Choir Concert

Where can you find five different accordion players, yodelers, an Irish band, folk dancers, Hungarian religious songs a rousing rendition of “Good Night Ladies” and nine pair of liederhosen? A Hungarian Choir concert – where else?

Kata the director has an amazing way of putting together a hodge podge of entertainment to ensure that the concert appeals to anyone and everyone. She did not let down this time either. I did not sing with the group since I hadn’t been to many of the practices this year, but I was there to support and it was great to see everyone. The program started with our group singing a couple songs, very serene and somber songs. Following the first set of songs, there was a group of three Austrian ladies who sang a cappella songs. They sounded a bit like yodelers, and though they weren’t, I was really impressed with their abilities. They were followed by some Austrian musicians playing traditional instruments and singing to some Austrian favorites. A Hungarian folk dancer followed them (Laci’s daughter) and she danced to a very modern song, but with the traditional moves. After her, our choir sang some more songs and then there was a brief intermission. The Irish band (compromised primarily by men from my choir) performed next followed by the remainder of the Austrian group who was there. They danced to several songs and sang to some. Our guys sang “Good Night Ladies” after that (not at the end of the concert) and then our choir finished with some additional songs. It was nice to see the show and to be there to support my fellow choir members!!

"Good Night Ladies" practice before the concert

the group

the Austrians

Yodelers - I know they're not really, but it kinda sounded like it

Cutest old accordion player

the Irish band

"Good night ladies" with Tibor on the accordion

Folk dancers from Austria - note yet another accordion

Choir group

Music activity

I had an activity using questions about music to get the whole class talking. They worked in groups and I put each pack of note cards into an envelope. Each group would get an envelope and they would alternate asking and answering the questions regarding music. It seemed like a sure win lesson – until it took them only half the time to do it that I thought it would. So, like a good experienced teacher, I monitored and adjusted. In their groups, they had to come up with a list of the top 10 Hungarian songs of all time. They listen to a lot of American music, and it’s difficult to get many of the students to talk about Hungarian music. So, once they created their list, we put them on the board, and talked about the similarities and differences in the lists. In one class, they finished with this very quickly as well, so I had again unfilled time. I decided to throw it out there that the next task was for them to – as a group – choose one of the songs from the list and perform it for the class. When they didn’t revolt against the idea, or even complain, I went with it as if I were serious. Each group prepared a short diddy and one of them even featured a dancer – the following video is what they came up with- basically a solo effort by Szilárd…

Csenge's wand

The lessons I do with Csenge are out of a Disney themed book to teach English. Each unit revolves around a new Disney movie. We were in the “classroom” unit and the corresponding movie was The Sword in the Stone. The characters were Merlin and Arthur and various other characters from the movie. Merlin of course is a wizard, and has a pretty neat wand capable of magic. We started the unit using pencils as our “wands” but it wasn’t as fun singing along to the “triggety troggety wiggety wack” with an inanimate pencil in hand. So, I decided that I would create a wand for her to use. Luckily for me, Hungarians (like Americans) put out the Christmas decorations abnormally early – though I suppose that if several countries put out their Christmas decorations early perhaps it’s not abnormal- anyhow, I got some pink and silver tinsel, a Christmas tree star for the top and affixed them to a long wooden gulyás spoon. I used fishing wire to keep the star in place, though that lasted all of a day and a half with a 5 year old. I also got a “pretty princess” pencil case and some pencils to store in there. The classroom unit was a bit difficult because she didn’t have a pencil case, rubbers (erasers), pencils and pens readily available. So I got some of the discussed objects and put together a pencil case for her so she’d have something we could use every week. She loved it, and incidentally the erasers were also Disney princess themed – so she loved them. The look on her face when we start the Merlin song about classroom supplies was worth every penny spent on the materials. The next unit was animals and used the 101 Dalmations movie – I told her mom that I would buy Csenge a puppy to help her learn about animals J

Boo likes the wand too :)

Eger

A couple of weeks ago I traveled to Eger – the heart of wine country in Hungary. It’s a medium size town with a castle and a minaret – the northern most minaret in Europe in fact. It was a beautiful city to see – despite the horrid weather while we were there. I met up with Megan, Christie, Tara and Kim. We walked to the castle that was right above the apartment we were staying in, and then toured around the city a bit. After a quick glass of forralt bor (hot wine) we decided to climb the narrow steep stairs up the minaret. It was not our smartest choice (and I am probably the one to blame since I was the one who really wanted to do it) since we had just had wine and were collectively afraid of heights or small spaces. It was quite a sight – us in the minaret that is, not the view from the top.

Probably the coolest "Hungarian" picture I've seen yet

Eger and the Minaret

Eger

cannon at the fortress

Calvary hill on the castle grounds

Eger

Eger

Tara pushing me on a horse cart? Not sure what it is...

Kim, Tara, Megan and Christie

Minaret

going up! Yikes

Not loving the view... fearing for our lives!!

Eger

We went to the palacsinta castle for dinner. Palacsinta are the Hungarian version of pancakes – though they’re more like crepes. I got the “Popeye” pancake – it was filled with spinach and chicken.

