Szia Szentes!

Albania or bust

2009-01-17T13:47:00.017+01:00

This time my blogging hiatus has been mainly due to actual, legitimate work instead of simple fronting. But now the skies have cleared, for I have finished apply to grad schools. The past 3 months have been quite a rat race of doing nothing more than teaching and busying myself with applying to 12 (that's right, count 'em, 12) grad schools and all of the associated fellowships and scholarships. Now I play the waiting game and just enjoy teaching and living in Hungary for my last semester here.

Over winter break I was fortunate enough to take a great trip through the Balkans to visit my old friend Jen, a volunteer in Albania, for our second international Christmas adventure together (note: full trip pics are on my flickr page). I left Szentes early one morning a few days before Christmas and took a combination of trains and buses through Serbia and Macedonia until I reached our rendezvous point. Though the trip was long and exhausting, it was actually pretty fun. I got to see a lot of Serbia, including an evening in Belgrade. Moreover I found fellow travelers to talk to for a lot of the time. One of them was a young Serbian marketing agent who took me for a trip down memory lane reminiscing about when the American bombs fell on Serbia in the late 90's. Another was a man I met in Skopje who gave me a wallet sized picture of Tito as a souvenir.

After nearly 36 hours in transit finally there is Jen!

We met in Ohrid, Macedonia. Ohrid's really not much larger than Szentes, but it does have a few things we are painfully lacking here. First of all, snow capped mountains. Also, beautiful Lake Ohrid is a plus. Oh, and a castle (the fortress of Tzar Samuil):

Our first night in Ohrid we spent the evening walking around and catching up.

Medieval Ohrid and the lakefront

Ohrid street scene

On Christmas Eve, our second day in Ohrid, our original plan was to return to Jen's apartment to begin our tour of Albania. We were so impressed with Ohrid, however, that we decided to stay one more night. We spent the next day walking around the city, visiting the Orthodox churches and the castle, and occasionally dropping in to one of the city's many coffee places to escape the cold.

Trusty! Gayle asked me to take this dashing T. Rowe Price mascot to a few interesting places. I was happy to comply. Why is traveling so much more fun with an inanimate companion, be it a flat genius or a stuffed ram? Here he is with the Macedonian flag.

Ohrid is famous for having 365 churches, one for each day of the year!

Saint Panteleimon Monastary is surrounded by a large archaeological site. For good reason, it was here where scholars translated the first bible into the ancient slavic alphabet.

Trusty face!

Jen smiles for the camera from the ramparts of the Tzar's fortress

After so much time in flat flat flat Szentes, I couldn't get enough of these snow capped mountains.

St Panteleimon's and the lake as seen from the castle

Walking along the shore of Lake Ohrid on Christmas Eve

Maybe the people at the end of that pier are waiting for Santa Clause....oh wait, Orthodox Christmas isn't until January 7. Bummer.

Prime real estate

As we were strolling along Lake Ohrid we noticed a smaller Orthodox church on an overhang. We decided to scope it out and in doing so stumbled upon the most picturesque scene in the city:

St Jovan's may not be the most historically significant church in the city, but it certainly is the most beautifully situated.

Jen and Trusty took a few moments to really soak in the moment.

My favorite view of the entire trip, or, Ohrid's Christmas gift to me.

On Christmas morning we were up early and headed for Jen's home in Fier, Albania. It was quite a long transit due to the unique nature of public transportation in Albania. To get around in Albania you must use a network of minibuses called furgons. There is no schedule and as far as I could tell, no place to get the information about where furgons for different locations leave from. Luckily I had such a pro with me to help get me around. At any rate, you just go to the part of the city where furgons leave for a certain other city, get on a bus, and when the little bus is full it takes you to that city. Then you have to go to the other part of that city where the furgons for your next destination leave from. Therefore, getting from Ohrid to Fier took pretty much all Christmas day. When we got to Fier we bought a rotesserie chicken and some side vegetables for our Christmas dinner.

Christmas dinner in Jen's apartment

We hung out around the apartment on Christmas, relaxing after the long transit and the good dinner. I introduced Jen to Reno 911, which in my humble opinion is about as good as a Christmas present gets. The next day we jumped on a furgon to go to Tirana, the country's capital. Honestly, as far as capital cities go, Tirana isn't very impressive. I found some of the other cities we visited to be much more interesting, but it does have it's own sort of gritty charm.

A statue of Skanderbeg, in Tirana's main square. Skanderbeg is Albania's most decorated national hero, who for two decades in the 15th century held off the advance of the Turks into Albania. He is credited with slaying over 3,000 Turks with his bare hands.

Socialist realism! This mural on the facade of the National History Museum depicts a woman in a position of power and leadership. This is a bit ironic in Albania, a place where the ideals of the women's liberation movement haven't excactly taken hold just yet.

What to do about the omnipresent and tragically unattractive concrete communist-era block apartments? Edi Rama, mayor of Tirana and former artist, had a pretty good idea: a fresh coat of paint! Funky color schemes dominate Tirana's scenery, and it is pretty amazing the difference a coat of paint can make.

Another bit of interesting architecture - "the pyramid"

According to Jen, no trip to Albania is complete without a night on the town in Tirana. Though Albania is by and large a relatively conservative culture, Tirana is a rapidly expanding and cosmopolitain city that offers up a huge number of places to party after dark. We met up with some of her friends and spent Friday night out on the town in couple of Tirana's trendy watering holes:

Live music at a bar in the once exclusively communist "block" neighborhood of Tirana.

Jen and her friend Miri at a disco in Tirana.

After returing to Fier to relax and watch more Reno 911! we decided to take another day trip out to Berat, one of the biggest tourist destinations in the country due to its castle and the famous Ottoman style houses.

Making the climb up to the Berat castle.

Trusty at the top and somewhat less winded than Jen or I as he ascended by way of Jen's purse.

The city of Berat as seen from the castle.

Another view of Berat, this time with the river and impressive Mt Timori.

A pretty little corner of the castle.

A lot of homes are inside the castle complex, so a lot of people actually live within this historic structure. Here some of the inhabitants play soccer with an improvised goal.

The front gate of Berat's castle. Because Jen is such a pro we entered via a secret back entrance and exited the front gate, where we would have had to pay an entrance fee.

Me with one of Berat's historic Ottoman neighborhoods in the background.

Exploring the Ottoman neighborhood

Jen looking and feeling wonderful in Berat.

After a full day of taking in Berat we returned to Jen's apartment for the evening. The next morning, however, we were up and out early for another day trip, this time to the seaside town of Vlora.

Vlora is the birthplace of modern Albanian independence. On November 28, 1929, Albanians declared themselves free after 500 years of Turkish occupation.

Vlora on the Ionian coast

Jen had heard that Vlora also had a castle. Not really knowing where to find it or what to expect, we found a friendly taxi driver and Jen convinced him to take us up to Vlora castle. It is clearly not much of a tourist destination, as the road leading up to it can only very euphemistically be dubbed a road. Perhaps mule path is a more fitting title. At any rate, the driver skillfully manuevered his old Mercedes up the side of the mountain to what is left of Vlora's castle, which is not much. The views of Vlora and then sea, however, were spectacular:

Another interesting day trip was to Apollonia, a UNESCO Heritage Site and once a cultural and commercial hub of the Roman Empire.

The Roman ruins at Apollonia

A monastery beside the Apollonian ruins

While walking to and from Apollonia we passed a number of Albania's bunkers. These little gems are leftovers from Enver Hoxha's reign. He peppered the Albanian countryside with these mushroom shaped concrete bunkers, making Albania one of the most fortified little parcels of land in the world.

After our afternoon in Apollonia we jumped on a furgon and made our way to the village of Levan to have lunch with Jen's host family. When Jen was first on assignment in the region she spent nearly a year living with a kind Albanian family. Lunching with them was one of the highlights of my trip. Mom and dad didn't speak English, but I was able to communicate on a very rudimentary level with the father with our rusty Russian. Jen's host brother Arbri is also fluent in English, so with he and Jen translating we were able to communicate with ease. I really envy Jen for having had such a nice host family experience in Albania, and it was great to get to meet them.

Finally, the next day was New Year's Eve. I couldn't believe how fast my trip had flown by, it was almost time to take another monumentally long bus and train trip back to Szentes. First, however, it was New Year's Eve in Albania. The country is split between Muslims and Christains, but due to the many years of communist rule and Albanians' generally easy going nature, nobody is very concerned with religion or the associated holidays. The new year, however, is something everybody celebrates. The tradition is to have a big turkey feast on December 31st. This accounts for the number of live turkeys sold on nearly every street corner the week preceeding New Year's Eve. It was a rare occasion to be on a furgon without at least one live turkey along for the ride. They like their turkey fresh! One of Jen's best friends in Albania, Nevilla, invited us to her family's New Year feast. It was a delicious meal and a real treat for me to get to take part in another family gathering in Albania. After dinner, we watched the bootleg fireworks going off all around us and then headed out to a club to party.

Our New Year's host Nevilla with her brother.

Jen and I celebrating the New Year.

There aren't any organized fireworks on New Year's Eve. Instead everybody buys their own fireworks - the kind that are way illegal in the states. It was quite a site, very hectic. We watched from the 8th floor and this video only captures a tiny bit of the insanity. I'm just glad to have escaped with both eyes and all appendages.

On New Year's Day, the country was pretty much closed down and we were relatively worn out so we just stayed in. A couple of Jen's fellow volunteers came over for the day and we watched a few movies and Jen made a delicious dinner. Then the next day it was time for me to say goodbye to Jen and Albania and head back to Szentes. I took away a very positive impression of Albania. It is one of the most unique little countries I have ever traveled to. At first I found the lack of infrastructure and organization and the ubiquitous litter a bit of a turn off, remarking to Jen that Albania is like one big obstacle course. I quickly got used to it, however, and warmed to the better climate and beautiful scenery. The best part of the country, however, is definitely the warmth of the people. I was impressed again and again by the kindness of the Albanians I met. It is also aparent in all the little ways, like the willingness of furgon drivers to strike up a conversation and the friendliness of shopkeepers and servers. Overall, a great trip and another great holiday spent with Jen!

Fall Break: Germany and Holland

2008-11-08T09:39:00.017+01:00

I think my blogging hiatus may have earned me the title of worst blogger ever. My excuses? Since returning to Hungary I really haven't been doing much worth writing about. My increased teaching load and having founded an English club that meets after school means I spend much more time working on school stuff both in and out of the classroom. When I'm not teaching or lesson planning I occupy myself with trying to get into grad school. After years of working up to this moment, now I'm trying to get letters, essays, research samples, and applications in order, a process that has eaten up all my spare time for the past two months. The end is in sight - just a few more weeks and I'll have it all done.

But though life in Szentes has become all business, life abroad still offers exciting travel opportunities and I finally did something worth writing about over late October's fall break. I met my old pal Gayle in Dusseldorf, Germany a couple of weeks ago for a wonderful trip to Holland. Though Gayle and I were both in need of a lot of unwinding from our hectic lives at home, we did manage to do a lot of sightseeing and I think we really got a good look at Holland. We began our trip in Amsterdam, where we took in some great museums, including the Van Gogh Musuem, the Rijksmuseum (the premier collection of Dutch masters) and the Anne Frank House before proceeding to Utrecht for a more authentic feel for Dutch life. Below are some of the best pics from the adventure, but find all of them on my flickr site: Flickr page for Holland/German trip.

Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. Townhouse mansions built during the Dutch Golden Age, when the Netherlands was one of the world's great mercantile powers, line peaceful canals. Even though the weather was abysmally gray and rainy for most of our trip, we were both overwhelmed by the city's beauty and spent the majority of our time just walking around and taking in the atmosphere:

A boat slowly makes its way down a peaceful canal in one of Amsterdam's surpsingly abundant quiet neighborhoods.

Gayle pauses to smile in front of some beautiful old Amsterdam mansions.

During our 4 days in Amsterdam we had only one day of good weather, and we took advantage of the sunshine with a long day of walking around and enjoying the city sans rain (though there were still a lot of puddles).

The city is full of small architectural gems, like this statue on one of the canal bridges.

The Netherlands is a land of many flowers. Springtime tulips are a particular speciality. Here is a picture taken in Amsterdam's floating flower market. Can you find the Ram hiding in the flowers? He is the mascot of T. Rowe Price, Gayle's employer, and his name is Trusty (personal motto: "Charging with confidence"). The company has an ongoing competition for the best picture of Trusty in an interesting place, so Trusty was our companion throughout our trip.

Say cheese! We both love it, though I must admit that Gayle is more of a cheese gourmand than I. The Netherlands offers inumerable cheese shops, serving up what an American would consider to be hoity-toity gourmet cheeses at prices that clearly indicate that delicious specialty cheese is a staple of the Dutch diet. Gayle even went online to check customs laws on how much cheese she could bring back, and entertained an Utrecht cheesemaker greatly as she went a little crazy in her sampling and spending.

Open windows. There is something very open and accepting about Dutch culture. In a country where soft-drugs and prostitution are legal there is no shortage of strange behavior to be seen on the streets. The locals seem unperturbed, just accepting that people do strange things sometimes. This openness is reflected in the way the broad windows of Amsterdam remain open, letting passersby peer in to people's living spaces. We wandered the streets and observed people's intimate lives with almost unnerving ease. Dutch homes, like so much in the Netherlands, have a very special feeling, both cozy and highly-practical.

Gayle and her new friend Cheeto in the restaurant/cafe of our hotel. We stayed in a budget hotel just a couple minutes from the central Dam sqaure by foot. Though it certainly wasn't the Ritz, the Hotel Belga was convenient and a suiteable place to rest. It also offered a very good free breakfast, complete with the company of Cheeto, the resident feline and Breakfast Quality Assurance Officer.

Me in front of the Rijksmuseum. Though it is currently undergoing major rennovations, the museum still offers a huge collection of really interesting Dutch masters. Unfortunately photography is prohibited in both the Van Gogh and the Rijksmuseum. Suffice to say, the paintings were pretty awesome.

Amsterdam has some of the world's best people watching. It is the most diverse city in Europe, and when you add its laid back attitude to many things that other societies strictly prohibit, you get a true spectacle to behold. Here we spend our one afternoon of beautiful weather in a park watching people stroll and bike by.

Inspired by the dominance of biking as the local method of transport, Gayle, Trusty and I spent a Sunday morning biking around the city, covering almost all of the downtown area. Unfortunately the weather was cold and rainy, so we got drenched and severely chilled. Nothing that a delicious meal in a cafe afterward didn't fix.

Gayle and one of the towers surrounding the outer canal of the downtown area.

Me and my hog.

Biking around the park.

Gayle bikes towards Westermarkt Church.

Westermarkt Church close up.

On our final morning in Amsterdam we got up early to make it to the Anne Frank House before opening in an attempt to avoid a long wait. This museum, occupying the space where Anne Frank's family hid during the Nazi occupation, was extremely well-done and presented the exhibits plainly but with appropriate gravitas. Anne Frank's diary is also on display - it is such an innocent looking little book bound in a red plaid print.

A self-portrait taken after exiting the Anne Frank House.

Gayle to Trusty: "Work it baby. Oh yeah, just like that. Pouty face, that's it. The camera loves you."

After a great time in Amsterdam, we made our way to Utrecht, which is a university town with a charming canal-lined old town that dates back to medieval times. Though we were unable to find couchsurfing hosts in Amsterdam (it's always a challenge to get a place to stay in a big touristy city where the hosts are bombarded with requests every day, plus Amsterdam's hosts are justifiably wary of the multitude of foreigners who descend upon their beautiful city in search of drugs and sex), we were successful in arranging hosts for our time in Utrecht. We had two different hosts, the first was a charming girl named Everarda, a student at a musical conservatory studying the organ. We also stayed with a guy named Lars, who took us out on the town to a number of really nice pubs and loaned us bikes so we could explore the town and its environs in a more traditionally Dutch fashion.

The view from our host, Everarda's, window, which looks towards the medieval downtown and its awe-inspiring cathedral.

A peaceful scene walking along the canal that surrounds the downtown area.

Up close and personal with Utrecht's cathedral. I am always so impressed by these cathedrals, their spires reaching towards the sky and really giving the feeling of a divine presence.

Inside the cathedral.

In downtown Utrecht, where apartments line the canals.

Downtown Urecht by night.

Trusty sampling some delicious beers from neighboring Belgium.

Though we pretty much avoided the touristy, crowded, and supremely sketchy Red Light District in Amsterdam, when our second host Lars told us there is one in Utrecht that is more normal and, almost charmingly, consists completely of house boats, and offered to take us on a bike ride past it we couldn't resist. Taking pictures of the working ladies is strictly prohibited, but here are a couple clandestine shots we snapped biking by at night and then the next morning:

Our last morning in the Netherlands was the highlight for both Gayle and I. Though our host Lars had to work, he offered us the loan of his two bikes so we could tour the city and some of the surrounding countryside. We had a great time biking around Utrecht and then the beautiful natural preserves and villages surrounding it.

Gayle biking into Utrecht's downtown, where we had delicious apple tarts for breakfast before biking outside of the city.

I check to see if we are still on the path recommended to us by Lars. He said that the areas to the north of the city were really beautiful places to bike and he was certainly right.

Getting off the beaten track.

The Netherlands is such an impressively well-maintained country. Even out here in the country the cobblestone paths are in perfect shape.

Dutch country scene.

Gayle captures the scenery and watches a swan in the canal.

Very happy travelers in the Dutch countryside

After our bikeride we returned to Lars's house to return the loaned bikes and pick up our stuff before sadly leaving Holland behind. We caught a bus to Dusseldorf, where Gayle's flight would leave early in the morning back to Baltimore (via Amsterdam, ironically, though flights to Amsterdam were 300 Euros more expensive...). We checked into a hostel in Dusseldorf, and enjoyed one last night out together, dining on Mexican food and spending a few hours in a bar trying to squeeze in a year's worth of conversations.

