Internationalmatt's Blog

This blog is about my international friends and their inspiring stories

Christmas memories- Friends that were happy to see snow for Christmas

Daniela and Raluca 2 of the college students who were happy to have snow in Romania

Lumi- the snow was gone but we had fun with her brother at the Sea Coast

During a cold and snowy week like this week, it can be hard to believe that anyone could be grateful for snow. My trip to Romania for Christmas in 2005 had an unforeseen event- it snowed. It snows in most of Romania but where I went it does not snow that often. Constanta is on the coast of the Black Sea, so the weather is milder there than in other parts of the country. I flew in on Saturday December 17th and t snowed the next day. Every one was happy to have snow for Christmas, the people at the church, the college students I met with, the children I shared with, all were happy to have snow for Christmas. They had not had snow for Christmas for 5 years.

If it does not warm up in the next few weeks, we will have a white Christmas which is something many Americans talk about. It means snow for Christmas. I do not understand the excitement but nevertheless it is there. For me Christmas is more about whose birthday it is, the friends I am around, and the fun we have together.

I had a poll in October about what you thought the first time you saw snow. This week’s poll is about what you think about having snow for Christmas.

December 10, 2009 Posted by | Christmas, Cross Cultural, Cultural Ambassdors, Cutural Celebrations, Experiences of international friends, Holidays, International Friendships, Romania, Travel experiences, winter | Leave a Comment

Christmas memories- Christmas in Romania 2005

When people talk about their favorite Christmas, they often talk about a special time with family, a special gift they received, a romantic Christmas when they were first married, or a special time with friends. My favorite Christmas memory is when I went to Romania in December 2005. The reason is that I was able to spend Christmas with some children who are poor and have difficult lives.

the children practicing for their Christmas program

These children are in a program that is part of the church that I have spent time with in Constanta Romania. The church offers them help with learning to read and write in Romanian and with Math skills. The children were not allowed in the schools because they were Gypsy children. The church shows them love by teaching them to read and write, and math skills. The church will also provide them with basic life needs such as shampoo, toothpaste and soap.

I spent an afternoon with the children as part of my trip to Constanta Romania. They were practicing for their Christmas Eve program. They remembered me from previous trips. I can’t count the number of times I was hugged. I gave each of them come Christmas candy and a small toy. The best part for me was to be able to tell them the real Christmas story about how at the first Christmas God showed His love for all people by Jesus being born.

in costume during the program

These are children that are overlooked by society simply because of the family they were born into, but they are not overlooked by God. They have the opportunity to learn reading, writing, math, and about God from the church that reaches out to them. I felt blessed to be able to share God’s love with them even though it was too brief of a time. I hope to see them again someday.

December 7, 2009 Posted by | children, Christmas, Cross Cultural, Cultural Ambassdors, Cutural Celebrations, Discrimination, Experiences of international friends, Holidays, International Friendships, Romania, winter | Leave a Comment

Winter fun- imagine you are at the beach

It is a cold winter day here in Lincoln Nebraska. It was so cold that when I got into my van this morning, I noticed my water bottle was frozen solid. Many of my international friends in Lincoln come from places where it is never cold. Here is a little trick to help you cope with the cold weather. Pretend you are at the beach. It can give you a brief mental vacation from the cold reality of winter weather.

Unfortunately we do not have a beach in Lincoln. I have been to the beaches along the Black Sea in Constanta Romania. I enjoyed sitting in the warm sun and listening to the waves of the Sea. At the beach there are no worries. At the beach it is warm and the sun is bright. This makes me wonder where the best beaches are?

Take your mental vacation and look on the internet at some beaches and let me know where are the best beaches.

December 4, 2009 Posted by | Romania, vacation spots | Leave a Comment

Coffee or Tea?

I Have had the privilege of visiting people from many different cultures in their homes. We have shared meals with food from their cultures.  In some cultures they like to sit down, relax and drink coffee after dinner. In other cultures they like to sit down, relax and drink tea after dinner. There is usually some dessert to go with the coffee or tea.

