June 25, 2011: Saying Goodbye, visitors arrive

June 25, 2011: My last week in Hungary has kept me quite busy. My brother-in-law, his wife, two of her sisters, and their husbands came to Budapest to begin a river cruise up the Danube. They came a couple of days early so that I could show them around. Add my tour guiding (Vaci utca, the market, dinner on the Danube, Strudel House, St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Jewish synagogue, Szentendre, Hero's Square, the castle in City Park, Liszt Ferenc ter, the Opera House, Alexandra's Bookstore, New York Cafe, my favorite restaurant, Robinson's Restaurant, plus a trip to the Szechenyi Baths, Buda Castle, Rock Hospital, st. Matyas Church, Fisherman's Bastion, Parliament, Freedom Square) to my saying goodbye to friends and colleagues plus packing and closing down bank account, telephone, internet service and you've got one big busy schedule. The pictures below are of some of the above where I haven't yet displayed pictures in past entries on my blog (except St. Stephen's Cathedral which may be duplicates):

Last round at Darby's

Festival near St. Stephen's Cathedral

St. Stephen's Cathedral

St. Stephen's Cathedral

"Sailboats" in lake near Hero's Square

City Park

Portable windup record player

Saying goodbye to Hungary, and especially the good friends I've made this past school year has not been easy to do, so instead I say "I'll see you again". In fact, my plan is to return to Hungary after four years to attend the Ribbon Ceremony of my students. It would be great fun to see how they've developed through the years. However, I will only return to attend that ceremony provided the students keep in touch with me, say, once a year to let me know how they're doing. So, this is something that I will be looking forward to in four years time.


Meanwhile, I have packed for my trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia starting tomorrow morning. I'm not looking forward to getting up so early (3:00 a.m.), getting to the airport (two buses and a subway) and then traveling to Frankfurt and Bahrain before reaching KL. But, it sure will be fun to see all of my friends in Malaysia after last seeing them 27 years ago. I'll continue this blog to cover my adventures in Malaysia, Cambodia, Korea, and China on the way home to Los Angeles. Until then...