november 1

i tried to convince other native english speaking teachers to go to the cemeteries in their towns on november first because it's such a cool thing to see. i don't know if they went or not, but in this post i'll show what kind of sights you can take in on that special day.

november first (all saints day/day of the dead) is celebrated in hungary to honor and remember the dead. people go to the cemetery and decorate their loved ones' graves (which are above ground) with candles, flowers, and wreaths. they tend to the graves all year round, unlike we do at home, but on this particular day or weekend, the place is packed with more life than an ordinary cemetery.

last year's blog about this day

this year i went to the huge cemetery in my town with the lady who has been teaching me hungarian, edit and her son geri. we walked around looking at the multitude of tombs and gravestones. the feeling you get while there on this day isn't the normal creepy feeling that usually accompanies a trip to the local graveyard. there is a somber feeling, of course, but the many families walking around with you give you a sense of peace about death. well, at least for me.

there are different sections of the cemetery, some newer, some older, so the graves differ.
there are even places for burying atheists or non-religious people. there is a relatively new structure in my city's cemetery made for that reason. they mix water with the ashes of the deceased and bury them in a common grave, just writing the names of the dead on a large plaque.

at the common graves

with the year they died

i can't really show in pictures just how many graves and candles and flowers there are

florists must make half of the year's profit this time of year

it really is quite pretty

things gone but not forgotten

things happened and i didn't blog about them. things like...
i went to a circus.
i saw "12 angry men" in the theater in hungarian.
i went to a raising bilingual children conference.
i got 2 awesome packages (from DANA T and LEIA).
it was my first "teacher's day."

all of the previous things were great, memorable, but have now been covered up with memories of less important things/times and are so far away in my head that if i tried to muster up a blog about them i would fail them all miserably.

instead, i'll tell you my favorite things about them each:
the circus: a multi-functional cast. one lady juggled, hula-hooped, sold concessions, did a raffle, was cut in half, and disappeared. the same lady.
the theater/theatre: though i could only understand about 30% (even being familiar with the story) i learned some new words, identified words i had recently learned, and didn't get a headache!
bilingual conference: i was playing with a little kid and asking him questions in hungarian. his mother was listening near by. we talked for about 5 minutes before i wasn't sure about the grammar of a sentence i wanted to say, so i asked the mom. she told me and then stared at me for a few seconds. i said thanks, thinking that's what she was staring for. she said oh you're welcome, i was just surprised. you speak hungarian without an accent and i just thought you were hungarian.
DANA T package: she put post-its on every single thing she sent me with notes about why she put that, questions about hungary, or random thoughts of hers. i could tell she really put a lot of time and thought into it and i teared up a tiny bit just feeling overwhelmingly loved.
LEIA package: how i met your mother season 1 (the only one i didn't bring here) and a shamwow both made my day. i can't wait to spill something!
teacher's day: kids gave me presents all day long! flowers, candy, a pizza dish. even kids i didn't teach on actual teacher's day came and found me to give me a gift. loved all the cheek kisses, too.

hungarian revolution number 3

since i've been in hungary there have been 3 holidays commemorating what my kids call "hungarian revolutions." since i have little to no interest in history and i figure the story will include some sort of war and the hungarians eventually losing, i don't bother to ask what kind of revolution any more. on friday last week there was an assembly in the gym in which one of my favorite classes (10d!) performed dances, recited poems, and sang patriotic songs. i didn't know about the assembly until friday morning when i got there and everyone was wearing all balck and white... everyone but me, that is. oh i was wearing jeans and a blue sweater. i was the only person in the whole school not in the traditional black and white. greaaaat. i scolded a couple of colleagues for not passing along the wardrobe memo, but just chalked it up as another result of "well, this is hungary" and moved on. there was a cockade on my desk when i got to school, though. dear sweet english teacher agi had remembered me and brought me one so i would match the rest of the school. i'm not pictured, but mine looked like everyone else's.

the cockade

this is our principal - our "head mistress" ibolya (ee-boy-uh)
when i speak better hungarian i want to have a conversation with her. it's my goal.

those white shirts with blue trim are the school uniform which the girls only wear on holidays or special school events. i've seen them like 4 or 5 times, i think. the boys all wear suits on those days. they look all grown up; it's precious. of course the girls hate those shirts. but, oh well.

scarf dance

here they are singing about freedom and love

farsang

this week was farsang (far-shong) at ZIG (my school). it's a celebration of sorts where kids dress up to scare winter away/welcome spring/just have fun. it's like halloween in america, except high schoolers still dress up and go to school... and there's no candy.

when i got to school that day one of my kids (the kid in the hat behind the cowgirls) was in the hall waiting for me. i got close to the classroom door and he flashed me! all he was wearing under his trench coat was an undershirt and some tighty whities (that were aqua). what the!?!?

