The serenade

So I have experienced a lot of strange, interesting, enlightening and eye-opening things in my time here in Hungary. BUT, I think that last Tuesday night took the cake for me. I was asked on Monday when I’d be home on Tuesday night. I responded with I’m not usually home on Tuesday’s as I have choir. “Oh”- is the response I got, “when will you be done?” “Well, 10:30 or so depending on if I eat or not.” I really didn’t know why they were asking though… so they filled me in. Each school leaving class, so 13A, 13B, 12C, etc. walked around Tata to the homes of all their teachers and serenaded them, in thanks for the services the teachers have provided. I was told that 13A would be by my house at about 9pm the next night. My first (of many) questions was “so- you come over and sing to me, and then what?” “and then you invite us up and give us treats, and drinks – and some can be alcoholic” piped in Gabor. Hmmm… interesting ok – I can do that. So, Monday after school, I purchased some wine and soft drinks and made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies, and a chocolate cake. I also put out the bottle of Croatian Rakija (like Palinka) and some shot glasses. They’re 20 years old, the drinking age is 18, no one is driving – what the heck? So I was prepared for Tuesday night- 9pm… ready. Or so I thought,… I had made some paprika chicken and invited Justin and Riley over for dinner, they came a little after 7 – and would be finished by 9 for sure. They wouldn’t have to encounter the students, or witness the singing, it was all going to work out. Until at 7:30, Justin says, “I think I hear your carolers…” Sure enough, 13A was outside my window singing. ARGH! Quick- put the dinners in the kitchen, and get out on the balcony – they’re here! They started with a Hungarian song, moved into a song in English, and then finished by singing “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” Though I’ve had my set of issues with this class, in the end, I almost started crying when they sang the Billy Joel song. It felt as if it was something special they did because they actually didn’t mind that I was their teacher. I invited them up, and didn’t notice until then that their class teacher was with them. OK, no big deal, I have enough cookies… so they all came in and I offered them the treats and drinks. Kata, the class teacher, kind of pulled me aside and said to me “Carla, they can’t drink alcohol….just so you know…” Oh Shit- why is this the ONE occasion where it is not acceptable to drink alcohol in this country?? You’re killing me Hungary. I shot Gabor an evil look (since it was his prompting that encouraged me to get the alcohol) and shrugged my shoulders and forged on. They stayed for about 15 minutes, and then headed to their next teacher’s house. They have about 12 – 15 stops in one night, so they had to get going. We returned to dinner and relaxed a bit now that that was over. Until about 45 minutes later, we hear more singing. WHAT?! I was only told by 13A that they were coming. Argh! So, the three of us dutifully went out on to the balcony and listened to 12E (the Playboy group who had me in their video) sing Hungarian songs to us. I thought this was interesting since I only had about a third of them in class, but whatever. I didn’t invite them up as there weren’t enough treats for this large class. We finished dinner and Riley headed out – just before a THIRD group started singing. This was the 13B group- the German first foreign language speakers. They could be one of my favorite classes – though I know we aren’t supposed to have favorites. David, Edgar and Gyula are in this class, not to mention some very nice and funny ladies. They got the official introduction to the "boyfriend" that they'd heard so much about. Their class teacher was with them as well, but we invited them up to have special “American” treats – the chocolate chip cookies. They were all interested in the "American Soldier" in my life, and stayed for a bit – and that was the last group… thankfully. Some student groups were out until 1 in the morning singing. Which also means that some teachers had to get up to be serenaded at 1 in the morning. No thanks- we were definitely in bed by then!