in honor of Halloween...

way behind on things right now...
but I just discovered mtvmusic.com and took a break to watch Thriller. you know, before Michael Jackson went psycho. I still remember the first time I watched this!
Happy Halloween!

Michael Jackson |MTV Music

a break!

so the orchestra was a lot of fun. I could see maybe ten instruments, but it was beautiful, and I enjoy watching the people more anyway. An old man directly across from us "played piano" along with the music for 90% of the time -- and he was fairly accurate, which was entertaining. But my favorite was a family -- the little boy started imitating the conductor, the older brother punched him in the ribs, and the mother glared at them both with a death-look. Some things transcend culture!

Tonight is another HS party, and I got roped into again being a chaperone. I don't really mind, but I am a little nervous that they put me in charge of the pumpkin carving area. Being responsible for lots of teenage boys with knives just doesn't really appeal to me! but it will soon be over, and then a glorious four-day weekend! Several of us are driving up to Vienna for a day, so I'm excited about that.

We still don't have internet at our apartment, so I won't be online for a while...but hopefully I'll have some viennese pictures up soon!

a surprisingly good Monday

It's a beautiful day, my classes were easy, and I'm going to hear the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra tonight at the opera house -- for $2. $2!!!! I won't be able to see the stage, but who cares? :) I need to do things like this more often. Lisa and I made a list at the beginning of the year so that if we leave Budapest, we'll leave no stone unturned! Cultural events like cheap orchestra tickets were high on the list.

So Lisa and I survived being parents for a few days, with no major problems. We did have one sick kid for a while, but I think it was mainly missing Mom! And I more or less successfully navigated them to and from school, practices, and lessons -- in a stick-shift van! --- although I did sort of hit a car on the side of the road. The combination of huge van + tiny (one lane wide) Hungarian road + cars parked on the side of the road + oncoming traffic that didn't stop = not cool! Thank God for side-mirrors that fold in :) I was so embarrased. Fortunately, no damage done, and the kids thought it was funny. And really, we had a good time.

Short week because of the Hungarian holiday weekend! Woohoo!

playing mom

not much time to update this week!
Grades are due for the first quarter, always a traumatic time, and I'm staying with the Bullock kids this week! They're such great kids, so it's a lot of fun... but quite a change to suddenly be responsible for four kids (2nd grade through 11th!) and a dog.

In other exciting news, the dollar is continuing to do well against the forint -- I went to the ATM yesterday and withdrew enough money to pay my rent for the next two months. If I had withdrawn the same number of forint a month ago, I would have paid $120 more for it, and at the rates from this summer, that would have been $200 more. Crazy! So all the Americans are pretty giddy. :)

forgot two things!

one -- I went to the Bodies Exhibition, which was completely fascinating. If you're ever in a city where they have it, you should go, even if you're pretty squeamish. absolutely amazing.

two -- this video was done by one of my ap students and features the kids (and my roommate!) on a recent trip to an orphanage here. I know I say it all the time -- but we have such great kids. I'm so proud of them.

long awaited pics

Hallelujah -- against all odds, the value of the forint has shifted, and this morning the dollar was actually worth 200 forint. It hasn't been that good in two years!

So I'm celebrating by taking a trip to Sweden! A dear friend, Judy, moved there recently, so I'll be spending my Thanksgiving break celebrating with her! And with the help of discount airfares, my roundtrip ticket costs less than $100. so excited!

HS retreat --

back

a moment I'd like to share, because I'm so freaking proud of myself: at church today, I ended up sitting next to a Hungarian while I sang my little heart out. After the music was over, he spoke to me in Hungarian, and I responded in English -- and he was shocked! He thought I was Hungarian because of the way I sang. So finally, I have fooled a native! :)

High school retreat was great -- wrap-up complete with pictures coming soon!

court stuff

So if you happen to think about this on Thursday, our school is involved in a pretty big court case and could definitely use your prayers. We're appealing a court decision that could cost us a considerable amount of money, so please pray for the appeals court to act fairly!

We leave for high school retreat in the morning! This year I expect the highlights to be a) freshmen initiation -- I believe this year the freshmen will become ice-cream sundaes, topped with all sorts of sprinkles, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup, so the pictures opportunities for yearbook should be pretty stellar :) b) the filming of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight -- my Brit Lit students decided the video version of this we watched was not up to their entertainment standards, so we're filming our own version at an actual castle while we're on the retreat! c) hanging out with the students. Seriously -- I look forward to this. We have some awesome, awesome kids at this school :)