Hello all. I am teaching in Pusztaederics, Hungary, a small town of about 200. Most residents are senior citizens, although there are a few young people. Basically all of my students are beginners. I teach three classes: one for teens (most are from the neighboring villages and their grandparents live in Pusztaederics), one for young children, and one for adults ( most are 40-50 women with no prior English knowledge). In total, I have approximately 25 students.
My classes are going pretty well. Charades, water balloons, and Go Fish with various vocabulary words have been the most popular activities. I am staying with the mayor's family. The eldest daughter, who lives in Budapest and speaks English pretty well, was here for the first bit of time and was able to help me adjust.They are a very generous, kind family. I have been to Balaton, Pécs, and bowling in Zalaegerszeg many times.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
A few words on traveling...
(posted by Zsofi Budai)
I know I'm several weeks late with posting this (sorry!), but I just rediscovered the website for planning trips to, from, or within Slovakia. Here it is:
www.cp.sk
It has both train and bus schedules. All you need to do is type in your city of departure, your destination, and the date and time you want to travel. The tricky thing is that it is all in Slovak (unless I missed the English version somewhere) but it would do you good to learn a few words of the language anyway... Or just ask your host family for help!
And don't forget the website for train travel to, from, or within Hungary:
www.elvira.hu
Now, I know that most of you are eager to see the region (and each other) in your free time, but remember that you need to spend at least one weekend with your host family!!! I was about to turn Janelle, your wonderful program director and Felsőpatony's super amazing English teacher, into an anti-role model for this, since I wanted to see her so badly I almost asked her if she could skip her plans with her host family this weekend. Not a good idea! I resisted the temptation to ask (and I'm sure Janelle would have wisely turned me down anyway). You only have one more weekend left in your village, but before you make plans to go anywhere, double-check with your host family to see if they have anything planned for you. And if you already left your village (without your host family) this weekend (the one that's just come to a close on Sunday evening) well, then, that means you shouldn't be making plans to leave again, unless your host family has already assured you three times that they have absolutely nothing in store for you this coming weekend and would actually prefer that you left and gave them some time alone.
Of course, since all of you are super amazing volunteers yourselves (completely dedicated to your villages, students, and host families!), I know that I really don't even need to post this reminder.
I know I'm several weeks late with posting this (sorry!), but I just rediscovered the website for planning trips to, from, or within Slovakia. Here it is:
www.cp.sk
It has both train and bus schedules. All you need to do is type in your city of departure, your destination, and the date and time you want to travel. The tricky thing is that it is all in Slovak (unless I missed the English version somewhere) but it would do you good to learn a few words of the language anyway... Or just ask your host family for help!
And don't forget the website for train travel to, from, or within Hungary:
www.elvira.hu
Now, I know that most of you are eager to see the region (and each other) in your free time, but remember that you need to spend at least one weekend with your host family!!! I was about to turn Janelle, your wonderful program director and Felsőpatony's super amazing English teacher, into an anti-role model for this, since I wanted to see her so badly I almost asked her if she could skip her plans with her host family this weekend. Not a good idea! I resisted the temptation to ask (and I'm sure Janelle would have wisely turned me down anyway). You only have one more weekend left in your village, but before you make plans to go anywhere, double-check with your host family to see if they have anything planned for you. And if you already left your village (without your host family) this weekend (the one that's just come to a close on Sunday evening) well, then, that means you shouldn't be making plans to leave again, unless your host family has already assured you three times that they have absolutely nothing in store for you this coming weekend and would actually prefer that you left and gave them some time alone.
Of course, since all of you are super amazing volunteers yourselves (completely dedicated to your villages, students, and host families!), I know that I really don't even need to post this reminder.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
no facebook, no problem
hilites from our fabulous midpoint break
hungarian grand reunion!
dining with the family
the power table
the kids table
the night was off to a great start
wedding photo!
this picture is like, so la
holland taking it like the lady she is
and this is when the trouble started
lights out for collar as he pays his respects to this fine hungarian pioneer
and there he is the next morning, good as new
btw that tour of fort was really to get a good photoshoot in
surprises around every corner
looking down at the river danube, although you cant tell by all the yellow grass
work it girl
this is when we realized we had lost the rest of the group
gorgeous tour guide
i found a puppy in the middle of a bowling alley
dont worry, they havent lost their shirts, they just put them in the freezer
tom collar says bon voyage
well be recreating this all soon, dont worry
hungarian grand reunion!
dining with the family
the power table
the kids table
the night was off to a great start
wedding photo!
this picture is like, so la
holland taking it like the lady she is
and this is when the trouble started
lights out for collar as he pays his respects to this fine hungarian pioneer
and there he is the next morning, good as new
btw that tour of fort was really to get a good photoshoot in
surprises around every corner
looking down at the river danube, although you cant tell by all the yellow grass
work it girl
this is when we realized we had lost the rest of the group
gorgeous tour guide
i found a puppy in the middle of a bowling alley
dont worry, they havent lost their shirts, they just put them in the freezer
tom collar says bon voyage
well be recreating this all soon, dont worry
your fearless leader ís now a teacher
Hey dudes, new slovak phone totally rad, brah!
inside slovakia 0908 392 874
outside slovakia 00421 908 392 874
text it. now i can stop getting threatening emails from my parents about the phone bill.
