Cultural Exchange

Each day we gain new experiences and gain insights into this rich and wonderful country. Sunday we decided to return the favor and introduce this country to a real American picnic. So we bought a picnic table, got a checkered table cloth, found a barbecue grill and some hamburgers, potato salad and bake beans. The weather was gorgeous, in the mid sixties and the food tasted great. Our Czech friends (Jiri, Eva and Dasa on the infamous yellow bench. Lada, Eva's daughter and Jachym playing at the picnic) accepted this as just another strange event with the Lewis's. I'm not sure what the neighbors thought. Please notice the bright yellow bench behind Ken in the photo. This very sad and weathered bench has been in the yard since we started visiting almost 15 years ago. So Ken asked the building manager if we could paint it,...little did they know they were dealing with the "mad American Artist." After getting the go ahead, Ken went out and bought the brightest yellow he could find. It really looks wonderful and matches the daffodils and forsythias. You can also see our little barbecue grill that works great. The hamburgers were so good, that everyone had two!!
This has been an interesting week. The 29th was my birthday and I had made an appointment to meet with an Expat American to talk about doing some work at his Language School. He invited Ken to come along. After a two minute tour of his facilities, he suggested that we go and get a beer. We went to this wonderful pub that was under one of the original buildings of the city. We had the local beer and a big wooden platter filled with smoked meats and cheese. After a few beers, Ken had three wines and let it slip that it was my birthday. Well, more expats were called to join us and we all trouped off to hear some Australian band in a very small, smokey Czech bar. The band was a bust head rock and roll band complete with all the local color, some English majors from the local university, a doped out American from Poland and one homeless guy who kept bumming cigarettes from everyone. Several beers and shots of the local liquor later, Ken and I had to call it a night and leave. The walk home took about 40 minutes and gave us time to sober up a bit before we had to climb the steps to our flat!! I haven't celebrated my birthday like that since I was 27,..certainly not at 57!! Maybe this country is making me younger!!