bits of zrinyi - my school

see this mess? that's the master schedule at my school. all of those little things represent a teacher. the first row across is monday, each column is a class level (like 9a, 9b, etc.). the second row is tuesday, etc. so i'm on there 22 times!

i got a little closer in this picture so you can see that the things are little pieces of cardboard cut into pointed rectangles with numbers on them. the pieces of cardboard are cut from empty tissue boxes. the headmistress (principal) walked passed my desk one day and upon seeing my box of tissues, said some stuff in hungarian at me, then looked to a coworker to translate. she said, "don't throw the box away when the tissues are gone because ibolya needs them for the master timetable. uh... who ARE these people?!

that brown and red and green one is me!

i am involved in a drama competition at school. i need to find a play from 20th century america or britain, adapt it, and direct 10-20 kids for 20-45 minutes in march. i don't know what play yet, but one student is really excited about it and already made the posters to advertize when and where rehearsals are.

the guy is rudi - one of my private students who speaks very good english, loves metallica, NIN, black, the brittish accent, and t.v.
the girl is zsuzsa (jzu-jza is the closest i can think how to pronounce it) - the girl who made the posters for drama. she's so happy, very un-hungarian, i think. :)

this wretched little thing is the schedule for the elusive number 10 bus. i wanted to take this bus this morning so i arrived 7 minutes before it should have arrived. i waited, checked the time, waited, checked the time, etc. for 25 minutes and it big fat never came! i eventually left the bus stop and walked to school at about 10 minutes before class started. stupid. anyway, i was only 4 minutes late because i booked it to school... my iPod and i... we will conquer hungary together.


this was lunch today: bread soup, some kind of pasta things (farfel or something?), and chicken gizzards with sauce. i didn't eat the gizzards. someone said, "oh you left the meat; that's the best part!" oops. oh, well. i'm not that hungarian yet.

this is aniko', a fellow english teacher. i think we took 10 pictures before we could both agree on this one. she is really funny but pretends she's not. she has mentioned my healthy teeth a few billion times and i would almost give them to her if i could. almost. anyway, she's tied for my second favorite colleague right now. haha, she might be glad to know that!

private students

most hungarian english teachers take on a few private students for some extra cash. since i want to be hungarian while i'm here, plus i'm really good at conversation, i took on a few, too. one of my private lessons is with two hilarious, smart, and sweet girls: brigi and málna. they are too cool for school... well, too cool for my school anyway. they go to some other school and have both taken intensive english lessons at a language school. anyway, we get to sit and talk for 90 minutes once a week - i can't believe i get paid for that.

here they are (i hope i choose the right pictures of them - they seemed concerned):

this is málna ... her name means raspberry, but i just call her málna.

this is brigi (left) and málna (right)... brigi probably just means bridget.some excerpts from our last lesson:
RE: halloween
me - what do you know about halloween?
them -... and the children go from house to house saying... uh... chocolate or cheating?
me - (laughing hysterically) what?!
brigi - when i watched friends that's how it was translated
me - (contining to laugh hysterically)
brigi - what?
me - (laughing still so i write "trick or treat" on the board)
málna - just looks confused, watches me write, copies what i wrote on the board into her notebook
me - this is going in my blog

we also played taboo for a bit (in taboo the point is to make the other person say a certain word. there are words which are "taboo" so you cannot use them as a clue for your word)

brigi - when you go into a building which is used for religious things, you can hear some ... tones... which are caused by a thing which i cannot say and the person causing the tones is the...
málna - (confused but poised with her pencil to write down the new word)
me - (stealing a point from the surprisingly competitive girls) organist! (laugh, laugh, laugh)

brigi - it's the animal on the logo of WWF
me - confused, very very confused
málna - PANDA!
brigi - yes!
me - what the...

we also talked about frosting, platform shoes, staples and staplers, VHS, and VCRs. a well-rounded day, i thought.

pictures of the town - round 2

another little tour of my side of town...

