I need YOU!

I'm just going to throw out a few things that I lack here in the land of Hungary, that if anyone is feeling generous enough to send out a care package, this is what it might include:
Instant Oatmeal/Cream of Wheat
Ramen noodles
Actually, ANYTHING that you just add water to make
peanut butter
American candy
Calendars with pretty pictures to decorate the flat
Pictures, postcards, magazines with American pictures, or American films or actors and actresses
If you're feeling especially generous, DVDs are always appreciated, since we don't get English television and everything closes at 5pm. Movies or TV shows.

Also, I would really like to start a pen pal program. If anyone would like to be a part of this ministry in another way and would like to write letters to some of my students, please email me and let me know. You can adopt a student or two to pray for and write very simple letters to about your family and America and what you do for fun. I think it would be very helpful and fun for my students, and for you too!

We are switching buildings today. We've been temporarily having school in this one building while another one was being renovated, and they finally got the furniture so it's move-in day! That means it's really crazy and I haven't really taught a lesson because I can't find my classes or there isn't time for anything. But that's fun Hungarian life.

Vác

I am feeling better after a week of hacking and weezing, and the Lord blessed me with a sick day on Friday, allowing me to lay low and recuperate this week. I spent my time sleeping and lesson planning to make this next week more enjoyable, but today I went around and took some pictures of Vác finally. I felt funny doing this at first, since no one takes pictures of where they live, but Sunday afternoons are good times because everything is closed and no one is around. It is a grey day, so the pictures aren't up to my usual standards, but it gives you an idea of what the town looks like.

This is a pic of one of the main streets in town:










This is a picture of the D.O.M., which is a large church right next to my school.









Unfortunately, I'm having trouble downloading other pictures right now. Troubling.
To see more pics, please check out the link ALL PICTURES. Browze my town. This isn't even all of what I wanted to take, but what time permitted me. It's a very cute place I think.

The Baths

It quite suddenly got very rainy and cold. Last week I swear I was pouring sweat everyday on the bus ride home, now I'm wearing heavy sweaters, and it feels like winter. The drastic change in weather seems to be making everybody sick. I'm still blowing my nose like there's no tomorrow while I'm trying to teach a class. Pleasantly enough, I think I'm starting to get the hang of this whole thing. Today I am actually teaching a different lesson to each of my four classes. That means I finally have a plan, and know where each class is and what they need to be taught. Hallelujah! After school I'm going to Budapest to relax in the baths. I feel the Hungarians got something right when they made huge heated bathtubs out of the natural hot springs and decided sitting in them would be a good leisure activity. I'm not going to argue.
It's really hard to believe I've been here for nearly a month. The time has really flown. So much has happened and I've had so little time to process it all. Eventually everything will slow down, but I hope I never lose sight of taking time to appreciate and love all that I'm able to experience and to see. For a minute yesterday I thought back on my time in college and almost for a teensiest second, missed it. I just wanted to sit in a class and not have to be the one to teach it. I never thought that sitting in a class would be "the good life" until I learned how strenous it is to plan so many lessons and then stand up there and engage a class in them. But yesterday I had the chance to have coffee and a pastry with my American student and chat, and so it's a start in getting to know my students, even if it is the only native English speaking one, but it's definitely a start. This job definitely gives me satisfaction more than being a student ever did, and knowing I am exactly where God wants me to be is not a feeling I would change for the world.
Here's some advice to all my readers: Stay warm and cozy, wherever you are today. Take a bath, reflect, thank God for where you are.

Fruit Spaghetti?

I just thought I would throw out there that I just went to a restaurant where I ordered what I thought to be Fruit Spaghetti. It was called speghetti fruite di mare, and had another deceiving description of gymölcleves (I spelled that wrong) which is the word used for fruit soup. So here I am thinking I'm going to try something new, and when I get my spaghetti, I found it looking back at me. These little squids with legs and tentacles and arms were practically crawling around in my spaghetti if they hadn't already been cooked and lathered in tomato sauce. I felt obligated to eat a bit of it, but I admit I picked around the squid, especially when Kim got really excited and picked one up by its leg and started talking to it. I lost my appetite.
Oh, Kim is a lovely ESI teacher in Gödöllo that visited for the weekend. Her and Sarah Jane and I were going to go canoeing today, but we were unfortunately rained out. Sad. It will have to be rescheduled. Instead, we had a delightful movie squid spaghetti kind of day. We also went out to a movie last night, Palindromes, and just in case you are A) American, B) Christian, C) Pro-life, D) sympathetic to the handicapped, or E) against child pornography or molestation, there is a strong chance you will be deeply offended by this movie and should avoid it. It was the only English movie playing, and I'll never make that mistake of just walking in without knowing what I'm watching ever again. Probably in the top three worst movies I've ever seen. If you are a fellow ESI teacher and still feel like watching it, be prepared to look down and avoid eye contact with anyone after the movie who might have noticed you are American. You will be ashamed of your country for making this film.
And believe it or not, it was a lovely weekend. The first one I've spent just hanging out in Vác and taking it easy, and it was very relaxing. I needed the time off. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what to teach my students, and it's coming along on a trial and error basis. It can be frustrating, but I love it when I'm walking down the hallway and a kid will make a big deal out of saying ˝Good Morning Teacher!˝ just to impress me. It's very cute. There is an American student, actually, who is spending a year abroad as an exchange student. She's very cool, and doesn't speak Hungarian either, but communicates in German or English to the bilingual students. I will probably start hanging out with her, and I think she'll be a good way to start hanging out with more of my students too. It's also just nice to talk English with someone at my school at a normal pace.
Aight, peace out.

Hungary Team!

