New week in Tata

I’m starting to get in the swing of things here.  Though that was all thrown off on Monday morning (when I was really tired) and I had to sub for another teacher.  I normally don’t have to go in until 10 on Monday and Tuesday- which is super nice by the way – but Monday I had to sub for Maria.  I got to school early, and thought I knew where I was going, but the room they were in was in a totally new part of the school.  Also, the first two periods were the same group- and I didn’t know that either.  So I had planned one lesson, what do I do the second period?  Sheesh.  They were very understanding and think I’m funny – so it was okay.  But really, how come I have no idea what is ever going on?  Oh well. 

My other classes were good – the 9^th graders are preparing for their “initiation” celebration.  Initiation.  Hmm… from what they are describing, they get hazed by the older kids – and they think it’s great fun.  I told them that it was illegal to do that in the United States, and they were surprised.  Evidently I will be part of this show – we are rehearsing tomorrow.  I’m not sure what exactly we are rehearsing for, or when the show will be – but I’m just going with the flow I guess. 

I got up and got some things done today- cleaned a bit, did some laundry (at an appropriate time) and made French toast.  I don’t have syrup and didn’t think of that until I was deep in the throes of the process, but oh well.  Whatever. 

School was good today.  I talked about the idea of Homecoming, as it’s homecoming at BHS this week.  I am a little bit sad that they don’t have any celebrations like this here, but I was assured that there is a school song that they sing on the namesake day of their school – and I was promised a scarf.  Yeah… a scarf?!  The scarf is the only form of school affiliated clothing they have.  I have more Burnsville stuff here than the school has produced in terms of spirit wear.  Oh well –they are more concerned with studying (some of them), not with dressing in black and gold I guess. 

At any rate – I have a bit of quasi-celeb status as the “native teacher” at my school.  I think I’ve written about this before, but I’m beginning to see the effects of my presence at the school.  Namely, I am causing an identity crisis among many of the students and teachers at Eotvos.  It is part of the culture to respect teachers, so the students regularly greet teachers every time they see them.  In hungary, there are very distinct greetings for morning, daytime and evening- but I haven’t figured out exactly when each is used.  It appears that at approximately 9:13 people switch from the good morning phrase to the good day phrase.  So, I cause problems if I say “Jo reggelt” after this non-official 9:13 time.  When do you technically switch?  Who knows – but if I start with “Jo reggelt” and they come back with “jo napot” it makes for a couple seconds of awkward moments.  Also, they use “halo” (which sounds like hello) so when they say this to me, I immediately assume they are in fact speaking English to me (which 10 times out of 10 they are not) and then I throw things off by saying “good morning.”  Then you have the other students who try to speak English to me, and as they start their phrase in English, I am starting the Hungarian equivalent, so we both kind of pause mid-sentence… it’s just awkward.  It’s nice that students are respectful and want to greet you, but at the same time, it causes me stress.  They also wait for you to go through a door way, or let you go in front of them into a building – they are very aware of the presence of teachers.  It’s just so different.  I used to have to yell “hot coffee” just to get through the halls at BHS. 

After school I had an interesting experience.  One of my senior boys – Gabor – invited me to see part of a Japanese art exhibit at the Castle.  I had seen part of it when Megan and I visited the castle, but there were parts that I missed, and they were taking it all down today.  So I met Gabor after classes let out and we headed over to meet some of the artists and to check out the “dungeon” of the castle.  Gabor is one of the top students, though he is a bit lazy.  He lived in Belgium for 4 years, and attended an international school, and a French language school, so he’s fluent in Hungarian, French, English and is currently trying to take on Japanese.  I’m not sure what his draw was to this particular exhibit – as he doesn’t seem interested in much other than razzing me during class (which is fine – I give it right back) but he took on a keen interest when telling me about the exhibit.  He had met the artists and had struck up a nice relationship with them – while conversing in Japanese.  The art was very cool – my favorite exhibit was one in the very lowest part of the dungeon that was all bugs coming from a bucket in the center of the dungeon.  The bugs were black coming out of the bucket, and as they got farther and farther away from the bucket, they shed their blackness and became colorful beautiful bugs.  The artist gave Gabor some of the bugs as gifts, and one to me as well.  I’ve included a pic of the two bugs I got.  So this wise guy kid really had a nice interest in sharing this with me, and in learning more about the Japanese culture and art – it was nice.  

Choir trip part three

Sunday morning was great – we got ready to go and headed back to the hotel for the warm up.  Megan was dressed for success (aka church) and watched patiently while we warmed up.  Kata runs a tight ship and snapped gently at some of us who weren’t paying attention.  Most of the group had on white polos that said the name of the choir on the front, and a sketch of Tata on the back.  I will have to get one soon- but I had a white shirt on and black pants.  I did get the memo that that was the outfit – which didn’t matter because other people had on khakis, and purple pants – it really didn’t matter.  I went shopping for a white shirt – because I didn’t have a nice one – and other people are wearing purple and khaki.  Geeze.  The things I think are important (matching) are not, and the things that are (bread) I don’t remember.  Boo. 

 

We went out to get into the cars – Megan was going to come with Freddie, Joszi, Edit and I.  While we were outside talking, I tried to get the plan from Freddie- and he asked Istvan – he reported back that we were going to sing at 10:00 mass, then go to a festival in another village and then leave for Tata at 5:00pm.  EXCUSE ME?  5:00 pm?  Holy crap.  We got in the car, and Megan realized that 5:00 was too late, and we weren’t sure how we’d get her back so she bailed.  It was the right choice – but everyone in the car was a little confused.  I told them she had an appointment at 1:00 and that we didn’t know it would take all day.  I was a little upset because I didn’t know (surprise) that we were going to be gone until 5:00 either.  I have tried to let go of my need to be in control because it doesn’t get you anywhere – but I really wish I’d have had a schedule.  Oh well. 