9A

this is one of the assistant principals.
later he was joined by a group of playboy bunnies.

some students of mine... nuns and playboy bunnies.

some 12Cers... they are the cleaning ladies (aren't they cute?)... and a scary fairy.

these kids - dressed as the #10 bus - came into a few of my classes to count how many students dressed up. they even made beeping sounds when they backed up.

this is gabi - one of two teachers who dressed up.

here are laci and aniko'. laci found someone's sword and tried to kill aniko' with it. she doesn't seem to mind. they are so freaking funny!

here i am with agi on farsang. we are not trying to scare winter away. we're just sweeties.

here is 11E (wind up doll, gogo girl, part of the scooby gang - the rest are in another class - and a certain cowboy who makes me laugh so much in class)

aww, velma and daphnie from scooby doo. (later these girls and i went to a costume shop so i could scout the wig selection available for drama festival)
11A - balasz and david didn't really dress up, one had fake tteth, the other a sign pinned onto his hoodie. a school girl, devil girl, wizzardess, bunny, and little kid. good bunch, i like 'em.

how does he even know who that is?


all in all, farsang was fun. there was an hour-long contest in the gym during school to decide who had the best costumes. i wasn't in a place to get some great pics, so i didn't take pics of the winners. JOKER was the best one... he was terrifying. if i can get the school's photographer's pics, maybe i'll post some another time.

for valentine's day

in hungary, the name day for valintine's day is "balint" so people wish each other "happy balint day" more often than they wish "happy valintine's day."

this week some of my students asked me "what color are you going to wear on friday?"
i was like... "uh, i don't know; it's tuesday."
they explained that if you are taken/in a relationship then on friday you should wear red.
if you are in a complicated relationship which may or may not continue, you should wear yellow.
if you are free/single, you should wear green.

i wore a burnt orange shirt on friday... because i forgot all about valentine's day.

BUT, there were signs all over the school reminding people (in hungarian) and in each class i had people take it seriously.

this is one of the many signs around the school. the first word in each circle is a color, underneath it says what each color signifies. under green it says "i am free"

here are some kiddies advertising their status to the school (and via my blog, to the world).

it also snowed a lot on thursday night/friday all day. here is a short video:

sorry i was grouchy in this. i think i'm so homesick because i'm sick of the cold weather. i miss texas!! or even florida. :(

Szerencs - with Laura and Reagan

in the american halloween spirit we carved a pumpkin! first we walked to the store to see if they had any pumpkins. along the walk we met one of laura's students (i forget her name, sorry little girl!). we asked her if there were pumpkins at the store and she said yes, so we continued on - with her in tow. when we walked in the store there was a nice fall display with beautiful orange pumpkins! but they were not for sale. and there weren't any for sale in the store. :(
luckily, the little girl's grandpa has a garden and she said we could have one of his pumpkins. and she was right! oddly, the pumpkin was light green... oh well, it'll do.
it starts...


laura assumed the task of carver while the rest of us excited girls just watched. it took a really long time to cut the top off because the rind of this particular pumpkin was like 1.5 inches thick!

when she got it off she was VERY excited! we all were! that's real joy in that picture.

an eye!

xander was watching me watching the carving. reagan made him a little bed out of a bucket and a blanket. he was happy in there, but still really cold.

the hungarian girl and reagan

two eyes!

and a nose... i see where she's going with this...

oh yeah, we all helped gut it


that's pride and joy as they took pictures of the newest member of their household was born...

the jack-o-lantern! (no hat in this pic)

the surgical equipment...

hat-less jack and Laura
awww, he has his hat on and a candle inside now! little sweetie!!
trick or treat, happy halloween, etc... from hungary. :)