HUNGARY/SLOVAKIA TEAM 2005-06

Look! I have a picture of the new Hungary/Slovakia team!
On the top row we have our beautiful country director Danielle, Kim, Sarah Jane (my wonderful teammate), ME, Karen and Mel (Slovaks). Second row is Tracy, Laura, Sam, Shantra, Erin, and Lori. On the bottom are Steve and Lydia Herrman and their cute kids Hanna, Marcus, and Blanka. Lydia is from Hungary and gave us great lessons on the language at training.

Ok, a few key faces are missing, like Jon and Brady and Erick and Skye and Janelle, but I promise I will get some pictures of them soon. I have no idea why Matt isn't in this picture, but C'est la vie. Look back at a previous entry for a scary picture of Jon and Brady (sorry guys, I'll get a better one), and I stole this from Sam's page:

This is just a super picture of Sam and Erick. I also stole this not so flattering picture of myself with Sam because Sam is just such a cool guy with great hair and makes stupendous food.

So those are a few introductions. I love my team.

Budapest Wine Festival

Well, this week has been almost a blur. Teaching is getting better, but I've been so busy this week that I've become terrible at updating this blog thing. This last weekend I had a retreat with everyone, and I didn't get to take a picture of everyone on the team like I wanted, so maybe at Thanksgiving. We did go to the wine festival in Budapest which was on Castle Hill, looking out over the river. Drinking wine and watching the sunset over the river was truly breathtaking.

The sun goes down and the lights come on in Budapest.

Here are a few of my team members at the wine festival:

The girls are Laura, Lori, and Shantra. They're teachers in Bratislave, Slovakia. Behind them are Jon, Erick, and Matt, fellow Hungary teachers in Budapest.

Stay tuned for more. Kinda slow right now, or extremely busy. Same difference.

Welcome to Hungary!

Due to the incredible slowness of this computer in downloading images, I am going to give you a whirwind tour of events, people, places, and the most lifechanging 2 and a half weeks of my life. To begin:
Welcome to Budapest! I have spent my time learning the ins and the outs of this beautiful city. Castle Hill, Hero Square (above), cathedrals and outdoor cafés await you. There is so much to see, I'm glad I have a year to explore every street corner and monument and shop.

Also in Budapest are many of the other wonderful ESI teachers in Hungary. I have been spending time in cafés, restaurants, and in front of the Game Cube getting to know all of them, and I have enjoyed these two weekends to get to know my team better. This coming weekend we will have a retreat and I will post pictures of our whole team. Until then:
Meet Brady and Jon. Scary, huh? There you go Brady, I updated my blog.

Aside from my time in Budapest, I spent a weekend in Bratislava. Acquiring my passport before I left was a wild ride through public transportation. I consider that the moment I knew I could handle anything Hungary threw at me. Once there, we spent time with the teachers in Slovakia and toured the city, which is also beautiful. If only I didn't have to teach! Bratislava cityscape

As for that lovely subject of teaching, school has begun with a vengeance. On Monday I started my first day of classes, without being told ahead of time when, who, or what I was teaching. I showed up early and was gestured to in Hungarian how to read the schedule. Finally, an English teacher explained it to me, took me to my first class, and said, ˝OK, now they are yours.˝ I had four lessons that day, and I learned more than the kids about how the Hungarian school system works. Every day I learn something new, and each day I just do the same lessons with each class: introductions and rules, then an assessment. How can I give you an idea of what this was like? Close your eyes and try to imagine you are me:

You walk into a classroom where obnoxious teenagers not only laugh and talk and are disruptive, but they jabber in a language you don't understand. When you tell them to be quiet, they look at you funny and pretend they don't understand, then say something else and the whole class laughs, probably at you. You walk into another classroom only to have another teacher walk in and usher you out. There isn't enough classroom space. She gestures and jabbers, and you assume you have to take your class somewhere, but you can't understand where. You end up having classes in hallways, outside, and the cafeteria until the school figures out its room schedule. You try to group the classes by levels so you can teach new lessons, but every day they change the schedule, and you end up teaching a class you weren't expecting to. At lunch, you sit with other teachers who all can't talk to you. The English teachers won't even speak English at lunch. You are the only native English speaker, so you end up eating lunch alone.

Before you feel sorry for me, it is now Friday and I have finally gotten a grasp on this thing. The schedule is much more stable, as are the rooms, and these quirky and obnoxious kids are somehow already endearing. Teenagers are the same all over the world, and I love them. I have made a tentative long-term schedule, and another teacher gave me a sample English language test that they must pass to enter university. The topics on the test are the topics I should teach, so I finally know what I'm striving for with these kids, and can plan accordingly. It's amazing how in America I would have to go through so much more training to teach, in a system and culture I would already be familiar with. Here I am less trained and put to work in a public high school where I have no idea what is going on and it is hard to find someone who can explain things to me. These challenges are already drawing me ever closer to my God, who I know has put me here for a reason. He knows what I'm doing here, and everything is for Him.

I will try not to let so much time pass before my next entry, but until next time:

Sziasztok! Hallo!

Jo

I'm Alive!

I just want to apologize for my lateness in updating this. As it is, I don't have much time to compose anything or explain all that I've been up to. So instead, I'll give you my thoughts for the day, and give you a few pictures to look at. See the link ALL PICTURES for, well, all my pictures, or go here: http://community.webshots.com/user/wannasquanto/
I'm having technical difficulties figuring out how to get this thing to acknowledge my pictures.
I don't even have time for thoughts, I have to go teach a class. Now you know the busyness that is my life. Relish in the pictures. They have bad captions. Imagine some new ones. Guess what they all mean.