Lauren has been a busy girl

1. I have signed up for language courses. They will be 2 hours, twice a week. I will start as a "beginner 2," which basically means I can order food and pay for it already. I paid in advance for four months of lessons to force myself to stick with it. Because Hungarian is a super-difficult language that makes me mildly insane, but I am also tired of being mute and illiterate. Illiteracy is balls. Therefore I must torture myself into learning the blasted magyarul. I am also forcing myself to type this on a Hungarian keypad. The y and the z are reversed. This is also difficult. Must learn.

2. 1C makes me insane. The kids literally run around the classroom screaming. And I cannot yell at them effectively. So basically I go "No! Not good! Not good! Not happy!" Today one of the kids did a handstand on his desk. My poor heart leapt from my chest, but luckily he did not fall and bust his head open. Because I wouldn't have known what to do. Especially not what to say.

3. 2C, on the other hand, is the light and joy of my life. They speak English! They respond to prompts and commands! The "class leader" Eric's father is American, and all the kids want to speak English just as well. They're earnest. It's lovely.

4. 2B and 1B are nice as well. Not as lovely as 2C, but very nice. I think I would like 1B a lot more if I didn't have to spend the entire lesson going "scissors" "pencil" "glue" etc. while making handmotions. I mean, it's definitely not their fault, but I can't wait for them to start speaking little sentences.

5. I imagine life now as a giant game of charades. "Open your book" comes complete with a handsign for a book and the opening of my arms. "Sajnos nem értem" comes complete with an apologetic grimace and shrug. To the porter, "kérek a kulcsat, angol terem élső emelet-et....?" (Please, the first\second floor English room key), always said like a question, unsure still if emelet-et is the correct thing here, comes with the act of my hand turning an imaginary key. I step onto the bus and glance quickly around for a seat, opening my book in front of my face and glowering.

6. This week, thanks to the lovely "Playway" curriculum the school uses, I have taught the 2nd graders the following essential items of English language:
listen to the racoon
get across the river
can you teach me to swim?
sailing is great fun
(my favorite) there's something in your mouth! it's a frog!
Thanks to my speaking, I have taught them "goofing off," "lazy," and "a few\a couple."

7. Hungarians will blow their nose anywhere, in any situation or company, and as loudly as they feel necessary. I'm running with this, especially considering that I have caught my first case of the sniffles.

8. I have not yet had goulash, but I have had 2 burritos and 3 servings of General Tso's chicken since arriving in Hungary.

9. Today my acerbic colleague, who is the source of much of my day's entertainment, opened the windows for me in the classroom I would be using for 2B. As much as I may mock this lovely individual, he's one of the only people who is ever actually nice to me, and it's mostly only a defense mechanism due to my own feelings of uselessness at work. God, must make a list of things to remember. It will be miles long.

10. I must cook dinner or something for Bill. I harrass the poor man daily with questions and comments, and ask him to make great sweeping generalizations about Hungary. Thank God he exists, rides my bus, and sits across from me at my "desk" or I would be even more confused and lost.

11. Lyla and I went to Ikea and got soupbowls, big pillows, and shiny placemats. Whoever said you can't buy happiness was full of it. I bought a huge amount of happiness at Ikea, and it only cost like 3500 Forint.

12. ő ű What the hell is that symbol? Currently I call it the "power umlaut." But what is it?