end of school

if you'll recall, i was given this poinsettia for my brithday from lovely aniko' (student turned friend). well i put it outside of my door to festive-ize the hall along with the wreaths on all the doors. then one day i stepped out to buy some potatoes. i saw the plant when i left. i walked to the store and back, was gone about 20 minutes, not longer. and what did i find upon my return? NOTHING, that's what. big, fat NOTHING.
so i was sad/mad/amused that someone would steal my plant (in hungarian it's called a santa claus plant, come on, how can you steal that?!?!). i wrote this little note which says "thanks!" like thanks a lot, jerky thieving hungarian who stole my plant. i left it outside my door in the plant's rightful place.
here is my sad little door with its lone wreath and no poinsettia. see the card?
i'd love to tell you that the thief saw my sad card and returned the plant. but no. no, no, no. :(

anyway, i know you've all been wondering, so here is what xander is doing these days...
the last week of school was stressful but good. on monday i gave a drama workshop for teachers in my city. there were several english teachers from my school and some from a few other schools. altogether there were like 16 english teachers. the workshop was called "using drama in the ESL classroom" so i presented ideas, activities, and reasons to use drama with english learners. overall it went pretty well. i wasn't as nervous as i thought i would be, probably because of all the familiar faces. the activities we did were so fun and funny. that's really why i liked doing it: free entertainment... also, it was all in english. muahahaha! afterwards, a british native english speaker, karen, invited me to come to a gathering she and some other english speakers have every tuesday. i am glad for the invite, since i love talking... in english... and meeting new people. i couldn't go this week, but i will definitely go sometime. it's just coffee, tea, and visiting. sounds perfect.

after the workshop i went to a christmas party for the teachers at my school. it was held in one of the huge classrooms. there were a million different kinds of sweets, foods, and drinks. seriously, millions. they were all set up on the perimeter of the room and there were two circles of chairs going around the room, too. not what i expected for a party. in the middle of the chairs there was a long table with weird things on it. as people got there, 6pm on the dot, some students came in and presented a little christmas performance or something. they were 9 or 10 standing in front of all the teachers. they were supposed to be people on a bus or metro. they just stood perfectly still for a really long time while some voices from a cd player expressed what each person was thinking. if i could have understood it i'm sure i would have been much more interested. as it was, though, i was mostly impressed with how perfectly still they all stood for about 10 minutes. they were my students, by the way, 12d.
after the students left, some teacher passed out lyric sheets and we all sang a few christmas carols (in hungarian, of course). aniko' was sitting next to me and translated some for me because that's my favorite. some teacher read a story and cried during the reading. i asked aniko' why and it turns out she's just sensitive and the story wasn't sad or anything. i can sing a christmas song in hungarian now. only one, though, 'cause some of them were pretty advanced for little ol' me. the lyrics seemed very holy.
thennnn the party started. i brought a cd of christmas songs (per some colleagues' requests) and it was played while people ate, mingled, and gathered at that long table in the middle of all the chairs. the weird stuff on there was actually craft stuff. we could make some cards, gift labels, and/or ornamental things. it was fun; i made some card thingies. i am bad at crafts.

in my classes i played christmas music, gave out some lyrics, and mostly gave people a free day. see? these are 9a girls. they really like me... and it's good, 'cause i really like them, too.

it was cold and rainy everyday. here are some umbrellas in the teachers' room.