Early the next morning I waved goodbye to Gayle as one of those famed and efficient German trains took her to the airport.

After Gayle's departure I had a full day in Germany to bum around alone. I mainly just walked around and took in the sights. Here are a couple of shots of Dusseldorf:

After a few hours of walking around Dusseldorf I found the coolest bookstore I've ever been in - 6 stories!!! I enjoyed a coffee and a chance to record the trip in my journal in the bookstore's cafe.

After a few hours walking around Dusseldorf I had to make my way back to Cologne. This trip marked a new height to my travel thrift. I flew in and out of Frankfurt at very inopportune times (hey, my round trip flight cost under 50 Euros! who needs sleep!?) and had to take a bus to Cologne and then a train to Dusseldorf to meet Gayle. Though I didn't really see Frankfurt at all I did spend two nights in Cologne walking around, and I was very impressed by what I saw.

My point of arrival, Cologne's enormous central station.

Cologne's cathedral is one of the most gradiose in the world. Here it is along with the Rhine Riverfront.

The juxtaposition of ancient and very modern is something that Europe does so well. Here the southmost point of Cologne's medieval city walls stands surrounded by modern office buildings.

Cologne was founded 2000 years ago by Romans, and the region's main Roman road ran right through this old gate.

Well, back to grad school paperwork for me, but I will surely post more after I get all of this work done. I hope you are all having a wonderful Autumn! Sziasztok!

The kind of teacher I am

2008-09-19T17:53:00.003+02:00

It's 6pm on Friday and I just learned while IMing a friend that today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. I am devastated because this would have made today's classes not just good, not great, but some unparalleled level of awesome. Sigh.

When I posted this woeful news in my Gchat status bar I realized I wasn't the only one who was taken by surprise by this unsung holiday:

Kim: Is it really talk like a pirate day?!
Paul: Yes!
Kim: Oh shit
Paul: I know!!

Maybe that I do so much stuff like this in class is the reason why I laughed so hard when I saw this. It's funny because it's true. I've thought about how a combination of being kind of outside the culture already while occupying a teaching position as flexible as conversation practice instructor has encouraged me to be really zany with the students. I've also thought about how maybe I'm just one of those weird teachers.

Take two

2008-09-07T16:47:00.004+02:00

After a spectacular whirlwind of a summer, I'm back in Szentes. The summer flew by so fast that I kind of feel like I was just gone for a quick vacation - I can't believe it was really a full two months. Seeing you all this summer was absolutely incredible!

The trip back to Szentes was an arduous one. After a last American meal of a delicious reuben at Sully's my parents dropped me off at Dulles at 2 in the afternoon. After a flight into London Heathrow, an entire day in London walking around, a flight from Luton to Budapest, a train ride to Szentes, and the 3o minute walk from the station dragging my luggage, I arrived here at about 9am two days later. I promptly slept for another two days, but then it was Monday and time to start school! Getting things organized for the school year has pretty much dominated the last two weeks since I arrived. This year I'm teaching 28 lessons a week instead of last years 21, plus I agreed to start an English club. It's certainly a lot of work but the silver lining is that I had great luck with the groups that I have been assigned. I will be spending a lot more time with students that I really like and a couple of my problem groups from last year aren't my problem this year.

This year is going extremely well at school thusfar and it's great to be back with the kids. I found that, while I was too happy to be home this summer to think much about Szentes, I actually did miss being in the classroom with the students. The contrast to where I am now and where I was a year ago is huge - returning and knowing everybody's names already and understanding the ropes has been a nice experience. Colleagues and students alike treat me with much more respect, like a real teacher instead of a random American who wandered into the classroom. Even the Hungarian government is more managable this year, as I already have my residence permit locked in with the government! It's all coming up roses, except of course for the evil old washing machine, which has already flooded my bathroom. Twice.

How time flies

2008-06-17T13:21:00.002+02:00

Hungarian lesson: Szalad az idő "Time runs"

Late June already?! Here it is, the end of my first year of living abroad. I suppose it's only fitting that I write something here in my sorely neglected blog about my overall experience, my new perspectives, and how this year in Hungary has changed me. On the other hand, I don't really know where to begin. Suffice to say, looking back over the past 10 or so months I'd say my experience has been a lot about learning about another culture, but more about learning how to be on my own.

I've been happy here, but very much looking forward to going home for so long that now that my departure is upon me (just next Monday) I feel more disbelief than anything else. I'm beyond excited about this summer and so many of the things coming up. I can't wait to see friends and family, and to revel in so many of the little things about American life I've missed (read: Thai and Mexican food, plus a washing machine that doesn't hate me and want me dead). I've heard from friends who have returned home after acclimating themselves to living in a foreign country that reverse culture shock can be even more shocking than the real thing. We'll see. Actually, one of the things I'm most looking forward to is looking back on Hungary from an American environment. I'd like to think I'll have the time for all of that introspection, but this summer promises to be a hectic one. Life in Szentes moves quite slowly, so I'm a bit anxious about tackling this summer's formidable to-do list: get grad school applications in line (take the GRE's, write a good research sample, contact a long list of prospective programs), earn as much money as possible, attend weddings, show a visiting Hungarian friend around, and get in all of the quality time I can with those I've missed so much for so long. It's certainly exciting.

Over the last few weeks here life has been wrapping up nicely. School ended last Friday (the 13th!) with little ceremony, something that surprised me greatly after becoming so used to the Hungarian tendency to have some sort of tradition-laden program for every occasion. This place is just full of traditions and rituals signifying all manner of things. For example, I just found out that the reason the main church's bell rings for a ridiculously long time every day at noon is to commemorate a victorious (though pretty minor in the scope of things) battle nearly 500 years ago. Well, nevertheless, the only going away ceremony was a small teacher's appreciation day, which I really appreciated because it made my longest day (Wednesday) fly right by due to shortened lessons. It was a nice little presentation by students and then a small banquet, which was a good chance to talk to a lot of my colleagues. Oh, and as always, there were poetry readings as well. Other than that it was a quiet week during which I just let my students play whatever game they wanted. I am getting ridiculously good at taboo. I did get some good news from colleagues who had given an anonymous student satisfaction survey to all the 9th graders and gave my classes a some really positive feedback. Also, the English specialization group of the 9th graders took the first of their state English exams and all of them passed the spoken portion that we had been working on in my classes. All good news. Other than school, last week I tagged along with Taylor and his visiting parents as he showed them some of the cool things in the region.

This week without class before I leave is divided between three objectives. The first is to clean the apartment and get all my ducks in a row before heading back. The second is the unpleasant business of lining up all of my paperwork for next year. If all goes well I'll have all my official business taken care of before I leave for the summer but I'm just not that optimistic about it as this process inevitably involves the Hungarian bureaucracy and, well, I don't have many good things to say about that inept dinosaur. The third objective is way cooler than the first two: showing a friend around Hungary! My friend Victoria arrives in Budapest early tomorrow morning and we'll spend the last 5 days of my time in Hungary together. I can't wait to see her (first time in almost exactly a year) and catch up on what has been the first year of teaching for both of us. Victoria has spent that last year teaching third grade with Teach For America in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, so I'm sure she has some great stories.

Well, that's about it for now. I'll probably post next from the States. Maybe returning home will give me more things to say about this year, so stay tuned. I absolutely can't wait to see you all!!

Blog envy

2008-06-04T16:39:00.005+02:00

Hungarian for the day: A rest kétszer fárad. - A lazy man works twice.

Having spent all afternoon reading other people's funny and interesting blogs I reflected upon how very long it's been since my last post in my own neglected blog. What can I say, it's a quiet town I live in. Plus I'm lazy.

New developments in Szentes:

1. New fountains in the river-

2. My washing machine is evil and has been broken for nearly a month. There must be some balance between the stereotypical American attitude towards malfunctioning machines (throw it away, buy a new one) and the Hungarian attitude (fix and fix until you've spent more on surly repairmen than a new appliance costs). Am I being unreasonable thinking this thing needs to be replaced? Take a look and decide for yourself -

3. I finally got a bike! One of my colleague's lent me her bike from her adolescence and it's in need of a paint job but it's a faithful means of conveyance -

On a side note, only 19 days until I'm back in the States for the summer!

End of the year ceremonies

2008-05-09T08:42:00.002+02:00

Hungarian for the day: Sok sikert a jövőben. "Good luck (lit. much success) in the future"

It's that special time of the school year. As the temperature rises and the days grow longer, flowers bloom and all semblance of law and order in classrooms across the Northern Hemisphere breaks down. Yes, we are now approximately one month away from the precious last school day of the year and students and teachers alike spend most of class looking out the window onto the beautiful May weather and urging June 13th to come faster.

Hungary is a place of great formality and many traditions. As I learned last week, this tendency towards quirky ritual manifests itself in the school-leaving process. First of all, the system for finishing school here is quite different. Seniors stop taking classes over a month before the end of the year so they can concentate on taking the all-important Érettségi exams. These are similar to the A-levels in the British system I suppose - a test that culminates 4 years of education and will be the main indicator of the students proficiency in a given subject. They must choose a number of subjects to take and for each test they receive a certain number of points. To go to a university program you need a lot of points in various topics depending on the program. It's a big deal, hence their exemption from classes while they prepare for and take the exams in May and June. Last week was the last day of classes for the 12th graders and this meant a few ceremonies had to occur. The first, and my personal favorite, is Serenade. This is just what the name sounds like, the classes go around to various teachers' houses and sing to them from the street. It's a big partying event and the students imbibe greatly to get into the musical mood. Some of the teachers got together at the school to give the students a little snack before they started spreading the jolly noise of Hungarian folk songs around the town. The students thanked us with a few songs:

One of my classes serenading my colleagues and I from the street below the school

After Serenade on Tuesday, Saturday was Ballagás, the Hungarian graduation ceremony. This is a uniqe little affair where the students walk around the entire school in a line and go into each classroom. Each class (students are grouped into the same 30 or so student classes all four years of high school here) had a classroom which they decorate and then stand in, waiting for the seniors to come by so they can give them flowers. The teachers did the same thing with the teachers' work room. The students came in, received flowers, and gave each teacher who taught them a little card with all of their pictures on it and signatures on the back. In addition, the students also receive a small gift bag with a little Hungarian scone, some wine, and a 5 forint piece (about 2 US cents) to symbolize success.

My colleagues rush around our work room decorating and waiting for the seniors to come through on their walkabout around the school.

At the end of the walk all of the students (a class of about 80 students I'd wager) gather in the gym with the teachers for a few words of goodbye.

The students leaving the gym for the big ceremony. "Wait!" you exclaim, "Those in the back don't look like 18 year olds." How very astute of you. The class that graduated 50 years ago is also invited, and they receive the same little gift bags as the graduating seniors, walk with them around the school, and elect one of their own to address the crowd at the larger ceremony.

After that is the main ceremony in the school's garden. It was, for a Hungarian, surprisingly brief clocking in at about an hour. Because the students have not yet passed their big school-leaving exams they do not receive diplomas, which is a great advantage over an American ceremony. After a few congratulatory speeches and the obligatory poetry readings (there must be some law here that no ceremony may have fewer than five of them) we were out.

A couple of my favorite colleagues, English teachers Evelin and Kati, wait for the ceremony to begin.

The senior class that I taught this year walks out of the graduation ceremony and on towards whatever they will do with their futures.

Spring Brings Visitors

2008-04-12T14:45:00.012+02:00

Hungarian for the day: Van tavasz, bossznak a madárok! "Spring is here, the birds are...." well they're having their fun.

This year the Easter Bunny brought me two visitors, which was pretty much the best Easter present I could hope for. Early the Saturday before Easter I found myself on train from Budapest to Prague where I was to meet Alina and Josh, who had just arrived that afternoon from the States. After meeting in the crowded Old Town Square we went back to our rented flat so I could drop off my stuff before setting out to get started on our sightseeing. I stayed in Prague with them from Saturday until early the next Tuesday morning and we filled our time there with the traditional Prague sightseeing type activities: walking through the historic streets, taking in the beautiful architecture, and sampling a bit of the city's high culture and more than a bit of its world-famous beer.

Josh and Alina smile for the camera with Prague's Castle Hill in the background across the Vltava River.

Easter morning we started our sightseeing with a walk around Prague's Jewish Quarter. Prague was taken early by the Nazi's and Hitler's plan was to leave only a few of the city's Jewish holy places standing. These last standing buildings would act as his "Museum of an extinct race."

Seeking some more lighthearted fun we crossed the famous Charles Bridge and hiked up to the top of Castle Hill. Here Alina pauses for a photo shoot of what is probably a much better picture than this. The thing is, it being my third time in Prague and Josh being the devoted photographer that he is (complete with high-tech camera, stick to anything tri-pod, and swanky photo editing software), I was a real slacker about tacking pictures. I'm sure Josh and Alina will be sending me their photos soon *hint*

Looking up towards the Castle from Charles Bridge. This complex of buildings has been the nerve center of Czech political live since the 9th century and has been the home to the kings of Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire, and the leaders of Czechoslovokia and the modern Czech Republic. It's also a good place to get defenestrated.

St Vitus Cathedral, located at the heart of the castle complex, dates back to 1344.

Eventually we found ourselves near one of my very favorite sites in Prague, the Mucha Museum. Alphonse Mucha is perhaps the Czech nation's most famous artist. He was a pioneer of the Art Nouveau movement and used his art as a tool to bring attention to the oppression of the Czechs and other Slavs under the yoke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

After the art we went to Prague's Museum of Communism, hilariously situated above a McDonald's and next to a casino. That bit of dark humor set the tone for the museum, which did a remarkable job of conveying the devastating effects of the Communist era while keeping a humorous tone. The gift shop sold faux propaganda postcards with clever slogans like "You couldn't buy detergent but you could get your brain washed!" "It was a time of happy, shiny people - the shiniest being in the uranium mines!" and "The Communist women would have burned their bras too if there had been any in the stores." I bought one with a picture of the infamous kiss between Soviet Premier Brezhnev and the leader of East Germany Honecker's famous French kiss that read "If he slipped you tongue you really knew you were going places."

Prague's famous Old Town Hall Clock, one of the world's most celebrated astronomical clocks, is said by local legend to be tied to the city's well-being. Apparently if the clock is neglected the city will suffer great misfortune.

Langos! After a night of sampling Prague's fine beers we did a bit of sleeping in before making our way to Old Town Square and purchasing what may be the universe's best hangover food. Langos is a Hungarian food that has become popular in all of Hungary's neighbors, probably because of its inherent health benefits. It's deep fried dough slathered with your choice of toppings. My favorite combination, a huge amount of garlic topped with sour cream and cheese, is the standard in Hungary. Josh's face says it all, it's seriously good.

The Old Town Square was packed with festival tents and decorations for the Easter Holiday. Easter is celebrated similarly in Eastern and Central Europe as it is in America with a few extra traditions. In Hungary boys go from house to house spraying girls' hair with perfume in exchange for money, colored eggs, and sweets. In the Czech Republic the ritual is a little less enjoyable for the ladies, they get whipped and are expected to give gifts. Apparently these traditions date back to pagan fertility rituals.

We spent all afternoon that day in the theater. We got relatively cheap and yet very good seats to see Swan Lake. Having studied in Russia I saw this play a few times, and I am happy to report that this performance was up to muster. Indeed the main ballerina was perhaps the most convincing swan lady I've ever seen. Above Al, who was also on our trip, tries to get closer to some of the pretty ladies decorating the opulent theater. Check out his blog soon as I'm sure Alina will be updating with his time here in Europe.

After our afternoon at the theater we used the rest of the day's light to cross the river and climb up a hill for the views. Here the castle overlooks the rest of the "City of 100 spires." We were also searching for Prague's museum to history's greatest Czech citizen, a fictional character with the befitting Eastern European dark humor who was said to have remarked "I'm such an atheist I'm terrified of what God will do to me." Unfortunately the museum was closed but Alina and Josh did make it after I left Prague and they reported that it was awesome.

After a very nice stay in Prague I had to get up early on Tuesday morning to temporarily part from my friends and go back to work. They spent another day in Prague before heading to Vienna to spend a few days sightseeing while I was back in Szentes teaching. On my way back to Szentes from Prague I had an afternoon-long wait between trains in Bratislava and I took the opportunity to walk around. I can't say I really know anything about the city but I did take a few pictures of the quaint little city as winter's last little bit of snow fell:

The castle overlooking Bratislava is much like Bratislava itself - cute and modest.

I grabbed a quick lunch in a little cafe and when I came out winter was attempting one final snowstorm.

After a few days apart as I taught my little angels and Alina and Josh took in Vienna, we met up again on Friday night in Budapest. It was pretty late when we arrived in Budapest so we really just found our couchsurfers and went to get some dinner. Our couchsurfers were a group of Californian students spending a year abroad studying in Budapest. It was really cool to meet them and I'm sure I'll be seeing more of them in the future. That night we grabbed food at a kebab place and then climbed the Castle Hill for Alina and Josh's first tastes of palinka and stunning views that I did not catch because I forgot to bring my camera. Refer to previous posts.

I took two of my personal days (that I didn't even know I was entitled too...) to have a long weekend in Budapest to show Josh and Alina my favorite city. We spent the days busily sightseeing and generally hung out with the Californians by night. One of the strange highlights of the trip was a huge potluck dinner that Saturday night at one of the other kids in the Californians' study abroad group. It turned out to be a huge party of mainly Americans, on top of that I ran into another SOL volunteer on the streets and invited her along with us to the party. It was the first time I'd been around more than two Americans at a time since August and now I get what people say about us: we are loud. Along with that, however, is that we are exceptionally open. It was a nice time and after so much Hungarian distance it was reassuring to meet somebody and get warm vibes instantly over and over again all night. Some other Budapest highlights include:

A photo exhibit in Freedom Square called "100 faces of Transylvania." Transylvania, part of Romania since after the First World War, was part of Hungary for hundreds of years and is indeed in many ways the Hungarian heartland (or was). Today many ethnic Hungarians still live there and this exhibition focused on the dynamic ethnic mix and beautiful scenery of Transylvania. This just strengthened my resolve to get down there sooner than later.

