Weekend Festivals and I Survived My First Train Rides

Train travel seems a bit less scary on this side of the 3 train trips (5 trains total) and Hungary seems a bit less intimidating after finding out fellow teachers were running into the same kinds of problems as I am.

The weekend started when my contact teacher drove me to the train station, and thank goodness for that. I probably could have managed my ticket with what she had written down for me before but there was a possibility of a different train and I would never have been able to understand that exchange without her. Once I found my platform we said our goodbyes and I headed out on my First European Train Ride. The capitals were for emphasis but really everything went smoothly. I made it to Szolnok, switched trains and got to Hajdúszoboszló (which I can finally say, most of the time anyway) at exactly the same time as Skye's train which was coming from the other direction. Seeing Jenna and Skye was nice although both Skye and I were jealous of her and Lee's apartments (mainly Lee's).

Random Tangent:

I had a weird fixation on being envious that Jenna had a shower curtain and I think that is because I am such a privacy freak normally. I am that person that locks the bathroom door to shower when home alone in an already locked apartment. Hungary is extremely lacking in shower curtains, which leads to uncomfortable showers as well as the constant threat of flooding the bathroom floor.
Aside from my shower curtain envy, I also was jealous of the fact that Jenna has Lee and Emma (a returning CETP teacher) to talk to. I am much younger than the other teachers and I am already having trouble with students not willing to listen to a teacher only a few years older than them so I don't really have someone close to talk to in Mezotur. It was amazing to be able to prattle on in English, and not have anyone beg me to slow down.

End Random Tangent.

Jenna, Skye, Emma and I checked out the wine festival in the town and Skye decided to face her fears by approaching one of the (admittedly gigantic) cows that were part of the atmosphere. I got a lovely magnet souvenir pictured below. After Emma left to go to aerobics class, the rest of us found ourselves hungry and wandered to find something to tide us over until dinner. What we found was a delicious potato pancake about 8 inches across and topped with cheese. Not only was the food good, but the people in the stall helped us with our pronunciation when we ordered. We also sampled some wine relatively cheaply, 200 ft (~1$) for what we estimated to be 3-4 oz of wine.

First souvenir purchase!

 Later we met back up with Emma and grabbed dinner. I had turkey stuffed with fruit and mashed potatoes. We also got pálinka (either on the house or as a gift from a teacher Emma works with who saw us there, we aren't entirely sure). It was sour cherry pálinka and had a good fruity taste once you got past the bite from the alcohol. Sitting across from Skye and Jenna I was once again treated to their hilarious faces when downing the drink, thanks guys!

We went to the train station to meet Dan, and to make a long story short the poor guy has a series of unfortunate events that led to him being phone-less and arriving on the last train in two hours after we expected him. Needless to say, when we spotted him waiting to climb off the train there was cheering. We stopped in at Emma's (talk about apartment envy she not only has a separate living room and bed room, she also has a guest room!) and chatted until it was time to grab some sleep before our train to Szolnok in the morning.

These are actually the train tickets (with kontrol's marks) from Szolnok
back to Mezotur on Saturday. The one on the right is the extra
ticket necessary for an Intercity (faster) train.

I had a super Harry Potter nerdy moment on the train in the morning when we got on and it was like the Hogwarts train with separate compartments. Unfortunately no wizards in sight, but we did run into Joe, who we had planned to meet up with in Szolnok and he just happened to be on the same train as our group. Christian got on in Karcag and I discovered that he also teaches at a Calvinist school. We had a small laugh at our similar experiences with the Calvinist greeting "Grace and Peace" that is used between teacher's and students and becomes an unending cycle when passing a group of kids. One kid says it to you, you repeat it back, the kid behind repeats it because they heard you say it and on and on and on ad nauseam.

Emma on the Hogwarts train :P

Emily met us at the train station and thankfully let us dump our bags in her and her boyfriend's flat so we didn't have to lug them around the festival. We got to see a little bit of Szolnok as we walked to where the festival was and it was nice to see a city with (relatively) tall buildings. Living in Columbus for almost 4 straight years has made me a bit of a city dweller and Mezotur is a small town by any standards.

The goulash festival was fun (if lacking in public bathrooms) and we ate and drank the entire afternoon and into the evening. We ended up at a bar nearby before we all had to head back to the train station. It was great to hang out with the other CETP teachers and share stories about our towns, contact teachers, students, schools and apartments. Commiserating about shared experiences was cathartic and reminded me that I wasn't the only first year teacher in the program who was finding syllabi and lesson planning somewhat stressful.

Here are some pictures from around Szolnok:

Jenna is probably the best photog of the group, I steal her photos sometimes :P

A really cool fountain by Emily's flat

Pedestrian bridge. We could already smell the goulash before we crossed it.

The main street at the festival.

Enjoying our goulash.

My goulash = finom

Soproni Narancs = a fruity beer of awesomness

Sunday was full of laundry, syllabi and lesson plans as well as a much needed nap. Monday went well in some classes and so-so in others but I found out I will be going to Szolnok on Friday to file the paperwork for my residence permit so I will finally be legal :) Speaking of lesson plans, that is what I should be doing now!

sziaszotk

First day in Mezotur

I made it to Mezotur! Niki, Erika and Sándor picked me up in Budapest and Janos (I’m not sure I spelled that right) drove all of us and Emily, to Szolnok where we dropped Emily off and did some shopping. We came back and they showed me where I would be living, it’s an apartment inside the old dormitory. You can watch my video tour for more details.