friday after school got out (at 11am by the way!) there was an assembly in the gym which included some ninth graders performing "the happy prince" by oscar wilde. it was nice. there was dancing, acting, singing, and reciting of poems. i really wished i knew hungarian.
here are some assembled kids....
girls reciting poems...that gold guy is the prince and at his feet is a swallow....
friday night the language teachers met at a mexican restaurant to celebrate the end of the year. i wasn't too into taking pictures as i wasn't feeling too hot, but here are a few.
this is the guy who picked me up from budapest back in august. he's the first zrinyi representative i ever met. laci (lotzee) took way more pictures than i did. maybe i'll get to see them some time. (hint hint, laci!)
this was my delicious "tex mex salad" with cucumbers, corn, peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, beans, bacon, and chicken. i'm describing it in such detail because i will forever remember its goodness.
here is spanish teacher gabi (who also speaks english) and is very fun.
this is judit, my hungarian tutor. she's not usually so blurry. ;)
so i ordered a drink ('safe sex on the beach') and i specified that i wanted a cherry. the guy thought i meant i wanted a bottle of cherry drink so that's what that other drink is. ugh.
this is a teacher who is on maternity leave from zrinyi (my school). she's been gone for a few years and isn't sure when she's coming back. i hope it's soon 'cause i really liked her. she invited me to come to her house to play with her little kids in english. woohoo!

here are some kids singing at the assembly. i don't know those kids but if i'm here next year i'll have them then.


tomorrow i'm going to budapest and on wednesday i'm going to collect LIZ from the airport!

anticipation

ONLY ONE WEEK UNTIL LIZ GETS HERE!!!

can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!

thinkin' about ASHLEE

today is ASHLEE's birthday! we met in middle school (like 13 years ago) and after a weird start, became friends. we would call each other everyday and talk about nothing for hours. somehow, in the past 13 years, that hasn't changed much. we talk about life and school and boys and food and driving and weather and movies and t.v. and robbers and books and computers and grandmas and dogs and kids and clothes and pictures and family and furniture and god and fishing and politics and football (only a little) and laundry and jobs and anything that comes to mind. she's smart, funny, silly, trustworthy, a little crazy, loveable, happy, and lovely.

ashlee, i'm glad you were born! happy birthday!

birthday with jani (yonni) and pals

once upon a day trip to eger, we met some guy on the train. i said to my traveling companions about a fellow train-traveler, "wow, he's tall" to which the guy replied, "yes, i am!" well, who knew he spoke english? he ended up sitting and talking with us for the hour train ride back to my city. he gave me his card, we all found each other on facebook, and we said we'd hang out some time. and why not?! he is an ENGLISH TEACHER, not just an english speaker! he works in another town, but lives in my city. his name is janos (yah-nOsh) but he goes by jani (yonni). he's 24, pretty smart, and funny!

meanwhile, we decided to hangout around my birthday. in fact, this saturday. here is the proof:
some of his friends met us at a bar. we sat and talked in english and had a few drinks. jani and i left for a bit to go get dinner (can't be drinkin' without eating... learned that the hard way once)
i had some hungarian palinka (fruit flavored liquor) and hungarian beer (nothing noteworthy)
the crazy one, ohhh... uh.. the one in the middle, wasn't drinking 'cause he was the designated driver. i've never had to have a DD before. great, this is what i'm learning in hungary. :::shrugs:::

me and the yawn, haha... i mean "jani"

the other ladies, edina and some name i can't pronounce

unpronouncable and tamas

we went to another drinking establishment. it sounds so trashy to say "bar-hopping"
since it was my bday (sorta) drinks were on them. woohoo!

it was nice to hang out with people. especially weird funny people. perhaps we'll do it again sometime. (ok, so this isn't my proudest post, but it really was a good fun night!)

birthday with aniko'

after school my good buddy aniko' (private student turned friend) took me to the christmas market. it was so festive and fun. i took a few pics, but it was rainy so i'll take some more another time.


oooh, here we tasted a hungarian delicacy. yum! too bad i didn't know the plans she had for us, or we would have skipped this treat. whoopsie!!

this picture has the name of the stuff...
(loosely translated is "some kind of musical instrument spiral pastry")

here are my videography talents at work

people waiting in line to see mikula's (santa claus). he was in there. i saw him!
after a walk through the christmas market, we took a bus (and a frigid walk) to her mom's flower shop. i had only met her mom for like 10 minutes before this, but now i'll never forget her. when we went into the back (employees only section) of the shop, there was a party set up for me! well, for us. it was such a surprise!

cake, cakes, sugar!

i even got to blow out a candle for my birthday. yay!! i didn't think i would do that this year.
aniko' and i sort of had a hard time cutting the cake. it got messy... but it tasted realllly good.