Also new for me was the Museum of Ethnography, housed in a stunning building near Parliament:

One of the museums many musical instruments, this one apparently typical of the area around Szentes.

After a few days of hard sightseeing, my weary travelers took a map in resplendently beautiful springtime Margaret Island and decided to go home Monday night instead of Tuesday.

The island park is certainly one of Budapest's coolest features.

After covering so much ground so quickly Alina and Josh were pretty worn out, as was I. We spent all day Tuesday relaxing and taking the Arrested Development challenge. Devotees may remember that Alina and I took a Waffle House challenge during our roadtrip (stopping at every Waffle House and eating a waffle each on a day long drive through South and North Carolina...we almost died). Why we always end of doing this sort of thing I cannot understand. We did, however, manage to succeed in the Arrested Development challenge, finishing every episode of the show and even surviving an Arrested Development drinking game. Score!

Wednesday I went off to face my most difficult day of the week - 7 classes and no breaks - while the travelers relaxed a bit more. That evening we walked around for a few hours, had dinner in my favorite restaurant in Szentes, and met my friend Kalman (once English private student but now partner in English-Hungarian language exchange) to bowl. I had never been to the bowling alley in Szentes before but it was actually really nice, though small. Of course I didn't have my camera on me (theme of the post) but suffice to say it was a very done-up cosmic bowling theme in the basement of Chicago, Szentes' American-themed restaurant/bar. For the next two days I brought Alina and Josh in to school with me. It was a big success and my students really enjoyed meeting them and were surprisingly brave with the strangers. Alina and I have a penpal arrangement going on between two of our classes so some of the classes they visited were spent helping the students write responses to letters Alina brought over from her class.

Alina works with some of my ninth grade students respond to pen pal letters from her students.

After school on Friday we caught a bus to a neighboring town to spend the day with my colleague Kata and her family. We met Kata and she treated us to a very traditional Hungarian lunch (fried meat for Josh and I as Alina, the vegetarian, once again endured vegetables from out of the freezer and fried cheese). After lunch we went to the little museum of communism in the town. This is a unique little museum, cousin of the much bigger House of Terror in Budapest, that documents how communism affected a small town and its denizens. Kata helped us enjoy it as nothing was in English, and I think we all took something away from it.

The museum included an exhibit dedicated to one of my favorite art forms: Socialist Realism!!

After the museum we went with Kata to pick her kids up from daycare and then spent the day with them at the playground and then back at her house. They are cute kids who always call me "Bacsi" which means Uncle. It's pretty helpful for me to be around them as far as language skills go (they are roughly at my level). It's also just fun to be around creatures with so much energy.

Kata's son displays the most serious little face I've ever seen on a three year old as he expertly pilots his jeep around the yard.

That evening we returned to Szentes and went to Taylor's for a night of hanging out. The next day we were up early for a day in Szeged before heading back up to Budapest to stay with the Californians so that Alina and Josh could get a very early ride to the airport and then back to Virginia. Their visit was great fun and indeed after their departure life in Szentes seemed a little more drab than usual. At least it's beautiful springtime with summer break approaching more and more quickly. I hope you're all enjoying the season. Sziasztok!

Life Decisions

2008-03-21T07:54:00.002+01:00

Hungarian for the day: Kellemes Húsvétot - Happy Easter!

As Easter draws near here in Hungary an important time of the year for SOL volunteers like myself has arrived: the time to decide whether or not to commit to another year in our posts or to mosey along. I've been thinking about this decision quite obsessively, and I hope I've made the right decision because as of this week I've responded to both my school and the SOL organizers that I'll stay for another year.

I believe a list of explanations is in order:
-First of all, I like my job more than I've ever liked any job. Not to say that I don't fantasize about throwing certain students out of the school's 4th floor window, I think every teacher does that. But most of my students are pretty cool and I enjoy our classes together and I think they do as well. It's not perfect, but then again a job is a place where you show up in exchange for money so as far as that goes I think this position is pretty good. Also I like my colleagues and as long as it took me to break the ice with them I don't want to start the process over again in another position.
-Probably the main reason for staying is that I feel like I've already been through the really tough part of the experience and I want to reap the benefits of having gone through it. What I mean is this: when I moved here I spoke none of the language, knew next to nothing about the culture and context of my new home, had no high school teaching experience, and had never lived alone. More than that all of little things are what really add up. I didn't know how anything around me worked, from the bus systems to ordering rituals at the local market. It was tough and it took about 6 months but now I'm, more or less, accustomed to this Hungarian life. I think next year could be a drastically different experience because I'll come in knowing the deal at school, with a wide network of acquaintances that I hope are turning into close friendships, and with much more useful linguistic abilities, bringing me to my next point...
- I tried to learn Hungarian in a year, I really did. I have countless flashcards all around my house, I've labeled everything in my apartment, I sit through Hungarian soap operas to try and absorb the dialog, I eavesdrop on my students to pick up how the kids these days are talking, I meet people to swap English for Hungarian conversation hours, and I constantly have my nose buried in a Hungarian grammar guide or exercise book. I'm not, however, going to be anywhere near the level of Hungarian I set out to reach by the end of this year, and because I don't want all of this hard work to amount to yet another language half learned and then forgotten, it's Hungary again for me. I think that life here in general has improved primarily as a function of how well I speak Hungarian so I think that a year here with the ability to to, you know, actually talk to the people around me will be a good time.
-I partly came over here for academic experience, but making progress on exploring Hungarian and Eastern European politics has been a slower process than I'd expected. Basically this is because the adjustment took longer than I'd expected and also because doing any sort of research into the politics and society of a country requires speaking the language. I'm hoping to make some connections through some of my Szeged U. friends with some political science professors to interview them for a real kick-ass paper to get me into grad school.
-Grad school is another good reason to stay here - applying to Ph.D programs is a tortuous and soul-crushing process that takes time and effort in huge qualities. Not only will I be much more likely to actually get into a grad school if I stay because I'll speak a rare language better and be able to do some research here, quiet little Szentes will provide me with the countless hours of silence and solitude that I'll need come fall to apply to school.

So that's my decision. I hope it's the right one and I guess only time will tell. The only think I really fear is that by about halfway through next year I'll go insane because of how quiet it is here. We shall see. At any rate I've got to jet and pack. I forgot to mention probably the biggest reason I'll return - life on this hemisphere means tons of incredible travel opportunities! I'm off to meet Josh and Alina (!!!!!!) in Prague for Easter break! Szia!

Ski Break Part 3: Holland

2008-03-16T08:44:00.008+01:00

No Hungarian for the day this time. Instead my favorite quote from the break. The scene: eating a maoz falafel on an Amsterdam corner before entering the Rijksmuseum, discussing how beautiful the city is.
Me: It would be such a shame if this place flooded, but it's surrounded by so much water I'd imagine it floods here all the time.
Taylor: Well, their dikes are really high here.

Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time to explore Holland. We went up there on Friday but because of a late start and ridiculous traffic we didn't make it all the way to our hotel north of Amsterdam until pretty late. We did manage to go into the city however, and what an interesting place Amsterdam is on a Friday night. As we took the bus from our hotel's neighborhood into the city we read the police warnings posted prominently in the tourist guide and had a good laugh. Amsterdam's reputation precedes it and it seems that the police are used to dealing with some pretty ridiculous things. They do, however, seem to take a commendably patient approach to it: "Please do not use our streets as restrooms, there are designated free public toilets throughout the city, or just come by a police station and we will allow you to use the restroom," or "If you would like to hire one of Amsterdam's ladies, please only do so in designated areas, and remember that just because one looks like a woman doesn't necessarily mean that it is. Also, please remember that they are business women who deserve respect." We walked through the red light district when we arrived in the city and judging from the large proportion of women in windows decked out in leather and brandishing whips, they are unlikely to be disrespected without inflicting considerable injuries upon the offending party. A bit weirded out by this neighborhood where prostitutes aggressively beckoned from every window we wandered out of the area and grabbed dinner at a place called "wok and walk " (the name had me at hello) before relaxing in a hookah bar until we were too tired for any more touring and just made it back to the hotel.

The next day was Saturday and the day before Taylor and I had to return to Szentes so we were determined to see as much of the city as possible. Really our brief time in Amsterdam was not even sufficient to skim the surface and all it did was make me determined to return one day to explore it in detail. It's a remarkably interesting place and though it's reputation is mainly that of a wild place to party because of its liberal policies, it is perhaps one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. We spent most of the day on foot just trying to see as much as possible.

Amsterdam is a city where bikes probably outnumber cars and pedestrians combined. This is the first time I had ever seen a bike parking garage.

Micha and Taylor navigating

Here is Anne Frank's house. We were planning on going in and this was the first place that we made our way to. Unfortunately there was an enormous line and we had to forgo the experience because we didn't want to spend our single day in Amsterdam in line. Next time!

After a time in the bustling center we made our way to the quite and artsy Jordaan area and enjoyed the views of beautiful architecture along the canals.

Cheese! One of Holland's best known exports and one of my favorite things. Taylor, however, bought some cheese that was so stinky I couldn't handle it, marking the first cheese I've ever been overpowered by. I was feeling slightly emasculated, but Taylor smelled like a goat's ass gone sour all day so you decide who the real loser was.

The main cathedral on Dam Square

Amsterdam, for good reason, is known as the "Venice of the North" because of it's numerous canals. The center of the city is made up of over 90 little islands! The canals lend a really unique beauty to the city. I only regret that we were there before the city's numerous trees and flowers were in bloom.

The Zuiderkerk, built in 1611, was a Protestant church and is one of the city's most famous postcard spots.

After walking around for many hours we decided we should visit at least one of Amsterdam's numerous world-famous museums. There were many to chose from, including the Van Gogh museum and the Rembrant House, but in the end we chose the Rijksmuseum because we figured it would be the broadest introduction to Dutch art and culture. It turned out to be a good choice, and we had a very enjoyable afternoon looking at works by the old Dutch Masters as well as taking in an exhibit about the rise and fall of Holland's empire that stretched around the world.

After we were finished in the Rijksmuseum it was getting dark so we caught a tram back to the train station to get a move on. I feel that the train station deserves some mention as it is by far the most ornate transportation hub I've ever seen, even including the "people's palaces" of the Soviet era metro stations in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Also interesting is that it was built over three islands.
A couple quick Holland observations:
1. Micha noticed this first, but after she pointed it out to me it was remarkably ubiquitous: the Dutch do not close their window curtains. Walking down the city streets you gaze right through large street level windows into people's lives. It doesn't seem to make them at all uncomfortable, indeed I think it was weirder for us to feel intrusive than for them. It's quite a nice idea, however, this general openness.
2. Amsterdam is diverse. Indeed, it is perhaps Europes most diverse city, and more than 50% of the children in Amsteram have some sort of non-Western background. After spending so much time in Szentes where diversity is a foreign concept, it was nice to hear many languages and smell different cuisines.
3. There really are windmills all over the place.

After our day in Amsterdam we drove out to the university town of Leiden where a friendly couchsurfer had offered to put us up for the evening and where we were also to meet a friend of Taylor's studying at the university there on an Erasmus scholarship. We rounded everyone up in Micha's car and then spent the evening enjoying a big dinner of more Asian wok food before stumbling upon a charming little pub populated mainly by Dutch good-old-boys. We got to know our kind host, Judith, over a few beers and eventually the singing of old Dutch folk songs broke out around us. Late that night we'd had more good Dutch beer and patriotism than we'd bargained for so we made our way back to Judith's to catch some sleep. The next morning we woke up with only enough to time to jump into the car and head for Cologne, where Taylor and I said our sad goodbye's to Micha and caught a flight back to Hungary.

Also, click here for my online ski break picture album.

Ski Break Part 2: Germany

2008-03-02T19:23:00.012+01:00

After our weekend in Vienna we drove up to Micha's home in Ludwigsburg, a town just north of Southwestern Germany's main city, Stuttgart. Micha had to get up early on Monday morning and fly up to Hanover for a series of business meetings but she generously left us the use of her apartment and her car during her absence. The first day we headed into downtown Stuttgart to explore the town. We procured a tourist map and flipped through it to find some things to do. It being Monday, most of the Stuttgart's numerous museums were closed. Then I saw that Der Hegel Haus, the place where one of the world's most important philosophical thinkers grew up, was open and free. For a nerd and philosophy major like me, this was thrilling.

Inside the Hegel house. It was good practice for both Taylor and I. Everything was in German so he got a lot of practice translating, and I had to strain to remember what I learned about him while studying philosophy in college.

"I wonder how many times Hegel tripped here..."

After spending a while working to understand the dialectic evolution of Spirit in the Hegel museum we decided to give our brains a rest with a stroll around Stuttgart. It was a beautiful, if slightly brisk, day so we had a nice walk. Then we stumbled upon something that we'd both been cruelly deprived of for 6 months while living in rural Hungary: Thai food! I had panang curry and it made me happy in ways words cannot capture.

The Collegiate Church is Stuttgart's most important Protestant church. A church of some sort has stood on this land since 1175AD.

Castle Square is the heart of downtown Stuttgart. Construction of the palace began in 1746 and the royals of Wuerttemberg moved between here and the below pictured Ludwigsburg palace multiple times. Palace choosing seems to have been a constant source of stress for the royals of Europe. Poor dears.

Speaking of the rich and powerful, after our walk around Stuttgart we made our way to the Porche complex to see the museum. It was little more than a room full of ridiculously nice cars, but that was cool to see. Stuttgart is perhaps best known today as the home to a lot of really cool cars - both Mercedes and Porche are headquartered here. Unfortunately the Benz museum was closed during our day in Stuttgart. Next time.

The world's first Volkswagon - or people's car - is in the Porche museum because Ferdinand Porche designed this vehicle in 1931. This is a particularly interesting factoid as Porche moves to become the majority shareholder in the VW corporation in the coming weeks.

After a full day in Stuttgart we made our way back to Micha's apartment in Ludwigsburg. We walked around the town's center for a while and then picked up dinner supplies from a grocery store. Back at Micha's we made a dish impossible to make with the ingredients available in Hungary: fettucine alfredo with sundried tomatoes. Parmesan cheese, high-quality olive oil, and sundried tomatoes all being unavailable in Szentes, the dinner was quite a treat. We spend the rest of the evening in trying to figure out what to plan the rest of our week on vacation.

The next morning we were up early to visit Strasbourg. Taylor had heard it was really beautiful and I knew it to be roughly the home of my ancestors (though I wouldn't learn until returning back to Ludwigsburg to read an email from my mom that I could have found records of my ancestors in the city library) so I was up for it. Strasbourg is in the Alsace region that straddles the border between France and Germany. The territory and the city have been banded about between the two powers throughout it's history, though since the end of the Second World War it has been French territory. It is one of the most impressive cities I've ever visited, both in history and beauty. Historically it has been an important place since Roman times and today is a world capital as the home of the European Council and the European Commission for Human Rights. Aesthetically, I think the pictures speak for themselves:

Our first view of central Strasbourg as we crossed the bridge over the Rive Ill, a tributary of the nearby Rhine that forms the modern border between France and Germany. Downtown medieval Strasbourg is situated on an island in the middle of the Ill. We divided our day between sitting in cafes sampling French specialties and strolling around enjoying the scenery. Below are pictures from our walk around the entire island along the Ill:

A tour boat continues via canal.

Me with the medieval Ponts bridge behind and the cathedral in the distance. This picture was taken from atop a huge barrier bridge that spans the Ill in front of where the island of downtown Strasbourg begins. In medieval times to defend the city the barrier's gates would close to flood the area in front of the city, acting as a defense against invasion.

Strasbourg's location on the border has sometimes meant great tragedy during wars. This statue commemorates those who died in the First World War. A mother is depicted mourning for two dead sons: one who died fighting for France and one who died fighting for Germany.

Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press, made Strasbourg his home for much of his adult life. Unfortunately some sort of carnival market seems to have ruined the solemnity of my shot, but you get the idea.

The Strasbourg Cathedral is one of the most important High Gothic structures in the world. Construction upon it began in the mid 12th century and it's northern tower was the tallest building in the world for over 200 years.

First view of the interior upon entering the cathedral.

Looking up the Nave to the huge Rose window. The stained glass in the cathedral was removed by the Germans during the Second World War and then sent for safe keeping to a mine in a small town near Micha's home. After the war the US military discovered the treasures and sent them back to Strasbourg.

Speaking of the US military, the cathedral has a dedication to the American soldiers who fought to free France from the Nazi occupation.

One of the world's largest astronomical clocks, just in case you were wondering not only the time but also Jupiter's location.

After a full day of walking around the downtime historical section of the city we decided to get out of the center to see the new European government complex.

The main building for the European Council, headquartered in Strasbourg. This is just one of many huge shiny glass buildings in the European complex in Strasbourg. When asked why the European bureaucrats need so many huge shiny glass buildings, Micha unenthusiastically replied "for meetings."

That night we arrived home just in time to meet Micha and create a big dinner consisting mostly of resurrected leftovers from the previous night. The three of us sat around for the rest of the evening discussing our trips and then catching up. The next day Micha had to make it through one more busy day of meetings and such while Taylor and I set out to explore some more of the local scenery. We made our way first to Schwäbisch Hall, one of the oldest cities in the region, founded on this location in the 5th century BC by the Celts. It was once one of the regions most important centers because of its designation as capital of Schwäbia. The town's long history has seen devastation during the Thirty Years War and blights of the bubonic plague, but now it's a charming city full of beautiful German medieval buildings and lively street scenes.

St Michael's Church standing over the city's main square.

