Weekly repetition Getting ...repetitious

This late Friday afternoon, Jeff's finishing his 4th work week in Germany, now waiting for his 19:05 flight to 'Prag' at the Frankfurt International Flughafen. Being his fourth time,some patterns are emerging.

Going home starts with catching a taxi around 3:15pm outside Post Tower, Bonn's lone skyscraper. The taxi ride always goes smoothly until the driver comments how smoothly. Then they hit traffic which lasts until just outside Siegburg.
At the Siegburg train station, soon after paying cab fare, a high-speed ICE train flies past. Next one, Jeff's, will stop in about 19 minutes.
The ICE train timing is as impressive as its speed.
Arriving at Frankfurt Int'l airport, more patterns...
Check-in for Czech Airlines flight 537 is always and only at desks 807-808, number 807 for business, 808 for economy.
Security is not busy, but Jeff queues up anyway, always forgetting to eat something beforehand since there's nothing available after the security gate.
Flight OK537 is always at gate E25, 2nd to last gate of E Terminal.
Jeff always ends up texting Maylia to say the "flight's delayed...again. Take off at 19:30, surprise, surprise"

Ready to board means boarding the bus. The bus drives the 30 of us to the same spot on the tarmac where a little A320 waits. It's always a sharp contrast to the jumbo jets, but all that's needed for the 50 minute hop due east.

Last weekend's flight home from Malaysia was different.
But nothing says different from Jeff's routine week like the Saturday morning chaos named Ella. I can't wait. :)

One of Those Little Differences

When moving to a foreign place, you tend to first notice the differences. When adapting and integrating to that foreign place, you might even embrace those differences as your own.

One of many differences is what's acceptable for a child to do out in public. We don't remember back in New Hampshire ever seeing a parent help their child relieve themselves in the grass. However, in Prague, this is totally acceptable. At the playground, on the street corner, near the bus stop, wherever there's a child with a need to go, there's a parent helping down with the pants and ...there you go. With little boys, it's pretty straightforward, pardon the pun. With little girls, the parent cradles arms under shoulders and knees. Usually over grass or grate, it's not a shining moment, but yes, totally common and acceptable.

"When in Rome, ..."
How have we adapted? We started the same practice only a couple months ago. In fact, Maylia tells Jeff that since he's been away, Ella has really embraced that difference as her own. Unlike other toddlers that want their parents' help, li'l independent Ella just goes off and does her thing by herself.

There's a much better story to be told here, but we agreed that if we put it on the blog, to be remembered 'forever', that Ella would never, ever forgive her parents. So, give Maylia an e-mail and ask her about her recent time at the playground. Again, May's quite busy, so it may be July before she gets to reply...it's okay, the story's worth the wait.
-Jeff

Jeff's 7 flights in 5 days:

Czech-Germany-Thailand-Maylsia-Thailand-Germany-Czech-Germany

Exhausted, stomach flu and missing May & the kids something fierce, but Jeff is now back working in Bonn, Germany

If you didn't catch it in the last post (it was nearly buried), Jeff has been working in Bonn, Germany for most of May and will be for all of June. Except last Wednesday, when he flew to Kuala Lupur, Malaysia for a 3-day stay. On Sunday, Jeff was home in Prague for just 6 hours before returning to Bonn.

The Malaysia trip included stops in Frankfurt, Germany and Bangkok, Thialand, so a lot of time was just in the plane or airports to get there. Flying business class provided Jeff both the 'pod' for easy sleeping and a clean, convenient lavatory. Both were used often.

What was Malaysia like?
If you were part of the 7 of us that went to India for Caesar and Sarita's wedding, you have a good idea of the heat, driving and food. Very hot being only 3 degrees off the equator and the humidity was just below rainfall (when it wasn't sprinkling). Traffic - not quite the variety of vehicles/animals as was in India, but just as crazy. Road lines are mere suggestions. Food - wow, food was incredible. Malay food ranges from ethnic Indian, Chinese and native dishes. Went out for lunch both days with coworkers and ate out a lot on Saturday. (Yes, Jeff tried a lot of street food, too -and is paying dearly for it.)

Why is Jeff living in Germany?
Jeff's involved full-time on a project where he's working for another portion of Deutsche Post World Net (parent group of DHL company). The project and DPWN are based in Bonn, Germany and so, Jeff is, too.

Could this mean the Parkers are moving to Germany someday?
Absolutely not. We belong in Prague. Friends are here, we own here, and Ella will soon go to school here...done. (didn't we say all that before though?)
Honestly, Jeff wouldn't mind it. Bonn's a sweet, small city. The air is noticeably cleaner.
Where Jeff is staying, he walks the 1 km along the Rhein riverbank to work.
Too bad Jeff failed German class.

How is Maylia handling all this?
Um....you have to ask May. Jeff doesn't get to speak with her very often. And when he does, it isn't easy. She's a very understanding wife, but for now, also a single mother. If you e-mail her, she may not be able to respond until mid-July, when she leaves for Canada.

OUR ITINERARY (at last)

It's a rainy day in Prague and poor Ella is suffering from some sort of stomach bug.  We're stuck inside and so we're...gittin' 'er dun!

All tickets for our summer trip to North America are finally booked and our oft-requested itinerary is as follows:

Monday, July 21

Maylia, Ella and Mattias (accompanied by darling Michelle) fly Prague to Halifax (landing 2:45 PM)

Saturday, August 9

Jeff flies Prague to Halifax (landing 2:00 PM)

Monday, August 18

4 Parkers fly Halifax (leaving 8:00 AM) to Boston (landing 8:20 AM)

then travel to Manchester

Thursday, August 21

4 Parkers fly Manchester (leaving 9:55 AM) to Chicago Midway (landing 11:20 AM)

then travel to North Judson, Indiana

Thursday, August 28

4 Parkers fly Chicago Midway (leaving 3:20 PM) to Manchester (landing 6:25 PM)

Friday, September 5

4 Parkers fly Boston (leaving 9:35 AM) to Prague

There you have it, Folks! Let the party plans begin!