 

We headed to the church- which was beautiful.  It was built in 1813, and had been left to fall apart a little bit.  It was a large church in a small village, but the inside was beautiful.  As we left the car, I was asked by three people if I wanted my coat, and it was nice out, so I said “I’m from Minnesota, I’m tough.”  Little did I know that there hadn’t been heat in the church since 1813 – and it was freezing.  So once again, the choir uniform was out of the question.  Most people may have had matching shirts, but we all had our coats on now so it didn’t really matter.  We warmed up a bit more and then prepared for church.  We stood at the back of the church, it wasn’t very large – and we were clearly out of place.  It was almost as if dueling choirs was happening at church.  We were not much more than an annoyance to the regular parishioners.  We sang an opening song – and then once we were done, they sang the song they usually sing.  These are ladies that have been going to church there for years – it’s quite clear.  They each had their own seat cushion (which will be explained in a later blog) and there was one woman who definitely lead the pack.  We sang a responsorial psalm, then they sang the one they usually do.  We seemingly had no effect on them other than to make their mass longer…  I was nervous – because I was standing in front, and I was the only one without the matching folder.  I also did not have the first song for some dumb reason, so I started off on the wrong foot.  Anyhow, at the end of the mass, we went to the front and faced the congregation (all 40 of them) to sing our last set of songs.  There was a special song where we sang it in Hungarian, then as we hummed, the German said the words in German, the Russian lady in Russian, and then me in English.  I was a little nervous, but whatever.  I paid close attention to Kata because she switched the order of the speakers (I think… I don’t know for sure) so I was watching for her cue.  It came to my turn, and while I was in the middle of my speaking part, she started crying.  It was another of those truly special moments that made me feel in my heart that I had made a good choice to come to this country for a year.  Here I was in a foreign country, on a trip with total strangers, singing in Hungarian in a beautiful church – and the choir director was so proud of us that she was brought to tears.  Of course, then I started to get choked up, but I made it through my last few lines and all was well.  She came up and gave me a big hug afterwards – the stern, mostly business Kata was proud of me.  I couldn’t have felt more warm inside.

 

After church, we toured the crypt down below.  There were several coffins in the crypt (duh) but many of them were members of the famous Hungarian Esterhazy family.  There is an Esterhazy palace in many of the towns here – or Esterhazy squares, streets, etc.  The Crypt was really cool – but a little to accessible for my taste.  I am used to iron bars being up in front of the places where famous people are buried, but it was cool.  We of course, sang while down in the crypt because that’s what we do… we break into song in weird places.  After the crypt we were going to get lunch – or so I thought.  We actually headed next door to a random woman’s home.  She invited us into her house to show us some art her uncle did, and some of her “pottery” collection.  I thought it to be another special treat to get to see the inside of a Hungarian family’s home.  The house itself was 250 years old – it used to be a pub.  The walls were 85 centimeters thick and were in great shape.  She told us about the art and the house, and then we left to get something to eat… from the cars… picnic style.  Crap crap crap again.  What is it with the picnics?  Of course – it’s lunch again – so a huge meal.  Break out the bread, wine, palinka, cheese, veggies, bread, bread and bread.  Of course, once again, I had nothing to add – so I felt like a dumbass – and my camera had died so I wasn’t able to even hide my lack of contribution by taking random pictures.  GEEZE!  Several people asked me if I wanted food – and I basically just broke down.  You just can’t say no.  It’s not even worth trying to say no- it WON’T work!  I ate bread, meat, bread, more bread and some cheese.  After the picnic, we toured two more churches- one that had a piece from the cross that Jesus died on – as certified by the Vatican- and another Catholic one.  We also visited the home of a traditional craft person.  He is one of 4 people in Hungary certified and skilled in the art of cloak making.  These cloaks were prominent in earlier times in Hungary, and the craft is dying, but he forges on from his house.  His house was wicked crazy- lots of historical artifacts and things all over – on the walls, ceiling – in cabinets – it was interesting, but a little weird.  I wish I could have taken pictures of this guy- he was wild.  We had one more church tour and then it was off to Tata… or so I thought.  Freddie and Joszi decided they needed a drink – so we drove 100 meters to the nearest cocsma and had a drink.  I had a Diet Coke because I was fading fast.  Funny thing about Joszi – he had a whole bag of Heinekens in the trunk – as we left that morning, I asked him if they were for later – and he replied with “maybe sooner than later.”  He also had a shot of Unicum from the bottle – it’s like Jaegermeister – but worse.  On the front of the bottle is a red cross – he claims that the cross means it’s “first aid.”  Sheesh.  He’s funny.  We had our drink and took off for home.  When we dropped Joszi and Edit off, she went in for the double cheek kiss – I had earned affection from Joszi’s wife- and I didn’t screw it up like I did with Tibor!!!  She actually asked some questions (through her husband) about my teaching experience and such – so she had warmed up to me a bit.  What a trip.  I feel good that I went – it gave people the opportunity to practice their English a bit- and gave me the chance to get to know them a little better.  Thankfully the cat survived the overnight absence- and all was well.