The town hall was built in Baroque style after the destruction of the medieval style buildings in one of the huge fires that swept through the city in the 18th Century.

Views of the city from the river at the bottom of the valley it's built around:

After spending a lot of the day strolling around Schwäbisch Hall we bought a picnic lunch in a supermarket and hit the road to visit a few other small cities in the region and find a nice view to enjoy during lunch.

Our golden chariot and a really big bridge

After a nice drive through the countryside we made it to Langenburg, another small town with a nice castle. It seemed like a pretty touristy place and it being February still it was mostly a ghost town. We ate lunch on the patio of a closed cafe on the side of the castle and enjoyed a nice view of the valley below.

Langenburg's castle, unfortunately closed for the off-season when we visited.

After a day of driving around and seeing the little towns we retired back to Micha's to wait for her to be done with work. After she escaped from her 11 hour board meeting we geared up for a nice dinner in Stuttgart with Gert, a friend of Micha's who I also knew as he studied at William and Mary. We went to a local restaurant and had a big dinner of Maultaschen, a local specialty that is like mushroom ravioli. After that we hit a few bars and just relaxed and talked for a few hours before heading back home where Micha had been promised a day of sleeping in until whenever the hell she wanted. After our sleeping in we got up for a day seeing Ludwigsburg itself with our qualified native tour guide. Ludwigsburg is home to one of Germany's biggest Baroque Palaces. Indeed the city was pretty much built to support the monarchs who built the palace and ruled the surrounding Wuerttemberg from there. When we arrived we discovered that we had a few hours before an English tour began so we went outside to see the gardens. Outside of the palace is a really cool fairytale garden which Micha had shown me a few years ago when I'd visited and I thought it would be great to see again and relearn all of the Grimm's fairy tales. Unfortunately it was closed for the summer, so Rapunzel's tower was all we could see:

Rapunzel's tower

The park was closed *sad music*

Instead of reliving our childhood fairytales we walked around the mostly muddy gardens for a while before going to a really good pizza place Micha new. By the time we finished lunch it was getting close to tour time so we made it back to the Palace.

The courtyard of Ludwigsburg Palace

Construction on the palace started with Ludwig (hence the name) but Frederick I elevated it to the huge structure that remains today. He was a husky fellow and stood over 2 meters tall. He gained much power and territory by allying himself with Napoleon. Just imagine little Napoleon meeting with this giant of a man.

Our tour guide was a (perhaps over)enthusiastic British woman who liked telling funny stories about the palace's history and inhabitants. My favorite story involved some Duke who was a notorious philanderer and eventually had to resort to crude tactics to see which ladies he had already been with in the royal court. Those who he had "known" were to come to balls wearing blue shoes, while the unexplored were to wear pink.

While our rotund King and womanizing Duke were living the high life, an enormous army of servants were there to attend to their every need. The palace is designed so that the outer rooms (with the nice big windows) are for the palace's regal inhabitants, while the core of the palace consists of dwelling space and passage ways for the numerous servants. Here is a dim servant gathering room behind the King's quarters.

The palace's ball room

The Ancestor's Hall, where one finds a plethora of ugly rich people on the walls of a very pretty passage way.

After finishing our tour of the drafty palace (marble is not good insulation) we warmed up in a nearby cafe and planned our next step. We wanted to go to the Mercedes museum but we didn't have much time before it closed, so instead Micha suggested visiting another well-preserved town nearby. We hopped in the car and soon made it to Besigheim.

Micha and I in Besigheim's little main square

As we walked around the town Micha's eyes narrowed and she began exuding signs of immense anger. She had spotted her enemy. Micha, you see, has a Big Important Job with the in the upper echelons of the gardening supply company that her father started. They produce mostly potting soil and sell it to stores, and she just had been in countless hours of tedious board meetings trying to figure out what to do about one popular German store chain that was fighting dirty and trying to seriously undercut them. And here, right in front of us, was one of their chains. We decided to stride in and check out how much they were really selling her products for:

Always cool under pressure, Micha smiles for the camera and poses with one her company's products in the location of a very difficult distributor. "They will pay for their insolence" she warned when the cameras were off.

Indeed Micha's Big Important Job was really going into overdrive the week that Taylor and I visited her. She's been working with her father's company for some time now - officially for over a year and she grew up in the business. As her father steps out of the spotlight she is taking the helm. The press loves the story: pretty 23 year old assumes dominant position in the board room. That week 3 large German national papers covered her story, one calling her "Die Torf-Prinzessen" - "The peat moss princess." Hilarious (sorry Micha). Then she was one the cover of a financial magazine. Then, perhaps most insanely, on Deutsche Welle, the German CNN. (click here it's the first segment of the show).

The Micha Media Maelstrom

Insane.

But even with all of the glamor of being one of the Goddesses of the fertilizing world, she still has her feet on the ground. She's the kind of person to have a nice laid back dinner with and discuss anything and everything, which is precisely what we did. Micha was happy to have won 4 days off from work and life in the fast lane, so after our day around Ludwigsburg we relaxed over dinner and prepared for the next day's journey to Holland.

Dinner at Micha's after a long day of sightseeing and before a long drive up to Holland.

Ski Break Part 1: Vienna

2008-02-25T21:01:00.006+01:00

Hungarian for the day: Szeretek si szünetet! Pron: Sara-tek shee sooh-ne-tet. "I love ski break!"

Here in Hungary, a country without mountains (the "mountains" to the north being slightly larger than average hills), I was somewhat surprised to find that while spring break is merely a long weekend for Easter, an entire free week from school is given over to skiing. This is ski break, and it is my friend. I'd been looking forward to it for more reasons than just a break from school (and the delightful sleeping in past 6:30 this allows), for I was off to Western Europe in all of its well-organized glamor to visit with an old friend. My friend Michaela, or Micha to her American friends who can't pronounce her name, is an old friend of mine from Germany who I met while we studied together at William and Mary. More specifically, we were in the same study abroad program in St. Petersburg, took Russian courses together for 3 years, and spent a summer traveling together in Europe a few years back. We'd missed each other repeatedly since I moved to her continent but we finally made it work for this break. Taylor came along and the three of us covered a lot of ground over the 9 days of ski break - a whirlwind tour through Austria, Germany, France and Holland! I'm going to post our travels in a few different posts, the first one here for our time in Vienna with more to follow in a few days.

Taylor and I took a bus from Szentes up to Budapest last Saturday, and then left snowy Hungary behind on a bus headed for Vienna. Bus travel being the slowest (though also cheapest!) way to travel, by the time we made it to Vienna it was already mid evening. Micha drove down from her home in Southwestern Germany that day and met us at the bus station. After introductions and some hurried catching up we hopped in the car and punched the address of a friend of Taylor's into the GPS system. These two things, friends living in cool cities and a GPS system, are invaluable when traveling. Taylor's friend Heidi is a charming Finn studying in Vienna on an Erasmus scholarship to get a degree in social work and is living in basically abandoned dorms in northern Vienna. She offered us each a free room in the dormatories and it worked out perfectly. The GPS guided us quickly to her place and we chatted for a while and moved into our rooms. I must admit that we were quite suspicious about this deal - Heidi said that despite a room in the dorms costing only 35 euros a month it was so empty that she just asked a grounds keeper for three keys and he gave them to her. A hotel room in Vienna, even in the suburbs, would generally go for more than twice that a night, so this seemed strange to us. Surely this was some sort of Hostel like plot line, or we were going to wake up sans kidneys. It turns out that it was just a simple good deal - they still exist in Vienna of all places!

At any rate, Micha, Taylor and I set out for downtown Vienna to take in the city and get some dinner. We dined on schnitzel at Wienerwald and did some catching up. After that we braved the incredibly icy weather for a walk around the Ringstrasse. The Viennese buildings are works of art, if sometimes overdone, so the views were grandiose.

The Hapsburg Palace in downtown Vienna was once the nerve center of a great Empire that stretched across Central Europe and included Hungary.

Vienna's Rathouse, or City Hall, all decked out for a "winter wonderland" theme complete with crazy lights, ice skating rink, and stands selling mulled wine.

After the walk we were frozen so we drove back to the dorms and met with Heidi and the other 4 people living in the big creepy dorm building. They decided we were going out, so out we went. The jumped on the nearby U-bahn (metro) and spent the rest of the evening in a bar chatting. Pretty soon, however, heads were drooping and it became apparent that a big night out on the town was not in our future. The U-bahn was closed so we had to wait for not one, but 2 different night buses in the frigid weather. "I think I just froze to death" Micha replied as we finally made it back to the dorms. After facing the Danube's icy winter winds we figured that if a stolen kidney in our sleep was the price we'd pay for the warm free lodging, that was just going to have to be ok.

The next day we got out to see as much of Vienna by day as we could before we had to tackle the 6 hour drive up to Stuttgart. We started in one of the famous Viennese cafes with melange coffees and pastries. After that we spent much of the morning just walking around.

Vienna is the classical music city. Strauss is pictured here, though Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, and many others have also called the city home at one point or another.

Eventually we decided that having only one real day to explore Vienna we might as well do the most Viennese thing we could think of. We'd already had coffee, weren't feeling up to kinky modern art on a Sunday morning, and didn't want to pay for opera tickets. The solution? A visit to an opulent palace, of course.

Schönbrunn Palace, located a bit outside of the city center, is where the Hapsburgs relaxed when they weren't doing the busy business of ruling. We didn't get to see the interior, and because it's February the famous gardens weren't much to behold, but walking the palace grounds was enough to get a sense of how ridiculously rich these Hapsburg fellows must have been.

Behind the palace and high upon a man made hill is the palace's Gloriette. Obviously we had to get to the top - here Micha and Taylor are feeling confident they will make short work of the hill and look good doing so in their shades.

The Gloriette. I looked up what that is just for this post, and according to wikipedia it is "a building in a garden elevated with respect to its surroundings." I also learned that Vienna's Gloriette is the world's largest and most impressive Gloriette there is. Erected in 1775, it must have made a hell of a breakfast nook for Franz Joseph and Maria Theresa.

View of the palace and Vienna from the Gloriette.

We saw something that looked like a really cool church from the Gloriette and even Taylor, having studied in Vienna for 6 months a couple of years back, didn't know what it was. We set out to find it but miscalculated which U-bahn stop to disembark at and ended up just settling for another tour around beautiful palace grounds, this time at the Belvedere, an old summer residence that now functions as an art museum.

Micha just wanted to show off her new red gloves.

One of the many statues around the Belvedere. A fun, though worthless, doctoral thesis could be written on all of the cool statues in Vienna. This city wins my best statue city award for 2008.

After the palaces it was time to warm up. We went to another cafe and had another Viennese melange coffee. After that more aimless wandering followed, though we ended up at Taylor's favorite kebab place near the Opera House. I must admit that this kebab was better than any of those I had in Turkey, but maybe that's because it was so warm and I was so cold. After our kebabs it was getting on towards late afternoon and we had to make our way back to the dorms to collect the car and be on our way. On the way back to the dorms we saw:

When I think of McDonalds in Ameria I think of scruffy buildings in strip malls, but abroad McDonalds really cleans up its image to deal with more sophisticated clientèle. Even so, this particular location seems a bit overkill for a place with McMuffins on the menu.

Famous architect Hunderwasser designed this ultimately modern, if strange, waste to energy plant in Vienna. I think it's a clever notion, this turning what should be an eye soar and a land-value nightmare into something so weird it's put on tourist brochures.

Regretting that we had only scratched the surface in Vienna we set out for the 6 hour drive up to Ludwigsburg. The next day Micha had to be up very early to fly to Hannover for business meetings and Taylor and I would begin our exploration of Southern Germany, where I will pick up next time. Szia!

Thursday was a typical day

2008-02-08T12:50:00.000+01:00

7:15AM: Alarm went off. Mercifully, on Thursdays I don't have a class first period so I don't have to be at school until 8:30. This means that if I skip the unessentials (who has time to shave?) I don't really have to get out of bed until...
7:45AM: got out of bed, drank a full mug of syrupy Hungarian-style coffee (espresso) and ate a bowl of cereal. Dressed and washed up by...
8:00AM: out the door for my 25 minute walk to school. I could take a bus or buy a bike, but I kind of need the forced time of just waking up and listening to music (yesterday Vampire Weekend (thanks Roy)) to be ready for the classroom. Plus, now that the weather is so much better I don't mind the walk, which is mostly by the river.
8:30AM: In the teachers' lounge one of my favorite colleagues, Evelin, is brewing espresso. After a cup we are awake enough to talk about the upcoming day until the bell rang. My school is certainly a bit more laid back than your average American school, and it's understood that the bell signals that it's time to start walking to your class, not to actually be in class. If you need to halfheartedly shuffle papers around on your desk, fight with a vending machine, or gaze at the announcements board blankly for a few minutes this is also encouraged.
8:40AM: Second period with the second English group of class 10A. Their English is pretty weak but they're friendly kids so this class is a bit difficult to teach but always a pleasure. We discuss shopping and I basically write the grammatically correct sentences on the board to get them talking.
9:25AM: The ten minute break between classes. This is always a busy time for me because I must record my own participation grade for each student, make a write up of how the class went and what we did (to help keep track and find trends trends of what is and isn't working with which of my 16 groups), and then record attendance and activity info in the class's register with the school. It's a busy time for the students as well because they want to get as much smoking or making out/heavy petting in the hallway done as possible. It's icky.
9:35AM: The beginning of the third period with 9A's first English group. Usually a wonderful and enthusiastic class, they sometimes are impossible to control and refuse to speak any English because they are 14 and speaking English is difficult and much less fun then whatever is going on on the screen of their mobile phones. A few of the exceptional students were still with me and we discussed music types, likes, dislikes, etc. I harangued the rest of them, collected a few cell phones, and threatened to throw them out the window (this is one of their favorite threats and when I use it they understand that I mean business) until they finally quasi focused and discussion limped onwards for the rest of the class.
10:20AM: In between the third and the fourth bell their is a 20 minute break instead of the usual ten. There are no lunch periods so this is the only time during the school day that both students and faculty have time to grab something to eat. For the students intent on getting some during the breaks it is particularly trying because they need to eat, find someone to fondle (partners seem to change rapidly), and usually smoke a cigarette in precious few minutes.
10:40AM - Fourth period begins but on Thurday's is a free period for me as long as I don't have to sub. I went out to a bakery to get something to eat and then returned to my desk to go through my Hungarian flash cards.
11:35AM - Fifth period with 13A. This class is sometimes my best and sometimes my worst and walking in I never know whether I'm getting the Jekyll or the Hyde class. They have graduated from High School and for the most part are at my school because they didn't get into the University system last year and are gearing up for another chance/are just being forced to do something by their parents. Therefore, English abilities and enthusiasm really run the gauntlet from exceptionally high to why-are-you-here-wasting-our-time? We were discussing what they would show a foreign visitor in Hungary if said visitor was a sports enthusiast/history buff/outdoorsman and so on and so forth. A rousing discussion on handball ensued.
12:30PM:One of my colleagues has come down with something so I sub 12C for her. I usually teach them on Monday's and they are a nice class, especially considering they only have a couple of months of High School left. They've been quite attentive to me lately because they must all pass this huge series of exams in May and one of the major components is an English exam. My time with them has basically turned into practice sessions for the portion of the exam in which they must talk for a minute when given a question about anything from their family to their opinion of consumerism or Japanese cuisine. We've been talking about "society" lately and yesterday we discussed fashion. Black is really in right now in Hungary.
1:25PM: Seventh period with one of my favorite groups, the first English section of 9c. Now, some of these students might be considered traditionally naughty, but I love them because they are witty and sarcastic and hilarious and I probably let them get away with things I shouldn't because I'm too busy laughing at them. Yesterday we discussed television and music. During brainstorming music genre's they came up with an extensive list, including Gregorian chants and, this is paraphrasing because I don't precisely remember, "Underground funk hip-hop ska soul revival."
2:10PM: The school day ends! The teachers are generally happier about this than the students. I walk home listening to Liz Phair and reviewing more Hungarian flash cards. One the way home I stop at my little greengrocer and then the minimarket where the lady behind the service counter (Zsuzsa) already knows what I want (1 Pick diak csemege sausage, 300 grams trapista cheese, 200 grams sandwich turkey).
2:50PM: Back home. Unwound on the internet by reading the news and instant messaging. Lunched on a turkey sandwich.
3:30PM: Alternated between napping, finishing Ayn Rand's We the Living and having a good long think about totalitarianism. I guess Bush hasn't been all that bad.
6:00PM: Made myself baked ziti for dinner. A couple of times a week, particularly on weekends, I eat with Talyor, but last night I just watched a few episodes of Arrested Development while cooking, eating, and doing the dishes.
7:30PM: Hungarian studying (think I've got the locutive cases down so I'm moving swiftly along to the obliques) while trying to watch Hungarian TV. I like Dr. House even less dubbed.
9:00 PM: Searched couchsurfering for a place to stay next weekend when I meet Micha in Vienna. I think we'll be staying with a Portuguese chemistry Ph.D. student and going with him to the birthday party of some Canadian friend. Fun!
9:30PM: Went for a jog. Szentes at night is peaceful and charming and, as long as it's not unbearably cold, a walk or jog always puts me in a good mood. Especially on nights when I don't meet with a friend or have something after school to do this helps me cure the apartment stir crazies I get.
10:30PM: I don't know why I chose to do so before bed, perhaps it was the endorphins from the preceding run, but as was getting into the shower I could no longer stand how long it took my bathroom sink to drain so I tackled my first plumbing project. Success within thirty minutes, but ewwwwwwww. That's what's in pipes?!?! Took an extra long shower because I needed to feel extra spick and span after cleaning out congealed gunk that probably dates back to the Soviet occupation.
11PM: Early to bed because Friday starts at first period.

