Hello, Pilgrim families!  Thanks for visiting the new ELA website.  Below are links to important documents concerning our upcoming Czech Exchange Program.

...and here are some other websites that may be helpful as we prepare for the trip.  Czech them out!

Friday, October 1
by Mr. H

Another exciting day in Czech land!  Everyone had a good rest last night and we are feeling more adjusted to the time difference now.  We were at school today for our first day of experiences there, and it was fun.  They had a really nice breakfast reception set up for us and the students where they welcomed us to the school/country. We attened several levels of English classes here at the school.  It's really interesting to see English as a language from the perspective of someone who is learning it for the first time!

The homesickness began to settle in a little more today, and this is to be expected.  This weekend will be the hardest part as far as homesickness is concerned because the students probably won't see much of each other or us chaperons until Monday morning.  We did have a few tears today, but we are confident that the students are really doing well.  Nobody wants to feel bad, but the sadness is a sign of growth and shows that the kids are moving forward!  It's a sadness that is an evidence of the love they feel for their families, and that is an awesome thing! 

The host families have been great and have really been treating the kids incredibly.  Believe me, they are receiving the best of treatment at the hands of their Czech hosts.  There are some great plans for the kids' weekends.  I'm sure they'll be eager to share.  The hospitality here all around has been incredible. 

The kids are really having chances to talk about their faith with their host partners, as well.  I've already heard some amazing witnessing stories.  It's really great to see these young men and women have these incredible kinds of opportunities.

I am so proud of our kids so far!  They have all represented themselves, Pilgrim, and their Lord extremely well this trip!!!  It is definately a growing experience, and it means a lot to me to be a part of it.

Here are some pics of the day:

Saturday, Oct. 2nd

October 4

by Mr. H

Each day holds something new here!  Today was another great one.  We spent it with Zach and his host family, "Kuba" (pronounced "Coo-bah" and short for Jakub) and his dad Laoš (Lay-ohsh).  What wonderful families our kids get to stay with!!! 

After church this morning (in Czech, of course), Kuba and Laos took us into the Czech countryside to Chodová Planá (Hoe-doe-vah Plah-nah) for a wonderful Czech Lunch at a restaurant that was built in the underground rock tunnels of an old mine.  The food was delicious.  Most of us enjoyed Svičkova (Sveech-koh-vah) which is marinated beef with knedlink, beef gravy, lingonberries and whipped cream.  After a delightful lunch and some good conversation, we traveled to the town of Teplá for a tour of the Klášter
premonstrátů Teplá (I won't even try the pronuciation on this one :)) which was a monastery.  It was magnificent.  We weren't allowed to take pictures but you can find many on their website here.  We then drove to the beautiful spa town of Karlovy Vary (Car-loh-vee Vah-ree) for a walk around the picturesqe town and a taste from some of the many springs in the town that are supposed to cure stomach problems.  We also got to try Oblatky, a traditional Czech treat that is best described as a large, wafer-thin, circular cookie in one of an array of delicious flavors.  For supper, our hosts allowed us to treat them to some fine American cuisine--Mack Don Alds!!  Our drive home was accompanied by pleasant conversation of the similarities and differences between Czech and American culture and the nearly constant comments from our wonderful commentator, Zach. :) 

What a wonderful day!  Tomorrow we will be together with students again and will be trekking to some castle ruins in the countryside surrounding Plzen.  I look forward to seeing them all again and to the day together tomorrow.

Monday, October 4th

By Seth Gostchock

Today we went to a building on top of a mountain. After that we went and looked at the base of a church. to a shopping mall called Oliympia. We also took pictures of everything.@(-_-)@

By Mr. H

Like Seth said, most of our day was spent walking--probably 10-15 km (8-10 miles) in all!!  We experienced true European culture as we enjoyed "Turistika," or trekking through the countryside around Starý Plzenec.  We saw the Rotunda of St. Peter and Paul, the foundations of several old churches, and another castle called Radyně Castle.  Just when we thought we were going to hike back to the road below to pick up the bus, our guides told us that we would be walking back to Plzen!!  So we trekked the 5 kilometers back to Plzen, emerging from the beautiful forest into the backyard of one of Plzen's premier shopping centers, Olympia.  We were able to spend around an hour at the mall after which our host parents picked up the kids. 

After we were picked up, the chaperons were escorted to inspect yet another beautiful castle called Kozel Castle (literally "Goat Castle").  The castle itself was closed but the grounds were beautiful!!  After we left the castle, we headed for the small town of Dobřany (Do-brzha-ny) for bowling and supper.  It was a wonderful end to a busy day! 

Tomorrow is Sport Day at school!  Look for more updates then!

Tuesday, October 5th

By Mr. H

I am sorry that more of these journal entries are not student written, but they have literally been so busy they haven't had time!!