Choir trip part 2

We got there at about 8:30- and the first thing they did was break out sandwiches.  Shit.  I didn’t bring any sandwiches.  When you are a foreigner, you regularly miss out on the small announcements – though the fact that you need food (namely bread) with you at all times should be well engrained in my psyche by now.  How very not-Hungarian of me to not have brought sandwiches.  What the heck.  Now what – EVERYONE is eating… I was asked by three people if I wanted a sandwich – and I said no thanks, I was fine.  Though having been here over a month now, I think the Hungarian eating habits are rubbing off on me – at that moment (though I had eaten breakfast – and it was only 8:30) I was craving bread.  I wanted a roll so bad I didn’t know what to do with myself.  BUT – I tried to play it cool (which never works by the way).  After the “snack” we headed to a couple different museums.  We visited a school where Pefofi Sandor (I wish I could figure out how to type the accents on here- I will soon) went to school.  He was a great participant in the revolution (they have had so many I don’t remember which one- maybe 1848).  At any rate, he is a national hero and a well known poet.  So, we saw his grades and discipline record – along with a lot of other artifacts from Papa.  There was a museum within this school of local history, in addition to the tribute to Petofi.  As we moved through the museum, three or four people pushed me forward to someone named Eva – I had never seen her before, but she spoke English and would translate for me.  Eva is Hungarian, but now lives in California with her Texan born husband Bob.  Yeah – Bob.  Bob is about as American and as southern as you can get- we were quite a pair on the trip to Papa.  He has been married to Eva for 27 years, and has not learned a lick of Hungarian.  They own a house near Tata, and are friends with many of the choir members.  As we were going through the museum and Eva was translating – Julya (the Russian) came up to me and said “basically, what you need to know is that this stuff is really old-” got it.  Thanks.  After the tour of the school and library, we went across the street to the Blue Dye museum.  In Papa, they are famous for the indigo cloth that they produce.  The museum was fascinating – it showed the process for printing and then dying this cloth.  We saw the vats, how they printed on them, where they dried them – it was really interesting (especially for a history geek like myself).   You can see some pictures on my “mobile-me” site http://gallery.me.com/castaffa  After the tour- we had the opportunity to make our own blue dye cloth.  I chose a nice pattern and enjoyed the process. 

After the blue dye museum, it was time for lunch.  Eating- again.  Yikes.  I wonder where we were going to go for lunch? A nice restaurant in town?  To the local cocsma?  No.  Back to the car, because naturally, every Hungarian brought a wicker basket with enough bread to feed the Hungarian army.  Shit again.  I didn’t have a wicker basket, nor did I have any food to eat.  WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME TO BRING FOOD!?!?!  Probably because it’s just assumed that everyone knows they’ll be eating all the time.  Another cultural difference is that lunch is the main meal of the day – it’s HUGE! So as people were unloading their meat, bread, vegetables, wine, bread, palinka, cakes, cheese, cookies, bread, noodles and more bread – I felt like a dummy not having anything to contribute.  I was offered food by all of the choir members, but we always shun people at potlucks who don’t bring anything – so why would I start eating their food?  Of course, I’ve learned that if you say “no” to food, they just try more times to get you to eat – so you’d better just say yes.  I had some noodles that Jozsi made – “it is no problem, no problem with noodles” and they were very good.  Luckily Megan was meeting us at the blue dye museum so I didn’t have to stand there and watch for long.  Megan joined us for a bit and met the choir members.  We finished up lunch and went to tour one of the churches in Papa.  Papa is the city of churches, Tata is the city of water and flowers- maybe it’s like the walleye capital of the world or something like that.  These towns all claim something.  Eva pointed out that she wasn’t sure why we were touring a Lutheran church, since they aren’t very pretty – and she was right.  It was a nice church, but fairly plain.  Megan and I sat through the speech about the church – with no translation – and then all of the sudden we were singing.  Megan was in church – singing.  He he.  Welcome to my world.  After this church tour, we bailed and went to hang out at Megan’s place.  I need to learn to start asking more questions, because I had no idea when or where dinner was.  Kata was disappointed that we were missing the next two church tours – but we got over it.  We also missed the trip to the “Water park” which ended up being a thermal bath – and I was a bit sad about that, but again I forgot my suit.  Oh well.

I got to see Megan’s apartment and more of Papa.  We stopped for lunch at a cute place on the pedestrian walkway – and I had the most fabulous hot chocolate ever.  It was literally a hershey’s candy bar melted into my glass.  DELICIOUS!  Her school is beautiful – fairly recently renovated and in a nice part of town.  Her apartment is very cozy – nice new appliances and furniture.  She is very lucky to live in a cute place!!!  We relaxed a bit, and then headed to the Intersparr (grocery store) to see what they have that’s different than Tata.  After our trip to the Intersparr, we went to the hotel the choir was staying at for dinner.  We were told to be there at 7:30- so we were… and no one was anywhere to be found.  There was a big party going on where we thought we were supposed to be having dinner – but I didn’t recognize anyone.  Great. So I should just call one of them… hmmm that would mean that I had their phone number… well, let’s just hang out?!  OK.  Eventually people started rolling in – relaxed from their trip to the bath.  We sat at the “English table” with Katie, her boyfriend Norbi, Lotzi and his daughter.  They spent some time translating the drinks – convinced that we needed to try palinka again, but we resisted.  After dinner, Freddie brought out the guitar and we sang some songs.  There were some Irish ones, Hungarian ones, and some English ones!  Amazing Grace, Auld Lang Syne – it was funny.  After a couple songs, Megan and I left to meet Lisa and a bunch of people from Megan’s apartment building.  We went to a place called the “Black Hole” that earlier we had joked about – because it’s also a sex shop (we think… there are advertisements for a sex shop on the windows – but it was just a bar and nightclub.)  It was a happening place, but I was a little tired and quite honestly, nervous for our “performance” the next morning.  I didn’t dance at all, but Megan sure got down on the dance floor – I can’t wait until we are able to dance again!