A new idol

2008-02-03T20:27:00.000+01:00

That's one of the coolest things I have ever seen! Quite inspirational, and such good dance moves. More from this guy at www.wherethehellismatt.com, the travel journals are particularly worthwhile.

Life here is good. January flew by, as did today and I still have to lesson plan and talk to my mom on skype so I'm going to do a life update later (but soon!). Sziastok!

Meet Flat Albert

2008-01-26T14:05:00.000+01:00

"Hi, my name's Al"

After a whole lot of fronting on updating blogs, I've finally completed my post about Istanbul. The thing is that it's not on this blog, but another. I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Albert Einstein, or Flat Al. After leaving college a group of my friends decided to imitate a common elementary school project known as Flat Stanley. For the uninitiated, this is a project where a child cuts out a flat man and sends him to a pen pal, who returns the flat man with pictures. As our group of friends spread around the country and the world, we decided to send something as well. A poll was taken and eventually we had our man: Flat Al. He visited me in Hungary and came along to Istanbul as well so go to his blog (click here) if you're interested in seeing Istanbul pics and reading about the trip. Al has had a busy 8 month life, attending numerous parties, taking a roadtrip from Chicago to LA, wedding dress shopping, interning for Google, and even graduating from the University of Virginia! Now he's exploring Albania with Jen, and who knows where he is off to next?

Also, click here to go to my online album of the Turkey pics.

Szia!

It's beginning to look a lot like Karácsony

2007-12-23T13:50:00.000+01:00

Hungarian for the day: Kellemes karácsonyi ünnepeket és boldog új évet! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

As December progressed the weather proceeded to get even colder and we finally got our first substantial snow. I have been waiting for this glorious event for a couple of months now, partly because I like snow but mostly because it makes the cold a little more bearable and is much better than the freezing rain wintry mix we've been stuck with for so many weeks. We got the snow last weekend while I was down in Szeged visiting a couple of friends there. I completely forgot to bring my camera which is a shame because the falling snow in Szeged was absolutely beautiful. On Saturday night I went to a dinner party with a couple of my Hungarian friends that I made through couchsurfers and then on Sunday I spent a few hours walking around Szeged's winter markets as the snow fell. Alas, pictures of Szentes will have to suffice.

The snowy view from my balcony

Szentes' main square with its tiny Christmas market

Szentes has pretty much nothing in the way of good sledding hills. The best the kids can hope for are river banks. I think the more hard-core sledders opt for the much larger flood banks of the Tisza river which runs around the Western edge of town, but these kids seem to be having a good time by the more convenient Kurca.

Ducks on the Kurca

I took this picture on my way to school Friday morning. Does it give you an idea of how freezing it is here?

It's been a lot of fun seeing the Christmas season take off in Hungary. I've enjoyed bringing Christmas into the classroom, something that's quite easy to do in the foreign language instruction field. In classes we read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," dreamed up wish lists, discussed Christmas celebrations around the world, or even sang Christmas carols. Some of my classes were even lucky enough to learn about Christmas in New Zealand when a friend of a friend visiting from Down Under came to my classes and described a holiday in the middle of the summer centered around beaches and barbecues. During two weeks of Christmas centric lessons I learned a lot about the Christmas traditions of Hungarians, some of which I think might be of interest. For the most part Hungarians celebrate Christmas like we do in America. The first major difference is that in Hungary Santa does not come on Christmas Eve. The Hungarian Santa Clause, aka Mikulash, brings his gifts December 5th late at night. When the kids wake up on December 6th they find their boots filled with candy. Mikulash isn't responsible for bringing the big Christmas gifts here in Hungary, for that is the charge of the baby Jesus, or Jezuska (Ye-zush-kuh), who places them under the Christmas tree. Hungarians open their gifts on Christmas Eve, which seems to be the bigger day of celebrating. Then the 25th and the 26th, both considered Christmas Days, are spend relaxing and maybe visiting more family if they live far from you (rare in Hungary, or at least down here in Szentes). The traditional dinner is roast turkey or Hungarian stuffed cabbage and the traditional drink is forralt bor, delicious warm wine spiced with cinnamon and cloves and available all over the place here during the cold weather. I've been working on perfecting my own forralt bor recipe with impressive success if I do say so myself.

The last week of school was a bit rocky because the students were beyond finished with sitting still. It's bad when you can't even get them to listen to "Jingle Bells." On Friday we didn't have classes and instead had a Christmas party, complete with more performances by the students that amounted to pretty much the same thing from last post's ball except that the ballroom dances were replaced by Christmas carols. A faculty lunch followed, and I had a lot of fun mingling with everyone, especially now that I have finally breached the level of making sentences so I can kind of, sort of, talk to the staff members that don't speak English. Hungarian is complex and involves incredible amounts of subtlety and precision to get across even basic ideas, so communicating involves a lot more than putting together nouns and verbs. Therefore I assume I sound sound something like "Indeed, weather cold very indeed. And spending you how the holiday? Me Turkey to travel will." You have to start somewhere. Yesterday, for my first day of the break, I traveled with Taylor and his visiting friend Stacy to the beautiful city of Eger in northern Hungary. Taylor has rented a car because he and Stacy are going to spend the break traveling around Central Europe, so we were able to drive up. Eger is in one of Hungary's major wine producing regions and is probably the second largest tourist attraction in Hungary after Budapest. It's a city rich in history with a medieval atmosphere and a castle where one of the most famous battles of Hungarian history took place. In the 1500s the Hungarians were (unsuccessfully) fighting the Turks and at Eger castle 3,000 Hungarians fended off over 40,000 Ottoman invaders in a heroic effort still celebrated today. Of course soon after that the Ottomans returned, defeated the resisters, and slaughtered pretty much everybody, but the Hungarians celebrate whatever victories they can. We had a nice time up in Eger, though the weather was unbearably frigid and I was quite peeved to discover that all of my pictures from the day look blurry because of how misty the air was. I will certainly return to this city one day when it's warmer out but it was a good experience to go there yesterday when the city was free from the tourists that descend upon it during the warm weather. We spent the afternoon and evening at the castle, walking around the streets adorned with Christmas lights, and hiding from the cold in a nice restaurant and then a little cafe.

Taylor and Stacy atop the castle ramparts from which a small Hungarian force defeated a massive horde of Ottomans almost five hundred years ago. Unfortunately the Turks would return and subjugate Hungary for over 150 years.

Eger's city center, full of old churches and a Christmas market where we staved off the cold with spiced hot wine.

Now I have two days to unwind and prepare for my upcoming Christmas break trip to Turkey. It's strange and somewhat depressing to be so far from home at Christmas time, but I'm happy to be in Istanbul soon with a couple of old friends. It's a great opportunity to see a fascinating new place as well as to keep the homesickness of missing the holiday with family and friends at bay. I'm getting quite excited, though it will be an unconventional Christmas morning getting up at 5:30 to catch the earliest bus to Budapest in order to make my flight. Memorable at least. At any rate, I have lots of research to do if I'm going to make the most of my trip to Turkey, so I'd better get going on that. I hope that you all have a safe and wonderful Christmas and New Years!

Let's have a ball

2007-12-09T18:23:00.000+01:00

Hungarian for the day: nagyszerű (nadj-ser-oo)- great/wonderful!

After a couple of very quite weeks of Szentes livin', this past Friday night brought with it a bit of excitement as it was my school's annual ball. Nobody had told me anything about what to expect (naturally) and I was told only that it was a special winter dance for the seniors and that I should be there at 7 with a tie on. So I showed up at 7 to Szentes' sports recreation center expecting something akin to the cheesy High School dances that I remember from my adolescence. This was nothing like that, however. Instead it seemed that the whole town was packed into the building for a very solemn ceremony. The seniors walked into the center of the room to receive ribbons indicating that they would be completing school this year. I felt bad for them because over an hour of speeches followed and they were not permitted to sit. It reminded me of a graduation ceremony, with practically everyone the school could muster delivering congratulatory and inspirational addresses while friends and family in the stands snapped endless photos. Blowing things slightly out of proportion is a theme I've noticed a lot here, and this was a perfect example as my colleagues have assured me that the graduation in June will involve pretty much the same people saying the same things except it will be even longer and even more formal.

The rest of the evening, however, was the biggest surprise. Before the real disco type dance began for the students they performed a number of different acts for the crowd. Over two hours of impressive talent followed the speeches. The senior classes each put on a fun dance and had a power point presentation with lots of photos from their time at Boros. It must be quite emotional for them to leave behind their classmates because the classes here are sorted in the ninth grade and then students proceed to have the same classmates in every lesson for the next four years so they become quite close-knit. The seniors also put on an extremely formal choreographed ballroom dance. It was all quite impressive, and I watched slack-jawed as some of my shyest students sang solos and did provocative dances in front of everybody. Some highlights from the evening included 12b's line dance to Cotton Eyed Joe, 12c's swing dance to the Jailhouse Rock, the capoeira demonstration, the hip-hop dance troupe and the performance by Szilver, Szentes' award-winning dance troupe. I took some videos with my camera and here are a few of the evening's coolest moments.

The ballroom dance to Strauss
including almost all of the seniors.

The hip-hop dance troupe. Three of these girls are
in my classes and they are some of my favorite students.
Excuse the shaking camera, there was some shifting going on around me.

Here one of my shyest students turns out not to be so shy. Niki really
impressed the crowd with a few solo performances. Here the group Szilver
dances as she sings. Szilver is a local dance troupe that has won a number of awards
in international dance competitions. Apparently they are 9th in the world and
a few of my students are among their most impressive dancers:

All in all it was an extremely enjoyable evening, though clocking in at over 3 hours it was longer than I was prepared for. Today in class I talked to my students about it and they seemed rightfully pleased with how the whole thing went and extremely relieved to have the two months of intense rehearsals behind them. Indeed, late the night after the ball I was in a pub playing poker and I saw a number of seniors who were very, very celebratory. I think it's really great that they have a event like this here where parents can come to be proud of not only their students success at getting through school but also that young Attila can kind of swing dance on top of his academic abilities. I must admit, though, it seems like a lot for the students to have what we in the US would consider a graduation ceremony, talent show, and Prom thrown together in one night. It really sucks to have the flu on that day. The next day was Taylor's school's ball and I felt somewhat obligated to come and keep him company because he had done so for me. Despite apprehensions as to whether my ass could survive another entire evening on an unforgivingly hard chair, I was looking forward to it because his school is known throughout the country for its drama program so I had high hopes. Honestly neither Taylor or I were quite as impressed with his school's ball. This is probably because though there were some great acts it was also even longer and became quite repetitive. I don't think we were the only people present to feel that way and indeed it was quite comical to see half of the Hungarians running for the door to sneak in a quick cigarette between acts after three hours in the auditorium. The lengthy ceremonies gave me time to ponder upon the fact that by deciding to be a teacher I was signing myself up for a lifetime of really long ceremonies. The things I'll do to get summers off.

Well that's about all that's worth mentioning in Szentes. I hope the weather where you all are is better than the permanent wintry mix that we've been living in over here. Hellostok!

Hungary on Turkey Day

2007-11-26T19:22:00.001+01:00

Hungarian for the day: Tök jó. Literally "pumpkin good" but colloquially "cool/awesome/great."

The past 10 days were some of the my favorites since I arrived here. After a quiet week on my own I had the good fortune to welcome another friend to Hungary. Gayle took the week of Thanksgiving off and dedicated it to coming out and visiting me and my new home. This event, which I had been looking forward to since I arrived in August, began last Saturday when I arrived in Budapest and made my way to the hostel where Gayle and I were staying for the next few days. She had just come off the plane so we went straight to a nearby Hungarian restaurant to catch up and eat before we began our exploration of Budapest. Though our meal was only a late lunch it was dark by the time we were finished - ever since daylight savings time a few weeks ago the sun starts setting at about 3:30 and it's completely dark by 4:30. It's annoying in general, but that day I didn't mind because our first stop was nearby Hero's Square, which looks quite impressive in the evening.

Hero's Square at night (a bit before 5PM)

We spent a while admiring the statues on Hero's Square and reading the background history of each provided by the guidebooks before going on a long walk. We were mostly just catching up but along the way we glimpsed some of Budapest's best sights, including the city park, Andrassy Avenue, and the evening panorama of Buda from across the Danube. After enduring the cold for many miles of walking, we decided to make our way to a cafe to catch up in the warmth. Eventually we decided we'd had enough coffee but not enough being out and yet being warm. We spent the rest of the night in a nice little bar near the hostel before stumbling home at some unknown hour.

Gayle and the Palace on Buda's Castle Hill both looking lovely in the evening.

The next morning we were a bit slow getting up but when we saw the day we'd been sleeping through we almost went back to bed. It was a real nasty day - cold enough that no sane person would want to be outside but just warm enough to keep the dreary rain from turning into pretty snow. Having only limited time in Budapest we braved the weather and embarked upon another day of walking. Because Gayle had under three days to see Budapest I figured that we should hit the highlights, and in Budapest that means soaking in some great views. We began by crossing the Danube on Szechenyi Bridge and catching the view from there:

The Danube still looks beautiful on a gray day.

Once across the bridge we walked up the river's banks before turning inland to one of the quieter Buda side's few really throbbing centers - Moszkva Ter. From there we climbed up the Castle Hill to enjoy the view as the day turned into night. By the time we climbed the hill daylight was already fading but we did have enough time to enjoy a few views.

Gayle and I with the Buda hills in the background after our climb up Castle Hill.

The Fisherman's Bastion is primarily just a place to take in the view but during this trip to Budapest it struck me for the first time how nice the structure itself is.

Gayle taking a closer look at life across the Danube.

After spending some time enjoying the scenery we decided to take a look inside Matthias Church, an important part of the castle complex that I had never been inside. Though the outside is currently covered with scaffolding because of a reconstruction project, the ornately mosaicked interior was absolutely beautiful to see:

The alter of Matthias Cathedral

Beautiful mosaics

After spending some time in the warm quiet of the cathedral we decided to rest our feet for a while and recharge with a few coffees at a cafe. Night fell as we relaxed over our cappuccinos and when we went back outside some impressive night views from the castle awaited us.

Parliament's dome shining over the Danube

Szechenyi Bridge with St Steven's Cathedral in the background

Gayle doing her best to stay warm and dry in very problematic weather

After we were finished looking around Castle Hill we decided that we'd had plenty of sightseeing in hostile weather for one day and went to a nice restaurant to get warm and sample some very traditional Hungarian food, meaning we only finished half of our meals and nearly died trying to get that far. We then waddled back to our hostel's neighborhood to lay low for the evening in a local bar where we watched the Cowboys v. Redskins game. It was so awesome to see football again, though it was sad to be reminded of how embarrassing my hometown's team is. I think I taught the people in the bar some bad (but useful) English vocabulary every time the Redskins fumbled.

The next day, Monday, we got a much earlier start. It was our last day in Budapest because I had to be back at school the next morning - indeed that was actually a school day but I'd found people to substitute all of my classes so I could show Gayle around Budapest a bit longer (it was easy to get out my classes after subbing so much recently). We started the day with the first good drip coffee that I've had in Hungary at a place near our hostel called California Coffee House. Coffee here is served basically as espresso, and while I like espresso fine I sometimes miss my 20 ounces of happiness that got me through college each and every day. Feeling great after my favorite day-starter we began another busy day of sightseeing. We walked through the city park and then up to the outskirts of the downtown where we could cross the Arpad Bridge and get access to Margaret Island, a 2.5 kilometer long island in the middle of the Danube that serves as a park and a great resting place from the hustle and bustle of big city life. Walking around Margaret Island you can hardly believe that you are in the middle of such metropolis.

A picturesque pond where we relaxed and watched the ducks for a while

One of Margaret Island's many walking/running/biking paths

After our walk through Margaret Island we emerged on the park's south end to enjoy the view of the Danube panorama from Margaret Bridge. Then we crossed back into the Pest side to get a closer look at Parliament and then find some food. Parliament was beautiful as always and then we found a great and cheap lunch at a cafeteria over the Picks Sausage store.

Parliament looks good even in bad weather
Pick Sausage is a serious Hungarian tradition and it is seriously good. By the way, my vegetarianism is on hold while in Hungary for practical and gastronomical reasons.

After lunch we did some more strolling around a few of the places to see in Pest, such as Liberty Square and St Steven's, before it was almost time to get on the bus back to Szentes. We gave ourselves some extra time because we had some seriously heavy luggage - Gayle had very kindly brought me some items from home that I dearly missed. Being the nerd that I am, these items were pretty much books, and there were over thirty pounds to be carried to the bus station. The transit was a bit strenuous between the weight of all of my "necessities" along with how crowded Budapest's metro gets at rush hour, but we made it and then the bus ride back to Szentes was comfortable and easy.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I went to school early each morning as Gayle stayed home to sleep in and enjoy a vacation from her always frenetic life in Baltimore. In the afternoons and evenings we went for walks around Szentes and I showed her my new home. Being the quaint place that it is, this didn't take much time.

Gayle met me here at Kossuth Square at the center of Szentes after school in the afternoons

On Wednesday night Gayle was subjected to Goulash a la Paul

On Thanksgiving Day, just another work day over here in the Old World, Gayle joined me at school for a few classes. I was very happy with my students for talking to her and behaving themselves, but then again I didn't take her to any of the classes that misbehave. It was nice to have her along to talk about Thanksgiving with me to my younger classes and then discuss her life working in finance and going to school for her MBA with my business students. I don't think I was so subtle when I asked her "And can you tell them how important it is to be PUNCTUAL and DO YOUR WORK and BE ORGANIZED, please?" At least they got the point. Gayle was sneaky and got a few pictures of me in action teaching:

Inspiring young minds and all that jazz

A colleague of mine was kind enough to snap this pic as we left school

That night, Taylor, Gayle and I did our best to have a real traditional turkey dinner. Taylor actually deserves the credit because he took it upon himself to look up the recipes and hunt down as many ingredients as he could so that when Gayle and I arrived at his place on Thursday evening all we had to do was give a hand in the preparation. The meal was excellent: roast turkey, mashed potatoes, corn muffins, squash, brussel sprouts, and even stuffing! We did our patriotic duty and ate ourselves stupid. We added a Hungarian twist by seasoning with some tasty paprika and taking a few shots of the delicious yet potent national drink, palinka. We had a great time celebrating and then when Gayle and I returned home I called my father's cell phone and was lucky enough to talk to many of my family members who I was missing so much on this special family day.

