Czech kids galore

In the short time that we've been here, Jonah's had a chance to spend time with tons of kids. At preschool, of course, though there he was so distracted by crying that he didn't really notice who was around. (Hopefully that will get better soon).

A few days ago Jonah and I went to hang out at my best Czech friend's place, which is quite close to where we live. They have a great backyard with swings and two kids close to Jonah's age (5 and 7). There are also lots of kids in that neighborhood that play together. Jonah had a blast jumping around with those kids as well as raking and building bunkers out of dry grass.

The language barrier didn't seem to bother him, though in the beginning the other kids briefly closed him off from themselves - literally. When I went to investigate, they said that he is not allowed to follow them because they don't understand him. I told them that he will learn Czech from them if they teach him and that if they are nice to him, he will be nice to them. Things changed after that and the other kids, all older than Jonah, included him in their games.

It was funny to watch them get to know each other. My friend's son, who's five, kept trying to establish rapport with Jonah by trying out his English on him: "Jonášku (Czech for 'little Jonah'), apple!" and "Jonášku, orange!" Very sweet. Here is Jonah with one of his new Czech friends, Jáchym.



Yesterday my dad treated us to another steam engine train ride. He invited his neighbor-friends and their kids along. Here is a picture of the kids on the train and a couple of views from the scenic train ride.