The Christmas Market

One of my favorite Christmas adventures here in Budapest has been my trip (0k, two trips so far) to the Christmas Market. It's in the center of the city, near the famous walking street, Vaci Utca and lots of Hungarian artisans come to sell their crafts. There are beautiful candles, pottery, baskets, jewelry, and much more. I would tell you about all the fun presents I bought, but that would ruin the surprise for some of you reading this blog!

I've included several pictures of the excitement. The first is of the Christmas tree in the center of the market, next is a picture of some of the booths, and the last one is of one of the food places. If you look in the bottom left corner of the picture you can see all the sausages cooking!

Christmas Dinner and a Story

Last night we had our staff Christmas dinner at a restaurant in Budapest. Here's a picture of my table! We sat in a fun little corner with a cozy lamp and a good view of the street for people watching! From left to right, Annah Kate, Laura, me, and Mary.

I also thought I might share a story that many of you will appreciate. Yesterday afternoon I was walking through Diosd doing a little shopping and buying a tasty pastry, kurtos-kolacs, that's only sold on Friday afternoons. I bumped into some of my middle school girls, and we ended up having a fun conversation. My favorite part was about trips to Disney World because of the two excerpts below:

1. Discussing their favorite roller coaster:

Me: "Is that ride new?"

Them: "No, it's really, really, old."

Me: "Oh, I don't remember it from the last time I was there."

Them: "When was the last time you were there?"

Me: "1998"

Them: "Oh, wow, yeah, that was before the ride was built!"

2. Discussing height limits on rides at amusement parks:

Them: "Are you tall enough to ride the rides at amusement parks?"

Me: Speechless.....

The Pursuit of the Overhead Compass!

When I left South Caldwell last year and packed up all my favorite teaching supplies, I was graciously given two things...packs of Vis-a-vis overhead markers (they don't sell them here) and an overhead compass. To be honest, I was most thrilled about the markers, especially the purple ones, and when I showed the bag to the other math teachers here, there were some pretty happy people.

The overhead compass (to my surprise) has been unbelievably handy! The Geometry curriculum here is filled with constructions and investigations, so I use it almost every day. Today, though, I realized how truly wonderful a gift it was. The middle school teacher came to my room and said.."Do you happen to have an overhead compass?" To which I replied, "Sure, you're welcome to borrow it!" Then, this morning, I was practically chased through the building by the 5th grade teacher who had heard of my handy tool. He said that he had been trying to purchase one for years, and that he really wanted his kids to be able to see one.

How strange, isn't it, that an overhead compass would be such an exciting thing! And yet, I am thankful!

Thanksgiving!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving Everyone! I hope you all had wonderful weekends full of celebration and thankfulness. I know mine was sure special. Several of the other new teachers and I were invited over to a Thanksgiving feast at the home of another teacher at ICSB. There were three missionary families there, along with about 10 other adults. We had a great time, and it almost felt like we were in the States. My biggest triumph was the green bean casserole! (I had to fry the onions myself, since Hungary doesn't stock French's Fried Onions!) We even had deviled eggs and sweet potato casserole, and turkey. On an interesting note, our turkey was really fresh...killed only a week ago! (There's not such a rush on turkeys here, ya know!) Anyways, pictures to come soon of the green bean casserole...it was pretty impressive!

Oh wow, I totally forgot....

On our weekend off for the 56 Revolution anniversary, several of us took a trip to Salzburg (home of The Sound of Music). We had a great time, and here are some fun pics from the journey!

Pics from the Orphanage

As promised in the post below, here are some pics from the orphanage trip!

A Return to Blogger

Hello everyone! Wow it has been an incredibly long time since I posted here. I could think of a million and one excuses, but basically, I have been busy...really busy. So, here are some highlights of the past month!

1. A couple of weeks ago I had a quite the day! I went with another new teacher and some children she was babysitting to Budapest's circus. The best part? It's a toss up between the trained weiner dogs and the horse and elephant act.

   

   After that, we went to the final game of the fall season for the Budapest Wolves... What are the Budapest Wolves, you might ask? Well, they are the best American football team in Hungary. By best, I mean it was similar to watching high school football.
   