Today was Sport Day at school.  The day began with all of the Americans and the 8th graders watching part of Shrek 3 in the classroom while some of the Czech teachers got everything set up for the day.  Then, we gathered the kids together and worked on the presentation that we will be giving on Thursday to the Czech studetns from the whole school!  It will be a presentation that will give them an idea of what American culture is like and will highlight some of the places that we may take the students when they come in May.  At 10:30, the games began and the kids were active more or less until the end of the day at 3:00.  I think they will sleep well tonight!! 

After school today, the chaperones went first to the Boškova family's (Heather's host family's) beautiful residence  for coffee and coversation and then at 18:00 we were taken to the hockey arena to watch the Plzen team play the team from Prague.  They are sworn enemies, so the game was very interesting!  The Prague team won by a score of 3-2, so the Plzen residents were not in a joyous mood as we all walked back toward Plzen square after the game.  We were escorted home by Daniel Hauck, one of the American teachers, and now I'm at the computer keepin all of you up to speed.

Tomorrow, we do Prague.

Wednesday, October 6

By Zach Johnson

The trip to Progue was very fun. First we met at the bus station. Then we got on a travel bus to Progue. The ride was about 45 min. to an hour. Then we took the subway to a museum. Then we walked to the mall and took a lunch break. Then we went to the Karlův most bridge (The Charles Bridge) and walked to the katedrala sv. Vita (St. Vitus' Cathedral, also part of Prague Castle).  I loved the trip to Progue because the buildings and other sights were very beautiful.

By Mr. H

For today's trip, Zach's words pretty much say it all!  I'll let the pictures below do the rest of the talking.

Tomorrow, we present to all the students about American and Minnesotan Culture.  Look for an update then!

Thursday, October 7th

By Ella Skrein

Today, we practiced for our presentation that we presented to the 5th-9th graders.  It was about Minnesota, so they could learn a little bit about where we are from.  We did a power point of pictures and, we talked about our subjects.  The places we highlighted are Downtown Minneapolis, Target Field and the Twins, the Walker Art Center and Sculpture Garden, Taylors Falls, Mall of America, and the North Shore Duluth area.  First we showed the 7th, 8th ,and 9th graders.  I think they enjoyed it a lot.  We showed it  to the 5th and 6th graders and then the 3rd and 4th graders.  They loved it.  Then we taught the 1st and 2nd graders a song and, played a game where we had to say our names and favorite animal.  They were having so much fun!!  After that we read English books to the Kindergardeners who speak very little English.  They were so cute and were so intrugued in the stories and activities we did.  Then Seth, Zach, Solomon, I and our host families went go karting.  It was the first time I had been gokarting. We had a blast!!  After that me and my person went shopping at Plzen Plaza.  I got a smoothie from Ugo a Czech version of Jamba Juice or something like that.  I can't beleive that we are over half way done with this awesome trip.  I am taking a lot of pictures.  Good bye for now.  Czech in on the Prauge Blog soon. :}


By Mr. H

You will read about the school day's events in Ella's paragraph when it is posted, but after school, the students switched to their ninth grade host families.  They are settling in with them tonight and so computer access to them might be a little limited.  Tomorrow we tour the Plzen city center and then enjoy an evening of relaxation before the students' second weekend with the Czech families.

Friday, October 8th

By Mr. H

Today we began school in the 9th grade homeroom by working on a quiz activity based on Plzen that was put together by Simona, the head of the English department at Martin Luther.  We then boarded the tram and went to the city center where we visted the theater, the old synagogue, a monestary, the Plzen Underground, the town hall, St. Bartholomew's Catherdral and Plzen Tower on the square, and the new synagogue. 

After the tour portion of the day, a large group of students went to the Plzen Plaza shopping center for bowling and pool while the chaperons went out for coffe at a wonderful cafe in Plzen and then bused to Simona's apartment for some delicious homemade soup and accoutrement.  The evening ended with wonderful conversation and planning for tomorrow followed by a return trip to the apartment at school by bus and tram.  What a day!

Tomorrow, students will be with the ninth grade host families.  Look for updates on their adventures here!!

Saturday, October 9th

The kids were with host families today, so the activites were varied.  I know that there were some awesome things going on today, though, so I look forward to hearing all the stories tomorrow at church. 

Heather and I had a great experience today--we went to Germany!!  Here's more on that from Heather:

By Heather Herzig:

Today was very fun. I went to Germany with Mr. Hartzell, something I had been longing to do!!  Getting there was the hard part.  We had to take four different trains.  We made the first train ok, be we had a little trouble on the second one.  We got into the train ok, but our car was then detached from the train, and we got left behind!  We had to wait two hours before the next train would come, but finally we made it to Germany (Regensburg) where we walked inside a huge cathedral, ate amazing food, and did some shopping, too.