One time a young couple from China invited me to come for dinner. We drank green tea after dinner. The husband tried to warn me that it had a lot of caffeine but I ignored the warning and drank several of the tiny cups. I did not get to sleep until 4am.

I have shared a cup of coffee in homes and coffee shops with people from diverse cultures. A fond memory is when I had a cup of coffee in Romania at a sidewalk cafe with my friend Andi. We sat for a few hours talking about various topics. it was my second trip to Romania. I enjoyed that time because I learned more about Romania.

One of the best ways to get to know someone from another culture is to share a meal with them and either coffee or tea after ward. It is a great way to relax and get to know each other. This leads me to my poll question for this week. Do you  like Coffee or Tea?

 

December 1, 2009 Posted by | Chinese friends, food, International Friendships, Romania | Leave a Comment

Ahhh Coffee- A Cultural Universal

My second trip to Romania was one I will never forget. The mother in my host home was a wonderful cook. I found out my first morning in country when after a long trip of over 30 hours with little sleep for a few days, I awoke to a homemade chocolate cake and coffee for breakfast. I was scheduled to speak in the church that morning but was very tired after all the traveling. She gave me a cup of coffee. It was a tiny little cup, so I thought I would have to drink about 10 or 15 cups. After four cups of that joyous java, I realized I was drinking espresso. I was awake and ready to go. The translator had to tell me to slow down when were talking before church began. I had a nice chocolate/coffee buzz going.

My third trip to Romania I experienced a cup of Turkish coffee when we were in a mountain hotel. It was wonderfully strong with oil from the coffee beans floating on top and coffee grounds on the bottom. When I was in Romania in 2005, I had coffee every morning with the young couple who were my hosts. They were concerned that I did not use milk or sugar in my coffee. I  laughed because putting milk and sugar in coffee does not take the caffeine out.

I have enjoyed a cup of coffee in Austria, England, Germany, France, Romania, and Switzerland. I have also shared a cup of coffee in the homes of friends from Brazil, Belgium, Peru, Mexico, and Vietnam. Many cultures do prefer tea, but that is a topic for a future writing. I have found sitting down with a cup of coffee is a cultural universal. Which leads me to this weeks poll- where does the best coffee come from?

One final note about coffee. If you buy coffee for your home that has the Fair Trade logo it means that no child labor was used to pick the coffee beans and that the coffee growers are small business people who are trying to compete with the big companies. I try to buy Fair Trade Coffee when I can to help the small growers and the children. Children can get serious infections from the pesticides used to grow the coffee because when they pick the beans they get cuts and the pesticides get into their little bodies.

November 16, 2009 Posted by | children, food, International Friendships, Romania, Travel experiences, world issues | 2 Comments

From living in a Romanian Orphanage to a happy married life- my friend Cristi

1-13-2006-10

Cristi and his wife Alexandria

I will never forget the first time I met Cristi. He came to a Conversational English Language camp we had in Constanta Romania in the summer of 1998. Cristi was homeless for a prolonged period of time. He had lived in a Romanian Orphanage but had left it. He was in the Orphanage due to family problems, not because he was an actual Orphan.  He started to come to a church that my church in America has been involved with and worked with to provide English classes in the summers. He actually slept in the church for a number of years. He is one of those people that the world might have forgotten about, but God never did.

Cristi’s life improved over the years and he met a young woman Alexandria. They dated for a while and then got engaged and married. I was in Romania in April 2005 for their Easter. I went to speak in the church since their pastor was out of the country going to school. I stayed with Cristi and Alexandria while I was there during that trip. We had  a great time. We had a lot of laughs. Cristi and Alexandria could not understand how I could drink coffee with no milk or sugar. Seeing Cristi married to a wonderful young woman,  living in an apartment, going to school, and making progress to a good future, continues to be one of my fondest memories.

