. They went through all of the small prizes first, then finally they started on the wild animals. By then there were probably around 100 people there and so we thought our odds were pretty good to win something, but we had our eyes set on that boar!
number after number missed us until it was the last one! The biggest boar! They called out the number
"202!!!"
WE .... didn't win it. It was a sad day. HOWEVER! one of the people in our group one a wild rabbit and gave it to us. Awesome!
Long story short, a day later my headmaster comes walking up to school (on a Sunday) and sees me in front of the school with a trashcan, a knife, a rabbit head, and blood all over my hands. It was brilliant!

So that's a quick story about our experience at the Hunter's Ball.

Here is me showing off our prize rabbit, very tired from the night.

and joseph never fails to take an awesome picture

Prayer Requests: There is a bad flu bug going around. I have been trying to work extra to stay healthy, but interacting with so many people everyday, I'm worried I will get it. Also, please be praying that God is preparing something for me when I move back home. I still have until the middle of July, and while that is a long way away, time is flying by here.

I thank you all so much again for your prayers and your support. God is working in this place, sometimes it is hard to see, but I feel that "behind the scenes" peoples lives are being touched for the Kingdom.

On my last note, I am coming home for a 10 day visit on March 6th. I will be in the DFW area for most of the time. I would love to see any of you that want to grab lunch and catch up. please email me because I am trying to schedule out some stuff so I have plenty of time to catch up with the family.
That's all for now! Here are some pictures from a few of the events with the students. nothing special, just so you can see some of the stuff that is going on.

Love you all!
Aaron

December 24, 2008

December 24th, 2008
Merry Christmas Everyone!
It is officially Christmas. I am hanging out with Brady, Joseph, and Frank here in Prague watching a Christmas story, which is a sort of must on Christmas (even though I dont really like the movie too much.) I just wanted to tell all of you I miss you all very much this time of year. I hope everyone has a great holiday season. It is great to have a break from teaching and just relax with my brother and friends. It's hard to believe I am already halfway through with my time... wow. Alright.. it is time for me to get to bed. Santa is coming tonight!
Aaron
ps, the snowman was a few weeks ago when we had a big snow here in Prague.

I havent bought presents yet!

I really need to do it soon... only 11 days till Christmas!! Thats all. Tell me what you all want for Christmas

Winter blues/ a time of growth

Chapter 2

I am in my 4th month in Czech Republic. I find it appropriate that this time in my stay here is coinciding with winter. When I arrived everything was new, exciting, beautiful. The days were the perfect temperature. Prague looked like a scene from a fairytale book. The spires pointing to the heavens with a golden sunset setting over the Vltava River. The year was just beginning.

I am now surrounded by the skeletons of the trees. Piles of dead leaves. A cold that this Texas boy isn't accustomed to. The newness has worn off. The exciting beginning, as with everything, has turned into daily routine.

While that may sound gloomy and depressing (which it can be on some days), don't mistake my observances with me wishing I wasn't here. Some days are difficult. I don't enjoy the 2 mile walk at 7:30 in the morning across town to teach, when it is so cold that I wear a sweater, hoodie, heavy coat, scarf, gloves, warm hat... and STILL am cold.
But then there are days when I walk into my class and I have a fun lesson planned and I feel like they learned something and enjoyed it. Then after go to the pub with a few of my (adult) students and just get to know them. Get in their lives.
Or when I went to Prague with Barbra and Ondra (the 2 kids from the family I teach) and watched James Bond and just hung out... I felt like their older brother, which I like.

So, right now Spiritually, I am wrestling over a lot of things. Like I said in earlier posts, I am trying to push myself to develop the disciplines I really want in life. Spending time deep in scripture. Not just reading it, but trying to really understand it and what it means in my life. Building up defenses in the areas of my life that I know I struggle with.

I want to look back on my time here and see the growth and glorify the Lord in the work he has done in me, because in everything I accomplish whether in my life or the lives of others will be through his power. I do feel a little bit like a hermit at times. Deep in my own thoughts, analyzing my actions, my life. Talking with the Spirit to show me areas of my life to be working on... and he has.