By Mr. H:

The trip was amazing.  The train mix up was interesting and educational.  I have since been informed that the detachment of the back halves of trains is a common occurence and that one needs to make sure that one knows not only where the train is going, but also where the individual car is going, too!!  Oh well, live and learn.  Heather was awesome through it all.  She didn't even panic a little. 

In Regensburg, St. Peter's Cathedral was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.  The town was worthy of several days of visiting--quite a lot more than the four hours we got to spend there.  Heather and I both enjoyed photographing many of the beautiful buildings and landmarks, and I got to use the German that I studied for two years in high school.  It's good to see that I know enough to get around fairly well.  No long conversations with the locals, but enough to get by none the less! :)  What a great day!

Tomorrow we have church.  The Pilgrim students will perform their program one more time and then there will be a sort of goodbye picnic for all of the students and host families.  It will be great!

Sunday, October 10th

By Mr. H

Sorry for the delay in this day's update.  It was a late night last night.

The day began with a wonderful church service at Martin Luther.  The theme of the service was marriage.  After church we had a farewell reception upstairs and a wonderful surprise!  A musical group was hired to come and play traditional western Bohemian music for us!! I will try to link you to video of the performance here soon.  It was a wonderful, cultural experience.

After the reception, the Houdek family took the chaperons under their wonderful wing again and took us to lunch at the restaurant at the world famous Pilsner Urquell brewery.  A tour followed lunch and then it was off to the Houdek's beautiful home for a bike ride to the little town of Dobřany for a tour of a small brewery who's name, translated, is the "Blue Star Brewery and Hotel."  A good combo, I think! :) After the brewery, we made our way back to the Houdek's home for dinner and more hospitality.  It was a great day!

Monday, October 11th

By Mr. H

Today we toured two famous museums in Plzen, the Muzeum Loutek Plzen (Plzen puppet museum) and Techmania.

The puppet museum was very nice!  It was finished only a year ago and they did a fine job with it.  We learned about an integral part of Plzen and Czech culture there.  Plus we had an opportunity to put on two versions of Litte Red Riding Hood, one in English and one in Czech.  Fun times for all!

Techmania is a hands on children's science museum.  It was great!  They had a huge exhibit called "Top Secret" that carefully examined the lives of spies and secret agents.  The kids could even sign up to become their own secret agent and play an interactive game in the museum where they had to go around getting different kinds of clues to solve a case.  Neat!  There were many other fascinating exhibits there, as well. 

After Techmania, the group disbanded to do some shopping.  At 17:00, the chaperons met some of the teachers for a wonderful dinner at the restaurace (restaurant) beloning to the Voves family, one of the families here at school.  The entree was delicious!  Roasted duck with a citrus glaze served with bavarian mashed potatoes.  Bon Appetit!!  Desert was mini pancake-like pastries with a straberry citrus reduction and creme fraiche.  Fantastic!!

I left the party early so I could come back to school and catch up on two days of website updating.  I enjoy doing this, too! :)

Tomorrow is our last full day here! We all have bittersweet emotions.  The fun that we've had and the friendships that have been formed giv ve our feelings for home a run for their money, but I think we'll probably come back anyway.  :)

Stay tuned tomorrow for one last day of updates before our homecoming on Wednesday!

Tuesday, October 12th

By Mr. H

Our final day is done.  All that is left to do now is pack up and be ready for our airport transports to arrive at 7:00 a.m. 

Today was a bittersweet day.  We had another great destination on the program for the day: Kutna Hora.  We toured the underground silver mines, visited the beautful late gothic style St. Barbara's Cathedral, and toured the Sedlec Ossuary, or Bone Church, as it is better known, whick is complete with a chandelier made of at least one of each of the 206 bones in the human body.  When we returned home from Kutna Hora, the chaperons went out for one last Czech dinner followed by some live music in the square.  It was interesting to have loud rock music blaring with a 700 year old cathedral as a backdrop, but, hey, this is Europe!
 
However, there was a definite wet blanket thorwn over the day by the fact that tomorrow we must leave.  It has been very interesting to monitor the emotions of the students over these two weeks: from bitter homesickness the first few days to the great friendships that have emerged to the heartache at having to leave.   What changes have been wrought by these few short weeks!  For some of the students, there may have not been a two week period in their lives when they have changed so much.  It all was brought home to me this past Friday when I asked a tearful American student what was wrong.  "Are you homesick again?  Do you miss your friends?  Did something happen?"  The answer was a shaky, "No, we have to leave on Wednesday."  It was great. 

All sadness at leaving aside, the kids are very excited to be coming home to the comforts of familiarity and to share the adventure with you.  We can't wait to see all of you again and we really do miss you all terribly. 

Fire up the grills, keep the mac and cheese hot, and be ready with some peanut butter sandwiches, America.  We're comin' home!! :)

Wednesday, October 13th