One Week Down, I Don't Know How Many to Go Because the Schedule's in Hungarian

It was a great feeling telling students that they could now leave school for the week and have fun for the weekend.  I'd forgotten how little high school kids care in their last half an hour of the week, so I'll need to figure out how to keep them focused (if it's possible).  I can always just knock over some cabinets, that worked in the beginner class.

Today was the opposite of yesterday.  I now have three markers of my very own, and I went to school prepared to teach three classes and it turned out to only be two.  There was a mix up with all the schedule changes, and one of the teachers didn't get the memo, so the students were in the wrong place.  Good thing I got up early...

It's very funny in situations where something goes wrong (like the class not being there), because of how the Hungarians react.  They all know I don't speak any Hungarian, but a couple of them will argue frantically with each other, all the while looking at me like I'm following along.  The language always makes them seem really mad about something urgent, even if they're just discussing their favorite type of cereal.  Then, everyone walks in a different direction and one of them looks at me and says "it's okay".  Sometimes there's one or two more sentences (simple, not compound sentences) offered, but it's never a guarantee.  I've already learned to take what I can get.

I also sat in on another class (in English), where the teacher just asked everyone to tell her what they did for the summer.  Most of them just hung out around here and then went to a festival somewhere in Hungary for a few days.  Two or three students went to Greece with their families, and one girl visited relatives in England.  A few said they worked a little bit during their summer break, and they usually worked on farms, in stores, or in a factory.  As far as I know, none of my high school friends ever worked on farms or in factories, so that was very interesting for me.

After the class, the teacher told me she likes to find out what they did for their summer breaks because not too many of them can afford to go on big, fancy vacations.  I told her that I'm used to Greece being a very exotic and expensive vacation spot, and quite a long trip to get to.  These students complained that their drive was too long - try that in a conversation, "I'd like to go to Greece, but I'd have to sit in the car for 12 hours.  I think I'll just go to Serbia like last year."

I'm excited that it's the weekend and I don't have to get up early, but I haven't decided what I'll do with my free time.  I'll probably study some Hungarian, try to figure out where to buy toilet paper, and make some friends.  If last Saturday is any clue as to how weekends are, I won't even have to go to a night club, I'll just open my windows until 5 AM!