My popeye pancake with a swan made out of onion

an interesting name for an award

After dinner, we had some bonding time with Xander (Christie’s Chihuahua) before heading out for wine. Taking after my dad, I managed to scare the crap out of the dog and it tried to bite me – which Christie says she’s never seen happen before. Well, I’ve always been a mold breaker J

I knew that there were wine cellars in Eger, that was the reason I wanted to go, but I had no idea it would be like it was. There was door after door to long narrow wine cellars all in a row. We had our pick of several cellars to start with, but we went with the taxi driver recommended #4. We stayed there for a drink and worked our way down the row of cellars stopping in ones that looked either lively or cheap. I brought along “Apples to Apples” so at one place we busted it out, and it drew much attention from others in the cellar.

the first wine cellar we went to

a bird sculpture spitting blood - or red wine

the church in the main square

The lady of the house pouring us wine

Christie getting wine from the glass dispenser thing

rows of wine cellars

my favorite wine house!! Kim is on her way in :)

After a few more stops, we called it a day and headed back to the apartment. Xander still thought of me as the enemy, but what can you do? The next morning, we went to the nicest bakery I’ve seen in a while. It was quite fancy (and expensive) but was recommended by a student so we went. It was quite an affair since dogs aren’t allowed, and Xander came with us that morning. Luckily Christie does a great job of masking him in her duffel bag for dogs.

me bonding? with Xander

Diet Coke and cake for breakfast - can the day go wrong?

Kim, Christie, Tara and Megan

no dogs allowed... well this doesn't look like Xander, so then it's okay?

After “breakfast” (Diet Coke and cake) we went to see the camera obscura. It’s some sort of a lens that is able to project real time using mirrors onto a clean surface. It was in a larger building – I think it belonged to a University of some sort. It was Sunday morning, so there were not a whole lot of people out, and certainly not a whole lot of people seeking out the camera obscura. The “ticket guy” was adorable and thought I spoke fluent Hungarian. I understand lots of things I hear, I just don’t ever really respond in Hungarian – at any rate, he gave us the spiel and then sold us discount tickets since I told him we were all studying Hungarian, therefore students. At least I think he gave us a discount. We then hauled ass up to the 9^th floor to find this camera thing-y. I wasn’t exactly sure what we were going to see, but it sounded interesting and I was curious. Plus we needed to work off that cake I had for breakfast so what the heck? We got to the 9^th floor and there was a small woman sitting in an office there. We took some time to look at the wonderful view of the city, and then addressed the woman asking what the procedure was to see the camera thing. She politely told us that the “tour” starts every half hour, and even though we had just missed the last “tour” we had to wait until the next one – despite the fact that no one else was there, and she was reading a book. Whatever. When it was finally the correct time, we piled into a dark circular room to view the camera and it’s ability to project real time moving life onto this white table. It was quite interesting to see. I’m still not sure how it all worked, but with the use of mirrors and some science it was quite impressive.

Me and Megan overlooking Eger

Tara, Christie, Me and Kim

Xander

the woman who wouldn't let us into the Camera Obscura until 25 minutes later - even though NO one was there, and she certainly wasn't busy doing anything. She adhered to the every half hour schedule... hmph.

how the camera obscura works - some how, it was able to take a lens from the top of the building and as she turned the gold rods, it projected a picture of the city onto a white table. It's difficult to explain, but it was really interesting to see.

Here are the gold rods that project the images - we saw cars moving through traffic, pedestrians, buildings and the landscape of outer Eger.

Christie looking at the rods - with Xander in her bag :)

Afterwards we split up and Megan and I headed back to the train station and the others to the bus station. We got to the station fine, and I had printed out the times for our train so it wasn’t going to be a problem… or was it? There were trains listed as traveling to Budapest (where we needed to go) that got there a heck of a lot faster than the one I had printed out. Why weren’t we on that train? It didn’t make sense. Megan and I deliberated at the ticket window about what to do – why were we on a slower train that had to stop and transfer? Did we want to take the faster train or stay on the small train for the trip back to Budapest? It didn’t seem to make sense to us. We also wanted to make sure that we were able to catch out trains in Budapest to our respective places. We asked two ticket takers if the train on the tracks was the one we needed, since it said on the board that ours left later than the one on the tracks. Well what if our train for some reason didn’t come? What would we do? For two people who both have a Masters Degree, and had lived in the country over a year – we were stumped as to what to do. We asked people on the train if this one was going to Budapest and it seemed as if we were in the right spot. We got off at the transfer station and tried to find the train to Budapest. There were only two tracks and the times were on hand positioned clocks – it couldn’t be hard right? Wrong. Megan and I continued to almost board incorrect trains in a frenzy to find the right train. Keep in mind that it was also raining out so we were not pleased with the entire situation. We eventually found the right train and headed back towards Budapest. The train ran a little late so we missed our next train by literally a minute, but what can you do? On our separate trains, we both agreed that we had made it back to Budapest safe and sound.

Shopping... to no avail

I have been in search of tortillas for the last 4 days. I had a craving for fajitas, so I bought the necessary ingredients- peppers, onions, (expensive) chicken... the only thing I was missing was the tortilla shells. I went to four different stores - TESCO included, and made a special trip to Tatabánya in search of the shells. Ugh. I didn't find them anywhere so fine Hungary, fine. I'll use pitas for my fajitas.

While shopping, I did come upon a few treasures though... enjoy!

A flower vending machine? I thought I'd seen it all when I could purchase underwear in a vending machine in Japan - but think of this - people need flowers that often that they can buy them from a mall vending machine? Not to mention the hundreds of flower shops in this country....

please please click on this photo to enlarge it - (and use the "back" button to return) so you can fully appreciate the animal print that is "hip" right now.

Additionally, when I was at the Interspar looking for tortillas, I was again unlucky and they didn't have them. So I purchased merely the essentials: Nutella, a Diet Coke, a Snickers and a box of carmel and vanilla tea. As it happens, I ran into the Headmistress while in line - and as she greeted me, she of course scanned over what I purchased... FAIL for Carla. Hmph. Hopefully she doesn't judge me on my food purchases. Oh well.

I spotted her on the bus:

What I think of when people say "old Hungarian women" She has a babushka type head piece on, several layers, a patterned skirt- but sadly you can't see the large container she's carrying on her back.