Taylor outdid himself with the Thanksgiving preparations

Gayle carving our modest little turkey

The next morning I was up early to get to class. The day went well, despite my ever so slight hangover from our Thanksgiving celebrations. After class, Gayle met me at Kossuth Square and we went to Taylor's place to help clean up a bit and have the traditional Thanksgiving leftover lunch. Then we were off to the neighboring town of Hódmezővásárhely (say that ten times fast!) where my colleague Kata lives. Kata had invited me down to spend time seeing the town and getting to know her family. I was very excited about this rare opportunity to hang out with a Hungarian family and Kata was kind enough to invite Gayle and Taylor as well. We had a nice time walking around the town and then hanging out with her and her two charming toddlers, Lila (2) and Benedict (3). We spent a few hours back at her place playing with the kids, who have lots of personality and were fun to be around. They even gave us a Hungarian lesson, pointing to pictures in a book and telling us the Hungarian words.

Lila building up Gayle's Hungarian vocabulary

My colleague Kata and her two adorable children, Lila and Bendi

After out time in Hódmezővásárhely we took the bus down to Szeged where we were staying with my new friend Julianna, who Tim and I had met through couchsurfers two weeks earlier. We met her at her nice apartment in downtown Szeged and she guided us to something that Taylor and I had been craving for months - Mexican food!!! It was absolutely incredible to get some Mexican food and a few margaritas and it was also great to get to know Julianna better. After our late dinner, Julianna showed us around Szeged for a bit. We made our way to Dome Square, where the basilica was looking absolutely beautiful lit by the floodlights. Dome Square is also home to the panorama of statues of those who have contributed to Hungarian history and culture. Julianna, an extremely knowledgeable person, was able to explain the significance of all the statuary and I feel like we got a lot of perspective on Hungarian history from her.

Julianna explaining the significance of the statues to us in Dome Square

The Dome Basilica glowing across the square

A nearly full moon over the rear of the basilica

After our walk in the frigidly cold evening we decided to retreat into a cozy pub to talk over a few drinks. Sooner than later we were all nodding off after our busy day so we went back to Julianna's and got some sleep. The next morning we woke up and Julianna was off to a symposium for school while Gayle, Taylor and I went around exploring Szeged. It was very cold, but at least the sun was out. We took in some of the sights, thought the most fun we had was probably at a playground on the banks of the Tisza River. Gayle wanted to do some souveneir shopping so between that and getting some food at a nice little restaurant we had a busy but fun day. Soon Taylor was off to the bus station to return to Szentes while Gayle and I were on our way to Julianna's to meet her before taking the train up to Budapest with her.

Gayle and Taylor showing us that life is full of ups and downs

The train ride up to Budapest was smooth and comfortable. Gayle napped in an attempt to rest up before a long day of traveling on Sunday while I chatted with Julianna primarily about transitioning to life in a new country because she understood the feeling well having herself spent a year living in New Zealand. She has done some work for her psychology degree on what she calls "cultural homelessness" which applies to people who spend long periods of time living outside of their own cultures. She warns me that despite how much a person idealizes their native land while living with the day to day in a strange new place, upon returning to the States I might find that parts of me have changed and don't gel with my homeland like they once did. I've heard the same from a number of people who have spent long periods of time living abroad and I guess I'll find out for myself in July. Talking about it on the train, however, my feelings were extremely mixed between being jealous of Gayle for boarding a plane back to BWI the next morning but knowing that there is more to gain by staying here to figure out life on my own in this place that becomes a bit less foreign every day. After the heavy conversation of the train ride, Gayle and I checked in to our hostel in Budapest and spent her last night in Hungary in a cafe trying to fit eight months of conversation into the time it takes to drink two beers.

The next morning the alarm went off at 4:30AM and Gayle and I were outside the hostel by 4:45 waiting for the airport minibus to whisk her away to Ferihegy International. The bus came and we said goodbye. Alone again in Hungary I returned to bed to sleep until I woke up naturally for the first time in a long time. Then I set out on foot to do some exploration in Budapest on my own. Unfortunately, the weather was again abysmal and after about 30 minutes I was drenched and frozen. I figured it was time to try out the baths that Budapest is so famous for. The cheaper and more authentic Turkish baths all seemed closed because it was Sunday so I was forced to make my way to the more expensive Gellert Baths. By that time I was so wet I didn't care. I got kind of fleeced there because the woman at the ticket counter told me that towels were included and I didn't think that bathing suites were even allowed so I wasn't worried that I hadn't brought one. Unfortunately upon paying my nonrefundable entrance fee and making my way to the changing rooms I learned that towel rental was extra (and more than 2 towels would cost in a store...) and that the traditional baths were closed so I had to rent a swim suite for the mixed gender baths. Oh well, soon I was a bit poorer but I was at least in the warm water. I enjoyed the warmth and the people watching as tourists of all backgrounds and shapes passed through the Gellert's cathedral like baths. When I emerged into the cold and wet weather once more I felt completely recharged. I had some time to kill so I figured I would go for a hike around the Buda hills and then make my way up to the Castle Hill to take in the Contemporary Art Museum. I had a very nice time walking around Buda and it actually felt good to be climbing up and down hills for once. Unfortunately, when I made it to the Castle Hill I found that my guidebook was a bit dated and that the museum I had planned on seeing had moved across the city. Since I only had 2 hours before the last bus to Szentes departed I didn't have time to make my way to the museum or to get my money's worth from the entrance fee to the Hungarian National Gallery which had swallowed the Contemporary Art Museum so I just caught an earlier bus back home. By the time I returned to my apartment I was thoroughly tired and happy from the events of the preceding week so I passed right out to rest up for another busy week full of Hungarian students.

The Gellert is home to both the most famous hotel and baths in Budapest

Now I'm back in Szentes and with the fun and excitement of visitors behind me I'm trying to focus on getting back to teaching more seriously and renewing my efforts at learning Hungarian. Hopefully more time alone will not be too lonely and will give me the opportunity to get to the next level of Hungarian (basic). Time will tell. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Szia!

fall break, superlatives and other adventures

2007-11-13T22:18:00.000+01:00

Hungarian for the day: Jezus Krisztus, nagyon hideg van itt! Jesus Christ, it's cold here!

Life in Szentes continues to go pretty well. Over the past couple of weeks I've been lucky enough to do some great traveling around Hungary. Unfortunately, having not been paid yet I couldn't afford to roam far and wide on my Fall Break, but that was ok because my friend Tim was in town and, both of us being broke and worn out, we just sat around the apartment relaxing for the first half of the week. It was nice to sleep in repeatedly and take the time to study a lot of Hungarian and get some stuff done around the apartment. Our choice to shun interaction from the outside world was encouraged by the fact that my washing machine was (well, is) on the fritz, and Tim, who is on a tour of Europe by motorbike, was even more desperate for a way to do laundry than I was. Well, my landlady/boss didn't respond very quickly (read: still over two weeks later hasn't responded) to my pleas for washing machine maintenance, so we just sat around wearing our last remaining outfits (gym shorts) for a few days until Taylor returned from his trip to Debrecen and we could get some much needed sanitation done at his place.

On Thursday, after some laundry, we decided our hiatus from the world of the living had gone on too long and we set out to do some sight seeing. One of my private students had recommended to me that I visit the tiny village of Opusztaszer, a place not far away but hard to get to because it's a bit off the beaten track. Taylor had rented a car in order to visit Debrecen and was looking for suggestions of where to drive, so Opusztaszer seemed like the perfect match - nearby but not something we could easily get to without our own set of wheels. The village of Opusztaszer itself is nothing to see, what's special about it is the large outdoor museum of Hungarian history and culture located there. This unlikely location was chosen because of its unique importance in Hungarian history, and to understand this we need to take a trip back in time. Hungarians, as their charmingly beguiling non-Indo-European language suggests, are not from 'round these parts. Linguists theorize that these Ugric-speaking Magyars (as the Hungarians call themselves) originated from somewhere near the Ural Mountains. They were a wandering people, and the hodgepodge of different language traits mixed in to Hungarian suggests that they wandered far and wide for a couple thousand years. Eventually the itinerant Magyar tribes descended upon the Carpathian Basin and decided to stay here. The leaders of the tribes pledged allegiance to Arpad and hence the Hungarians had both united and found a home. The year was 896 AD, and the place was Opusztaszer. Our day there was very pleasant. The weather was beautiful and sunny, and though it's been quite frigid here for a while the temperature mercifully made it up into light jacket weather. The museum is a strange combination of weird Hungarian stuff, ranging from reconstructed ancient Magyar homesteads to Hungarian tractors through the ages. Though the connection between Arpad's accomplishments and Hungarian agriculture seem tenuous to me, it was an interesting place and a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. One of the coolest exhibits is the huge panorama picture of Arpad's conquest that was commissioned for the 1896 celebration of Hungary's 1000th birthday. Unfortunately the no photography policy in the panorama building was strictly enforced.

Sometimes translations here are (hilariously) lacking. "The garden of ruin" described in the sign references the ruins of an ancient monastery.

Traditional Magyar dwellings. The architecture gives away some of their Eastern heritage.

No joke - we found this primitive but awesome bowling lane in one of the traditional Hungarian farmsteads.

The Great Plain stretching out behind the garden of ruin.

Our drive back to Szentes on the back roads of the plains offered some beautiful, if flat, views.

The next day we decided to roam a bit more before Taylor and I were due in Budapest for a meeting of the SOL organizers and teachers. Eager for a little escape from the flatness surrounding us, Tim, Taylor, Sara (the French lecturer) and I jumped in the rented car and drove up to the Kekes, the highest point in Hungary located in the Matra mountains. Our trip up to Matra seemed like it should have taken longer because it took us clear across the country, but at just over 3 hours (even after getting lost on the way in Szolnok) the drive was a reminder of the relative closeness of everything in Hungary. We made it to Kekes with plenty of time to go for a nice long hike. At just over 1000 meters, Hungary's highest point is not so impressively high, but it was still nice to look at the "mountains" in their beautiful fall colors and go for a nice long walk in the woods. Once we'd had our fill of the great outdoors we drove Sara to Budapest to meet some of her French friends and then headed north to our next destination, Esztergom. This was a trip of superlatives, we'd seen Hungary's oldest settlement and its highest point, and now we were headed for Esztergom where we were to find Hungary's largest church.

Sara, Taylor and I about to start our hike on Kekes.

The view from the top of the other Matra mountains.

Esztergom is a beautiful small town on the Danube, which serves as the border with Slovakia here. The area has a rich history dating back to the Celtic tribes and then serving as a Roman fort. Marcus Aurelius allegedly finished writing his Meditations in this fort while he was serving in the military in the fight against those ornery Germanic tribes. It is one of the oldest Hungarian cities and was Hungary's capital before Buda or Pest were really on the map. It was here that Hungary's first Christian King, St Steven, was crowned, and even after losing its title as Hungary's first city it kept its importance as the home of the Hungarian Catholic Church. We arrived long after dark and drove around looking for lodging and food. This turned out to be a bit more labor intensive (and expensive) than we'd thought it would be, so we decided to forgo exploring the impressively glowing Basilica until the next morning. This was unfortunate because on the clear night and with the huge floodlights upon it the Basilica was more beautiful than we would get to see again. When we got up and out the next day we the fog was so thick that we couldn't even see the humongous Basilica that we knew to be there. We spent the morning walking around the pleasant cobblestone streets of Esztergom and then had a nice time up on the hill shared by the huge Basilica and the ruins of an old castle. The fog eventually lifted, but only for about the last hour or so of our time in Esztergom. Still, we had a really nice time touring the quaint little town.

Where is it?

Aha!

The inside of the Basilica's enormous dome.

Scenic and quaint Esztergom from the ramparts of the castle ruins.

Just as the day became absolutely gorgeous (albeit freezing) it was time to go. Taylor and I were due for our meeting with SOL, the organization that sent us here. We made our way back to Budapest along a road that runs beside the Danube. It was a beautiful drive and soon we were back in the big city. We dropped off the car at Hertz and began walking around Budapest. My last visit to this fantastic city was in some seriously dreary weather, and though it was still beautiful, blue skies and sunshine really made it something spectacular. We weren't particularly in a rush to the SOL meeting so we decided just to walk all the way to the meeting, halfway across the city. Tim tagged along with us until we were near the meeting and then he split off to do some exploration of his own. Taylor and I arrived to the SOL group just in time for an excursion up to the Citadella, a memorial on top of Gellert Hill that offers great views of the city. Though we had done this on our last trip to Budapest, we had done it at night and I was happy to take in the view in the afternoon. We had a really great time hanging out with the SOL people. The organizers are extremely kind and they treated us to a huge dinner (for Hungarians do not know of any other kind of dinner) and lots of great conversation. After hours around the dinner table talking some went to bed while others went out to a bar on Moskva Ter for a few beers and more discussion (mostly bitching). It was cathartic for Taylor and I to talk to the other SOL volunteers from all around Hungary who had stories of bureaucratic woe and student struggles that actually made ours seem pretty tame. It was also nice to hear that we weren't the only ones who hadn't just fallen into a nice social group and that loneliness was something that everyone moving to a new country alone goes through. Some of the other volunteers are much worse off than Taylor and I, indeed we're lucky at least to be able to hang out with one another. We've vowed to visit and be visited by some of the other SOL people so that should offer some good times and good travel opportunities in the future.

The view from the Citadella as afternoon turns to evening

The next morning we were up early for discussion with the SOLers. We sat around the Education Ministry's guest house all morning and then Grenville and Kati, the SOL organizers, provided us with a light lunch. After that the team dispersed and most people were off to their respective Hungarian towns. I decided to stay in Budapest for a while because it was such a beautiful day and Tim was out and about. I met Tim beside the river and we spent the afternoon walking around and I showed him what I could of Budapest. Eventually, however, it was time to face the facts. It was getting dark on Sunday evening and the last bus to Szentes was leaving and my precious break was over. Sigh - back to school.

Certainly my most extreme picture of the Parliament building

My first week back from break was a good week. Having looked forward to the excitement of the Oct 23rd and Fall Breaks for such a long time it was a bit depressing to look at how far away my next break - Christmas - is on my calendar (7 weeks). At least I like the job most days. Tim spent the week on the internet at my apartment trying to plan the logistics of his trip, which he is hoping to take beyond Europe. The week progressed quickly and then on Friday night I made a humongous pot of hearty stew to fend off the freezing weather and the wintry mix precipitation and had a tiny dinner party with Taylor, Sara, and Tim. We had a nice time feasting and letting Tim try his first Hungarian palinka. The next day, once the remaining palinka had left our systems, Tim and I headed down to Szeged to sightsee for the weekend. Though this was my fourth time in the city it was my first time to really look around because during my first few visits all I saw was the walk between the bus station and the Immigration Office. We had arranged to couchsurf in Szeged and it turned out to be perhaps my favorite experience with couchsurfers yet. We stayed with a really nice guy named Zsolt and his girlfriend Kata who took us out to an artsy little cafe/bar where we met a big group of their friends. Szeged is a university town and the assembled group really reflected that. It was great to be with a big group of outgoing and funny people. They were sympathetic to my poorly-suppressed frustration with a few of the aspects of small town Hungarian life, having for the most part come from small towns in Hungary themselves, and made me extremely happy by encouraging me to start coming down to Szeged any weekend I wanted to. The next day couchsurfers did right by us again when we met Julianna, a student at Szeged who for various logistical reasons we didn't get to stay with but who still offered to come out and show us around. Tim and I went to the New Synagogue to wait for her, which was perhaps the most beautiful house of worship I've seen in Hungary yet. The inside was absolutely spectacular, and we were even lucky enough to have someone playing the organ as we walked around. Unfortunately my camera's battery ran out right after I took the first picture of the inside, but hopefully that picture of the ornate cupola will give you an idea of how nice the synagogue is. Right after we left we met Julianna, who took us to a nice cafe where we sat with her for a long time talking. She spoke flawless English, having spent over a year living in New Zealand, and was exceptionally kind. After a few strong Hungarian coffees Tim wanted to get his last bit of traditional Hungarian food before moving onwards to his next stop, Romania. Julcsi knew just the place, a tiny little restaurant called 90C, named after the bra size of the two buxom Hungarian babushka owners/cooks. The food was certainly delicious and again the conversation was wonderful. Afterwards we walked around for a bit before Tim had to hit the road and I felt 24 unplanned classes calling my name all the way from Szentes. Returning to Szentes was nice, especially because I got to reflect on the fact that my weekend in Szeged had given me a few new friends in Hungary.

The Dome Church is perhaps Szeged's most famous monument

The C stands for vitamin C! This useful vitamin was discovered by a Hungarian professor at the University of Szeged, Albert Szent-Gyorgyi.

The beautiful cupola inside Szeged's New Synagogue

Julianna and Tim outside of the University's School of Arts building. The statue commemorates the 1956 Revolution. It was in this building that the first revolutionaries gathered and started the revolt against the Soviets, about a week before revolution fever took Budapest by storm.

playing catch up

2007-10-30T10:36:00.000+01:00

Hungarian for the day: Meleg vagyok. Literally "I'm warm" but colloquially "I'm gay." I did not know this when trying to explain to my Freshman students the English word "warm" and its uses by using my paltry Hungarian and saying "meleg vagyok." In retrospect this explains the outbreak of pandemonium in a few of my classes.

