Another soccer tournament...

Yes, ISP played hated Riverside, a small Christian school here in Prague, in a soccer tournament on Wednesday. The weather was absolutely horrible with a steady rain that lasted all day. They played, though, and ISP crushed Riverside 7-0 in the first game and somewhere between 7-0 and 9-0 in the second game (different sources had different scores but by that point the actual score really didn't matter). The ISP side was all boys, while all but one or two of the Riverside team were girls. I make no judgement about relative ability except to say that the boys were much more aggressive in their play.

Noah loves soccer and is convinced that because he has played in Europe he will dominate when he gets back to Minnesota. We'll see. He did score 3 goals over the two games, though, so he doesn't do too badly.


Exuding confidence prior to the first game.


In action against Riverside.


Proud but damp parents.

The International Food Fair at ISP...

Saturday evening was the annual food fair at the International School of Prague. This is a fundraiser for the school that gives everyone the opportunity to sample foods from many of the scores of countries represented by the students and their families. It is an extremely popular event and the school's cafeteria and gym were crammed with tables of food and lots and lots of people. A report form the school today said that over 1200 people attended!
For the kids, after they got their fill of all of the food, there were special movies - Shrek the Third and Night at the Museum. The whole evening was pretty interesting and fun.

The Afghanistan table (and my co-worker Akhbar)

Wooden shoes and great food from Holland.

The pastries and music at the French table drew big crowds.

The table of Poland.

Here's Sweden.

And the Ukraine.

Last but not least, here is the table of the USA. The featured foods here were chili (mild, medium, spicy and vegetarian), brownies (which Kathy made) and chocolate chip cookies.

Misty Prague morning...

Kathy and I were waiting at the bus stop across from the International school after dropping Noah off a few days ago. She was coming with me into the city to have a coffee with me at Coffee Heaven (the Czech equivalent of Caribou) before I went in to work. It was foggy and we noticed a nearby tall office building jutting up out of the mist. Luckily she had the camera and I snapped this picture.

First day of school 2007...

Tuesday was the first day of school at the International School of Prague (ISP). They start school earlier here than back home, but they get more time of during the school year. There's a week in October, three weeks at Christmas, a week in February and a week in April. All of these breaks give families the opportunity to go back home - wherever that it.

Here is Noah in his new 4th grade classroom. He has Ms. Light as a teacher. We hear that she is a bit of a disciplinarian, but that is OK with us. Noah needs structure to do well. He reported at the end of the day that he liked her so far, but he had heard that she was always nice the first day, and then got mean. I guess we'll find out today.

Noah's last day of school...

This is Noah's last day of third grade and he finishes up at noon. It's a little different here than back home since the nature of expat life means there is a turnover of about 25% every year. So there are quite a few of Noah's friends that he won't see after today. He is both happy at completing the year and sad at losing some friends. However, the good news is there will be a whole flock of new kids when he gets back at the end of the summer.

Class Picnic...

Today Noah's 3rd grade class had its end of the year picnic. There was pizza and games and a good time was had by all. Thanks to Kathy, Mette, Tuana and a few other moms for organizing and running it. I can't beleive that Noah finishes the current year on Friday!

ISP versus hated Riverside...

Yesterday was Noah's second real soccer tournament - the first was last month at the British School. ISP hosted this one, and the only other participant was Riverside - a small Christian school for expats. Noah's team played two 30 minute games, and there are so many kids on the team that they basically each played one of the games. Noah played the second game that ended in a 2-2 draw. Unfortunately, he failed to convert on an early penalty kick and so he was unconsolable. Some of his teamates blamed him for failing to win and he took it very hard. The lessons of team sports are many, and he learned some yesterday. I guess it was "character building". Anyway, today it's forgotten and we're on to the next shiny object.

A Danish Copper Wedding Anniversary Party...

On Saturday evening Kathy and I were invited to a Danish couple's house to celebrate their 12 1/2 year anniversary. This is a traditional Danish thing - one explanation is that most couples don't make it to 25 years, so 12 1/2 is the new 25. Called a copper wedding, traditionally friends and family build the couple half an arch made from spruce (you get the other half when you reach your 25th). The arch is decorated with flowers and lights and positioned at the door of the home. In this case the half arch was cardboard, not spruce.

There were about 20 guests and the Christensens hired an Italian chef - Roberto - to do the cooking. It was really an amazing evening. Of the 20+ people, the only other American besides me and Kathy was the chef's wife, Sandra, and she is part native American. The guests were from Japan, South Africa, Malaysia, France and, of course, Denmark. There were probably others as well. The atmosphere was very reminicient to me of the old Tischler wedding receptions. It was very loud as we got deeper into the evening, and the wine flowed freely. The courses were served leisurely, with plenty of time for socializing (and more wine drinking) in between. After we found out how Mette and Jakob met we ended up going around the room and every couple told the story of how they met and how they got engaged. It was hilarious. Kathy and I agreed that it was the most fun we have had since moving to Prague. The hosts, the other guests, the food, the wine, the conversation...all was exquisite.



Here is Roberto with a few of his creations, including veal, pasta and beef.
















Here is Kathy with Mette Christensen.




This is the happy couple, Jakob and Mette Christensen. Jakob gave a very moving toast to his wife that proclaimed his eternal love.





Here is Kathy with Marlinda and Mirgoul.





This is Jean Marie, from France (on the left) and Derek, from South Africa (on the right). Derek works for Pilsner Urquell brewery - how cool is that - and also worked in Moscow for a Russian brewery.