Quick Heads Up

Hey.

Let me throw a couple of things out there real quick...

Address:
Dvorakovo Gymnazium
Dvorakovo Namesti 800
278 53 Kralupy Nad Vltavou
Czech Republic

Phone: (420) 777 257 418

Email: HarveyME@gmail.com

If you want to be added to my mass mailing list, shoot me an email.

Everyone else, send cookies.

Lost in Transition

Well, it’s been an adventure, friends. Less than 2 months after my grand return to the U.S. of A., I’m on the road again. (Go ahead, sing it with me… On the road again, can’t wait to get on the road again…) Ok, so I’m not actually on a road, as there are no roads connecting Cleveland and Prague… but I already used Leaving on a Jet Plane in a mass email, and I felt the need to include a sing-along here too.

So here I sit at a cluttered table in Frankfurt airport. Those who have been here know what a daunting place it is, and can picture the chaos that surrounds me. People are scrambling to get to their planes, stumbling over lay-over victims who are trying to get a bit of sleep in on the cold tile floor. In the background, Americans are speaking LOUDLY and sloooowly to German cashiers, trying to figure out if the gift shop accepts US Dollars… incidentally, all of the cashiers here have a good grasp of the English language… but I think they just secretly enjoy watching the foolish Americans. Occasionally the crowd sounds are interrupted by loud speaker announcements in 12 different languages. I’m reminded of how great traveling can be.

My plane ride from Detroit to Frankfurt was a bit culture shocking in its own way. I had the privilege of sitting next to a German man who was apparently celebrating a birthday. He was in the middle seat, I was on the aisle. No sooner had the ‘fasten your seat belt’ light chimed off, that people began to come wish him well. Large German women took no notice of the innocent English teacher in the aisle seat as they leaned over for a good long hug. German men lined up to share a shot of hard liquor with him… apparently airport security was too concerned with weapon screening to notice the vast quantities of rum and vodka in carry-ons today. All I really wanted was to read Harry Potter… a fairly challenging task when bodies and alcohol were passing between my face and my book.

After finishing that paragraph, my friend Meredith stepped up to the table. Neither of us had any idea that we would be here right now… nor that we would have the same flight into Prague. Go figure. Oh, Meredith is also an English teacher in Prague… so I guess it’s not so far fetched, but it still feels good to sound like I know people in all corners of the world.

This has certainly turned into an odd blog entry.

When last you heard from me I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and perhaps a bit over-dramatic, as sometimes happens when you’ve been awake too long. As I write to you now, I’m still exhausted, a bit less overwhelmed, and a lot less dramatic. Hopefully this will be somewhat lighter reading than before.

I’ve seen just about everyone I know in this world in the last 2 months… and said goodbye again. This was a lot harder with some than others… go ahead and read my last entry for more details there. Alas, it has to happen, right? I’ll be home at Christmas this year… 3 months… no big deal.

I am pleased to inform you that my dear friends Joe and Josie are now married. The Haacks were married in Oxford, Ohio on Saturday evening. I had the rare privilege of standing in the wedding as well as playing music. ‘Twas a beautiful wedding. Pics below.

I intended this to be a huge entry... but I can feel my brain starting to shut down. I should probably stop typing now.

Mass mailings will re-commence shortly. If you or anyone you know are interested in receiving emails from me, shoot me a note at harveyme@gmail.com.

The groom and I. Joe Haack is married. What the heck.

Emily, Me, Lauren, and Elizabeth at the ELLE house. Maybe the coolest girls ever. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Myself, CJ, and Christin. Got to see these great folks Saturday night at the ELLE house. I miss 'em a lot.

Josh and I in Cleveland. It was taken during his first visit... but it's just too good. Just pretend it was taken during the big August trip.

The Ramblings of a Red-Eyed Traveler

While trying to capture my life in a simple, poetic, intellectual-sounding paraphrase for my friend Sarah, I decided this weekend that my life is like a dark blue room. I also decided that “Dark Blue Room” would make for a great album title. Its like hanging out in a room after dusk with the lights off. I’m aware of my surroundings, and how I remember things being arranged, but things are different somehow than I picture them in my head, and so I find myself flailing a bit, trying to grasp a couch armrest or cupboard corner. In the process, I stub my toe, knock a glass off the shelf, and stumble over the ottoman I forgot was there.

Regardless of the pocket-sized metaphor you find most palatable or appropriate, the fact remains that I feel lost in a familiar place.

