So I realized the other day that I hadn’t posted in almost a month! I’m so sorry. I was trying to get myself used to posting on Fridays, and then I had a few Fridays where I couldn’t post, and I just can’t fit it in any other day. So here I am, finally finding a free Friday.
November was emotionally a huge month for me. I had a wonderful birthday, mixed with joy and sadness. I was very homesick, but many people made me feel loved. It reminded me of the phrase, “Home is where the heart is.” We were talking about the meaning of this phrase in one of my classes and, especially now, I understand it to mean that you feel at home where you feel close to others. Maybe this is just because I’m a people person, but I am feeling more at home, now that I have deeper relationships with some people here. Up until a few weeks ago, I had felt very alone. Even though I’m living in a house with 5 other people and my moments to myself are sometimes few, I felt like a sore thumb, sticking out anywhere I went. Then, as I formed some closer relationships with individual people, I started to feel like I wasn’t just that American girl, but rather I’m a friend to many of the people around me. I’m socializing, finally, and forming relationships, more of what I came here to do.
Last month was mainly about Thanksgiving in the classes. We talked about “remembering:” how we remember things, what we remember, and sharing memories. On Thanksgiving, I decided to make some stuffing for my adult conversation class as a way of celebrating the day. Although it was a lot of work without stove top stuffing :), it paved the way for some fun discussion about culture. For homework, I asked them to bring something from Czech culture to share with me for this week, and we talked about a lot of cultural differences. We had some good laughs and somber moments (and they brought me some ginger bread!).
I will bring this post to a close with a small note that we have had an abnormally warm fall here in Polička. I keep getting these emails from people that it’s snowing in the US, but I think we won’t get snow for another week. It’s weird. It almost doesn’t feel like December without snow. Today I started to listen to Christmas music(a little late for me), and I’m heading to Prague to see the big Christmas markets and look at the lights. It’s starting to feel like Christmas. I’ve been hearing about some exciting Czech traditions, but I’m still waiting to experience them. So, a merry Advent to you! (Would you believe they actually make fresh advent wreaths every year here? Yeah, with real dried oranges, fresh branches, and dried flowers. Imagine that.)
So, still no snow. We might not even have snow for Christmas. That may sound normal to those of you in Oklahoma, but it's so warm I feel like I'm in Oklahoma. Yesterday we had a little bit of snow, so I took some pictures. I'll be adding more pictures later this week and next week. So, I hope these pictures can help you get into some kind of christmas spirit. (The password is policka.) 
You see, St. Nick has this book, and it tells who's been naughty or nice. If you were good, you get sweets from the angel. If you were bad, you get stuffed into a sack and taken to Hell by the devil. You can avoid going to Hell by singing a song or reciting a poem.
Here you see some familiar faces coming after me. They did try to stuff me in a sack, but luckily, I know a few songs.
Earlier this week we had our long awaited Halloween Party. I have posted pictures on the photo site (again, password policka) with descriptions of what we did. It was a little crazy, having so many kids of such a large variation of ages. There are many things I wish I had done differently, but the important part is that everyone had a great time. Maybe my favorite part was that someone donated a pumpkin for us to carve and use as a decoration! The first class of 6th-7th graders dug out the seeds, chose a design for the face, and then carved it themselves. I was so excited to share this experience with them. I’m so sorry I didn’t get any pictures of them carving, but I do have this picture of the pumpkin. You’ll see more about what we did in the pictures, so I won’t go on forever about the party, but I will say this. I owe a lot to Jan, Anna, and my mom and sister for helping me with the preparations and the party itself. My mom and sister sent me many things to share with the kids, and Jan and Anna helped in more ways that I can count. When I first thought of having the party I never dreamed how big it could get. It was a lesson in “Always plan for needing help.” I didn’t realize how much help I would need, and I should have asked for more helpers to commit to being there. I had expected Parents to come, and now I’m not sure why I thought that. For the next party, I plan to have plenty of people ready to help. I can’t do it alone, and I shouldn’t try to do it that way either.
