peanut butter jelly time

many people in hungary have never tasted peanut butter because it's very difficult - if not impossible - to find here. one of my fantastic friends in the US, marlena, sent me some of the delicious spread - one jar of crunchy (ew) and one jar of creamy (yum!). i made sure to tell my students my preference reguarding texture, but some silly kids still ate crunchy.

i taught them the songs i know about peanut butter and jelly. i couldn't remember all the words to that "first ya take the peanuts and you smash 'em, you smash 'em" song but there are others.


i made them sing.


these kids didn't like being on camera as much as the other class. but i bribed them... like all good teachers do, right?


it's supposed to be a rap. hahaha, they are good sports!

kids

this is 11E, they are pretty smart, most of them are funny and offer good participation. the girl in the yellow shirt, vanda, always has her back to me so i thought it was a good picture of her! they were putting together some skits in groups, that's why they look busy.

oh 10A. usually boys are unruly and annoying, as are some in this class, but those two on the right in the front (you'll get to know them more later) are so stinkin' hilarious. even when they're being rude talking out of turn or something i can't even scold them because they make me laugh so much! (balazs and david)

these are som 12D kids looking harmless (oh but they can be trouble!)

more 12Ders on a good day, haha, that kid david with his mouth open is comic relief to me in that class of crazies and lazies.

this girl had about 10 minutes before class started so she caught a little nappy-poo.

12 girls asking who is cooking chicken because it smells good. this is a really good class, one of my favorites, i'm sure. they taught me some kids' song in hungarian one day!

as promised, this little halloween skit will give you some insight into 10A's balazs. these people are another favorite... but don't ever tell 'em that!


10D kids are a great lot. smart, funny, creative, outgoing, sweet. *faves*

zsolt was 10 minutes late to class so he had to do his alone. he's a good sport, though. and somehow he coaxed laci (LOT-ZEE) into being the robber.

12D is not one of my favorite classes. this was "group 1" and i allowed them to leave class early because these are the only 4 who were on time.

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.