weird stuff

today i saw a guy eating a pretzel with ketchup and mayonaise on it.

many women from age 20-70 dye their hair bright pink or bright red here.

people don't even try to match.

i like seeing shirts in english and being certain the wearer doesn't know the meaning. shirts like, "red doorstop please" and the like.

pregnant women don't wear maternity clothes here, though there are maternity clothes stores. instead women just stretch their already too tight shirts over their growing bellies and walk around as if they are skinny.

guys have mullets. big ones.

high tops are alive and well in hungary.

old people, like really old people 80+, ride bikes everywhere.

the dumpsters in front of my apartment are apparently great places to go shopping.

in the mall the hungarians have employed a "marketing strategy." there are two connected buildings which comprise the mall. there are up escalators on every side, every floor. there is only ONE down escalator per floor and it alternates which building it is in. so to go up and see all the stores is easy, but to go down means you must go to the other building, go down, cross back to the other building and go down again. this nonsense would never fly in USA, i tell ya what.

Mail time

i got my first care package this week!

it was from my middle sister katy/paisley.

wanna see?

sheets, towels, powdered drink mixes, an eco-friendly reuseable bag for grocery store purchases, a can of my favorite soup, honey, pumpkin seed, peanuts, poptarts, cheezits, breakfast cookie, and instant soups - yummmmm, i love soup! (dog not included in package)

here we have some skin care products, bath solution, nail polishes, blister preventer, advil, and purell - i can't wait to take a nice warm bath and then pamper myself with this stuff :)
xander kept nuzzling his way into the towels and sheets while i was looking through my loot.

not pictured is the necklace and earrings katy made me (yellow and precious!), a stuffed squeaky fox for xander - he is in love with the thing, some treats for him (he says thank you!!), and a pack of cheezits i ate on the bus.

THANK YOU, KATY! WE LOVED THE PACKAGE!

i heart the internet

school is going well. i don't have classes on mondays, ever. fantastic. the first week i only had classes on tuesday and wednesday because all the students went on a class trip on thursday and frisday. that's right, the first week of school they went on a 4 day field trip. this week i got to meet my thursday and friday classes - except 2 friday classes were cancelled so i will still be introducing myself on the last day of the third week of school. the reason some friday classes were cancelled was because there was a ceremony to commemorate the opening of ZIG(my school)'s new dormitory. there was a lot of government funding for this dorm and it is used mostly by ZIG but also by some school for underpriveleged/handicapped kids. it used to be a military base but has now been gutted and remodeled. the ceremony was in a gymnasium and all of ZIG's 750 students were there. there were some great speakers - the previous headmaster of my school, the current headmistress, the mayor of my town, and the prime minister of hungary. a colleague of mine was translating for me and i was very appreciative. no one in hungary likes the prime minister, but i thought he was an excellent speaker. i was also impressed with our headmistress and her speech. my translating colleague said her speech was so elegant because she was a literature major and loves painting word pictures. there was mild security at the event - like we had to show the guards our invitations and sign a sign-in sheet. no metal detectors, bag searches, no showing of i.d. very different from american security.

the other day i met another CETP teacher who is living in my town. she showed up at my school hoping to meet me and there i was. we went and got a snack and drink, sat around chatting for two hours, and had a good time. she and her husband teach english, but her husband lives 40 minutes away in some small village. they only see each other a few times a month so i am hoping to have her as a friend. she speaks un-accented hungarian and american english. i am endlessly jealous of her bilingualism. her parents are hungarian but she grew up in america. anyway, she's like 45 or something and will likely adopt me as a surrogate daughter since her own is away teaching english in italy. i love people who love english.

i'm sick with a cold. the weather is getting very cool (58 today). i'm staying home in bed until school on tuesday. pray me healthy, guys! i hate the flu. although i do have a sexy raspy sick voice... if you can look past the coughing fits and drippy nosed sneezes.


