Staying Fit!

Last Wednesday I went to Debrecen with Oncika from the school office. We went to get my residence permit. She spoke little English and I speak little Hungarian. We tried to communicate as much as possible through our language barrier and laughed quite a bit at not understanding one another. It took about an hour by car to get there. We got lost once we arrived in Debrecen. The immigration office was quite hard to find as it was located in between all of these old commi style apartment buildings. When we finally got there and got inside I thought it was going to take forever. The “guard” helped us out to figure what we needed and it wasn’t very long before they called our number. The immigration officer (if that’s what you call him) spoke perfect English with a great accent. Though I’m sure that is a requirement for working there. I told him I had applied for my visa with the embassy before leaving and he seemed pleasantly surprised. He went to the back and before I knew it he was coming back with a sticker type thing in his hand. He then put it in my passport and started stamping and signing things and then I signed some things and Voila I’m a legal resident of Hungary! Onci was so perplexed that that was all it took! She had brought so much paperwork with her and most of it was not needed. Apparently it has something to do with me being American. So woohoo America!!

This weekend I went to Budapest to visit some friends. For my traveling I was really quite spoiled. Olgi picked me up and took me to the train station and helped me buy my ticket. Also, her daughter goes to university in Budapest and came home for the weekend. Olgi and her husband drove her back on Sunday and picked me up. So I didn’t take a train home, which is pretty awesome! We had a really good time this weekend, partially because we could speak fluid English without having to worry about the other person understanding what you are saying. We walked all over the city, went to some pubs, and just generally enjoyed each other’s company. While we were out at a pub we met some particularly interesting British and Irish people. Apparently, it is very popular for men from the British Isles to go there for their bachelor parties, or as they say for their stag. They dress up in crazy costumes, wearing leotards and wigs! It is quite the sight to see.

I think I’m slowly starting to get the hang of this teaching thing. I think my biggest challenge will be the little ones, in keeping myself and them interested in what we’re doing. I’m also slowly figuring out the role that each teacher I’m working with wants me to play. I only have the students who had either an A or B in English last year, besides grades 1 and 2 in which I have the whole class. I’m starting to notice some interesting things as well. I tend to have a lot more boys as students, which I find a bit odd since usually there are larger amounts of high achieving girls. Also the attitude towards the Roma children (gypsies) is interesting. They typically are the low achieving students and are treated as such. The teachers seem to question them more about cheating. It is acceptable here, but I assure you there would probably be some lawsuits in America. =)
Yesterday at school in the staff room Olgi was given flowers. She has been teaching for 30 years. This was at the Hunyadi school (the one that is a block away). I like this school a little better so far. I think because it is much smaller so I feel more comfortable.
On Tuesday I had my 6th grade class that consists of 6 boys. They are kind of mischievous but mostly just a lot of fun. We were reviewing the rooms in a house and one of the boys started coughing. The boys told me he had allergies and I said “OK” thinking nothing of it. Then he couldn’t stop and he got up. They were trying to tell me that he has asthma (is what I eventually understood). I was really freaking out for a second. He got his inhaler and he was fine. Phew! It was a little stressful. Thankfully the other boys seemed to know what to do if he would have had a full blown attack. So that was kind of a close call and hopefully the closest I come to a crisis in the classroom, though I’m sure it’s not. Language skill probably would have been useful here!
People seem to be quite active here. Olgi for example looks amazing, especially for her age. She said she went on a 20 km bike ride this weekend. Some of the staff and friends get together every Tuesday to play volleyball and Olgi invited me to join them. So I did because why not? Mind you that the majority of these people were over the age of 45 but most of them were really good. I couldn’t understand most of the things that were said but enjoyed myself despite having jammed my thumb with the ball (which was fine because we scored a point!). Also, last night I went to the pool with Olgi. She picked me up and we went out to the pool. First we sat in the thermal springs (which are natural and all over the country) and then the sauna. Then I went to a water aerobics class with Olgi. It was really good, even if I was the youngest person there by quite a few years! I enjoyed the work out and relaxing in the thermal spas beforehand. I’ve learned that the Hungarians love their water!

This morning apparently I turned off my alarm in my sleep. I woke up about 10 minutes before I was to leave. Thankfully, I had already showered. I got ready and walked very quickly. I was not late but I did feel quite rushed. I used this opportunity to teach the word rushed to my students. I must have been tired from my water aerobics class last night!

It has been a little bit sad as football season starts and my friends are moving back on campus. I was excited to hear my Buckeyes beat those Hurricanes though!! It smelled like fall last night here, that crisp in the air and something burning. Anyways, enjoy a wienie roast for me!! Also a Happy Birthday to my Grandpa Howie who turned 80 on Sunday!! Love and miss you all!

As the Bell Rings

Wednesday was the first day of school. However, I sat in the staff room and read through the text books in the school that’s a block away, Hunyadi. Exhilarating I know! Thursday I went to the other school, OC, and observed Eva’s classes, an English teacher at the school. Friday was a big day, I had 1st and 2nd graders all by myself! Man that was tiring! The 2nd graders knew more English than I had anticipated so they flew through the lesson plan. We played some fun games and made through anyway! The 1st graders on the other hand did not know much, at all. It proved very difficult and those were the two longest 45 minutes of my life. Hopefully this Friday will be better! Tuesday I had a 5th and 6th grade class by myself and that went really well! The 6th grade students I have from that class consist of about 8 boys. They are a lot of fun. They haven’t gotten to that rotten age of being too cool to talk to the teacher or pay attention.
On Thursday I had to call Olgi and tell her that my toilet was broken! There was water standing around the bottom of it and that’s not right! After a couple of visits from Hungarian men who speak no English, my toilet was officially fixed as of Monday! And I would just like to say that no the toilet breaking had anything to do with me (Uncle John!). I’m getting pretty good at lighting my gas stove, which makes dinner a lot easier. Unfortunately, it does not make grocery shopping easier. I’m still real nervous to go up to the meat counter.
Haven’t met many people in Nyírbátor that speak English very well which means I get a little bored sometimes. I'm still trying to learn their language as well, but probably not working as hard as I should be! I’ve seen more American movies and television dubbed in Hungarian than I care to admit! I did get to watch the Emmy’s, even if it was a couple of days later and with subtitles it was still nice! Saturday I walked around Nyírbátor a little and got to “see the sights” so to speak. I’ll put some more pictures up! It’s been pretty chilly here, fall has begun, and stayed in the 60s during the day and the 40s at night! Burr. They don’t turn my heat on until mid-October so hopefully it doesn’t get much colder before that! I’m going to Budapest this weekend to meet up with some friends from CETP and I’m really excited to have a fluid conversation in English!!