Buildings in Prague

Our trip to Prague last weekend was quite nice. Great beautiful
buildings, massive hordes of tourists, and exorbitantly high prices.
I thought it was the most expensive city in Europe (not counting
England). What happened to the good ole days when you could walk into
a former Communist country and feel like the kaiser regaining power
with your almighty dollar? Stupid globalization.

I thought the coffee was especially good. I think I mentioned before
that European coffee isn't as good as it's romanticized to be. It's
usually some combination of overroasted, burnt, and sour. Not at this
place: http://www.ebelcoffee.cz/locations.htm.

More Prague

Wow, six beers? How ever do they fit them all under one roof?

We ate pizza at a great outdoor cafe beside a church.

I can hear the salespitch now: "Hello, sir. Can I interest you in a eurodog to go with your euro-tanktop?"

(European men love wearing capris. It's just not a good look on men, especially with dark socks)

Boxing Up

The first round of movers came on Wednesday. That shipment was the
stuff going into storage while we are in Okinawa. I decided to put my
books into storage, as I was afraid that the humid air could turn
them moldy. I sent them away out of love and affection.

Few people can properly understand the pain that this separation will
cause. I have stood in front of the shelves daily and stared,
touched, and sometimes even read those books. They were my 753 little
idols. And now they are gone, taken from me by two incredible sweaty
German men (one of whom had a gastrointestinal problem and stunk up
our bathroom in a wicked way).

The remainder of our household goods will get packed up on Monday and
Tuesday, but who cares about that stuff?

At the Car Wash

To prepare our car to sell, I brought it to a place called Mr. Wash here in Wiesbaden. It's Germany efficiency at its finest. I drive in to get it washed, then drive around and park it on a huge conveyor belt. It travels through an assembly-line cleaning that would make Henry Ford grin. They clean the mats, windows, interior, and vacuum. It's pretty fun to watch. They have a soundtrack of light classical playing, making me think of these car men as ballet dancers with rags.

The Honda come out glistening. I proudly hung a vanillaroma tree on the back window crank, then it rained.

In Prague

We arrived in Prague last night around 7 pm. We have all day today, and leave tomorrow night. It's a quick trip, but we wanted to be certain to visit here before we left Europe. I think this may be our final European trip for now.

We ate dinner on the river, walked through the old downtown area, then got a bit lost. We were walking on the highway trying to find our hotel.

Here's our hotel: http://www.miss-sophies.com

Private vs Public Faith

"Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted, Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel."

 

Pope Benedict XVI, Speaking to bishops during his visit to the U.S.

 

Belgium Crane Technique

On our last day in Belgium, we had lunch in Leuven, a city outside of

Brussels. In the downtown area, I saw this statue perched on a
building. It reminded me of Daniel LaRusso's winning move in The
Karate Kid. I think this may have been his inspiration. Or, perhaps
it was the other way around.

Of course, the perfect picture would be to have me in a similar
position next to the statue.

That's two Karate Kid-inspired blog postings in a month.

Babies in the Brugge Window

Now, there is far more to tell about our trip to Brussels and Brugge
last weekend, but this is the first thing that came to mind. I've
seen crazy kid displays in Europe before, but these were especially
weirdo. These babies look like little dead men. They were all in one
display, which added to the strange feeling.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

We spent our Sunday in this town, about two hours away from here.
People often scoff at it as too touristy (complete with an eye roll
and a flip of the hand), but there often is a reason that places like
this are frequented by tourists: they are interesting. This is the
perfect little German town with a village square, shops and cafes,
churches, and a whole mess of half-timbered houses, all within a
wall. It was very Disneyland-like, only for real.

Even Rick Steves agrees with me.

These were some strange snowball-meets-donut dessert. Nothing too exciting.

At today's rate, this stupid thing is only $1379.63. Shall I pick up two for you?

This is multi-tasking indeed!

Holy Costumed Fun, Batman!

A funny picture from a site that poses superhero toys and narrates with comic book-style speech bubbles. Playing with Spider-Man toys AND writing funny dialogue sounds like the perfect career choice for me. I wonder if the job comes with medical and dental.

 

(In case you need it: Daredevil’s Matt Murdoch is blind. I guess he couldn’t supersmell or superhear his way to face forward).

Rhining, Wining, and Dining

Lela and Vera, Kristie's mom and aunt, have been visiting us for the
past week. They went with Kristie to Amsterdam and Venice (see
Kristie's photo page for her pictures), and now we are touring around
this area.

We went on a Rhine River driving tour, stopping at Rudesheim and
Oberwesel. The weather was perhaps the best it's been this season,
and we have lunch on the river in Rudesheim, and then has a glass of
Riesling at a castle in Oberwesel. It was perfect in all respects.

This morning, we'll leave for Rothenberg for the day.

This Size Fits All

 

Bowling Repair Technician

In my ongoing attempt to find gainful and rewarding employment for my dear wife after our arrival to Okinawa, I stumbled across another winning job posting. I believe that Kristie does indeed have the “mechanical and electrical/electronic principals of bowling equipment.” I think that was her hobby in college. See the full advertisement here. If you remember correctly, there was a previous post for a Bingo Assistant.

I imagine a conversation in my head after we return home from work:

R: How was work?

K: Striking!

R: Were you busy today with the electrical principals?

K: I didn’t have a minute to spare!

R: Why all the puns?

K: Why are you a pin-head?

R: Touché, Kristie Coia. Touché.

 

 

Vernazza, Italy

I have pictures to post, but here's one from our Spring Break trip to
Cinque Terra. Kim and Susan Richardson came from Korea.

Just in Case You Have Something For Us

US Postal Service offers first-time military discount! A new flat-rate box will be available from the Postal Service after March 3 that is 50 percent larger and delivered for $10.95 to an APO/FPO address -- $2 less than for domestic destinations. The boxes can be ordered at http://www.usps.com/supplies or by calling 800-610-8734. For more information, read the Air Force Print News story at http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123085338.

You know, it's been a long time since our last care package...

Introduction to Calvinism

John Piper’s seminar on Calvinism is available to listen or watch on his site. It may be something to stuff into your iPod to listen on your next commute. It surely beats the latest Justin Timberlake or Gnarls Barkley.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Seminars/1727_TULIP/.

Domo Arrigato, Mr. Roboto

I know that I'm by no means the first nor last to make a Styx-song joke in relation to moving to Japan, but I want to share this video anyway. Pardon the lack of originality, but I do really like this song. Who knew that when I sang along with this in the 1970s that it would help me in my new home in 2008?

Luther Socks

I went to Luther's childhood house a few months ago, and I bought
these at the gift shop. While it seems to be outrageous selling
hosiery at the Reformer's house, I think Luther would approve of the
comedy and the exhortation to have warm feet.