HERE IS A VIDEO OF MY APARTMENT!!!! i didn't know the sound was working or i would have given you a commentary. sorry i'm such an idiot. love you people!

branching out

school got better after the first class, as i expected. i did the same activity with all of my classes on tuesday and wednesday to observe the english abilities. there are some really good students and speakers, there are some ok ones who are willing to learn and be actively participant, and then there is 12D. i hate this class of seniors who is apparently the lowest section of the 12th graders, ability and behavior-wise. i couldnt even get through the instructions of the activity with them before they were completely out of control. i had to separate some students, asked one if he would like to teach the class, raised my voice, and lost all the motivation to teach them. i kept thinking how glad i was that i only had them once a week.

my contact teacher and i went to the immigration office to get me legalized. there were some small problems and i am now waiting for a few more papers. we will go back there again on monday to get the process rolling for making me a legal immigrant and resident of hungary. it will be fine, though, so don't worry.

some friends from CETP are here in my town to visit for the day. we have been exploring Nyíregyháza together and im sure they are thoroughly jealous of my precious town. i found a new appreciation for it too since they have about a tenth of the people in there town as are in mine. my town has big stores like walmart or something, a big market 2 days a week (which is right by my house) , and 2 really big malls or plazas. i think ill be just fine here... and they think thez will be here often to visit, buy stuff, and speak english. fine by me.

today we went and saw a movie - journey to the center of the earth. it was as good as any brenden fraizer movie. i think they only made it so they can make it into a ride at universal. it will be a great ride, though.

i am right now at an internet cafe which is so cool. its called euro cafe or something and there are beverages and snacks available plus big cushy chairs and two floors of computers. the cost is 10 forints a minute which comes to about 2 dollars an hour. i think ill come here again if my internet doesnt come through soon.

we just went to then big walmart-ish store and i bought something like febreeze to spray my furniture. i coundnt find it right away so i asked a girl who was giving a demonstration of a cleaning solution. she helped me and we got to talking - as is my custom with most decent looking strangers. i gave her my phone number and she will be my first private english student starting on monday. yay for Ánikö - i think thats how she spells it ... ah-nick-ooo.

tomorrow everything is closed for the most part, but i am going to finish the HOUSE marathon i have going at home on my computer. i wish i had season 4 but oh well (thats not a hint to send it to me, its just a thought).

if you do want to send me anything here are some ideas:
matches
ketchup packets
bbq sauce - ooh, packets of that would be nice, too
index cards... i use them a LOT in class
english poetry books - more like shel silverstein books, not shakespeare or anything, kids poems
bumper stickers
to-go menus
fortunes from chinese fortune cookies
pictures of you people
postcards
sweets for me - their sweets are not that good really
lipton sides - like chicken rice, broccoli rice, spanish rice, lo mein noodles, etc.
macaronie and cheese (I DO NOT HAVE A MICROWAVE)
anything you want will be welcomed wholeheartedly, im sure!

if you want to me call me it would be very good. remember the time difference though. i have mondays off work, and i am done with classes by 3 everyday. my number is 0036-30-519-3481

school

the first day was not really the first day. i went to the opening ceremony where all 750 kids were in an auditorium and so were all 50ish teachers. we listened to the principal talk and introduce allthe new teachers. we were each given roses and kissed on the cheeks by the students delivering the roses. i think they were seniors. the hungarians call the seniors school leavers. i think its funny, they think its normal. i was given a tour of the school and it was pretty extensive (long) and i was pretty hungry by the end of it. i will take pictures soon adn put them on here. who knows when because internet is a scarce commodity. but keep checking back and you will one day be surprised.

today was the second day of school, first day of teaching for me. it was not the best day ever because hungarian organization leaves a lot to be desired, this is coming from someone who has never been called organized. i coudnt find the classroom where my first class was to meet and when i got help to find it no one was there. after about 20 minutes of getting me and the students int he same room, the right room, class began. they were not as talkative as i had hoped, but they didnt just sit and stare. we had some activities and the bell rang pretty soon after since we had wasted time already. no one other than me seemed annoyed or bothered at the non-matching schedules and room numbers the students and i had. i had been warned about this but i didnt think it would be so stupid. i was crying some when i was walking with a lady from room to room trying to find my class. she was laughing and saying no big deal, but i was pretty frustrated. i have 4 more classes today. so we shall see.