June 3, 2011: Teachers' Day

June 3, 2011: Today was the last day I planned to teach a "real" English lesson -- my final grades have been tabulated and the students are in no mood to do any serious studying. Besides, I promised them that after this week, we'll be playing games instead of studying. And, for the most part, the students have endured my lessons this week very well. On Wednesday, my mother visited some of my classes and the students asked her some questions. They also taught her a bit of Hungarian. Her presence certainly had a calming effect on them and they really behaved well. I even gave the students a final written dictation to do during their last lesson of the week and they took it seriously and did well; I can see definite progress on their part.

The games that I've taught them so far have been very well received. One boy had brought in some playing cards and showed a trick to me. Then I showed the class a "magic" trick of mine with playing cards (If only they knew the secret!) They were surprised and seemed to enjoy the trick. I also taught them a word game that I learned from another teacher the boys taught her and they enjoy playing all the time now. Good thing, too. The game uses English words and requires sophisticated logic skills, so I'm pleased that the game has become popular. I still have a couple of other games to try out on them next week. We'll just see if there are enough games for the time I have to teach them.

For one class today, since I had finished everything in previous lessons, the boys begged if they could go outside to play tango, a Hungarian game that looks like it's part tennis, part soccer, and part volleyball. At least the rules seemed to follow those sports. The game is played on a small court that has a low "net" dividing it. Two boys are on each team. No player is allowed to touch the ball with his arm/hands. The ball is served from one end (as in tennis or volleyball) but delivered with a kick of the ball to the other side. The players on the other side are permitted to let the ball bounce once or hit it directly with their feet, head, knee, etc. (just not their arm/hands). They are allowed to juggle the ball several times (as in soccer) before sending it to their teammate or the other side. If the ball goes out of bounds and they kick it in bounds, it's permissible. The score goes to five points before one side loses. The boys were quite good at this game. I saw very good juggling skills (as in soccer) as well as heading skills.

The other day, one of my office mates entered our office and told me "I hear that you're going to be the English department's cook for the cook off next Friday." This was the first I had heard about that and at first I thought she was joking. Turns out that the head of the English department has been reading my blog and has learned I enjoy cooking so she thought I would be a good candidate and told my office mate this. When I asked her about this, the head of the department confessed that, yes, she had told my office mate that I would be a good candidate. She informed me that the school would buy all the food and that everyone would help out. She told me to tell her what to buy so I can do the cooking next Friday. I'm not sure about this, but she intimated that there was a "friendly competition" among all the departments of the school and that others would be coming by to test our food. At any rate, I sent her the recipes for two dishes that I enjoy cooking: Hungarian Chicken Paprika a la Halverstadt style, and Hungarian Beef Goulash a la Halverstadt style (You see, I just can't leave a recipe alone and I always add things to what I'm cooking, so the result will not be as my Hungarian friends are used to!) We'll see how this goes. Since Friday is my last day on the job, it may be a perfect time to disappear if the food doesn't meet their expectations!

Meanwhile, today was Teachers' Day. This meant that we didn't have to teach after noon. Instead we were treated to a nice lunch in the cafeteria. Some of the students put on a show for us (all in Hungarian so I have no idea what was said.) Then the principal spoke followed by a representative parent. Then we ate and had some wine. The lunch was nice. I also received two nice gifts, a box of coconut bon bons from one of my classes, and a half kilo of Arabica coffee from the school. Nice to be remembered.

Lately the weather has been extraordinarily hot and humid. It poured yesterday afternoon and the smell and feel of the rain reminded me of the rain I used to endure when I lived in Malaysia during the monsoon season -- exactly like a tropical storm! They say that Hungary seems to be enjoying only two seasons per year: summer and winter, since the spring and fall last only a couple of days each.