Choir trip!!

Well – it was my big weekend “excursion” with the choir.  If I have learned anything in this country, it’s to abandon ALL expectations of ANYTHING – because no matter what the situation is, the Hungarians will blow your mind by doing something totally different.  I walked (a bit nervously) to the “big church” to meet the group.  I realized that on my way there, I had forgotten my swimsuit – I really forgot it, I didn’t not pack it on purpose mom – I forgot it.  I had my towel and other “water park” necessities – and I was a little disappointed, but I was too close to the time I had to be at the church to go back.  Keep in mind that I had never been to the church by foot in a direct route – I just kept walking and looking for the big steeples.  As I rolled into the church parking lot, I realized that this was a serious trip – there were spouses, families, friends – the whole works… all for our trip to Papa.  Tibor (the cutest old man in my choir) arrived with his wife, and he came up to greet me – he went in for the double cheek kiss – and I BLEW IT!  It was my first adult cheek kissing – and I screwed it up.  Apparently there is a certain side that you kiss first – and of course I went the other way, so I almost kissed him on the mouth.  ARGH.  This was just the beginning of the weekend to prove how “non-hungarian” I really am.  Man.  We said a prayer (apparently it’s a church choir – I didn’t know that) and introduced the new people – several of whom are actually in the choir.  Who knew?  We divided into the cars – and off we went.  Thankfully Freddie did not have his motorcycle… so he, Joszi, Edit (Joszi’s wife) and I piled into the little Ford.  I was in the front seat (thank goodness – or motion sickness would have been a for sure) and we drove the 1.5 hours to Papa.  It was a little funny since we were a 11 car caravan rolling across the countryside- all in the name of the choir.  J

 

The conversation in the car was not as bad as I thought it would be.  Apparently people in the choir are a bit more fluent than they let on.  Joszi had studied in New Zealand and told us some funny stories about his time there.  Freddie – who is German and speaks fluent Hungarian, semi-fluent English and German – kept mixing up his languages as he was speaking.  He would ask me something in Hungarian, and then forget and say “argh – English” and ask again.  It was really quite funny since here I was tagging along with so many people who had studied different languages.  It was really quite embarrassing, but nice that they were able to communicate better than I had anticipated.  We talked about Germany, and how there is a really beautiful castle that (according to Joszi) looks like “Mickey Mouse’s house.”  His translations are SO funny – not intentionally, but it really is endearing that he tries so hard.  Keep in mind that his wife is in the back not communicating at all, and here level of hatred for me is probably increasing with every second that Joszi talks to me.   I told them about my palinka experience – and Joszi’s response was “I can see that you are strong, but palinka is stronger than you…” 

more later I have to go teach... stupid job getting in the way of blogging...

Irish Band - Friday night

Friday night was fairly uneventful, but a little stressful none-the-less.  I set out to see the Irish band at a Cocsma (pronounced coach-ma) near my flat.  Luckily it wasn’t too far, because Tata seems to save some of it’s city budget by not lighting much on the side streets – and with lots of cats and dogs roaming around, there are a lot of “startling” things happening as you walk in the dark.  So I got a take on this Cocsma from some colleagues, because as I said earlier, I was told that cocsma’s are not for women.  This one, however, is a restaurant as well.  In fact, Tata is SO exciting – it has this special bar – and when translated, the name of the bar is “pirate ship.”  Yes, Tata has it’s very own pirate ship bar.  It’s totally cheesy, but whatever.  Having had the experience of the last time I watched the Irish bar, I showed up a little bit later than they told me the performance started.  However, this was a mistake, because by the time I got there (only about 15 minutes late) people had already staked out their seats and were settled in much better places for viewing than I got.  I bellied up at the bar- and surveyed the situation.  Elisabeth (the part time controversial teacher from my department) was there with her husband, but thankfully they were seated at a two person table and it would have been a fire hazard for me to sit with them.  Also, Joszi’s wife was there, but she speaks no English, and I don’t think she likes me very much – so I just stayed with my choice at the bar.  I happened to be standing next to two men who were speaking English, but they were conversing with a Hungarian woman.  I chickened out and missed the opportunity to speak to quite possibly the only other native English speakers in Tata, but it was okay.  Sometimes it’s nice to just be anonymous for a while.  I ordered a beer, and after asking for the menu in Hungarian, I ordered some sort of appetizer with grilled tomatoes, fresh tomatoes and ewe’s cheese.  It was pretty good, but very fancy and probably a little more money than I wanted to spend.  Oh well.  Then, things turned a bit awkward… It was a break for the group, and it seemed that many sets of eyes were on me.  I felt awkward so I called Megan so it looked like I had some friends, and something to do.  How many times can you look at a cocktail menu?  Sidenote: when I was looking at the cocktail menu – I saw something I had never seen before.  There was a “Sex on the Beach” drink, and on the next page, a “Safe Sex on the Beach” the virgin version of the sex on the beach.  How funny is that?!  Anyhow, I pretended to have very important people to text and call while they were on break, and made it through- but for some reason I felt really uncomfortable. I am not close enough with any of the band members to join their tables, of friends and family – so once they were done I left.  In the pictures you can see the "layout" of the pirate bar.  Quite amusing!!

ugh...

