He's sort of blondeish, you know, in the face.

The new CETPers are in Budapest and I've spent a fair amount of time visiting them, chatting and trying to show them a bit of Budapest as they've battled through jet lag and culture shock. And it's made me quite reflective.

Tomorrow is my 23rd birthday. Tomorrow also happens to be the one-year anniversary of my first time in Krudy, my first meeting (which was traumatizing!), meeting all my colleagues for the first time. And that, to me, is INSANE. Because Krudy... that place has just sort of become my world. I love it there: my work, the people, my students, the school yard, the general insanity of it all. And one year ago tomorrow, I was so stressed and overwhelmed and unhappy that I sat on a tram on the way home and just cried.

Just over a year ago I was arriving here in Hungary and I was shocked. It was beautiful, but so dirty. The people never smiled, but they gave me free food for being American. I was yelled at by strangers about many things, and given directions hundreds of times. My colleagues told me nothing about what was going on, but ran photocopies of useful handouts and left them anonymously on my desk. It was weird and it was new and it was exciting.

And here's the thing. It still is. I still laugh at crazy language or cultural quirks. I still get lost and frustrated with language barrier issues. The river at night, or parliament on the way to work, still catches the breath in my lungs. I still marvel at architecture while tutting at the graffiti covering it.

I have a full plan of the important days in the school year written into my calendar, which I demanded of poor Balint. I wrote third grade's entire year's curriculum, and it was accepted without question or amendment. I've sat through every staff meeting and mostly understood what was going on. A lot has changed. My words have changed. I have changed. My goals and plans and dreams have changed.

I sleep like the dead and I smile constantly. I walk damned near everywhere. I laugh all the time. I can't believe it's been a year at Krudy. I can't believe it's been over a year in Hungary. It feels like yesterday, and it feels like a lifetime, and it feels comfortable and safe and good. Thank God I forced myself off that tram and into this insane adventure.