I returned to the U.S. of A. on June 30^th, fully 8 hours after I was supposed to arrive. During the 24 hours prior to the big homecoming, I had been in 3 airplanes, 2 taxicabs, 2 busses, a smattering of airport trams, and had stood in lines for at least 4 hours in all. Half an hour off of my last plane, I turned 24.

I wish I could tell you that life breathed a sigh of relief, even for a moment. Much to my dismay, there was little downtime before the big storm hit. On July 6^th, my grandmother, Jane Oechsle, passed away after a long battle with complications from a number of strokes. It was a Wednesday evening. Family began arriving on Friday. The bittersweet irony here is that many of the family members I saw in the days following I had not seen in years… and it felt great to see some of them.

I had a few days to spare before the services and ceremonies began, so I opted to attend my friend Scott’s wedding as was originally planned. I connected with my great friends Josh and Lauren and drove down to Cincinnati. Go figure, in the time since I had left, Oxford decided to go and change. My memories of places, friends, and classes no longer fit the things I saw there. There are new buildings, new stories, and hordes of people I don’t recognize. Ugh.

Scott and Kristen Ebsen were married on Sunday, July 10^th. It was a beautiful ceremony and a great opportunity to see a million people I hadn’t seen in a year. Around midnight, Josh, Lauren and I began our journey home. It should be mentioned in passing that we stopped at a Waffle House around 3am. Praise the Lord.

By 8:30am, Josh was on a bus back to Fort Drum, New York, Lauren was on her way back to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and I was on my way to bed.

I woke up around noon, and began my search for a new suit… did I mention someone stole my suit coat at the wedding? Yeah. Picked up the new suit at 5. At 6:30, wearing the aforementioned suit, I stepped into Jenkins Funeral Home. The hours that followed were a strange mix of crying, story-telling, and hugs from people who hadn’t seen me since I was “this tall.”

The next morning, the family gathered once more for a final farewell. In a simple service in a simple church involving the simplicity that only family can bring, we said goodbye to a woman who had deeply affected all of our lives.

The following morning, I caught a flight to Los Angeles.

Its been nearly 3 weeks since I left home for LA. These 3 weeks have been chocked full of meeting, teaching, and spending time with the new Czech teachers, kickin it with my new roomie, Zach Barnes, saying goodbye to a number of the old Czech teachers, and seeking direction with a certain young lady in my life.

If you need to know the truth, I am writing this entry now, not because I think you all need to know these things about my life, but rather because I think I needed to write it down to help me process. You see, friends, I am in another airport as I write this. I have a two-hour layover between somewhere and somewhere else, and in my exhaustion I’m thinking too much. Hopefully writing this down will help.

My best friend, Josh, is coming to town in a couple of days. He’s a guy who can see through the junk in my life and tell me when I’m speaking and acting in wisdom, and when I’m just being stupid. I can’t wait to see him.

A bit later, a certain Miss Hayley Sitton will also be making the journey to Cleveland. This will mark the first time that the two of us will have spent time together in a normal place, on normal terms. This will also mark the converging of two big parts of my life… my Prague life and everything else. There are few things in this world I find quite so intimidating.

By the time I leave the country again (August 22), I will have seen just about everyone I know in this world, and said goodbye again to most of them. Two of those goodbyes in particular will hurt a whole lot… Josh will return to Fort Drum… and go to Afghanistan in February, Hayley will pursue God’s calling for her in Washington DC.

I don’t know how to bring closure to this entry. Go figure.

I guess I’ll just end with the music that has provided that backdrop for this sojourn…

Amos Lee – Amos Lee
Brock Hillman – Caught in Your Light
Rascal Flatts – Feels Like Today
Coldplay – X & Y
Matt Nathanson – Beneath These Fireworks
Jimmy Eat World – Futures

The cousins, minus a few. From the left: Me, Jenny, Russell, Amanda, Allie, Aaron, Daniel, Krista, Sarah. A pretty good looking family, if you ask me.

Joe, Josh, Myself, and Mark at Scott and Kristen's wedding (interestingly enough, I don't have a good picture of the bride and groom). By the end of this month, 50% of the men in this picture will be married.

Josh, Lauren, and I. Lauren is the latest in a long line of friends/family determined to make me a Michigan fan.

While at training, in addition to teaching the new folks the necessary teaching stuff, a Braveheart skit was necessary. Please note Nehemiah, the little guy in the middle, appopriately clad in plaid.

From the left: Brian, a great friend who will be staying on this side of the Atlantic this year, having spent 3 years teaching in the Czech Republic. Zach, my new roomie in Kralupy, hails from the lovely state of Oklahoma. Joel, my brutha in Bohemia, will be returning to the town of Sokolov, Czech Republic for his second year. And me.