One Week... :-) Jeden Týden

Ahoj,

Well I leave one week from tomorrow, Sept. 9. Crazy! I am nervous and excited all at once. :-) Some new developments have come up since my last post and most of them are pretty awesome.

I learned recently, through documents received by email which include a "master schedule" of all the CESP courses, that I will probably not be able to take all of the classes I had intended on taking. I am a bit disappointed honestly because I was really looking forward to those classes. I should still be able to take at least 2 of the original 4 (I really hope that Czech history is included in this. :-) ) but will probably also take classes in business and or economy that I do not know much about. Oh well, I am sure they can be useful in some way. But on a brighter note, I contacted the professor for the "elementary Czech" class and it looks very possible to take the "intermediate Czech" class which would be much more challenging for me, and a lot more productive! Yay! I have been studying a lot more Czech grammar lately and in my "quizzing" I have done pretty well... practice makes perfect, I hope!

I also have been in contact with my "buddy". The buddy system at the school is for foreign students to have a match-up VŠE student who will help them to get around, talk to people, etc. and just generally be a friend in a new place. So my buddy, a girl named Lucie (Lucy) emailed me for the first time just over a week ago and we have been in touch. She is near to my age and we have some good things in common (even a dislike for the taste of most alcohol :-) ) and I think I will enjoy getting to know her even more.

I do have a dilemma, and I am unsure how big of a dilemma it really is but I could use some prayer. the first weekend before school starts there is an "Icebreaking weekend". It is described as follows:

*What is it about?*- You will meet and get to know your fellows for Fall 2008;- You will meet us, Buddy System Team, a group of Czech students who willorganize various events, parties and trips for you during the whole term;- You will party!!! Friday's night: International party; Saturday's night:Freak hat party!- Teambuilding games, sports, lecture of Czech language and many others...

*Where?*- Holiday resort Radost (http://www.rz-radost.cz/): surrounded by beautiful Czech nature with sport areas, social and barbecue area and bar (of course!)

*When?*- *September 19th - September 21st* (Friday morning - Sunday afternoon)- Transportation by buses from the square in front of V©E universitybuilding (2-hours journey) is included in the price

The dilemma comes partly in the cost (it is about 90 dollars with the current exchange rate) especially in relation to the activities. I see on one end that this is an opportunity to intentionally get to know people and possibly hear about more of what activities there are in the semester (there is a basic schedule online also)... but, especially seeing as I KNOW there will be a lot of "partying", meaning a lot of drinking, do I really want to spend 90 bucks to go and sit there being bored while everyone else is drinking while "getting to know each other"? Even though there are other activities I have very good reason to believe, based on what I have heard about the program in the past, that the drinking will be heavy and I just do not think that is an environment I want to spend my weekend being around. Not for 90 dollars. If it was joining people to go to a bar or a pub in Praha I could understand because then I could spend what I want and come and go as I please.
please pray for me in this... especially that I can have good opportunities to meet people in a more positive way and participate in things because I do not want to ignore the many good opportunities the program provides, or the chance to make friends with people from around the world and maybe even make a positive difference in their lives. I want God to be able to use me where I am at.

In general I am pretty excited to get going... :-) I have already started packing! Definitely a little nervous because I have never spent 3 whole months away from home completely with no one I really know. I think this could be a very positive growing experience in every aspect of my life.

Your prayers and correspondance are greatly appreciated. :-) Look for another update within 2 weeks... I will post one within a week of arriving.
Dobrý den!