   (It was lots of fun, and with the leaves changing, I almost felt like I was at home.)
2. October 23rd was 5oth anniversary of the 1956 uprising against Russian communism. It was a day full of sadness and remembrance. It's hard for me to imagine what it must be like to have gone through such a dark time. One Sunday afternoon, several of us went to see the new monument and watched a video with some historical footage. This is a picture of the monument.
3. The biggest highlight of the past several months for me has been my trip to a Hungarian orphanage. One Saturday I had the opportunity to chaperone the high school trip to a boarding school for orphans and other underpriviledged children with disabilities about an hour outside of Budapest. We spent the day painting fingernails, playing soccer (not me, the kids), doing arts and crafts, and telling Bible stories. It was obvious that the children were starved for love and attention, and it was a huge blessing to watch my students love and minister to the children. The pics don't seem to be posting, so I'll try to do them in a different post!
4. My birthday was last weekend! Woohoo! In honor of the special event and the birthdays of several others, we went downtown to the only Mexican American restaurant in Budapest, Iguanas. I ordered a taco salad, the first one I've had in a tortilla shell in three months. I cannot describe to you how good it tasted. Yippeee for birthdays!

High School Retreat!

What a weekend it has been, and boy am I tired! This past Thursday morning we loaded the buses and took almost 100 high school students to the Word of Life Retreat Center/Bible College right outside of Budapest. We spent 2 1/2 days together, and had a wonderful time! I got to build some neat relationships with my kids as well as get to know some of the staff better. It was as much a retreat for me as it was for them, I think.

The seniors were basically in charge, woohooo! They invited the speaker and music leaders, planned all the events, and led the small group times. We played lots of games, took lots of long walks in the woods, and listened to some great talks about living an authentic Christian life. I stayed in the "barracks" which were a tad bit chilly at times (not as bad as it sounds, but we did have camoflage duvets). On the last night we had a bonfire and some of the kids shared how God was working in their lives this year. One student even said my friend Paula and I were "cool"...YES!!! (Not that any of you ever doubted this, I am sure!)

Today was our first day in the new building! It is really unbelievable to see how God has answered so many of our prayers! WOW!!! I spent all of yesterday afternoon working on my new little room, and my lesson plans. I'm on the 3rd floor and have an awesome view...more pictures to come!

We're In!!!!

Praise the LORD! Today we were given permission to enter the new building! All the paperwork is finished and we now have access to the classrooms for Monday morning. Wooohhoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today we had chapel in the new gymnasium, so I thought I'd post a couple of pictures!


Please pray for this weekend's high school retreat. We leave on Thursday morning and will be gone until Saturday afternoon! Please pray that God would move in mighty ways this weekend...that student's lives would be changed for His glory!

ACSI Leadership Conference!

This weekend ACSI held a leadership conference in Budapest for students in Christian schools throughout Eastern Europe and the surrounding countries. One of the 200 attendees was our friend Sarah from PFO. We got to spend last night with her and some of her students from the Christian school in Moscow! Here's a few pics of our adventure. We went to the Fisherman's Warf near Castle Hill...it was beautiful. Stars, architecture, a view of the city and the river covered in lights...do I really live in Europe now?

This coming week is going to be a big one! We have four days of classes, then High School Retreat. Oh, and the building is almost finished, almost!

A whole week...

It seems that it has been almost an entire week since I have posted anything on this blog. It's not that life hasn't been happening as much as it is that I am still recovering from last weekend. Thank goodness it's finally Friday! It's been a good week, though. I have lots to be thankful for. Wednesday was Bible Study; we had a great time. Another one of the teachers here, Lisa, shared her testimony with the girls. It was neat to see them relate to her story of being a missionary kid. I'm continually amazed by the kids here, encouraging with huge hearts for the Lord.

I took another couple walks long walks with several other teachers in the afternoons to get some exercise. We spend so much of our time cooped up at school working that it's a big deal to get outside, especially since we've been told it will get dark at 4pm this winter! Wow! We go to a nice big open field to walk. There are lots of old tractor paths, and it's nice to get away. Interestingly enough, the people of this town also find it to be an excellent place to dispose of their trash. As we walk we get a nice view of all the things the people of Diosd no longer want. Yesterday we saw a couple old sofas, some shoes, an electric doorbell, and various other interesting objects. Hmm...if only there were a nice desk or couch we could cart back to our apartment!

Back from the Retreat...

Hey everyone! I'm back! I had a wonderful time on our staff retreat and got to know some of the other teachers much better. I am truly blessed to be a part of this group of teachers and administrators...wow! Some of the highlights? A game of volleyball where I stood on the court and watched the ball fly around me, encouraging praise and worship music, good insights into practical teaching tips, a fierce game of nerts, more than one mocha, and a little see-sawing!