So - I just sat in near silence for the last 20 minutes.  Someone rang my doorbell - so I immediately thought, CRAP someone saw the cat and I can't have cats in the apartment... next thought- damn, it's someone who will make me pay them for no apparent reason again - it's 6pm on a Friday night, no one is actually working right now.  I kept the cat quiet and sat in silence... the bell ringing continued - almost in a timed sequence- I watched the clock, every minute the bell rang... wait, every minute?  What's going on.  Why hasn't this person given up yet?  Clearly (aside from my light on) I'm not home and/or not answering the door... who could it be?  One of my students?  A stranger?  Who let a stranger in the building - didn't we learn from letting strangers in?  Geeze... waiting... listening - I can't hear anyone shuffling outside my door...  Every minute?  This is weird... wait.  I hear the noise- and it might not be coming from the door area... (I walk into my bedroom).  Sheesh.  I had my cell phone on vibrate on the desk, and I had received a text message.  It vibrates to alert me (every minute) when I have gotten a message... no one at the door, just my phone.  Stupid Carla. 

Trauma in Tata

Today was a day full of craziness – the candies, the Cupid Shuffle, being Googled… but it was all capped off by a trauma suffered this afternoon.  I was outside on my balcony talking to my parents via video chat.  I was trying to let them hear the propane man’s song – the one that sounds like the ice cream man but it’s definitely not ice cream – and I left the door open from the apartment to the balcony.  Now, sometimes Boo (I haven’t really given her a name so I just call her Boo) gets running so fast that she can’t stop and she slides around on the floor.  Today happened to be one of those days – BUT – as I was talking to my parents on the computer outside, she came tearing out of the apartment and sailed right over the edge of the balcony – to the ground three stories below.  Luckily there is a tended garden there, so the dirt is a little softer, but I saw her land and it wasn’t pretty.  I hung up on my parents because she had gone over board and I ran downstairs to try and find her.  She was cowering below a tomato plant – I had to go over the fence – into the land lady’s garden (she hates me already anyways) and peel Boo out from under the tomato plant.  Keep in mind that I don’t even know if you can have cats in this apartment, and I was afraid that someone would have spotted a flying cat… yikes.  She was a bit dirty, and shaking a bit when I picked her up, but I got her back upstairs safely and she’s been sleeping since.  She got up and played for about 10 minutes, but she has become more calm since the incident.  I know I’m not always that fun, but a suicide attempt day three?  Seriously.  I have included pictures of the three inch space she went through, and the view to the ground from my balcony.  Poor thing… the last picture is of her sleeping, post trauma.  She isn't dead in the pic.

Christmas in September!

I got not only a letter today, but also a FABULOUS package.  Any teacher in Hungary (who has taught in other places) would kill for this package, well, at least I would have.  How lucky that I have parents willing to pay so much to ship me note cards.  You can’t find a note card ANYWHERE in this country – now I have enough to last me for the remainder of my trip.  Also, there are manila folders (a whole box of them- 100!!!)– the folders here are weak and don’t hold anything – markers from my stash from school (a little piece of home) and some cleaning cloths for my computer.  A teachers wonderland – thanks mom and dad!!!  The funny part of this is that the 11^th graders are learning about families, and one of the teachers, Edit, told me that they were discussing the 4 different types of fathers.  I’m not sure what the different types are, but uninvolved was one – and then she said “obviously your dad is the generous type” I agree – as is my mom J  Thanks guys!  I'm pretty sure the secretary here thinks I'm a celebrity as I've received lots of fun mail from home - thanks John and Hanan!

Last night I went running with Nori (on the left) and Dori (right) again.  They are the most adorable students ever.  They REALLY want to practice their English, so what better way to do it than on a run?  I actually got them to go twice around the small lake too – We spent time talking about the classes they are taking, their pets, boys they think are cute and other very “teenage” things.  They also wanted to Google me, because one of their friends found my facebook page by “writing to Google about me” and they were excited to see pictures of Kalocsa.  They came up to my apartment afterwards to see the cat – and they loved her.  Maybe one of them can take her when I leave for a vacation… here’s hoping!  

I sometimes forget that I'm good at what I do...

I got a nice letter from my parents today – they sent an article about Budapest hotels and about my friend Kraig.  It was just a nice way to start the day, knowing that someone at home is thinking about me.  I had some good lessons today, my Friday am students are really nice.  I taught my 9A students the different parts of a song and then we did the Cupid Shuffle (special thanks to Laura for the idea – they loved it!) it was a good time because I have some kids who really like to dance.  My first afternoon class is the 10^th graders that I walked out on last week.  I was not thrilled that I was going to their class, but I perked up and went for it.  Upon my arrival to class, they presented me with a box of chocolates and said “they would really like to work with me” and that “they were sorry.”  VICTORY!  Ok- so not really a victory, but my idea worked.  They worked much better today and seemed generally excited to have me back- break them down to bring them up?  I found out in my other class of 9^th graders that they had “written to Google about me” (direct quote) and found my blog, the ratemyteacher.com page, my Facebook site and my collegiate running times.  It’s amazing the things one can find on Google.  SO- they are all fired up to go and Google me tonight (supposedly) so we’ll see what they think of my internet information.  I also had a girl, Vanezssa, approach me and tell me that she had a good idea.  This is really funny because she rarely speaks English in class, but she was VERY excited to tell me this idea.  She thought it would be fun to wait until the sun goes down, and the moon comes up, near Halloween and use lanterns to tell stories.  I got the jist of what she was saying, but it was funny to hear her try to describe it.  The best part was when she said that I should tell their lead teacher, Gabi, the idea but I was to tell Gabi it was my idea because it's not Vanezssa's "job" to tell Gabi those things.  It was hilarious.  Unfortunately, we are not in school on Halloween, so who knows... maybe I'll have to tell Gabi that I have a really good idea...

Note to self...

