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 BudapestDuring 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.
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
2 comments:
Wow Paul, it really does look absolutely stunning there. Those are great pictures. I have to say, despite the fact that my friends are all in crazy places, being able to read all of your blogs makes it seem less like you guys have gone into hibernation on Mars, and more like you're doing real things :)
Paul, this is Jon from Sully's. Looks like you made it to Szentes in good shape. Hope your first day teaching was not too traumatic. Nothing exciting going on here. As soon as I get my knees repaired Vonette and I may take a river cruise over there. Good luck.
Szia, Jon
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