i even got presents!!

it's a fondue set, the kind with a candle. maybe i'll melt all my bday chocolate and dip fruit in it.

then aniko' and her mom showed me around the flower shop. there were so many kinds of plants and flowers and decorations!! it's not like your average american florist's. it was neat to see it all.

some advent wreaths....

oh i loved these plant stands with orchids all climbing up them.

i totally put my finger in that venus fly trap and he snapped at me but i survived.

a look around the shop....

ok, in the back room there were shelves and shelves of things to decorate with. we were there to make some wreaths for advent or christmas or just the holiday season. it was another first for me.

then the hot gluing started....

the finished products! aniko's is on the left, mine is on the right. we are sooo talented!!

here is my other gift from aniko' and her mom: a poinsettia (or christmas plant). i posed it with my new wreath to capture all my current christmas decorations in one shot. haha. hopefully i will get some more before LIZ comes. (on christmas eve!!)

THANK YOU ANIKO' FOR MAKING MY BIRTHDAY SO SPECIAL! IT WAS A GREAT SURPRISE!!

birthday at school

when i walked into my first class on my birthday, my precious 9th graders all stood and sang to me (in english). i was so happy they remembered. of course, i did mention in passing last week that my birthday was the 4th. i wouldn't normally have been so shameless in doing this, but i'm sure i would have been so bummed if no one told me happy birthday on my birthday.

in another class, this was on the board for me!

these students gave me a gift of chocolate and a small bear that smells like perfume or potporri or something. i love it and it's freshening up my living room we speak.
there is some magical chocolate in this region of the world. milka. mmmm. some kids gave it to me. my very first hungarian birthday present!
aniko' (colleague) gave me a clock radio because i mentioned i didn't have a radio. i'm pretty sure she wants me to listen to hungarian music all the time to learn the language. little does she know i'm just using this as an alarm clock. muahaha.an overwhelming percentage of the loot was/candy, so my sweet tooth is taken care of until christmas, i'm sure! there is also a black and white purse (from rita - coworker) and it's so cute!! i can't wait to use it, little cutie thing. don't be jalous of my chocolate, guys.here is a video of some birthday greetings students wrote on the board before i came to class. so sweet and thoughtful. :)

ice skating

aniko' (private student turned friend) called me today and invited me to come ice skating with her and some other people. she is a member of "animal friends foundation" and there was a little outing planned for those animal friends to meet up and skate. so, i tagged along.

she took my picture while we were waiting for the animal friends to arrive

we braved the ice! aniko' was pretty scared at the beginning, but she mustered some courage and even let her picture be taken! way to go, aniko'!

she took some "action shots" of me

i wasn't as cold as i thought i would be. maybe winter won't be so bad!

blurry but cute

for the first hour or so, aniko' sort of didn't want to let go of the wall. i think she even said "the wall is my best friend" at some point. but when she wanted to pass by other wall-clinging people, she had to let go and come out in the open. hahaha!

here i am with some animal friends. that red jacket girl is EH-MESH-EH and she was very helpful in getting aniko' and that brown jacket guy (YO-ZSEF) off the wall. yay, MESHI!

after we got used to the ice, we even picked up some speed. there were several laps around with all of us holding hands, some with just me and aniko', one or two with me and meshi, and some with me, aniko' and brown jacket jozsef. in the end, aniko' wasn't scared any more and i'm certain she was having fun too! of course i was having a blast, too. we both fell one time each, no major injuries though my ankles and one knee are a bit swollen. that's the price you pay for winter fun.

i walked xandy when i got home and he was just lookin' cute and i had a camera... so here ya go.


LIFE-CHANGING EVENT! aniko' (colleague) took me shopping last week and guess what i bought!! that's right: a microwave! welcome back to the 21st century, crumb! it's not like this is a rare thing to have here or anything, it's just that my flat didn't have one. i had been cooking on the stovetop and even *gasp* in the oven! well, never again. now i can heat up leftovers with just a touch of a button. happy and thankful, that's what i am!