Anyway, Felsopatony is wonderful. Its a small village of about 1800 people and this is the first year LE has been here in a while - thus my classes are pretty small, only about 25 students total. One class is for intermediate children and the second is a mix of grammas and smarty pants teenagers who somehow managed to become fluent in English. Its pretty sweet. Today we threw water balloons and tomorrow Im making the adults play hatchi patchi. Feedback has been really positive and so everyday i get one or two new students. Guys, Im really not surprised. I am preeeeetty much the greatest teacher ever.
water balloons for educational purposes
My host family is also great. I live in the mayors house, which has an identical floor plan to the house I where I lived in Udvard over a year ago.. weird huh! Ive got a sweet bedroom full of Green Day posters because my host sister is in London au pairing for the summer.
My host brother is super sweet and the cutest thing ever. Just imagine Balazs at age 16. He translates my life for me and escorts me to school. Then in the evenings we go to the bigger town to play pool and drink becherovka and zlaty bazant with his friends.
My parents cant understand why i refuse to drink and smoke in front of them. I keep trying to explain to them that in the states theres a sense of inpropriety for teachers to do things like that, and so my host brother said give me your hand. He put an unopened pack of marlboro lights in it and told me to go home and smoke them all. WHAT A SWEETHEART! Last night we went to bed with the soothing flavors of fernet and tonic in our tummies. Life is good.
Ive met a lot of people so far.. I think I have exchanged phone numbers with every single person who even remotely speaks English in a 25 km radius.
I think I might jump in a lake right now. Enjoy the rest of your day!
inside slovakia 0908 392 874
outside slovakia 00421 908 392 874
text it. now i can stop getting threatening emails from my parents about the phone bill.
Anyway, Felsopatony is wonderful. Its a small village of about 1800 people and this is the first year LE has been here in a while - thus my classes are pretty small, only about 25 students total. One class is for intermediate children and the second is a mix of grammas and smarty pants teenagers who somehow managed to become fluent in English. Its pretty sweet. Today we threw water balloons and tomorrow Im making the adults play hatchi patchi. Feedback has been really positive and so everyday i get one or two new students. Guys, Im really not surprised. I am preeeeetty much the greatest teacher ever.
water balloons for educational purposes
My host family is also great. I live in the mayors house, which has an identical floor plan to the house I where I lived in Udvard over a year ago.. weird huh! Ive got a sweet bedroom full of Green Day posters because my host sister is in London au pairing for the summer.
My host brother is super sweet and the cutest thing ever. Just imagine Balazs at age 16. He translates my life for me and escorts me to school. Then in the evenings we go to the bigger town to play pool and drink becherovka and zlaty bazant with his friends.
My parents cant understand why i refuse to drink and smoke in front of them. I keep trying to explain to them that in the states theres a sense of inpropriety for teachers to do things like that, and so my host brother said give me your hand. He put an unopened pack of marlboro lights in it and told me to go home and smoke them all. WHAT A SWEETHEART! Last night we went to bed with the soothing flavors of fernet and tonic in our tummies. Life is good.
Ive met a lot of people so far.. I think I have exchanged phone numbers with every single person who even remotely speaks English in a 25 km radius.
I think I might jump in a lake right now. Enjoy the rest of your day!
