toilet talk

so this toilet is parading around the internet as "the scariest toilet" 

or something like that.

and while it certainly gives you something to think about... or perhaps scares the poop out of you...

doesn't this?!

ok, i haven't actually seen THAT in china, but the feeling i get from some "toilets" around here is the same.

people say you get used to it. i've been here 11 months and i'm not at all.

by the way, the scariest thing in that picture is the toilet paper bin - which are usually overflowing and REEEEEKING with nauseatingly multicolored used tissues.

 some westerners have jerry-rigged their toilets in order to feel more comfortable while pooing

maybe more uncomfortable is the limited privacy you find in some places (urinal-trough pictured on the left)

speaking of "troughs"... see that ditch running under each 'stall'? that's where you should go. luckily i've only encountered this kind once. i decided to hold it.

in an ironic twist, asians often have anxiety over using western toilets too!

their solution is to squat on the seat... leaving muddy/crappy footprints...

and leading to mind-boggling signs like these:

our toilets are also jerry-rigged for crapping convenience:

and of course the rationale is that 'their' way is better for you (it is)

and 'our' way is more comfortable (it is) 

*disclaimer* chinese people squat when waiting for a bus, reading a newspaper, or doing anything that some other people would kneel or sit on the floor to do, 

so i'm sure there would be some to argue that squatting IS comfortable

 some somewhere someone invented this, which i think could be the ultimate compromise:

use like this and pray you don't fall off

or maybe this freakshow thing:

use like this: START AT 2:15 or you'll gross yourself out!!

and i thought the poop-shelf toilets in hungary were bad!!

Things I'll Miss About Hungary

i'm leaving hungary very soon. while there are a few things i certainly won't miss about hungary, there are many many things i will. for example....

*statues

*parks

*statue parks

*kávézók (cafes)

*flowers!!

*80s and 90s music being played more often than current music

*folk music :D

*thermal baths

*csúnya szavak (bad words)

*magyar nyelv tanulás (studying hungarian)

*izé (the word hungarians say when they can't think of what they want to say)

*nénik meg bácsik (old ladies and old men)

*parasztok!!! (country people/rednecks)

*hungarian accents (i vant to leeave in oosha.)

*old school/traditional mentality

*vanity/immodesty

*kid-centered families

*people being proud of their sneakiness

*namedays!

*women's day

*teacher's day

*patriotism

*farsang! (dress up in costumes to scare away winter in february)

*people asking me if i'm cold all the time

*overdressed children/star children (children so bundled they can't move, they look like stars)

*overt staring

*churches!!

*so many umbrellas

*everyone always having tissues and using them as loudly as possible

*fagyi!!! ohh, the ice cream.

*cute little villages

*outrageous clothes

*super high heels (even in SNOW!) she's fine as long as she has pantyhose

*emo kids

*festivals every other week

*funny looks for singing along to my iPod

*megasztar (hungarian american idol)

*puszi (cheek kisses)

*ballagás (hungarian graduation ceremony)

*szalagavató (hungarian prom)

*JEGESKÁVÉ!!!! (iced coffee with ice cream and whipped cream and chocolate sauce)

*szamorodni wine :) and tokaj and eger (wine and wine regions)

*fanny packs, lol

*nicknames for most nouns, not just people(uborka = ubi = cucumber, paradicsom = pari = tomato, iskola = suli = school, zsepi = zsebkendő = tissue, meki = McDonalds, stb.)

*sandwiches everyday, everyone, everywhere

*keys, keys, keys

*compliments on my language skills (i'm sure i'll miss hearing them when i'm in china stumbling through chinese)

****most of all: i will miss my beloved hungarian friends. so many people have made me feel loved and welcomed and special and important and valued and relevant. i've been invited to people's homes, to their celebrations, and into their lives. i've been hugged and kissed and given flowers on more occasions than i can count. i've cried on friends' shoulders, laughed with them, swum and danced, drunk and eaten, cooked bacon fat on an open flame, ridden buses to far away cities with colleagues, gotten naked with them at the baths, learned and taught, shared and absorbed culture, language, and the human spirit. i'll miss hungary a lot, and quite especially my

favorite city, Nyíregyháza.

thanksgiving dinner

i thought i should document the thanksgiving dinner we cooked this year. i'm not in the pics, though. sorry!

glazed carrots: hungarians don't get this. they think carrots are only good if they're salted or buttered. a won a few of them over, though. ;)

my first ever batch of dressing... left half was made by a hungarian and has liver and sausage in it. the other half was my half and was just simple stuffing minus the celery (cause we didn't buy it)

gravy! this is a foreign thing here but was well-received. someone even asked for the recipe! haha

the birds!

we didn't have the energy to make a real apple pie, so i just did the filling and served it like that. no complaints.

(not pictured: green beans, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob)

there were like 15 - 18 people there, 2 americans and a bunch of hungarians. we ate and drank (palinka) and were merry. there were also cakes made by the receptionist and stuffed cabbage brought by the matriarch of the magic house family. not exactly the thanksgiving i grew up with, but it was still pretty great!

christmas program!

i teach in two elementary schools this year and one of them had a christmas program and invited me to be part of it. so, for the second time in hungary (and in my life) i donned a santa claus suit.

the kids all knew it was me and were overflowing with excitement about their performance in the program.
eniko (enn-ick-ew), the first grade english teacher, arranged their part in the program. as "frosty the snowman" played the children built a snowman on stage. they put on its hat and eyes and nose and mouth and scarf and buttons while having snowball fights and dancing around.

but before we were on stage there was a lot of waiting...

which meant a lot of restless 6 and 7 year olds...

it's traditional in hungary to put up your christmas tree on christmas eve. they don't overdo it with lights and it's rare to see houses decorated with lights. they could use a little help with the method of adding the lights, but it doesn't matter, really... 'cause it still turns out nice. see?here is eniko as she normally looks:

before and after the kids decorated her

some restless kids got curious about the audience and i caught them peeking out before we started

our kiddies were so great! they sang their guts out and danced around with glee. and they were surprisingly patient while waiting for their turn. eniko and i hung out backstage until the end of the program. aren't we adorable??

so, big hit! there were lots of familiar tunes translated into hungarian, lots of christmassy songs and costumes, lots of variety on the stage, including singing, lipsynching, drama, choreographed uh... movements, poetry, and running. the kids had a ball and the parents and friends clapped in rhythm, in true hungarian style. :)

mákos tészta

my dear hungarians do love their poppy seeds. you can find cakes, cookies, muffins, rolled up bread, bread pudding, and an array of other hungarian specialties chock full of poppy seeds. one thing that is a bit strange (though delicious) to me, however, is poppy seed pasta, or mákos tészta. it's made by combining pasta with ground up poppy seeds, sugar, and melted butter. it's often served with a piece of fruit like an apple, and is, of course, preceded by a bowl of a steaming hot hearty soup.

that's what i had today. while it seems a weird idea to have something sweet for lunch (to us americans) or perhaps a silly combination, it's actually quite fulfilling and good. you may need some time to get used to the not-so-sweet poppy seed flavor, but once you do, it's golden! i couldn't eat mine at school because of time constraints, so i was given a packed container of it, meaning i got a double portion of both soup and pasta. um, great! i'll eat it tomorrow too and feel a tad more hungarian. :)