The reality of our existence is so much more than what we in our flesh live for, that we must daily FORCE ourselves to see through the lens of the bigger picture. That no matter what our job is, how many friends we have, what we will do that weekend, who we will marry, how we will make it this month financially... ALL OF THOSE THINGS are nothing compared to our relationship with him. Many of those are important aspects I realize. I am writing this not to preach, but really to remind myself when I come back to read this... all things line up when our focus is right. Line up might not be easy living, or the "good life," but what better place to live than in the cover of the LIVING GOD.


So.. I will give anyone interested a rundown of what has been going on this past month.

Well, Mom and Dad came to visit Brady and I on the 13th of November. They flew into Prague and I rushed after one of my classes to meet them at the airport. It was so amazing to see them. plus... they brought Goodies! Dr. Pepper, Cheddar Cheese, random cooking stuff, clothes. It was like early Christmas for me. They stayed here in Kralupy for 2 nights because I had to teach still. On Friday, we hopped on a train and went up to Herrnhut to see Brady. We got to stay with him at their YWAM place. It was really great to see where he was living and meet all of the people who were on that journey with him.
Then we all went to Dresden for a few days to relax and just hang out. We got to go see some really beautiful churches and buildings, But mainly just talked, hung out, Got to watch dad take his first sip of beer.. EVER, which blew the mind of our German waiter. It was really great.
We had to get back because Brady was going on a outreach for a few days with YWAM, and I had to teach. So we got back to Prague on Sunday night. Mom and Dad were tired and went ahead to their hotel, and I met up with the Prague crew to go see Cold War Kids in concert, which was awesome.

A picture of Brady out in front of the main Cathedral in Dresden

The fam on top of the top of the Cathedral (you can see the top of it in the picture above)

So mom and dad went to Austria for a few days while I had to work on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then came back Wednesday night to spend it with me before I had to leave on Thursday morning to go to the ESI thanksgiving retreat. It was so great to see them and for them to see my life over here.


So on Thursday I went with all of the Praguers to a small town in Southeast Czech Republic where everyone in the Central Europe team was meeting for our Thanksgiving retreat. I wont really go into it. It was great fun. Got to see everyone. Katie and I played a Nickel Creek Song for the talent show. Had some really good talks with people. All in all a very good weekend.

The Central Europe Team at the Retreat

So jump to this past weekend. I had the opportunity to go to a Ples (which just means ball) in Prague with the guys there. So this is kinda the equivalent to senior prom.. but amazingly different. It is a very formal thing. Everyone dressed in suits and formal dresses. But the most amazing part was that the night was filled with traditional ballroom dancing. Now, granted, I'm not really skilled in ballroom dancing, but it was fun nonetheless.

The Students Dancing at the Ples

Me and Gina At Ples

So, lastly we had a big Prague Thanksgiving. This one was more of a "traditional Thanksgiving." Steph and I took on the endeavor of cooking for around 20 people. Steph in charge of the 2 Turkeys and me in charge of most of the sides. Everyone pitched in though. Britt had her amazing sweet potatoes and helped me make my cherry pie look awesome. Anyways, It was a very big undertaking because the ovens in Czech aren't near as big as in the states, and so getting everything cooked and timed right... it was a challenge but in the end it was great! Not only that, but we had ESIers, Czechs, other teachers, all come. It was a blast.
I'm not going to lie. I passed out at like 8:30 because I get a little stressed when cooking for that many people, and cooking from 8:30- 3:00 in the afternoon.... I was mentally tired.

The Prague Thanksgiving.

I hope all of you are doing well.. please feel free to email or leave a comment. I love hearing from people from home!
Be blessed,
Aaron

He is forever... just think about that for a second.

So this week I think God said. "alright Aaron, you're settled in.. your adapting well... it's time to get to work on the reasons I brought you here." And procceded to unleash craziness on me. I feel like I am in a mental/spiritual boot camp. Everything that God is ready for me to get out of my life, the Spirit is convicting me in a huge way. It is unlike anything I have felt. It is this constant, every hour, having to choose to get out of habits I didnt even realize I had.
Basically the words I got were.