So I have learned (several times over) that official people – airport officials, immigration officials, those trying to establish a bank account for you – don’t really appreciate the “decorative” stamps in my passport.  When I was in Japan, we visited some castles and temples that had souvenir “passport stamps”.  Well, of course I stamped them in my real passport, and every single official I have come across has looked at them (yeah, there is more than one) and looked at me, and looked at them – rolled their eyes and kept going.  Today at the bank was no different.  Mirtill took me to the bank during the second period today.  I didn’t have class, so we were going to stop by the bank.  I should know that every time Mirtill takes off her jacket, we’re going to be there a while.  She did it at immigration, and she did it at the bank.  I didn’t think it could take that long seeing as we had all the paper work, I had my passport and Mirtill is a native speaker. SO- what could really take so long right?  Wrong again.  It took almost an hour – with computer problems, paperwork, photo copies – etc.  In the time we were there, I received another text message from my Hungarian boyfriend in Kalocsa.  Apparently he thought he heard my voice on the radio this morning.  Nem Sily – Nem. 

While we were waiting at the bank, I told Mirtill about our experience with palinka last weekend.  She looked at me and said, “how did we go from me recommending honey palinka – and you talking about a beer with a sprite – to several shots of the two strongest kinds of palinka?  Are you some kind of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?”  She was joking but she was shocked that we had consumed the two strongest types of palinka. Oh well.

The other funny thing is that I figured out why every car here has a cardboard clock in it.  They are about 5 inches by 6 inches, and are usually used to help young children tell time- but not in Tata!  Parking is free for two hours.  SO – when you park, you take out your little blue clock, set it to the time that it is currently, and leave it on your dashboard.  Seriously?

There was also some political hype at school today – the “conservatives” (non-attenders of the beginning of the year party) were all hyped up, and the “liberals” then talked about all of them when they were gone.  I don’t know what they were talking about, but it was evident that things are heating up in our office…. There is a mystery list hanging up on the corkboard in our office, and my name is on the list, but I’m not real sure what it is about.  I haven’t asked yet, and they probably won’t tell me unless I ask… so I’ll let it roll for a while and see what happens.

The last funny thing from today – I was walking by the castle to get to the Sparr for some groceries and I ran into a group of about 20 English speaking kids.  They are 12 years old, and they are on an exchange program from Cincinnati Ohio.  What are 12 year olds doing here?  Staying with Hungarian 12 year old girls of course.  THEN – one of the 12 year old Hungarian kids lit up a cigarette – so I said to the American kids – if you start smoking here you’ll die –don’t do it.  I think I scared the crap out of them, but whatever.  

New member of the house

Well – She’s finally here!  I have a new cat.  I have been telling my students for two weeks that I would like to have a cat.  I know, what a hassle living in another country –and who knows all the things that could possibly go wrong… and what about when I travel?  No worries – it’s all taken care of.  So, there have been at least 5 students who have said that they have kittens that they know about that they would like to get rid of.  The only problem there is that (I think I have explained this before) but the animal population is almost communal.  People put out food, and certain animals have certain home bases, and they get their food there – and sleep in that yard.  But in the day, they wander and do who knows what in the city.  Well, I didn’t really want a (somewhat) wild cat to then take into my apartment.  So one of my students told me today that there were some kittens at the local animal hospital.  At my Hungarian lesson today, I asked my teacher if she knew where the animal hospital was in town, and she asked why I needed it.  I told her I was looking into getting a cat, and surprise – her grandparents had a kitten they would like to get rid of.  Ok, I don’t want your grandparents cat either – I told her I had already promised to look at the ones at the hospital, and I’d let her know on Monday if I still was looking for one.  Well – I translated Animal Hospital on the computer, and found the street on the map and set off.  Of course, about 5 minutes into my journey it started pouring rain out.  I went to what was the animal pharmacy, not the hospital – but they pointed me in the right direction.  I got to the right place, and walked in.  Then realizing that I hadn’t brought my dictionary, I froze a bit and said “Kerek egy ‘cat’”  Nice Hunglish Carla – I would like a “cat”  Nice.  She said something to me in Hungarian and I nodded – because you know that something always happens after you nod.  If you just stare at them blankly, they keep saying the same thing over and over – but if you nod, you move on to the next step in the social process.  She got up and left, and came back with two kittens, one in each hand.  I held one, and that was it – I chose her.  Mostly because the other one was making a lot of noise, but simply because she was already in my hand.  I signed some paperwork (not sure what it says) and signed on the dotted line.  I asked how much she costs – and the response I got was “ninche” nothing – there are so many cats here, they are giving them away.  So, it was still raining outside, and I asked for a box – she again said “ninche” – no box.  Hmph.  So, I shoved the cat in my vest, and walked home.  She has spent the night tearing around the apartment, then napping, then tearing around, then napping – I only hope that I can get through the night without being too disturbed by her tearing around.  I was pleased to get her from the animal hospital, and not from some random street.  

I don’t have a name for her yet – any thoughts?

Choir practice #3

Choir practice #3 proved to be a stressful one.  We are singing at mass (I think two masses) this coming Sunday in Papa (Megan’s town).  This is my big debut in the choir- so I am working hard to really get the songs, but like I have said it’s not easy reading my part, and the words and the beats – and on top of it, Kata sprung at least 5 new songs on us last night.  I swear – she’s trying to kill me.  At one point, I just stopped and said “Kata, are you kidding me?”  I don’t think a translation was necessary. 

We were at Lotzi’s house yesterday.  His wife is an artist, in fashion and in paint I think.  His home has two parts, the front part is an art gallery/botique (with an indoor pool) and the other part is the home.  It was quite eclectic with lots of different kinds of art and sculpture – it’s the first time I have actually seen one of those large asian vases in anyone’s home.  Of course good food was to follow – I tried blood sausage for the first time, and something that resembled Hungarian SPAM – but the best part of practice was the fact that before we started singing – palinka was served.  Nem Koszonom – “no thank you” was my response.  I think there is still some paprika palinka in my blood from Kalocsa.  Yeesh.