We stayed at a really neat Bible College and Retreat Center in Vaijta (Calvary Chapel Bible College), about an hour and a half from Budapest. It's located on the grounds of an old "castle" and the architecture was beautiful! Thankfully, I was far away from the teacher workroom and all the school responsibilities I didn't want to have to be working on!

Tonight Lisa and I made pizza...almost from scratch...we bought the pizza sauce, a bad choice, but everything else was really yummy (and I thought the presentation wasn't bad either)!

My first brownies from scratch!

Lookey Lookey! I made my first batch of brownies from scratch today! It was quite the adventure, but they sure are yummy. I wish you were all here to eat them, but since you're not, I'm going to go and have another one with a big glass of milk!

I also thought I'd add a list of things I might like if you're "hankerin" to send me a package (no pressure).....

1. Hidden Valley Ranch packets

2. Vanilla Extract

3. Kool-Aid packets

4. Taco Seasoning Packets

5. Fruity candy (like Starbursts)

6. Construction paper

7. Cinnamon Gum

8. Nail Polish (it's really pricey here and I forgot all mine...woops!)

9. Any other fun little stuff you would like to send me!

(As I read over this list, it sounds a little ridiculous, but I'm going to leave it up anyways!)

We Are Fine!

Hi everyone! Just in case you've read about the riots this week in Budapest, I wanted to let you know everyone at ICSB is fine. I didn't even know about the rioting until this morning at devotions. I'm guessing things may be crazy in downtown for a while, so I'm not planning on going there any time soon! That should be fine since I have ten zillion things to do this week at school and then we have a staff retreat this weekend! I LOVE RETREATS!!!!

Dinner Downtown and Dominique

Last night several of us took a trip to downtown, explored the touristy areas a tad, and had dinner at a Hungarian/Thai restaurant. Little did we know we would meet Dominique, a Hungarian college student who worked at the restaurant. She talked with us about American slang, the dramatic changes in Hungarian culture, and the need for us to all get Hungarian boyfriends for the sole purpose of learning the language. (Something I should have considered long ago!) Anyways, I really enjoyed getting to know her and plan on going back to see her sometime soon.

After our first full week of school, it was nice to take a break and just enjoy hanging out. Classes were great this week, and I've been reminded so many times of how much I love being in the classroom. The biggiest culture shock of the week? Sitting in a room with almost 100 high school students singing praise songs DURING THE SCHOOL DAY, encouraged to do so by the administration!!!!! How absolutely crazy...especially considering it's also a part of my job description to talk about God during class! To be honest, it's been almost hard to get used to after working in the public schools.

I've volunteered to co-lead the 9th grade girls Bible Study at school this year and we're having our first meeting on Wednesday afternoon at my apartment. Hopefully by then I will have finished covering our orange couch with some khaki fabric...huge improvement! I'm truly excited about getting involved in their lives and encouraging them in their spiritual growth. I can't wait! Please be praying that the Lord would use the time we spend together to draw us closer to Him and to sharpen each other.

Still no word on the visas or the completion of the buildings...maybe sometime soon!

Passports, Visas, and Eastern Europe!

I'm back home now, sitting at school and grading papers, so thankful things worked out well this morning in Bratislava. We began our trip at 5:30 am (ok, we didn't leave until 5:45) this morning and entered the Hungarian Embassy in Slovakia a little before 9. 5 of the new teachers, the school director, and the lady that deals with International Affairs at ICSB all made a pit stop for McReggeli (breakfast at McDonald's) where I ordered a McMuffin and got some french fries...go figure. After talking to the embassy, we traveled to a nearby bank where we withdrew $ out of the atm in Slovac currency, took it to the lady at the counter who changed it into Euros and paid our application fee. We then traveled back to the embassy, handed over our passports and visa applications, and were told to come back at 3pm for the verdict...visas or no visas. By this time it was about 11, and we headed out to find lunch. We also discovered an amazing Leonardo DaVinci exhibit at the Bratislava Castle, which is now a museum. When we returned to the embassy we were told the verdict was still out, but that we would most likely get our visas. From what I understand, they are going to call the school this week and let us know. Then, if we are approved, we'll have to go back to Bratislava in about 2 weeks and get the visas. I'm really learning patience here, but I'm so thankful for the good news and that some of the $ in Slovakia is purple!

An Answered Prayer!