"Stop thinking that one day you will become who You want to be, Be it today. You arent pushing yourself to strive for me. To strive for holiness. It's time to grow up, because I have work to do through you."

So this week has been a little rough. But has been amazing. To think that we communicate directly with this being we call God. A being so unlike everything else that he has no beginning and no end. He is outside of time, outside of space, he has no limits on his power... NO LIMITS. And the kicker is.. this God knows us better than we even know ourselves, and loves us in a way no one ever can or ever will.
We hear these things. "God loves us" "He only wants what is best for us." But think about the very nature of God ... dwell on it for even a minute, and you realize how powerful that is. How it should change every action you have. Every thought.
The sad part is it doesn't. Sin has made it so difficult for us to pursue that. We get distracted and the scope of our lives often ends with us... So to any and all who read this... I give anyone full permission to at any point challenge me and ask me how I am changing. How I am everyday choosing righteousness over sin. And how it is only through Christ that I am capable of this. Submitting to the will of our Abba father.

Fall break is over... back to work.

So Fall break is over.. and it was pretty great. I was finished with classes on Friday by noon, and from then until the next Thursday, I spent it relaxing and hanging out with awesome people. Brady and Gabe, one of his friends from YWAM, as well as Cat and Mary, who came in from Budapest. So Saturday night was filled with most of the Praguers and our visitors hanging out and seeing some of the main places in Prague.

It was great to spend time with everyone. I got to talk with Brady about what God is doing in both of our lives, and how grateful we are to be able to serve him in our different ways and the opportunities to be doing what we are. Brady got to tell me about some exciting new possibilities of serving in Africa in some awesome things that God is doing there. It really is pretty amazing to see the two of us now and see how amazing God can transform people, and the great news is there is still so much transforming to be done.

Sadly enough, Brady and Gabe only got to stay for a day, so they left on Sunday.

But then I got to spend the rest of the week with Cat and Mary... and of course Frank, Britt, Gina, Ben, and Joseph, who all live in Prague. It was so great to have that community, even if it was only for a short time. To spend time and encourage and just have fun with each other. And it was so good to be able to spend time with two amazing girls like Cat and Mary... and get to hear about what all is going on in their life in Hungary.

But like all vacations are.. they must come to an end. But it was a definite shot in the arm getting to spend time with them.

A Picture I took of Brady in Old Town square... one of my favorites of him.
Cat and Mary very excited to be in Starbucks.. since they don't have one in Budapest.


Me and Brady outside of Prague Castle



Ok.. So I have to put this one up. Last night was Ashley Hunt's (one of my fellow teachers) Birthday. We decided, even though it was a day after Halloween, that we needed to have a costume party, so here is me and Joseph, I went as an emo-bear.. Joseph.... his costume must remain a mystery open to interpretation.

And lastly, this is the Kraml Family (along with Ondra who is their daughters friend, the guy on the far left). This family is the one that gave me the bike and who I asked all of you to keep in your prayers. They are pretty awesome.Thank you all for continuing to keep me in your prayers and what God is doing over here. Also, please be praying that God will guide me in my decision that will need to be made within the next few months of whether I should stay here for another year or not.
Aaron

A New Ride and Fall Break!

So, something awesome happened. Last Thursday I went and had my class with the Kraml family. They are an awesome family that I teach, and I have begun to get close to them. We have had some good conversations about what we value in life and they have asked me questions about my Christianity... They are great. But anyways we were talking about how they saw me walking on Tuesdays and Thursdays to go teach my class... Bottom line, they offered to let me use one of their bikes that they don't use anymore. IT'S AWESOME! A trip that used to take me 40 minutes to walk, now takes me 13 minutes to bike to!!!

So that has made my week really cool.

Also, starting tomorrow, we have our fall break. After I am done with my 11:00 class I dont have any work until next Thursday. Plans are as follows
Friday night go out with Joseph and some friends here in Kralupy.
Saturday Brady and some of his YWAM peeps are getting in.
The Budapest girls are getting here!!! which I am really excited about! I think Saturday, but Im not sure.
so the next few days I will be hanging out with people I love! and then Tuesday and Wednesday.. relax back here in Kralupy, play guitar, write...
Im excited.