The choir is getting more friendly – which is good since we are spending the weekend together… I can’t wait to see what plays out there.  I’m going to drag Megan along to as much of the weekend as possible – so I won’t have to sit in my own silence pretending I know what’s going on.  At times, it can be quite exhausting trying to follow conversations (and Hungarians are “over-talkers” they talk over one another with raised voices and somehow people always know what is going on – even if 5 people are speaking!).  I am always alert, trying to hear words that I understand, and trying to pay attention if anyone is attempting to talk to me – it’s quite exhausting really.  I wouldn’t have it any other way though.  I am truly getting to know the depths of some Hungarian people.  I visit their homes, meet their families and share traditional meals with them (minus the palinka).  Maybe by the spring, I’ll have the courage (and the money? I haven’t been paid since June – so send any funds you want to J) to host.  I have cramped quarters, and no indoor pool – but I can buy wine like the rest of them.  As for the blood sausage, that might be a different story- maybe I could serve White Castle hamburgers or something…

Hungarian "Lessons"

Well, I have begun official training – I suppose – in the Hungarian language.  I have learned quite a bit through the orientation that we did, and by experience- but it’s certainly not enough to get me anywhere.   So one of my colleagues operates a language school – and his colleague is going to teach me Hungarian.  She has never taught Hungarian before, but she teaches English and she IS Hungarian, so I can’t go wrong right?  Well – she doesn’t have materials, because she has never taught it before – but who knows.   Anything has to help?  I go twice a week – and for my homework, I’m conjugating verbs.  I have (unofficially) studied 6 languages, and I have never begun the second lesson with verb conjugation – but whatever – when in Rome right?  On a lighter note, maybe now I'll be able to translate the hand written note that was left in my mailbox by a neighbor- I'm pretty sure it says something to the effect of "please don't do your laundry so late at night" but I'll have to work on my Hungarian before I can get both paragraphs down... yikes.

Kalocsa Pics

Paprika Festival - Kalocsa

Oh…… Kalocsa.  Saturday we traveled to Kalocsa – Friday night Megan and Lisa (new teacher in Megan’s town) came to Tata, and we went by bus to Budapest (1.5 hours) and from Budapest to Kalocsa (3 hours by bus).  We met up with Hanna and Eliza in Budapest – and as we boarded the bus, we realized that there were NO seats left.  Wait, how long is our trip?  Yup – three hours.  Ick.  So, the 5 of us jammed into the stair well, Hanna and Eliza down below, Megan, Lisa and I hovering from above.  It was not the most comfortable way to travel, but we really had no choice.  We stood for an hour, and then people eventually started getting off.  There was an entire aisle of people standing, so we weren’t the only ones.  At any rate, once we were allowed to sit, it wasn’t that bad.

We arrived in Kalocsa in one piece and ready to party.  We went there for two reasons 1.) to visit Franny one of our other American teachers, and 2.) for the Paprika festival.  Megan and I checked into Hotel Kalocsa (not as nice as the one in Gyor, but whatever) and met the group at the festival.  Kalocsa is a cute town, probably about the same size as Tata.  Everything was closed down because the emphasis was on the festival.  Once we arrived at the actual festival, things got a bit crazy.  You purchased your ticket, which  got you a plastic bowl and 4 pieces of bread – and you sought out the paprika gulyash you that you wanted.  It was a bit difficult because we didn’t know the difference between all the gulyash dishes, but luckily we met up with someone who knew Franny and he helped decipher the dishes.  It was almost as if it was a contest – everyone setting up their family or group tent to cook their gulyash.  In addition to helping us choose our paprika, Mate also gave us our first shot of palinka.  You can’t have a Hungarian festival without palinka – and we were thrilled to christen our trip to Kalocsa.  We returned to our table with a potato pancake and some gulyash and were ready to go.  After the gulyash, we decided to go check out the other tents to see what else was going on.  We wandered through the different parts of the festival – and this is where things went from bad to worse… I was on a mission to see how much free palinka we could get – and unfortunately I was very successful.  I approached two or three different gulyash stands and scored palinka at each of them – for no charge.  One of these stands was where we met Sily and his friends – where we sealed our fate with paprika flavored palinka.  Yeah- pepper flavored alcohol.  Sily began to talk to us – mostly Eliza since she was the most fluent of us – I just made stupid phrases and signs to him.  After way too long (and way too much palinka) we left and headed back to Franny’s (not before giving Sily – pronounced like Sealy posturepedic beds- my phone number).  We went back to Franny’s for a short while and then headed out to dinner.  There is a really nice Italian place near her house, so that seemed perfect.  Vincenso, the owner, was more than thrilled to have us there.  After we ordered, I decided (in a palinka inspired stupor) that my help was an asset in the kitchen.  So I found an apron hanging near the kitchen door, put it on and asked if I could help (in broken Hungarian of course).  Next thing I know, I’m shredding cheese, stirring pesto, deep frying potatoes and cooking chicken in frying pans.  As I’m “helping” Istvan (the assistant cook) make dinner, Vincenso brings in a bottle of wine and two glasses – just what I needed… I took my role in the kitchen very seriously – particularly when preparing dishes that were for other patrons – not my group of friends.  I don’t know why I was inspired to start cooking with Istvan and Vincenso- but I had a blast… and the rest?  Is a blur… I am not a huge drinker - especially when it comes to hard liquor - or REALLY hard liquor like Palinka, but for some reason I was on a mission to get free palinka.  It was not a good choice, and I don't advocate it to anyone... and I have 14 reasons why that is the case... Sily sent me 14 text messages that night - in a time spanning from about 6:30 - 12:30am - all in Hungarian.  I have no idea what they say - I had a couple of them translated by a colleague - but she was getting uncomfortable so I stopped.  He hasn't called me since, but whoa - calm down Sily....  Nothing says I love you like an indecipherable text message...

