December 1997

Dear everyone,

Another year, and we're still in Prague, with a few more experiences behind us, grey hairs on top of us, and the natural aches and pains of middle age inside of us to remind us of our mortality.  Relatively speaking, we have nothing to complain about as we are still active and seeking personal growth -- but at a more subdued pace.  Life in Prague is as dynamic as ever, although we do not take advantage of all the city has to offer.  The Westernization of the country is moving ahead, with much restoration of historic buildings, modern housing developments springing up, an increase in the availability of goods and services, and Western businesses moving in to take advantage of the new markets.  We now have Dunkin' Donuts (the world's largest!), KFC, McDonald's, Planet Hollywood, and T.G.I. Friday's, as well as a plethora of new local restaurants of international standard.  Prices are rising, but the Czech crown has been devalued so we can still get a half liter of the world's best beer on tap for 30 U.S. cents and a bottle of very drinkable wine for $1.50.

Our work at the International School of Prague continues to afford us challenges as the school grows and changes.  We have moved into a beautiful new campus on the edge of the city not far from where we live, and it has made an enormous difference in the comfort level of our working environment.  I am in charge of the middle school (grades 6-8), an age in which students gain new bodies but lose their minds, and Sharon is still teaching 6th grade English and social studies within screaming distance from my office.  Comparatively speaking, our students are docile and well behaved, but they are still frisky enough to give us pause in the morning before we get out of bed.  We are also sponsoring a large conference of middle school educators which will take place at the end of January and which has kept us too busy to do much weekend traveling.

Speaking of traveling, last Christmas saw us in the U.S. again, with week-long visits to New Jersey and Florida and a week in Cancun at a lovely resort that was worth the price (free -- we stayed with friends!) just for the breakfast buffets by the sea.  Our skiing was much subdued compared to the previous year due to a lack of snow and lack of free time, but we did manage to take up cross country skiing, the principal attraction being the stops at pubs for refreshment between the exercise.  The highlight of last year's travel was a week in Provence at a superbly renovated villa located in some miniscule and unpronounceable town in the heart of this historic and scenic region.  The weather was perfect, and the wine flowed freely as we picked our way between some of the best preserved Roman ruins and the most exquisite walled and hilltop medieval towns.  Our five week summer vacation was spent driving from NJ to Florida to Minnesota and to NJ again, a total of 6500 miles.  The scenery was...well...flat, and after the trip, so were our butts, but we did get to attend a super wedding in Minnesota, and we did manage to avoid the plane rides which we normally would have taken.  We are avoiding such because in my old age, I have developed a case of claustrophobia which does not permit me to "enjoy" flying as I used to; in fact, the only way you can get me on a plane is by dosing me with enough valium to bring a rhino to his knees and putting me in business class.  Needless to say, this new development in my psychological makeup has had a tendency to dampen our enthusiasm for far-flung travels.

It's just as well, as we find that we are ratcheting down our lifestyle while we move into hardcore middle age.  A leisure trip to Tuscany or Provence, a little skiing in the Alps, checking out the small towns of Germany, and hitting the beaches of Normandy are about all we care to do now before we cash in our chips and head for Columbia, SC for retirement.  We are pumping as much cash into our retirement accounts as we can to shorten the time between having to work and being able to sleep in, and we think we've got it down to about 3.5 years, which is better than the 6.5 years I mentioned in last year's letter.

And that's all there is from the heart of Europe, with lots of love.