1-13-2006-15

some of the children Cristi and others help

Cristi not only has worked to make a new and better life for himself, he also did not forget those who need help. Cristi and his wife have worked with children in Constanta who need help. These are children from poor families. Children others would not want to help. Cristi, Alexandria and others at their church have shown these children the love of God by teaching them to read and write and help them learn math.  Cristi is giving back to a community that had given up on him with the exception of his friends at church. He is another great example of how every life is precious and every person has value. Sometimes they just need some help to realize their potential. The question is will we offer that help?

November 12, 2009 Posted by | children, Cross Cultural, Cultural Ambassdors, Discrimination, Experiences of international friends, International Friendships, orphans, Romania | Leave a Comment

Orphan Sunday- care for the children of the world

Today is Orphan Sunday in America. What that means is that churches in America will be promoting the need for caring for Orphans. I have witnessed for myself the plight of orphans. In Romania I visited three Orphanages, one and AIDS Orphanage and the others were State run Orphanages  for children no one wanted due to some issue like behavioral problems or lack of money.

I was impressed by the AIDS Orphanage and how they cared for the children. They had the support of churches in Europe and America. The people who worked at the Orphanage obviously loved the children. Shortly before our visit one of the children had died and the staff was saddened but tried to keep the children’s minds off of it. The children had classes, clean rooms, healthy food, lots of visitors, and lots of love.

The State run Orphanages were underfunded and did not have the nice conditions of the church run Orphanage. The staff did the best with what they had, but I saw a room with over 20 cribs in it for babies and toddlers that were metal cribs with  thin mattresses. The care giver to child ratio was low. The children were forgotten and abandoned. Their situation looked bleak at best.

Child exploitation is another issue that concerns me. Children being forced into being sex workers, forced into hard labor. There are ministries to reach out to these children to give them a safe place to live but many more such places are needed. How deplorable that people exploit children. Much more needs to be done to protect children.

As a christian I am mindful that the bible often says to care for the Fatherless. That is not an encouragement or a suggestion. It is a command from God that He expects the church to fulfill. you can check out this website www.orphansunday.org

 

November 8, 2009 Posted by | children, orphans, Romania, victims of crime and violence, world issues | Leave a Comment

Food a Cultural Universal- Chocolate:)

In June 1997 I had my first trip to Romania. In the Amsterdam airport I went to look for some chocolate. I love chocolate and if possible, I would have chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so I went to search for some European chocolate.  Much to my delight I found some. I found some chocolate pastries to eat for breakfast. I bought some chocolate to bring home. For a few weeks I was a happy man until the sad day came that my chocolate was gone and then back to normal. Every trip I have had to Europe I savor the sweet anticipation of buying chocolate.

In June 2004 I was in Saint Genis Laval which is very close to Lyon France. One day I went to the Mall to find a coffee shop. Oh yes Coffee!! I will write about that another time. I walked through the grocery store and thought I had found heaven on earth. Almost a whole aisle of chocolate. I thought it would be nice to have an apartment next to that store just so I could go there for chocolate every day. I also enjoyed some wonderful chocolate pastries for breakfast while in France. The best chocolate desert I ever had was in France.

I have some friends from Europe that have brought me some chocolate when they come here. Eva used to come every year from Hungary with her husband. She would bring me some chocolate from Hungary. Brigitte is from Belgium. She has gone back to Belgium a few times and each time brought me some chocolate from Belgium. I like to joke and would ask her “is this from France or Holland?” she would roll her eyes and say something like “be careful” while she smiled. Isis from Brazil gives me a few pieces of Brazilian chocolate and I have eaten some Brazilian chocolate deserts.

Food is a cultural universal. We all need to eat. The food varies from country to country. Chocolate can be found almost everywhere. There is dark chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate with nuts added, chocolate with fruit added, and other kinds of chocolate. It amounts to one happy Matt when chocolate is around. The question is where can we find the best chocolate?