10th graders are the same world wide...

Perhaps it was the fact that I was up early on Friday morning traveling back from Budapest – or maybe it was just that it was Friday – I’m not sure.  But I had my first discipline “issue” today.  Have no fear, I certainly did not come out on the losing end, but it’s the first time I have had to do anything other than “shh” while here.  I had one class of 10^th graders (I swear – they are satan’s spawn) who refused to do anything.  We were talking about English and how it’s a dominant language, and about the recent LPGA decision to require English to participate in the tournaments.  So I had some articles for them to read.  They were to find the thesis and two supporting thoughts.  Not real hard (if you’re one of my AP kids – you are rolling your eyes at how ridiculously east this request is).  So – we got to the point when I was asking them for the thesis of their articles, and no one could (would?) tell me.  I waited and waited and waited – so I re-phrased the question… and then I re-phrased again.  Still nothing.  So then I entered bitch mode (which is NEVER a good thing) and I said – I’m sorry, I thought this was a dual language class.  You are here because you want to learn English right?  One student responded – “well it’s kind of hard” to which my response was “good”  you’re not here because English is easy.  I’m here to help you become better at it, but I can’t if you aren’t saying anything… so maybe next week I’ll just find a different teacher for this class and I’ll work with a group that wants to actually learn some English.  OK?  They didn’t say anything – so I left.  Now, in the states, I could be in HUGE trouble for that.  The students are in my care for the entire period they are in my room- and though there were only about 7 minutes left, I didn’t go far- in case they decided to go crazy.  In any case, their lead English teacher came in immediately after the end of that period and said that they are pleading to continue working with me.  I am not sure what the teacher before me did, but he had these students 4 times a week – and they don’t seem to be inclined to work for the American teacher, so we’ll have to see what happens this week.  Now they know that I don’t mess around, and if they want success – they’ll work.  Incidentally, I have the second half of that same group the period after – and they made it through the articles, discussion and such just fine.  Stupid 10^th graders.  Ugh.

Barack Obama Music Fest

So Thursday after school, I decided I was going to travel back into Budapest to attend a “Barack Obama Music Festival.”  I wasn’t sure what this would entail, but I figured that there would at the very least, be some other ex-pats that I would be able to meet.  I left right after school – my 9^th graders assured me that I could make a 2:22 train – when school lets out at 1:45.  I wasn’t sure that I believed this, so one of my students offered to take me to the bus station and make sure that I got on a bus to the train station.  We waited (impatiently) for a bus to come, and then as we packed on, I noticed that it was 2:12.  So I was getting a little restless because if I missed this train, I had over an hour to wait, and I’d have to go back home, and then back to the train station.  Luckily I had nailed the trains (yeah right) and I breezed through the ticket line and onto the track with more than a minute to spare.  Panting breathlessly, I boarded the 1 hour train ride to Budapest.  When I arrived, I was going to meet Hanna, but I had some time to kill, so I went in search of Tree Hugger Dan’s bookstore.  There are a couple throughout Budapest, and one in Vienna I guess, but there are all kinds of English books there, and internet and fair trade coffee- the whole thing is very granola.  BUT, I had read about Tree Hugger Dan when I was in the states, so I thought I’d check one of them out.  I wasn’t that impressed when I got there, it was smaller than I had thought, but there was a wealth of books in English – which is hard to come by here.  So, I checked things out, and then headed to meet Hanna.  We had a drink (and I had a “hot dog”) at a nice little place and we met Jake and Ellen for our big night out.  Once we arrived at the spot, we ran into Lyla, Lauren and Ashley (who had some of her students there…?)  As it turned out, there were several other Americans there, and some random Hungarians, but it was a nice night.  There were “barack’s” (barack in Hungarian = nectarines, peaches or apricots depending on who you talk to) on the tables (see the pics) and some nice Obama posters and such at the place.  Probably the most exciting part was the fact that I turned around at one point - and there was Tree Hugger Dan!!!  Of course I told him that I had just been at his store - and he was thrilled, but it was quite a (non)celebrity sighting for me.  It was a nice evening- worth the trip.  UNTIL… 5 o’clock the next morning.  Jake and Ellen let me stay at their FABULOUS place – (it’s really beautiful, but some parts are extremely scary- the stair well and the bat cave).  I woke up bright and early to catch a 5:40 train back to Tata to make it home in time for my 8:00 class.   As I was walking to the train station, I was able to witness the evening crowd coming home from a long night of drinking – and I witnessed my first European streaker.  They’re the same as they are in the states – annoying and inappropriate – but needless to say, it woke me up.  I made it to my train (at a new station – it was a little stressful to seek out a new train at a new station at 5:00 in the morning) and made it back into Tata by 6:45.  I ran into a student at the Tata train station, and though she knows very little English, she helped me get to school on the bus – and made sure I got off at the right stop.  We walked together to school, not really saying much, but she pointed when we needed to turn and things like that.  She was very concerned that I get there safely, even with the language barrier present.  The people here are so nice – I am very lucky to be here! 

In the pictures - Tree Hugger Dan is the one in red with the ponytail - I took a picture of Hanna to show him in the background...