Well it's been too long since my last update. The first part of October was pretty hum-drum and I didn't update because of a lack of much to say. Life in Szentes maintains its quiet and peaceful stasis. Classes continue to go very well and I still really enjoy working with the kids. Even some of my more problematic students/classes don't get to me anymore and I've witnessed some complete turnarounds in attitudes with a few kids. Other than work, the middle of October was spent just getting more and more into a number of small-town livin' routines. I know my greengrocer and bakery lady pretty well now, and have been busying myself with studying lots of Hungarian and teaching a few of my older students the ins and outs of American indie music and Texas Holdem' poker.

All month was spent looking forward to the end of the month, which brought a number of excellent, fantastic, and wonderful things: two visits from friends, two visits to Budapest, and, that's right, TWO school breaks. I was also looking forward to my first paycheck but that didn't happen. I won't get into that here because it would just ruin this wonderful mood that I'm in now but suffice to say I'm still battling the bureaucracy and my fingers are crossed that I will, one day soon, get a paycheck. At any rate, the school breaks are due to one of Hungary's largest holidays of the year on Oct 23rd and then the standard week long Fall Break this week. For some reason to make up for our breaks (?) we had school for the past two Saturdays, but if that's what it takes to get a few extended periods of time during which I do not have to get up at 6AM then that's fine. Last Saturday was the day I had been waiting for all month, my trip to Budapest to meet Jen and explore the city for the first time. Both Taylor and I were excited all week about getting out of Szentes in favor of going somewhere a bit more thrilling - a place where we wouldn't see our students everywhere we went. Ironically, last week two different students said they saw me from far away in Budapest, and another was on our return bus from Szentes!

We spent Saturday night through Tuesday afternoon in Budapest, so really not a lot of time. To compensate for this we packed each day full of exploration. Most of our time in Budapest was spent just getting to know it by foot. The amount of walking we did left Jen and Taylor absolutely incredulous, while even I, after two months of walking about 5 miles each day just getting around, felt a bit exhausted by it. Still, the amount of stuff we glimpsed in only three days of sightseeing is impressive. For me, knowing that this was Jen's only time in Budapest and my first trip of many to the city, the priority was spending time with my old friend and getting a whirlwind tour of the place. The holiday closed most of the museums for our entire stay in Budapest, which was good because I was more interested in utilizing my 6 days with Jen and comparing notes between our new lives overseas than quietly reading about Hungarian Art History in a museum together. Also, it was a great time to walk around and see the city. October 23rd is a very important day in Hungarian history, and Budapest is at the epicenter of the action. This is the day when Hungarians remember the Revolution of 1956, an idealistic if ill-fated affair that involved Hungarians giving the commies the boot and trying to become a Western style Democracy as Austria had endeavored to do only months before. Well, it didn't go so well, and Soviet troops spilled over the border to ensure Hungary's enthusiastic participation in their Brave New World order for 33 more years of puppet government and oppression. Hungarian holidays in general are a bit less carefree than ours in America. Last year's celebration was a big deal for two reasons: it was the fiftieth anniversary and happened to fall directly after the Hungarian Prime Minister's tapes admitting to a couple of years of vicious lying were released. The celebration-cum-protest shut down Budapest and a number of people were injured and killed. This year many expected a similar situation, with that same Prime Minister still in power after refusing to step down and slated to give a speech. Appropriate to the holiday at hand, one of the first things we did in Budapest was go the the House of Terror, a building that served for years as the HQ of Hungarian secret police under both Nazi and Communist governments and has become a museum of the German and Soviet occupations of Hungary. This gave us some incite into the significance of the current holiday in the Hungarian heart. Then on Oct 22nd we observed some of the most heavily armored cops I have ever seen shutting down most of the cities main gathering points. We met up with some friends of Taylor's who were living in Budapest and spent the evening in an out-of-the-way pub while the Prime Minister's speech at the Opera House a few blocks away inspired the use of some mob violence and Molotov cocktails. One of the girls we were with was a Hungarian native of Budapest so we felt safe under her guidance. Indeed we found her guidance quite agreeable, for each time she hung up the phone with her mother who was glued to the news coming from the unrest she simply remarked "we should probably just order another round." We waited out the evening's violence and walked back to our hostel in a roundabout way. The next day, Oct 23rd itself, brought with it more revolutionary celebration. Walking through a small exhibit about the revolution near Hero's Square we were asked to come along on a "Freedom Ride" around the area. So we boarded an old truck in the '56 freedom fighting style and drove around for a bit with a bunch of Hungarians waving flags and shouting revolutionary slogans.

The Terror House - a fascinating museum that commemorates Hungary's turbulent 20th Century in the building where many of the nastiest bits took place: the former secret police hq.

Taylor, Jen and I spent the eve of the revolution in a very bohemian bar with strange lighting and stranger seating - pictured here sitting in a bathtub.

On the back of the freedom riding truck with lots of zealous Hungarians.

In addition to the celebration of the '56 Revolution, the trip to Budapest will stand out in my memory as my first introduction to a really fantastic place. Budapest is an absolutely gorgeous city with a certain vibrancy to it. We climbed Gellert Hill in Buda one evening to enjoy a bottle of Hungarian wine and the view of the city straddling the Danube as it lit up. We strolled though Margaret Island, a huge park in the middle of the river, eating some delicious and not so healthy Hungarian street food (langos) as we contemplated how very far away from noisy city life the island sanctuary seems. The architecture of Budapest is another really stand out feature of the city, be it the Gothic of the Parliament or the ubiquitous baroque style ornamenting most of the city's buildings. We also did a perfunctory exploration of the city's tumultuous history while on top of Castle Hill on the Buda side of the Danube. All in all a great introduction to a city that I hope to spend much more time in over the next year or two.

Szecsenyi Bridge all decked out in Hungarian flags for the revolution.

Hero's Square, one of Budapest's most important places

The view of Castle Hill and the Danube from Gellert Hill.

Budapest gets its name from the two cities of Buda and Pest, once separate entities that have merged. Here is the view of flat and bustling Pest at night from the hilly and significantly quieter Buda side of the Danube.

Looking out across the river from Castle Hill

Jen and Budapest just look so good together

The state of Nagy Imre, leader and martyr of the 1956 revolt, gazing contemplatively at Hungary's Parliament on October 23rd, exactly 51 years after the short lived revolution.

By Tuesday afternoon it was time to head back to sleepy Szentes for classes early the next morning. Taylor and I were both a bit bummed out at leaving the fun of tourist and city life for the alarm clock waking us up for a day or work at 6:00 in the morning. Still, as we pulled into Szentes' bus station something unexpected and strange occurred. I felt like I was returning home and was pretty excited to show Jen my little town. She only had a couple of days in Szentes because as a Peace Corps volunteer it's tough for her to stay out of Albania for very long. Still, we packed lots of Szentes into her two days here, though admittedly it's not the kind of destination that takes long to see. Jen spent Wednesday with me at school co-teaching my classes with a letter her students had written from Albania. My students seemed to enjoy meeting her, learning about Albania, and telling Jen what to tell her Albanian students about Hungary. She also taught a few classes with me on Thursday but spent most of the day exploring Szentes on her own. In the evenings Taylor and I prepared two Hungarian specialties, gulyas and paprikas krumpli. Jen was thrilled to have boys cooking for her after 8 months in hyper-patriarchal Albania. It was really great to talk to Jen about her experiences living abroad because we are both from pretty much the same place with very similar backgrounds and the same group of friends, so we bring a lot of the same baggage to the table when it comes to getting by over here. Talking about the similarities between our experiences in two very different countries was pretty profound, and I think I gained a lot from talking to someone who had been getting by over here for 8 months. The days of her visit to Hungary flew by much more rapidly than I ever dreamed days in Hungary could and before I knew it I was walking her to the bus station to bid farewell to her before school.

That day coming home from school I noticed a motorbike and a hooded figure reading "Atlas Shrugged" and realized that my friend Tim must have arrived. Tim is embarking upon a motorcycle trip around Europe and I'd been expecting him for a bit so it was a good surprise. Lucky me, two friends visiting in a row! Tim's visit falls on my Fall Break, so we're planning on spending the next few days looking around Southern Hungary. After a very busy last couple of weeks between travel, visitors, work, and Hungarian bureaucratic sadism, I was ready for a couple of days bumming around and getting my back-burner to do list done. After months on a motorcycle Tim just wanted to do nothing at all, so we've been doing nothing the past few days. After exploring some of this region's charms, we're headed back to Budapest for a couple of days. I've got a meeting with the other teachers from my program (and free lodging and food!) and Tim has never seen the city. I'll try to be more prompt in reporting our journeys over the next few days!

Szia!

Good news, then a hazing

2007-10-06T11:58:00.001+02:00

First for the good news: On Thursday I got a call saying I'd been approved for a visa. This is excellent because now I'll be here legally and even get paid! It's also great because on Wednesday, by far my toughest day of teaching, I'll instead be on a little field trip to Serbia with Gyula and Taylor to slap that visa into my passport, buy a winter coat at the market, and then apply for a residency permit back in Szeged.

Life here is going well, particularly with my job. One of the major reasons I came here was to see if I was cut out to be a teacher. The life plan is to try and get a Ph.d. and teach in a college, but I didn't want to devote myself to at least 5 (and probably 6 or 7) more years of schooling only to finally get that doctorate and then find out that I hate teaching. What would I do then? With my estimated time of getting a doctorate at 31 or 32, I'd already be approaching that time of vulnerability for a mid-life crisis. It would probably lead me to the bottle. Well I don't think I have to worry, at least about the teaching part. I'm really enjoying it, and my job teaching here is the best job I've ever had. Sure it's very tiring and comes full of struggles, but overall I'm having a great time with my students and I think they've warmed up to me. My favorite groups are my ninth graders because they're not disillusioned yet and they are full of enthusiasm. Three times I've walked into the room with different ninth grade groups to find "WE LOVE PAUL" written on the board. They'll probably all get pretty good grades in my class... It really is great to have a job that I love. Indeed, a few of those quiet weekends alone in the apartment have found me on Sunday night just itching to get back to school.

Where the magic happens, my school: Boros Samuel Szakkisepiskola

Also good news is that I'm (finally finally finally) getting to know a lot more Hungarians. After the excitement of moving here wore off and I fell into my routines I endured a pretty lonely stretch there. This is the first time I've lived alone, and in a foreign country with no human contact on the horizon many nights drove me to really reconsider this whole willingly exiling myself in small-town Hungary thing I'm doing. But last weekend brought with it good things, not one but two party invites! Agi, one of my favorite colleagues, had a big dinner party at her house last Friday night and invited a bunch of colleagues, her older students, and Szentes' three foreigners: Taylor, myself, and Sara, the very charming French lecturer. That party was really fun and I found out that some of my colleagues actually speak English, and with my limited Hungarian (and a few beverages) we were able to break that language barrier. It felt pretty great to come to work on Monday and have more than 3 people say hello to me all day. Then on Saturday one of my favorite students, Peter, who is in one of my older classes (my school is kind of like a community college in a way, and he is 19) invited me to the birthday party of one of his brother's friends. It turns out his brother's friend is another one of my colleagues. He had us to his place and it was another really great night of meeting Hungarians, learning lots of new words, and witnessing how much they truly love their palinka.

It's not all roses over here though. Last night brought with it something truly horrifying: my hazing. Hungarian schools have a very proud tradition of thoroughly embarrassing their new teachers and students. All of the ninth grade students wear ridiculous costumes with a definite cross-dressing theme and have to perform embarrassing acts in front of their peers. As if being 14 isn't a rough enough. Well, the new teachers also get theirs. Two weeks ago Taylor had his turn, he had to say a couple of tongue twisters in front of the entire school. Embarrassing, yes, but it only took all of 20 seconds. Last night was my school's festival of cruelty. Two of my colleagues (new teachers) had to write a Hungarian story using a lot of very strange phrases, phrases difficult for a native Hungarian to pronounce. Then last night I got to read the story to the entire school! It wouldn't have been so bad if not for the handwriting - I couldn't read a damn word on the page. And so I stood there, brow soaked in sweat and stammering and really doing my best not to say some very naughty English words over the PA system that the entire school and various Szentes celebrities were listening to. I think I did let an "Oh, Christ" out. It was a painful 5 minutes, but hey, at least I didn't have to cross dress like my students. After the cruelty there was a faculty dinner, which was a great time, and a dance for the students, which I stood around for a bit just to get a few laughs in. Sara and I then chose to make our escape and meet Taylor, Peter, and a bunch of Peter's friends in a nearby pub for a few drinks that by then I desperately needed.

Today my big plan is to make a new pile of Hungarian flash cards and go on a long walk. I leave you with pictures of the circus. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of the really cruel pranks because they either took place outside of the gathering (like sending cross-dressed kids into bars to beg for money) or everyone clamored around them and I didn't want to add to the humiliation with my camera.

Struggling hard core.

Two of my well-dressed students in a card house competition.

Which class can use the least number of feet?

Taylor's hazing.

Happy Anniversary

2007-09-27T22:01:00.000+02:00

At 10PM it's far past my teacher bedtime and I am too tired for a substantial post. Only, today while dating my lesson logs I realized that the 27th was my one month anniversary with Hungary and it seems fitting that I write something short here. A month ago today I landed in Budapest, excited and terrified. Living alone in a foreign country is full of ups and downs, but I have to say that if I could have taken a peek at my day to day here in Szentes, I think I would have been much less nervous as that plane landed.

Serbia

2007-09-21T13:16:00.001+02:00

Hungarian for the day: Sajt - cheese. Noted here only because of how it is pronounced, shait, as in the way the Irish say shit. This has provided me endless entertainment and really made me wonder how much more mature I am than my students.

Yesterday (Thursday the 20th) was the big day of truth: a trip to the Hungarian consulate in Serbia to try and obtain a visa. The problem is that I should have obtained all my papers before leaving the states because once you are in Hungary you cannot apply for a visa. That was impossible for both Taylor and I, however, because our schools were being reorganized from two separate schools into one and there was no headmaster over the summer and hence nobody to sign (and stamp) my official documents. Hence we needed to leave the country and go to a Hungarian consulate in a neighboring country to apply for a visa. Since Serbia's consulate in Subotica is by far the nearest one to Szentes, off to Serbia we went.

Gyula (pron Djula), Taylor's boss, happened to be from this Serbian town so he was the logical one to accompany us. Northern Serbia's population is more than half ethnically Hungarian, and Gyula is one of these Hungarians who grew up in Serbia, identifies as Hungarian, and speaks both languages. He picked me up at 7 in the morning and after a brief stop at the Gimnasium (his school) to make sure that our numerous papers were in order we were off. The drive and border crossing went smoothly and took only 2 hours so we arrived in Subotica with plenty of time to make our appointment. Our time at the Hungarian consul was anticlimactic. We turned in our papers, they thought they were really confusing, and said that things looked okay but they would have to spend thirty days thinking about it and forwarding the documents back and forth to Budapest before they could be sure of anything. Sigh. There was one very auspicious development in that Gyula had gone to school with a woman who works at the Hungarian consulate. He described her as "someone I very much wished to be closer with" but said she had sadly aged over 25 years. At any rate, they had a very congenial sounding conversation and at the end he said that she would try her best to make sure things moved along with our applications. Here's hoping!

By the time we were done with our official business it was still only midmorning. I kind of feared we'd turn back around and be back in time for afternoon classes, which I would have been completely unprepared for. My fears were unwarranted because Gyula was eager to show us around his youthful stomping grounds as well as hit up a number of stores and markets to stock up on some of his favorite products from Serbia. We spent a really fun day sightseeing and listening to Gyula talk about his past and what life was like growing up in Serbia. He was quite effusive and generous, treating us to lunch where he assured us we'd get the best pizza in the world (really good but I'm still for the Chicago deep dish) and insisting that we try Serbian palinka. I'm glad that if we're lucky and get our visas we'll have to go back to Serbia with him again for another day of Serbian food and bargain shopping. Much better than playing the name game or trying to convince a room full of disillusioned Hungarian 16 year olds wearing Slip Knot t-shirts to talk about their hobbies in English. For once the Hungarian bureaucracy seems to be working for me!

Subotica's town hall was built by Hungarians before they lost the territory after WWI. It's a stunning building covered in intricate and hand-crafted traditional Hungarian wood and ceramic ornaments.

Gyula explains the history of Subotica to Taylor in the city's main square.

A fountain constructed completely from handmade ceramics

The McDonalds around the world always seem to pick the most conspicuous spots to set up shop. Here is one in the corner of the old town hall pictured above.

After a day in the city Gyula took us to a lake outside of Subotica to walk off a huge lunch. He assured us that all of the Serbians and Hungarians in the area had pictures of themselves in front of this fountain from the good old days of their summer lake vacations. Now we do too.

Photos of a quiet Hungarian life

2007-09-18T16:35:00.001+02:00

Hungarian for the day: Paul szerint a magyarul nagyon nehez nyelv. "Paul thinks Hungarian is an extremely difficult language."

I can't believe that I have already been here for three weeks. It has certainly flown by. Now I'm already falling into my routines and habits and life here has taken on a fairly pedestrian feel. This is not said as a complaint. I'm happy to be forming routines and getting acclimated to living here - it hasn't always been an easy process. There's one last major step before I really live here: on Friday Taylor and I are headed down to Serbia to the Hungarian consulate there to see if we can become legal, visa-holding aliens. Once that (fingers crossed) goes through it will all be official. Failing that, at least I'll see you all a bit sooner than expected!