Shelley Potter plays catch up
I was in a small village in south eastern Hungary called Dusnok. It has a total of 2800 residents, 1 elementary school, and 1 pub. It's a pretty chill place where everyone seems to know each other and the families that live there now have been there for generations. The oldest people in the village speak a dialect of Croat...not sure when they migrated from Croatia, but they feel slightly superior in their ability to speak the language. I lived with a very large family, 1 mom, 1 dad, 1 brother, and 5 sisters! I felt like I was part of the Brady Bunch! Unfortunately the only person who spoke any English was the father, and that was minimal. Still I had fun with them. We had ping-pong tournaments in the basement most nights, hung out in the garden in the evenings while the father played the guitar and the family sang old folk songs, and all 9 of us would hop into an old rickety canoe and paddle around the village river. It was good times had by all. My classes changed both in size and number throughout the 3 weeks. First I had 4 classes, then 5, then back down to 4. I started out having 20 children 9 and under in my beginner class, then the second week the number jumped up to 33 (and I prayed for Jolene to come!), and then the number was back down to about 17 the last week. So in total I taught anywhere from 50-70 students during my stay there. Hatchi-patchi was my friend! In the evenings many of my adult students would invite me to their homes, stuff my belly, and pick my brain. I got pretty close to a few of my students. On the weekends different students would volunteer to take me to neighboring towns for sightseeing, and I was even able to attend the famous fish soup festival in Baja. I have never seen so many people in one place in my life! I could smell the smoke from the fires while I was still on the bus, and I swear every one from Hungary showed up with at least 2 cousins. The night was full of soup, beer, and dancing and then ended with an impressive show of fire works. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Dusnok...my students were very bright and enthusiastic which made the classes fun and I found the people very generous and welcoming. I'm sure the next volunteer will enjoy teaching here as much as I have.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Greetings from Danny Holland, Blog writing pro
Holland-Hammers-Halimba 2007
Best way to arrive in a small Hungarian village that has never seen an English person before?? ANSWER: by jumping off a train after you have fallen asleep and missed your stop...(thanks AT and Gretchen for throwing my bags off!!)...
Despite this slightly unusual arrival I found the people of Halimba welcomed me into their homes and hearts, never missing an opportunity to feed me or give me palinka, of course to prevent them thinking me rude I ALWAYS had to accept their generous gifts...
Teaching was happening 4 times a day, in the morning and then also the afternoon, had 1 starter kids, 1 elementary, 1 intermediate and also 1 starter adults... found the starter adults the most difficult but found that after a few days we all got on alot better..
on the weekends we would visit lake Balaton and drink local wine (and of course Palinka!)...
I was living with the Mayor and he had a wife and one son who was 21 and a daughter who was 18 and a model.... and dont get started on that collar!
So all in all I had a great time, managed to drink wwaaaaayy to much, and taught some of the craziest Hungarian kids that exist on this planet... Danny Holland
Best way to arrive in a small Hungarian village that has never seen an English person before?? ANSWER: by jumping off a train after you have fallen asleep and missed your stop...(thanks AT and Gretchen for throwing my bags off!!)...
Despite this slightly unusual arrival I found the people of Halimba welcomed me into their homes and hearts, never missing an opportunity to feed me or give me palinka, of course to prevent them thinking me rude I ALWAYS had to accept their generous gifts...
Teaching was happening 4 times a day, in the morning and then also the afternoon, had 1 starter kids, 1 elementary, 1 intermediate and also 1 starter adults... found the starter adults the most difficult but found that after a few days we all got on alot better..
on the weekends we would visit lake Balaton and drink local wine (and of course Palinka!)...
I was living with the Mayor and he had a wife and one son who was 21 and a daughter who was 18 and a model.... and dont get started on that collar!
So all in all I had a great time, managed to drink wwaaaaayy to much, and taught some of the craziest Hungarian kids that exist on this planet... Danny Holland
Thursday, July 19, 2007
AT did it.. SO CAN YOU
Welcome to Alsonemesapati, HU! A relatively quaint village in the Zala county, Apati (as it is fondly referred to by locals) is actually the most picturesque place I have seen in Hungary. Although about 500 people live in the town itself, nearly 80% of them commute to work in the nearby city of Zalaegerszeg. Teaching close to 100 people, I feel as if I've met the entire town! I start each day teaching a group of the cutest 4-6 year olds I have ever seen in my life. Although they speak about as much Hungarian as they do English, teaching these Kindergarteners has been the highlight of my days. Somewhere between 1st and 2nd grade, one tends to forget that "Duck Duck Goose" kicks ass! My second class is comprised of students from 7-19 years old. This is by far the most difficult of my classes, because I can rarely find a game/activity that everyone in the class enjoys. Buying everyone ice cream however seems to have struck accord. My last class of the day is the adult class. I don't think it's possible for a 19 year old University student to grab the attention of 20 forty year olds in any other setting. Being treated as an adult by so many whom I see as my elders has been one of the most life changing experiences. Truthfully, there wasn't anyone in Alsonemesapati who spoke English before I came here, but I've enjoyed every challenge that I faced here. In a place where every sentence gets a little bit lost in translation, I find myself crying when I say goodbye to each person I've met. I'm so glad that I was able to live in this town, and I am extremely excited at the prospect of teaching in another part of Hungary!
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