since everyone pretty much walks everywhere all the time, the "zebras" or crosswalks are fairly busy. nothing like NYC, but busier than most american towns and cities.
this is down some alley. i thought it was quaint and precious.
even the duplexes are cute!
i was walking around jamming to some tunes with my iPod and camera.
i got off this (number 10!) bus in the late afternoon. i think there were 40 people on it. i had to push and shove people out of my way to get off at my stop. i only did it because once i missed my stop and rode the number 10 all the way to germany or something because it took about 45 minutes to get me back to my stop.
there are statues everywhere.
this is the roman catholic church and its cool fountain.
aw, these little old people let me take their picture! the guy started smiling instantly as soon as he knew i was going to take his pic. most hungarians don't smile a lot, even for pictures. old people smile even less than other hungarians. so this guy was the highlight of my day. :)
ok, this is that mall i told you about. the one where there are two buildings connected but you can't go down from all floors on both sides. for instance, if i'm on the third floor on the right, i need to cross over to the left to go down a level. then back to the right to go down another level.
twilight at the city center crosswalk.
oh, this is the "cooler shops" and department store part of the city center. there's even a mcdonald's over there. ooooh.
i pass this statue and park whenever i walk around school.
it's fall around here. these sweet little trees are being stubborn in forfeiting their leaves.
another statue across the way... i wonder who these people are!
when i'm walking to school i look for the green building and that's how i know when to turn.

well stocked

omg, i've been getting care packages left and right! thanks people! (specifically, i have received AMAZING packages from: katy (variety), liz (2!), dad and tara (huge!), bob and pam (yummy), marlena (healthy)

some favorite things in them: gum, markers, games, vocab books!, soups, cottonelle toilet paper, nail polish, jewelry (i can alllllllways use more jewelry since i didn't bring any!!!!), good soft tissues, a lint brush!, magazines, PEANUT BUTTER (impossible to find here so most hungarians have never tasted it), candy, sheets, hanging organizertoys for xander, and index cards

i usually can't wait to open a package all the way until i get home, so here's what happens. i open it at my desk at school and get all happy and stupid in front of a number of coworkers (or as they say, "colleagues"). if there is anything in the box which i will use in class or at school, i take it out and leave it there. for example, my desk drawers are FULL of index cards, candy candy candy, peanut butter, taboo, a pencil sharpener, dry erase markers, permanent markers (it's important not to mix the two kinds up, as some teacher did in room 25 and i was accused of writing on the board an english text in permanent marker - but i swear it wasn't me!), and snacks. i hardly ever have my camera at school but the next time i do i'll take a picture of the drawers again. full, full, full, i tell ya. full.

then i carry the parcel home on a bus, usually the number 10 which goes from my school to about a block away from my front door. if not, the number 8 or 8a bus will be along soon and it's kind of close. i have to walk about 5 blocks from that stop to my flat. i've done it a billion times though 'cause the 8 buses are much more common than the beloved number 10.

then i get home with the gift and xander sniffs the heck out of it and me. we unload it pretty soon after i get home and try to put things in their proper places. here are some pictures of my food supply.
haha, at this rate, i'll hardly ever taste hungarian foods!

drjuice

is your beloved drpepper as cool as this!?!?!

the other day as i said goodbye to my (favorite) coworker, agi, she asked about my weekend. i told her it was good despite the small problem i'm having with my tonsils. she put down her purse and came over to my desk quite seriously. she pulled out the chair in the desk next to mine and sat down. (i'm not gonna lie, i felt like i was in trouble.)
she asked with deep concern, "are they inflamed?"
"yeah, just a little, but it made for a pretty lame weeknd."
"you need to take medicine to remedy this."she reached in her bag and retrieved a box that said "drjuice" on it. i giggled a little both at the name of the medicine and the fact that she was carrying it around. she explained to me that i should take it two to three times a day, swishing it around in my mouth for one minute before swallowing.
"luckily, there is no taste to this medicine. it's like water."
i chased away the thought that it actually was water because agi's smarter than that.
we went into the teacher room kitchen and i watched her poor a teaspoon's amount into a tablespoon (to prevent overflowing). she delivered the spoon to me, reminding me a lot of mary poppins and her grool-ish meds. i swished. it tasted like nothing, well maybe a little metallic, but still pretty much like nothing. then she told me there is silver in this clear liquid and it will help maladies of the throat and mouth as well as anything else. she told me i will feel better in a matter of minutes, but that she can't stick around to watch. with that, she gave me the bottle of medicine, for a few days only, i'm pretty sure, and went on her way.
another teacher (aniko) came in and saw me. upon seeing the bottle she said, "oh. you too?"
"uh, agi gave it to me."
"do you believe in it?"

"i don't know yet; i just took some a minute ago."

she said, "you will" and walked away.
they're right! i haven't googled it yet or anything, but it seems to work pretty well. my tonsils, though still a tad inflamed and red, don't hurt. they actually stopped hurting before i got home that day - a fifteen minute walk.
i am now an advocate for the drjuice. i think someone may have squeezed a doctor and collect the drippings in a bottle or something. a good doctor, too. a really good one.
if you find out it's poison or something, don't tell me. if it is i'm lovin' this placebo effect.