I know it is late in coming, but I have safely arrived in Budapest! Yes, I have been here for almost 2 weeks, but I still have yet to catch my breath. So much has been happening and is still happening, that I felt I should write before I lost track of everything! When I left most of you, I was on my way to California to spend two weeks in preparing new teachers for going to Budapest, and to prepare myself as well. Those two weeks were intense and wonderful, feeling more like a month and a world away from the real world and Budapest. It was the first time I had lived in a dorm since college, and it created some strong bonds with many new and old teachers. I was refreshed spending so much time with a large group of people who all shared the same common purpose (missions), and who had shared similar experiences, or who were anxious to hear mine and know what they were about to get into. I am now keeping in touch with many teachers all over the world, and am so grateful for their friendships!
From the beautiful hot beaches of Santa Monica and the palm-tree studded campus of William Carey University, I moved into a rainy 43 degrees, bustling and bruised inner-city Budapest. It couldn’t have been more of a drastic change, even knowing what I was coming back to. Moving into a new house on the industrial island of Csepel in southern Pest, meeting the new school staff, it felt like I was starting all over, even after having been here for two years. Luckily the language quickly returned to me and meeting with all of my old friends here brought back some familiarity. I didn’t have much chance to adjust or even to process the move when upon arriving, we had an extremely trying situation.
One of my teammates, Deanna, came down one morning, 4 days after we arrived, and exclaimed that TeachOverseas and Budapest wasn’t a good fit for her, and she was leaving. No amount of talking would change her mind. The next morning she bought a plane ticket, and the very next day she was gone. Our team and our school were hurting and at a loss what to do. After seeing her off at 4:30am, later that morning I approach the school about the situation (I happen to be the school representative, making me the mediator between our school and TeachOveseas), and they tell me they need a new native speaker by the time classes start (less than a week), or I would be taking her place. That would mean not teaching literature, which was one of the main reasons I took this job, and a huge blow to my stomach. I had planned an open house that evening for mixing and mingling my friends and new teachers, and it was a great distraction and a great success that night. After that party, my director in Prague called to say, miracle of miracles, they had already found a replacement who was willing to come within the week! Before I even had a chance to really pray earnestly about the situation, God provided an answer. It was quite a day! Everyone who was praying for me without even knowing why or what for, thank you! I know you are part of the miracle.
My new teammate and coworker this year will be Lauren Long, and she arrives September 9th, on Sunday. Please pray for her preparation, packing, goodbyes, and adjustment to teaching in a foreign country without any training. Until she comes, this week I have been covering her classes. It has been quite strange to teach a first lesson to students I won’t have for the rest of the year, and someone else is covering my classes while I do that, but the school felt it was important to start the students out with a native speaker from the first day. I am hoping through this week it will give me a bit of a warm-up, getting back into teaching without the worries of what to teach, help me know and be a familiar face to almost every student in the school, and give me time to prepare curriculum and syllabuses for all the literature classes before I begin to teach them. It is a hectic schedule, and I have been working morning until night on planning and teaching, but I am surprised even at myself at how much I am enjoying it. Teaching literature is for me an enormous blessing.
In the crazy moments where I have felt about to crumble or fall over from exhaustion, God has shown His presence and brought me gifts to show His love. One such moment occurred in an underground subway station. For some unknown reason, one of the best violinists I have ever heard in the world spends a few hours a day playing down there in a dirty and remote and ugly part of town, which I luckily have to pass through on my way into town. Before I knew the solution to our school dilemma, I heard the music and I froze, and I listened for 15 minutes to him play, even though I had to be somewhere. I felt his tune wash over me and I knew God loved me, and that was all that mattered. I’ve also had the opportunity to fellowship with good friends at a Ladies’ Tea, or Bible study in Budapest, and spend lots of time sharing and in prayer with some amazing girls who are also here with various mission organizations. Now that I live in Budapest, I have been able to spend more time with them and be blessed by them, it also has helped to keep me going. One of these girls introduced me to a worship leader at an international church, and by accident he discovered I played piano, and he needed a piano player on his worship team. I was able to join them last Sunday, playing piano for worship, and getting the chance to play that instrument again also refreshed me in an unspeakable way.
I am looking forward to this weekend, when we will have our first ESI retreat, and all the teachers here in Budapest and also in Bratislava will get together. It should be a great getaway. Kelly Keust, our director in Prague, will spend tonight and the weekend at our house, and I am looking forward to seeing her as well.
Prayer requests:
- This week, teaching different lessons, preparing for the year’s lessons, and the adjustment of getting back into teaching.
- Next week, the arrival of Lauren, her adjustment to Hungary, and my responsibility to help her and train her on the job.
- Our ESI retreat would be just that: a retreat and sweet time of fellowship.
- Praise God for Lauren, all the ways in which God provides and the little things He does to give me strength and peace
Blessings to you all,
Joanna
Susan, Emeshea, and Tracey at our Meet and Mingle Housewarming Party
Reading in my new living room
Good friends in Hungary: Attis and Viktor
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