Preparation for Teaching in Hungary

Background: I will be retiring from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in March, 2010. I've worked at JPL for over 25 years and have decided that there are still many things I need to do in life and I want to be young enough to appreciate and enjoy them. For years I have dreamed of teaching in Europe and I have found an agency, Central European Teaching Program, that will find a school where I can teach in Hungary. The agency provides an apartment for me to live in near the school, free health care, and a salary that is the same as a teaching peer in the school (~$500 US per month). I've been told that this amount is adequate to enjoy life in Hungary.

In order to keep my friends informed of what I'm doing, I have created this blog which will serve as a diary of things I've done in preparation and while in service as a teacher in Hungary. So far, I've been in touch with CETP and they seem very interested in having me participate in their program. Mary, the director of CETP, believes she has found a job teaching mathematics and English in a gimnazium (advanced high school) somewhere in Budapest. She won't know for sure until sometime after March, but prospects look promising so far.

1/21/2010: The application for CETP has been submitted and Mary acknowledged that so far the job teaching mathematics and English is still penciled in for me. There are still things I must complete before I'm fully prepared, the most important being completion of becoming certified to teach English as a Foreign Language. Certification takes four weeks to complete and I've decided that I'd like to do this in Hungary just before Hungarian schools begin in September. This means going to Hungary in the July/August timeframe. Additionally, completing my TEFL certification in Hungary will enable me to learn a little Hungarian language and also give me the opportunity to explore Budapest.