The last few days of teaching last week went very well. I was a bit stressed by the impending mountain of paperwork I was supposed to be doing, but classes themselves were productive and I think more and more I'm going to have a good year with most of my students. Two different colleagues came up to me on Friday and said they had had students compliment my class, so I'm happy because I thought a lot of them disliked me for actually making them do stuff. Well I'm sure some of them do, but at least some of them are happy to learn. Also nice was that when I just didn't turn in all my work on Friday nobody batted an eye. I suppose that deadlines here really don't mean too much either, so I gave myself an extension. Last Thursday brought an exciting new development, my first couchsurfer. Couchsurfing is a site where you sign up to host/be hosted all around the world. Basically it amounts to staying with a stranger that you meet over the internet, which sounds extremely sketchy but it's actually a really great way to travel. Having had a friend recommend it to us, Alina and I used a similar site (www.globalfreeloaders.com) out West on our road trip and had a few great experiences with it. My first couchsuring experience was also very positive. A Frenchman named Philippe stayed with me on Thursday and Friday nights. He is biking all the way from Paris to Istanbul, so he had a lot of really interesting stories to share. He was very friendly and even stocked my kitchen with more than I had in it (bread) and did the dishes in the sink (a coffee percolator and a mug for each day of the week...). On Friday night he and I joined Taylor at Chicago, the local American themed restaurant cum billiards club and bowling alley. Yeah, it's as awesome as it sounds. We played a few pool games and then ate a whole lot of pizza, which felt just great after nearly a month of purely Hungarian food. Not that Hungarian food is bad, it just lacks variety and ethnic food hasn't exactly caught on here in Szentes. It's pretty sad the shameful things I would probably do for some good Thai or Mexican food. At any rate, the rest of the night was spent hanging out with a few of Taylor's older students at a local pub and then going to a big palinka and wine festival in the main square. It was a lot of fun and I actually picked up a few new Hungarian phrases.

Philippe observes as Taylor lines up a shot in Chicago's billiards room

From the billiards room we got to watch our hoodlums, I mean, students doing some bike tricks. Look carefully for the midair blur there and you might make out one of my freshman.

The rest of my weekend was much less eventful, though it did include things that excited me immensely such as time to sleep 12 hours in a row, a run to Tesco where I bought a few essentials for my apartment, and enough sunshine to do and dry all of my laundry which becomes a pretty big deal when living without a drier. Other than that I did a lot of work for school and was therefore kind of peeved when in discussing the past weekend with students I discovered that they generally don't have any homework over the weekends. Then why do I? Oh well, I ostensibly planned every class I'll have for the rest of the year and all of my syllabuses are off to be stamped and dropped off in some basement. It's good to feel like you're working for a cause. At any rate, I leave you now with some pictures of my town and apartment:

I took this on my walk to school. My commute is quite a trek at about a mile each way, but it's nearly entirely along the river and it's so beautiful that it always puts me in a good mood. Well, as long as it isn't raining.

Nothing says Eastern Europe like the juxtaposition of Old World charm and concrete.

Szentes is a biking town and there are probably more bikes than cars or pedestrians. Once I know I'll be here for the long term (post visa) I'll be in the market for a bike myself.
My apartment building. The two windows on the left on the second floor are mine.The view from my balcony is very peaceful, all weeping willows and kids at the playground. I live in the "Garden City" part of Szentes, remote but very safe, easy going, and friendly.

My apartment, where 70s style is still alive and well!

Fight The (Hungarian) Man!

2007-09-12T18:41:00.000+02:00

Hungarian for the day -
Mi ujsag? (mee uy-shaag) - What's new? Used like "how are you doing?"
Kepzeld.... (Kape-zeld) - Imagine that..... and you tell them what's new in your life.

Well I'm back from excursion number two to Szeged's Office of Immigration and once again no dice. While last week the official had assured us that we didn't need to get our visa before applying for our residence permits and that new stamps were what we'd need (and my paperwork is stamped like nobody's business), this official was of a different opinion. We need to go to the Hungarian consulate in Serbia to get our visas before we can even think of residence permits. While I'm bummed that I've spent the last two weeks on a fool's errand for something I can't even apply for, on some level I'm actually happy because now at least my school knows I will need a visa and will hopefully help me accquire one. "Hopefully" is the key word there.

Besides the bureaucrats and their lies life is going well. I've had a great two days of teaching, and I think that the kids and I will get on quite well this year. This is not to say that every day does not bring its struggles. For example, yesterday I could not figure out where room 3 was. I hadn't checked where it was because I had already taught in room 5, which was on the ground floor, and I assumed that 3 would just be two doors down. When I finally found an English speaking colleague to ask she replied "Oh that's in the other building." Nobody told me there was another building. Life lesson: always ask if there is another building. This other building contains rooms 3, 4, 18a, 22, and F - it's all so logical! Also, I must remember in future similar situations to ask up front for all the paperwork I will need to fill out. Today I learned that I need to have a syllabus for each of my 16 classes that plans out each of my 21 lessons for the next 36 weeks. And I haven't met 7 of the groups still because of random scheduling pandamonium. And it's due Friday. The good thing about working within such an obtuse and bizzare structure is that bull shitting is standard. When I told my colleague I would have to completely fabricate the documents and would probably never stick to them she acted like that was a given. So why do it in the first place? You can be sure the answer involves stamps - probably of many different drab colors with those cute little lines for paper pushers to sign.

The best thing I did this week was introduce a tongue twiser some of my more advanced (read: breezed through my lesson plan) students. I'm learning that teaching is a lot like leading a bunch of wolves, and that you have got to be the top dog if you are going to get anywhere. The tongue twister nicely leveled their egos and, because I practiced it pretty extensively before hand, I nearly got a standing ovation. Just call me Mr. Alpha Dog. I give this to you in case you ever need to impress a room full of Hungarian 17 year olds:

Betty Botter bought some butter
"But," she said "this butter's bitter.
If I bake this bitter butter
it will make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter
that would make my batter better."
So she bought a bit of butter
better than her bitter butter,
and she put it in her batter
and the batter was not bitter.
So 'twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter.

Of course with my crafty class I had to promise that if three of them could perfect the whole thing I'd do a Hungarian tongue twister. Three of them did, and they got quite a kick out of my , er...awesome Hungarian skills.

I am that teacher who is always covered in chalk dust

2007-09-10T15:30:00.000+02:00

Hungarian for the day: Kerek sor - Beer please!

My first week of being a Hungarian teacher is behind me and I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing. Monday I showed up for the opening ceremonies, which seemed very nice although they were in Hungarian so I really have no idea what they were talking about. At one point I got elbowed in the side by one of the English teachers sitting next to me and I had to stand up and be recognized. The mayor was there and he came up to me and gave me a friendly handshake and bantered on in Hungarian for a while. After the ceremony I spent all day doing paperwork and sitting around while the other teachers in my school ran around like lunatics. I didn't have any classes, and I didn't realize that here if you don't have classes then you don't have any reason to be at school, so I pretty much sat around awkwardly all day. Tuesday was my first day in the classroom, and my very first class was one that I had been warned about as having behavioral problems. They were fine, a few of the boys were problematic but since it's a group of students who have already graduated and are there pretty much so they can pass an English business certification exam given by the EU, I told them I had no problem kicking them out if they didn't want to be there. So now we're all friends! For some reason I didn't have many classes last week, but I did have this one class twice every day so now I feel like I know them pretty well and we get along nicely.

My teaching load is very strange. They try and expose the native English speaker to as many students as possible, so I will meet most of my classes only once a week. I have 21 classes a week, with 16 different groups of students. At about 15 students per class, that makes somewhere in the vicinity of 240 different students. That is a terrifying number of Hungarian names to learn, but the good news is that there really aren't that many different Hungarian names. Some of them are pretty awesome, like Zoltan, an extremely common name which sounds to me like someone who should be wearing a helmet with horns coming out of it and is the Hungarian word for king. I still haven't met about half of my students because of random beginning of the year disorder like state placement exams and retreats for new students, but I'm feeling pretty good about the students I have met. Of course, when you're dealing with a couple hundred high school students there are bound to be some evil little turds. For the most part, however, my students seem good natured and willing to work with me. I have been very surprised by the huge number of Hungarian adolescents who seem to really go for that goth look, but then again we're pretty close to Transylvania here in Szentes. The only real problem I see with students is that, though most have been in English classes for 7 to 11 years, most of them have really weak English abilities. At the same time, they don't really seem to think of the native English speaker's conversation classes as real classes - they said last year they mostly watched Friends and Prison Break. I'm kind of torn with this, because many of these students really need a swift kick in the ass if they want to get anywhere with their English, which they obviously do not desire or think they need. Some of my favorite sentences I've received on the little index cards I had them write for me about themselves are along the lines of "I am been studying the English for 10 years ago 'cause it easy language." Is it, now? It would be way easier for me to just watch TV every class, but I'd really like to try and help these kids. So I'll try my best to give them so good practice for their English orals and then let them watch Ice Age or play hangman when they seem like they've reached a breaking point.

Other than lots of work as I meet throngs of students, life here is becoming more routine. I'm figuring little things out and my Hungarian language abilities, while still paltry, get me by in stores and the most common situations that occur around town. I have a really bling new cell phone, or "mobile" as they say here, and I figured out that my water is not toxic but from the thermal wells under the city and therefore smells and tastes like sulfur. Apparently it's good for the joints, which sounds all well and good but I'm still not drinking it because it tastes like what I'd imagine skunk spray tastes like. I got legitimate internet hooked up in my apartment and even appeared in the paper from the lecso festival. Unfortunately the paper doesn't publish many articles online so I can't show off my fame, but that's okay becuase it's not the most flattering picture anyway. Also, my school has started moving on the legal front, not that there's been any real progress yet. My boss relegated the task of getting my papers in order to the youngest faculty member, a very kind and pretty woman named Evelin who is definitely doing her best to be helpful but is as perplexed by the Hungarian bureaucracy as I am. Last Wednesday she took Taylor and I to Szeged, the nearest major city, to the immigration office to get our residence permits. Well, naturally we didn't have one of the forms stamped, and though the same exact stamp was already on two of our application forms and we had obviously visited the school official needed for said stamp, there was one form quite outrageously devoid of any official looking stampage. So we were sent back. Hungarian bureaucracy, you see, hasn't evolved all that much since five decades of communism, and stamps are very, very important. The good news is that said stamp was easily procured and that the woman said everything else looked in good order so things should fall into place when we go back there this Wednesday. The next hurdle will be my visa, which is going to be tough because nobody at my school thinks I need one. That will be a fun conversation "No, really you have got to drive me to Belgrade to apply for this so that I don't get stranded here/thrown into Hungarian jail." I'm really looking forward to that one, but for now it's one step at a time.

Well I've got a lot of lesson planning to do and eventually I'd like to even go forging for food. Sorry about the shortage of pics thus far, I really need to walk around town with a camera or, better yet, do something worth taking pictures of. More soon, viszlat!

This weekend I ate at least a pig

2007-09-03T06:57:00.000+02:00

Hungarian for the day: Hello - used to say goodbye. I suppose they assume that our hello is like their szia. It takes some getting used to.

Monday morning and in 20 minutes I'm off to the first day of school! I'm nervous but also excited. Today is opening ceremonies and then classes with "form teachers." I don't know what a form teacher is but I'm not one, so I'll be observing my colleague Judit's English lessons. Then tomorrow I start my own teaching.

I enjoyed my first weekend in Hungary immensely but I don't think that my arteries did. Saturday Gabi, a colleague of Taylor's who has taken both of us under her wing, took us with some of her friends to a lesco (pron lay - cho ) festival. Two streets were blocked off and everyone had big cauldrons over open fires boiling with different types of lesco, which is a traditional Hungarian stew that, like most Hungarian food, consists of a lot of lard, onions, pork, paprika, and a few vegetables. We were given bowls and walked from lecso to lecso trying the different family recipes. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, which I really regret because with over 200 lecso entries, a big stage replete with traditional dances, gypsie songs, and Bon Jovie covers, and an entire town of drunken Hungarians wandering around gorging themselves, it was really something to see. One of Gabi's friends is a journalist here in Szentes who was there covering the festival and she had her photographer take a bunch of pics of Taylor and I being served our first lecso. She said here in Szentes Americans eating lecso might just be front page news. Yesterday also brought with it a Hungarian dining experience that left me feeling more blimp than human. Gabi's family had us over for lunch, which was one of the biggest feasts I've ever seen. Her family didn't speak English but they were exceptionally friendly towards us and seemed emphatic that if we ever had questions or problems we should go directly to them. Touched and slightly worried about our stomachs splitting, we spent the rest of the day enjoying the perfect weather and walking around the town, contemplating our impending first days as real teachers.

That's all for now - I need to get pretty for my debut to 400 Hungarian high school students. Szia!

Stranger in a strange land

2007-09-01T12:01:00.000+02:00

Hungarian for the day: Szia (see-ya): Hello/goodbye; basically a Hungarian aloha.

Well, here I am. As I write this first post it's a beautiful and sunny Saturday afternoon in this quirky little Hungarian town. I can't believe I have only been here since Monday - it's been a whirlwind of events since then. The few days before my departure were incredibly special, thanks to those of you who were able to make time to see me before my emigration, it was really wonderful. It all made me just that much sadder on Sunday afternoon as I boarded my flight to Munich. The trip was long but smooth and most of the way I tried to read a bit about Hungary or get into The Iliad but I was feeling too homesick and nervous to do much but listen to my fellow travelers snoring and wonder what the hell I was doing. Upon landing in Budapest, however, I was too tired to feel much at all, and made my way with my enormous luggage to the Education Ministry's guest house, and, upon finding I was the first one to arrive, went to my room and passed out. From Monday night to Wednesday all my time was spent getting to know the other teachers serving here in Hungary with SOL (Sharing One Language, which has an unfortunate acronym so we SOL people say it like soul). It's a small but diverse group, surprisingly heavy on the Americans. The organizers, Grenville and Kati, are really kind and we all had a nice time getting to know one another. I think the new teachers really benefited from the anecdotal wisdom of the organizers and the veteran teachers - it looks like there are some very interesting adventures on the horizon. The biggest problem seems to be dealing with the Hungarian bureaucracy, which I am terrified of. My school and the SOL staff do not seem to be too concerned, but I'm quite nervous that I'll never get a visa. It keeps me on my toes I guess, so that's good.

The Danube flowing through Budapest

During orientation in Budapest I did get one piece of very auspicious news, I am not alone in Szentes. SOL places another volunteer at the Gymnasium (college prep high school). Taylor, my Szentes counterpart, is from Seattle, is also 23, and is also here partly to boost his chances of getting into a Ph.d program studying Eastern Europe. I guess I'm not that unique after all. On Wednesday his contact from the Gymnasium drove up to Budapest and picked both of us up. Gyula, an English teacher at Taylor's school, drove us to Szentes Wednesday afternoon and filled us in on what to expect in Szentes and at the schools, where he claims the students are extremely smart and will walk all over a diffident teacher. Good advice, but after a year as a bar manager dealing with cops, drunks, and dealers I'm not feeling too intimidated by a group of small-town Hungarian high school students. That said, I'm sure there will be struggling.

Gyula dropped me off at my apartment and took Taylor to his, and I was happy to find a very nice flat in a very nice neighborhood. Like any new apartment, there some problems. For instance, the tap water smells so bad that after a shower I smell like sulfur, iron, and swamp. Also, try as I might to fiddle with the settings, if my little mini fridge is plugged in, everything in it freezes with impressive swiftness. My apartment is in the very north of town, about a 25 minute walk to the downtown area. Taylor really lucked out with his apartment, on the tenth floor right in the middle of town, huge, and newly redone. Also his water seems significantly less caustic. I'm still quite happy with my first apartment to myself and didn't expect anything this nice. Plus, the walk to the city center is really beautiful and I don't have to make the choice between the sketchy elevator or 10 flights of stairs every time I go out like Taylor does.

Szentes itself seems like it is going to be a great place to live. It's population of about 35,000 seems quite friendly and active, and the town is very safe, clean, and beautiful. Though the population is certainly small by American standards, Hungarian towns of this size have much more to offer than a town this size in America because people don't drive as much and therefore you can walk to most everything that you might need. I'm particularly happy to live just a block from the little river, the Kurca (which smells way better than my tap water and is pronounced "kurtsa"). There is a path down the river that leads to the city center and is a perfect jogging/walking/biking trail. My favorite feature of the town is the big park right in the middle, which is stunningly beautiful and has tennis courts, playgrounds, pools, and endless peaceful green spots. I've spent my time so far mostly trying to get my little life in order before school starts on Monday. Lots of trips to markets, Tesco, cleaning my apartment, and trying to get even the most basic handle on this beguiling language. I never thought I'd miss Russian. Go figure. I am going to try some extreme self discipline in learning the language, so we'll see how that goes.

I did go to my school, which is quite impressive and seems like a great environment. The staff I have met so far have been extremely friendly, although my school is merging with the Gymnasium (a long story I am sure to complain about later) so everyone there is having little melt downs and both Taylor and I feel a bit like it's going to make getting into the loop more difficult. With all the confusion and stress, the native English teachers are afterthoughts - I'm particularly anxious about the visa situation, which nobody at SOL or my school seems to really appreciate. Oh well, I'm no doormat and I'll get it sooner or later. I went to my boss's house for dinner last night and had a very nice time with her and her family. She is the contact for the English "lektor" (that's me!) and, with the school merger that has left my school with no headmaster, has been promoted to el capitan of my school. It sounds like it will be a pretty good place to work and she seems like a good boss, just very stressed out and overworked. I think we'll get along fine - after a few palinkas (very, very strong Hungarian brandy made from plums) we even bantered about in Russian. The staff at the Gymnasium has made more of an effort to reach out to Taylor, which I have benefited from because one of the young English teachers there, Gabi, has invited me to come along to tours of Szentes and even out drinking, which was weird because there were so many kids there that I knew I'd see in class next week.

Well, there is a Hungarian food festival on today so I'm off to shower and go eat lots of free Hungarian cuisine! Szia!

The main square in Szentes

The Kurca running through Szentes' beautiful park

Taylor's 10th floor flat offers incredible views of the entire town.