November 3, 2009 Posted by | Belgium, Brazilian friends, food, France, Romania, Travel experiences | 4 Comments

Ten years ago the adventure began for me in Bucharest Romania

In October 1999 I was in Bucharest Romania on a trip to meet with missionaries. I had been to Constanta Romania to teach in conversational English language camps in June 1997 and June 1999 which caused me to wonder about teaching English. While I was in Bucharest, I had a conversation with an American who had lived in Romania for a while. I asked him what he thought of teaching English as a way to meet people and he said- “it is one of the best ways”. When he said that it seemed that God was knocking on the door of my heart as if to say DO IT.

I began to take some steps. I went through a training to become a volunteer English tutor. The agency I volunteered for asked me to come on staff with them after a few months, so in July 2000 I went on staff with them. One of my first students was a man from Iraq, Mohammed-Baaj, whose wife worked at an agency Faces of the Middle East. She was friends with the Director of the ESL program at the college where I teach now. Zainab, Mohammed’s wife, kept telling the director of the ESL program at my school “you need to get Matt Kohrell to teach for you”. That was because her husband was shy about speaking English before and after a few months of meeting with me he spoke with people at the store. I began to teach for Southeast Community College in Lincoln Nebraska in July 2001.

Since that time, I have met people from all over the world. I have been blessed to be able to have classes at my church where we have people from Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, Peru, Russia and Vietnam who currently come. We have had people from  many countries over the years. It has been my pleasure and honor to be friends with people from Africa, Asia, Europe, Central and South America. That is why I named my blog internationalmatt because the name reflects the wonderful experiences I have been blessed have with my international friends.

When we step out and meet people we never know where it will lead. When we try new experiences, we can discover a new path. For me the new path began in Romania with my first two trips. The call came in Bucharest Romania in October 1999. In November 1999 I began to follow the call. It has been the greatest adventure of my life.

November 1, 2009 Posted by | Cross Cultural, Cultural Ambassdors, Romania, Travel experiences | Leave a Comment

We can learn from others if we listen to lifes clues

My first trip to Romania in June 1997 had hit a bump. I hurt my foot while playing basketball with some children at the school. My original purpose on the trip was not to teach, but there I was barely able to walk and not able to fulfill my original purpose, so I helped with the conversational English classes. One of the boys who was playing basketball followed me everywhere I went when I was at the school. His name was Florin.

I helped out with the classes by acting out words. I had done some acting and thought it might a way to contribute while I could not walk. It was not my original purpose, but I did not want to be useless. Florin followed me to each class I visited. The classes were for adults but we made an exception for Florin. He also wanted me to act out the words for his friends after the classes were over. He would try to get me to act out words every time he saw me. One evening he wanted to talk with me so we got one of the translators to help. He asked me if I was a teacher in America. I told him I was not. He told me I should be a teacher because he never cared about classes but liked mine. That planted the seed of thought in my mind about teaching English Second Language. In October 1999 I was in Bucharest Romania and talked with a missionary about ESL. He told me it was a great way to meet people from other cultures. It seemed like when he said that that God pushed me in my spirit to become and ESL teacher.

Neil is a friend of mine from Africa. He talked with me many times about how I should start a website. One time he asked me “Matt how many people have you met from other countries? one thousand, two thousand? how can you stay in contact with them, You need a website” He told me that more than once. Now I have a facebook page, 2 blogs, hi5, twitter etc.

It has been 12 years since I saw Florin. I sent him a few things in the mail, but never saw him again. He represents the earliest stages of my work with internationals. I met Neil in March of 2005 shortly after he arrived in America. He represents to me how God expanded my work. Florin and Neil are good examples of how we can learn from others if we will listen. God can speak to us through others, regardless of their age or life circumstance.

October 12, 2009 Posted by | African friends, Cross Cultural, Cultural Ambassdors, Internationals, Mutlicultural, Romania, Travel experiences | Leave a Comment

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