Castles and Trains

So this weekend a few of us GPA-ers (Greater Prague Area, since Joseph and I dont actually live in Prague) made an adventure to Ostrava to visit the girls out there. Steph, Ashley, Frank, and Myself took the 4 hour train ride out there.

As I found out, the problem with Czech trains is, they sell more tickets than they have seats. So basically you have to either pay almost twice as much to "reserve" a seat, or pay a normal price and rush and pray that you get one before everyone else does. Sadly enough, We all didnt get seats. Frank found one, as did Ashley, but for Steph and I, the first 2 hours were spent in the part of the train right in front of the restroom. It wasnt too bad though. Just read and talked. After a few hours, a lot of the people had gotten off, and so we found seats all together.
When we arrived we were greeted by the Ostrava Ladies, Lydia, Bean, Jonna, and Laura. (We were also waiting on Sarah who was coming in from her town.)
But basically the night consited of dancing in an extremely crowded pub called Desperado to 90's music. a lot of fun.

But I will take a moment to tell you that over the past 72 hours I have had a terrible pain in my right shoulder/neck. It felt like a pinched nerve.. so the whole weekend, I was popping alieve and convincing the girls to give me back rubs, however, none of it helped.
On Saturday we took a train an hour out of Ostrava to see a Castle. Apparently It was one of the best kept and biggest castle complexes in Europe. Here are some pictures. If you want to see more you can go to my Flicker site. http://www.flickr.com/photos/31442658@N04/



All in all a good weekend. And I ended up going to a Thai massage place in Prague when I got back on Sunday and this Thai guy kicked my ass, but got the knot out.. So I'm better! Also, I figured out.. if you ever get really tired in a train and there isnt room to lay down.. move all of the bags to one side, and the bag rack makes a great bed... There are some perks to being small.:)

There Will Be Hair

So I decided a while back that when better to let your hair down and go crazy than when you move to Europe. You know... adopt the bohemia lifestyle... I mean.. I live in literal Bohemia... or just west of it. So as Sunday will tell you, I've always said... ok man I'm going to grow my hair out. And a little over a month later when it hits the awkward stage, I chicken out and cut it... But that was AMERICAN me... this is the new BOHEMIAN me. So here today. In front of all of you. I vow that my hair will not be cut (except for a slight trim so my thick hair wont fro) until the new year. I havent cut it since I have been here. So it has already been growing since the end of August.

Be prepared.... That is all. just my public declaration, so you all can hold me accountable, that THERE WILL BE HAIR!

Art

So for the past 2 years I havent really been inspired creatively. I have done a few projects for school and for fun, but not the kind of creativity I had before I moved to LA. So it is amazing how just a change of location stirs up all kinds of new thoughts and ideas. So since I have been here I have been so much more creative than I have been.. its amazing. First, I have had to resist taking my camera everywhere. There is something very cool and beautiful about this place, the mixture of modern capitalism against a background of old communist ideas. Throw in beautiful castles and buildings from 1000 years ago. I just want to capture it all. Here are some from the first few weeks of being here.
I have more pictures posted on my facebook you can check out.. I will also probably upload them to flickr soon... I will put the link on here soon.

So next, Ive been playing guitar. I just started teaching myself in about April or so, so I am not very good, but learning. I've learned a few death cab songs and a few nickel creek songs. I also borrowed a keyboard from the son of our boss. So I'm learning a few things. Maybe I'll start writing some of my own stuff soon.

Ive also been working on some film stuff. I'm so glad I brought my video camera, because I have a ton of new ideas. Even just short random, fun things.. like this. I got inspired one day during lunch because it was just a beautiful day, I had the window open, and was listening to music... and ready to make a grilled cheese.

I am working on some other videos too, so as soon as they are done, I will upload them. Ok, I have to actually get back to planning. And eat my homemade mac and cheese!