Hello Miss Kelley!!!!

It has been a little while since I've written a real blog post, and I apologize. I am still very bad at blogging, but I have already been farther on this blog than my last one...so I suppose that's something. Even though I really like teaching, and the kids here in Koszeg are quite a pleasure to deal with most of the time, I am TIRED at the end of the day. Teaching is a very emotional profession, especially for someone relatively new to teaching. Also, as I found in France (mind you I was only there for 5 weeks) it is very mentally draining to be immersed in another culture and language. Not that I don't appreciate every second that I am spending here, but at the end of the day I must admit that I do enjoy retreating into my apartment and having some quality time watching some American TV shows or something of that nature. It's almost as though I need a couple of hours listening to an American accent to decompress my mind before ironing out my plans for the next day. Perhaps this is just a phase I am going through, but for right now this little routine is helping to keep me sane and positive.

I will say that I am getting much more proficient at shopping and using my gas stove and oven. All of these new processes were a bit overwhelming for the first week, but now I'm starting to feel the semblance of a rhythm or routine to my weeks that will surely make time fly. It's hard to believe that it's been almost a month since I left home. At this rate, Christmas will be here before I know it. I have just about six weeks until Fall Break, which is a week long, and entails a trip with my fellow CETP teachers. Based upon the good times had in Budapest during orientation, I am really looking forward to it! A whole week with fellow Americans...YAY! I kid, but it will be nice to talk at a normal speed and just have some time to compare notes and decompress after eight weeks of teaching. Then after Fall Break, just over five weeks until I fly home for Christmas! That will just fly by I'm sure. No pun intended. I'm not telling you this to give you the impression that I am counting down the days until I leave, but it's just amazing to me that I'm not dying of homesickness yet. As my previous posts described, I was very worried about the homesickness, but so far it has not been a big issue. Culture shock was a lot at first, but quickly passed once I met my students and have continued to get settled.

One startling difference between Hungarians and Americans is our process of greeting each other. In America, it is not at all obligatory to greet anyone less than a very good acquaintance or friend. I was lucky if my students in Virginia made eye contact with me in the hallway much less actually greeted me. Here I'm getting, "Hello Miss Kelley!!" yelled at me across the campus. I'm getting used to saying, "Hello," "Hi," or "Szia" to just about every person I pass throughout the day. Even in packs of 10 kids, they ALL say hello to me. I'm not kidding. So among all of the negativity I described in the first couple of posts, there are these little beams of light that are starting to break through. The kids seem to really like me, and overall, they are very nice people that I enjoy being around. I'm looking forward to working with them throughout the year! More to come soon...Pictures of my school below!

~Kristen

The Stairs Going up to the First Floor

Entrance -- Just inside the Front Door

Front View

Full View -- So Pretty!