Wooohoo! God is soooo good! So many people have been praying about my visa, and so I want to make sure everyone knows what has happened. Earlier this week the plan was to go to the embassy in Bratislava today (Friday) and apply for our visas. On Thursday, we discovered the embassy was closed on Fridays and we planned to go on Monday. In light of this, I spent lots of my free time making sub. plans.

This morning, when all of you thought I would be going to get my visa, the embassy called ICSB and asked us not to come. They said they were reviewing our case and would get back in touch with us in a few days. Needless to say, we were all disappointed with the news and I was a tad bit frustrated.

And then, this afternoon, the embassy in Bratislava called back to let us know they would be able to grant our visas on Monday! So, the trip is back on, and we think we will leave with visas! I am so excited and I know that it is because of your prayers and the prayers of others that these official's hearts have been softened to our needs! Please continue to pray for a smooth trip!

THANKS!

Please Pray!

Hi everyone! After two weeks of orientation and planning for the beginning of school, the craziness begins tomorrow! Wednesday is the first day of high school, so things are about to begin! I'm a little nervous about starting off, but overall I'm excited about things finally beginning to happen! The picture in this post is of me working in the high school teacher workroom, affectionately called the "Hub." Another several weeks, and I might even have a classroom!

Friday we are traveling to Bratislava to apply for Visas! It is possible that if I show up in person they will grant me my visa on the spot. How wonderful would that be!

Vienna ... not the sausage!

As of last Saturday, I have now visited a grand total of two European countries. I went with several other teachers from ICSB to Vienna! We had quite the adventure and ended up spending almost 2 hours in stand-still traffic outside the border crossing. Apparently, there were a lot of other people travelling to Vienna with us! The highlights of my trip included my first shopping trip to H&M, a peppermint mocha frappuccino at Starbucks, getting to reunite with several teachers from the Vienna Christian School, and a short visit to the summer palace! It was a welcome change from Budapest and all the preparations for the first day of school.

St. Istvan's Day!

Sunday was St. Istvan's Day here in Hungary. St. Istvan (Stephen) was the first Christian king of Hungary and because of this, Hungary claims to be a Christian nation. Ironically, only 2% is estimated to be an evangelical Christian!

As part of our celebrations, several of the new teachers, accompanied by some more experienced co-workers, ventured into the city for a day of celebration. We watched an amazing airshow and some pretty impressive fireworks. I am sad to say that in the middle of the fireworks display a terrible storm came and caused mass chaos. We were only about 15 yards from a tree that fell and killed 2 people. We ran (along with the other million or so people in the city) into tram tunnels and made our way back to the car soaking wet. I know everyone is disappointed that I do not have pictures of this, so I apologize in advance! Anyways, we piled 7 wet adults into a compact car and made it home in about 45 minutes! What a day!

From what we understand, there are many people still in the hospital with injuries from the storm. Thankfully, everyone with the school was safe, but please pray for the safe recovery of those injured!

To Szendtendre on the Danube!

As part of our new teacher orientation this week, one of the Hungarian teachers, Kata, took us on an adventure through Budapest! We traveled by bus and by tram into the center of the city and then boarded a boat for a trip up the Danube River. (The Danube River separates the city of Budapest into two sides, Buda and Pest.) After about 1.5 hours, we arrived at a small village called Szentendre. Known for it's beautiful architecture and great gift shops, it's definitely a tourist trap. Being tourists, we ate it up and had a great time! Here are some of my favorite pics of our adventure!

Hello from Hungary!

Hi everyone! This is my first attempt at a blog and sharing pictures. I hope I'll be able to use this site during the next year to post pictures and other excerpts from my adventures in Eastern Europe. Be sure to check back often for some hopefully exciting updates!

I thought I'd add a few photos of my first couple of days here! This is of me (and my luggage, and some of my roomate's luggage) in the Budapest airport! Thankfully, a nice non-English-speaking Hungarian was able to pile these onto my cart! Otherwise, I might still be there!

The next pictures are some from my new apartment, right across the street from the school. Most notable are the "Sesame Street" orange couch covered with several blue blankets, the red cabinets with inlaid circles for handles, and the Soviet refrigerator! Thankfully, our decades old fridge is working quite well and is now stocked with lots of food!

The director's wife transported us to Ikea and Auchan (French Wal-Mart) to do some shopping, so now we're learning how to light our gas stove and oven. It's quite the adventure, but our landlord says it's a "safety stove" ...that means we can't blow ourselves up!

Our apartment has been used by ICSB teachers for several years now, so there was even a Brita water pitcher with a brand new filter.