I'm no longer on "vacation"!

Monday was a holiday here, as I posted before, so Tuesday was the first day of school. I had the usual first day of school jitters, but left the apartment in plenty of time to get to the school plenty early. Well, it was a good thing I did! The tram was broken down! It took me a bit to figure out what was going on, but I started hoofing it almost immediately. I stopped at one point and thought I would catch the bus, as I was pretty sure it was coming soon, but then realized, I might waste precious minutes in getting to school. It wasn't too long of a walk - about 20-25 minutes and I arrived around 10 minutes early. There were a number of other people effected by this, but only two ended up being late.

There are 18 people in the class. We are separated into three teams of six each. My group includes an Irish gal, around 24 years old, a Scottish guy in his 30's (been teaching in Lithuania), another Scottish guy in his 30's (been teaching in Japan), a British woman in her 50's, and an Hungarian gal in her 20's who's been in Korea for 3 months and speaks four languages! Interesting group with interesting backgrounds which makes it kind of fun. Our tutor is a woman named Sandra from Wales. She's been here for two years and lived in Poland for seven years before that.

Half of our group had to teach on the second day! Luckily, I didn't have to do my lesson until Wednesday. We have all done it twice now, and it has been a good process with support from the tutor and the other team members.

Our days are divided into two sections: from 9 - 1:15 we have teaching practice and feedback from our tutor and from our other team members. Then, from 2:30 to 5:00 we have what is called, Input, which is really our lessons. We all come back together for these sessions. We have had sessions on lesson planning, how to teach language development (grammar and vocabulary), classroom management, and how to teach skills such as listening and reading. These sessions are taught by the our tutor and the other two; a woman from Scotland and a woman of Chinese descent who speaks with a British accent.

Every night this week, I had work to do and worked until around 9 or 10pm. And, every morning, I have had to get to the school before 8:00 to get into the computer lab/library to print something or use the materials. I am so glad that I was here early to get the lay of the land and see a few things!

We had class on Saturday morning to make up for the Monday holiday and afterwards, all but three of us went to lunch. We went to a traditional Hungarian restaurant, and I quickly decided on one of the soups, as I watched everyone else order fried this and that. The gal next to me got pancakes stuffed with cheese, served XXXX style. This meant crepes folded into quarters, stuffed with cheese and then battered and breaded and deep fried!!!! Lot's of interesting looks on faces as their meals arrived!

In addition to the people in my group, there are three more Americans, two more Hungarians, a number of people from Wales, and a guy from London who has his law degree but has been a Lorrie driver for over 10 years. Everyones plans are different. Some hope to find work in Asian countries, some will look later, and others hope to stay in Hungary. The guy who has been teaching in Lithuania will go back to a better paying job, one of the Hungarians wants to come to the US. For my fellow Dept of Labor employees, get this: She's heard of this visa program where if there are no American workers, foreign workers can get visas to do the job!!!!! Hmm, Claudia, would you approve her to come to Alaska to teach English!!!!!

My apartment is a dump. No way around it. BUT, it has a washing machine, is a 7 minute tram ride from the school, and I'm accessing someone's wireless internet for free. These three things are outweighing my desire to live in a more recently updated place. Also, I don't think I have the time to move!

I am enjoying the class and the students who come for the lessons. These students pay a very small fee for the classes and then if they attend most of them, receive their fee back. All the students in my class have been doing this for awhile and know what they are getting into --- inexperienced teachers! The first class was around 15 students, but we have had a steady number of 12 all week. There are two Korean women, an older woman who has lived in three countries and has returned to Budapest where she grew up, an older gentleman who apparently has had many broken hearts if we are understanding him correctly, and various others. The level is upper intermediate, so we can really carry on a conversation with most of them. The problem however is that some have very thick accents, so it is difficult to understand them. This makes it hard when teaching, as the classes are very interactive.

Here are some random observations that I have observed:

The beds have all been made up with two pillows - one large (a bit larger than our standard size) and one smaller than a throw pillow for the sofa, that lays on top of the large one. Can't quite figure this one out.

Most bike riders do not wear helmets, although I am seeing more of them in Budapest than I saw in the countryside. The serious bikers who use the road use them but I see parents with kids on seats and neither are wearing them.

Many people with small children - 2 to 3 years old - bring along a little plastic trike that the kid sits on and scoots along by pushing off with their feet. I don't mean they are doing this for play. When the parent is walking - even crossing a street - the kid is scooting along on this thing!
Also, I've seen a lot of strollers with a back step, so the older child can stand on this step, and their head comes up between the stroller and the parent's handlebar.

If you want to be cool, then you wear a fanny pack, and you wear hanging BELOW your butt! We saw this a lot in Eger with the high school aged boys and girls. Not sure how they are staying up.

Hungarians say what sounds like "see ya" when they see someone and when they are saying good bye. (It did actually come from the American "see ya" and has been used for about 15 years or so. ) They also say Hello when greeting you and when saying goodbye! I heard this more in Hodmezovasarhely and Eger than I do here though.

And I just may be out of it, but guys are wearing headbands. I see this with handsome 20 something guys with full hair, all one length to about mid-neck. They pull the hair back off their forehead with the headband and then their hair flows out behind....

Wheelchair accessibility is better than I would have expected on public transportation, but the buildings and sidewalks leave a lot to be desired.

And for those who aren't familiar with a number of the differences between the US and Europe in general:
the first floor of a building is our second floor. Our first floor is called the ground floor and then comes the 1st floor, 2nd, etc. You have to pay for the water in a restaurant and you have to ask for the bill. You are expected to bring your own grocery bag to the store, or pay for one if you have to use a plastic one they supply. When you pay for something, you put the money down on a tray, and they will put the change on the tray for you. You do not hold out your hand to receive your change. Stores for the most part are still closed on Sundays, however the bigger stores in the malls and grocery stores are open.

Guess that's it for now. I really must get back to work on my assignment which is due on Tuesday, along with my lesson plan for teaching vocabulary on Tuesday! I know you are probably wondering how I could think of teaching English when this is so poorly written, but...... well, I just don't have time to edit it!

Take care. Keep the emails coming -- it's really good to hear from people.