As promised....
An update on our visit with Jeff & Michelle, Mother's Day, and whatever else we feel like sharing!

Having Jeff and Michelle here was AMAZING! It was a whirlwind visit in their typical style, but still managed to feel comfy-cozy and like we had lots of downtime to just hang out. It probably helped that they had both already spent time in Prague, so seeing all the sights was not a top priority. Seeing Ella and Mattias was! And both kids love their "Uncle Jeff & Auntie 'Shel". Ella's still asking if and when they are coming back and is very excited to visit them this summer.

What did we do? Well...we went out for dinner at a VERY lovely restaurant, Palffy Palac, allowing the two Jeff's to reminisce about their springtime visit to Prague in 2006.


We went out for brunch at a local hotspot, Fraktal.


And we ate dessert in the beautiful garden of the cafe across the street.


The boys had a night out and the girls had a night out.


We did some sightseeing...


walked...and played...


Mother's Day was celebrated on Sunday after saying goodbye to such good friends. Jeff had planned for us to visit Strahov Monastery. This is something I've been wanting to do for a very long time and I was so excited to finally get to see it. The major attraction at the monastery are the libraries. Here are some photos:


As an added bonus, we walked past the Loreto on our way back home, another spot I've been wanting to visit.



In other news, and as some of you know, Jeff is working in Bonn, Germany for the next two months. He comes home on the weekends. I'm expecting him within the next hour or so. (An extra-big "YAY!" because poor Ella is sick with some sort of stomach bug so the last 24 hours has been particularly tough.) It is an exciting and challenging project for him - which is great! But it makes for a long week apart - which is not so great. In addition to Bonn, he'll also be visiting Malaysia and possibly Arizona, but only for very short trips. The jury is still out on whether I'll join him in Bonn with the kids, particularly as he's working late into the evening, but I think we'll probably go for a week or two in June. If nothing else it'll be a change of scenery (I haven't left Prague since October - gasp!) and a chance to see more of Germany. Hopefully we'll even manage a weekend trip somewhere.

And....drumroll please....Ella was accepted to školka (czech preschool)!!!! I won't go into all the details of the process, but suffice it to say that we are very pleased she was not only accepted, but accepted to our first choice school. WOOHOO! I have to admit to resorting to bribery to get her in - I offered to assist with their English program and the director seemed pretty excited to have me on as a volunteer. I'll let you know when I find out what this will entail. Although Ella's registered to start full-time in September, she'll start out going 2 to 3 mornings a week. This will expose her to the Czech classroom, as there is a good chance she will attend at least one year of elementary school here. It also helps integrate us into Czech society. And it gives me a little break - since having Mattias I've definitely started to feel the strain of living so far from family. The school, Materska Skola Na Vysinach, is located on the corner of our street and is associated with Charles University. So far, I am very impressed with them. We've already attended an information session and a classroom play session for new students. Upcoming is a theatrical performance and a play session in the school's playground, both for new students. In addition, they encourage parents to stay with their children for the first hour or so for the first few weeks in September, to make sure both parents and children are comfortable. Based on what I've heard from other moms, it is much more common to be told you have to drop off your child and leave. I'm sure it will be challenging in the beginning but they certainly do their part to ease us into it.

And finally, a couple bonus pics from our recent trip to Prague's urban, yet organic, farm - Toulcuv dvur. (The Mother's Day photo of the baby geese was also from this trip.)


And an "added bonus", a recent photo of "Little Britches"...


Over and out,
Maylia

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

To all the amazing women out there who are mothers - thank you for all that you do, all you have done, and all you will do in the years ahead. We love you!


Maylia speaking:
Mother's Day took on a whole new meaning for me this year. I was in the bathroom, annoyed by Ella continuing to try to open the door no matter how many times I told her, "I'll be right out!" (I've learned to lock the door when I want a little privacy.) When I finally opened the door she gave me a picture that she and Jeff had colored and said, "Happy Mother's Day! I love you so much, Mama!" And then she gave me a big hug and a kiss. Wow.

How did we spend Mother's Day? Will post more on this and our visit with Michelle and Jeff very soon, I promise! But now it's time for bed...

Almost There...Almost There...

Jeff here, blogging by blackberry in the Frankfurt airport.
I'm about to board my return flight home. Been away for just 4 days, working in Bonn.

-big pause-
Now at Prague Ryzne airport, waiting for my luggage.
It's 8:30, so Michelle, Jeff and Maylia are probably walking to the restaurant where we have a 9 o'clock reservation. Palffy Palace - can't wait.
-luggage coming, bye!

Happy Labour Day Czech Republic & Happy Birthday Grampy

Thursday, 1 May is a holiday here and back in Indiana. Jeff has the day off of work (pretty sure it's for Labour Day but HR neither confirmed nor denied).

"Ducks" by Ella

Hello there. I know how to make the pictures. I can choose pictures for you to see.
This is the Daddy duck. He liked bread a lot.


This is me feeding many ducks with bread Mommy gave me.
Aren't they so cute?



I had so much fun, the next day I brought my friend, Sasha here to see them.
Ducks followed us into the flowers. The ducks are our friends.

Here is a Mommy duck with all her babies. The baby ducks are drinking water from the puddle.