I was given time to unpack a little and then I got to have dinner with the principal and Niki.  More delicious Hungarian food and some discussion about the school, Hungary and the town.  We had palacsinta, a Hungarian dessert that is a pancake/crepe, it had chocolate sauce and a walnut filling. Finom! (Hungarian for delicious) I’ll have more pictures of the town later when I wander around  by myself.

That evening I unpacked some and tired as I was still didn’t get to bed until late. The bed is pretty comfy and large, it’s the size of  two of my old bed put together. I slept alright but it’s always hard in a new place.

The next morning dawned BRIGHT and early. I have giant windows and the sun is very bright, so I won’t have any trouble waking up in the morning. My windows look out on Petrofi ut, named after a famous Hungarian poet!

Unfortunately, it seems a mosquito or two must have gotten into my room last night as I woke up with about ten bug bites (but I got mosquito repellent stuff when I went shopping today)

I spent a few hours finishing my unpacking and getting everything put away. It is a nice feeling to be able to decide where everything goes etcetera. I then had lunch with Niki where we talked more about the school and my lessons. She generously agreed to take me shopping as I was a bit intimidated by trying to figure out what everything is in Hungarian! I got food and some stuff for the apartment as well as a map of Mezotur and some brochures about Hungary. One of the brochures is in Hungarian and English (and German) so I can try and figure out some new vocabulary.

I also learned to ask for sliced bread at the bakery: Szeletelt kenyér,  and then fele kilo, which is half kilo or 1 pound. The bakery smells amazing and I think I will be visiting it often.

We then went to the school and she showed me the English teacher’s room and my desk as well as getting me the books the teacher from last year left. I’m going to go through them and organize all the information I got during orientation.

Some random thoughts about my apartment:

-Not so sure about not having a separate living room and bedroom but I have plenty of room overall

-It took me a while to figure out how to get hot water in the bath but I successfully figured it out!

- Church bells going off for 4ish minutes at certain hours are going to take some getting used to

- The pottery in my room is gorgeous and I really need to get down to the pottery museum here

- I am going to be cooking on a hot plate and in a toaster oven so that should be interesting but I’m excited to make dinner tonight :D

- My TV gets ~ 20 channels but several are repeats, I get CNN in English though!!

- I have a DVD player in the TV but I can’t get it to open right now… I’ll work on it later

- Wi-fi in my flat is an excellent connection!

- tap water here is not great but I did an experiment to see how good my 'filter as you drink' water bottle is

Tap water on the left, filtered water on the right. Go technology!

Ok the flat tour video is taking way too long to upload, I'm not sure what I can do about it but I will hopefully have it up later.

Short Post While I Procrastinate Packing

More classes today; more exhaustion today. I am pretty much over jet lag but I never sleep as well in a new place and I won't be at the hostel long enough for it to feel like 'home.'

After classes we headed to Hősök Tere (Hero's square, sorry the Hungarian is in a different font. I have yet to figure out how to make the vowel with a double accent on my Mac, it's on the list) where Hajni explained some of the history behind the monument (that doesn't sound like a grand enough word for it, but it's all I have). I won't go into it now because there is no way I will do it justice, but if you like history read about the square and what it represents. I have to admit, one of the big draws for coming to Hungary was just how many years it's been around in some form or another. The historical background I need to catch up on is overwhelming but at the same time I'm fascinated by it.

I feel like I need to work on my transitions but you know what? Only friends are reading this so I am not terribly worried about my narrative voice, although I do need to recapture my Power of the Pen skills. Random topic changes are my downfall, at least everyone who knows me realizes that is just how my brain works.

Anyways, we ate at this restaurant -> www.bagolyvar.com and the food was amazing. I commented on the carved wooden owl decoration and one of the helpers, Jon, explained that bagoly is the Magyar word for owl and vár is the Magyar word for castle. So the name of the restaurant is basically the Owl Castle. We all got soup and I had the paprikás csirke (I am pretty sure I got that right). The meal was delicious and we even got dessert so it was a lovely farewell dinner for the program.

At dinner many of us new teachers got our first taste of pálinka, a Hungarian fruit brandy. Don't believe the Hungarians when they say you just taste the fruit, I could tell the first drink was pear but mostly it just burned, so after the first taste I just did it like a shot. It definitely has a kick and most Hungarians will tell you it's good for you because it kills germs! For the next drink we got málna (raspberry) and I actually just sipped it while eating my dessert. Jenna and Skye were across the table from me and made the best faces ever when trying the pálinka!

So that was our final night as a group in Budapest though I have a feeling all of us will be back at some point to see more of the city. Tomorrow morning we have to have moved out of our rooms and brought our bags down to the lobby by 9am. Our contact teachers come in for an info session with Hajni and Maria at 10am and then we all get together at noon before we scatter to the wind and our new cities/towns/villages. It is going to be strange to say goodbye to the group (for now) but I am excited to meet the teachers from my school and then get to see Mezőtur, my school and my apartment.

Jó éjszakát!