The School.

Iskolaban.

(in the school)

So far I’ve given only a small picture of life in Magyarmecske, now for a bit of the day to day routine during the week and a little update. The weather has changed quickly and now feels like winter (temperatures in the lower-mid 40s I would guess). I am resisting taking out my winter coat until November because October just seems too early. We’ll see how that goes… Winter seems to be the trend for now though. I hear that there was a snow delay for the World Series playoffs in Colorado, not too strange I suppose, but also snow in the Northeast! We turned on the heat at the beginning of the week and I am very glad for that. I have also found out how the wind can really whip across the flat land. In other news, I am excited for Obama to have won the Nobel Peace Prize (and hope that he will have earned it by the end of his four…or eight years in office and life thereafter)*; disappointed that the Sox lost and will not even make it to the ALCS; Simon is happy that Germany has qualified for the World Cup (by the way, so has the US); and a loaf of kenyer (bread) costs 210 forints at the kicsi bolt (little store) in Magyarmecske.

Daily Life.

Livia and I go to school Monday through Friday at 8am and are there until about 3:15pm. Livia alternates between helping in the 3rd and 4th grade classes and I “help” mostly in the 2nd grade class with the exception of Tuesdays when I am in the 4th grade class. I am now called Emilie-néni or tanarnéni (tanar is teacher). The néni suffix is for a woman older than you, kind of like “aunite,” but a term of respect and affection; the male equivalent is bacsi (eg. Laci is “Laci-bacsi”). A typical school day includes lessons of math, Hungarian (reading and writing), as well as dance two times a week, a little phys ed class a few times a week, a little bit of music, and for the 4th graders some German, Beas, and of course little breaks of recess during the day. Lunch is provided by the school for all of the children (and teachers) with a little breakfast in the morning and a snack in the afternoon. Luckily for us we haven’t had to do much (or any except the little treats we have made) cooking because we get leftovers from lunch which is a big meal, consisting of soup, bread, and a main course (usually involving potatoes, pasta, potatoes + pasta, some kind of sauce and meat). School food has been great! Much unlike the stigma that school food has in the US of being horrible…although I have great memories of school food…maybe I was just lucky…or just love food…

The school from the back.

To the left of the above picture, little playground, and the white building in the background is the cafeteria.

So far most of what I have been doing is just helping to keep kids on track, paying attention, in their seats, and on the right page. Luckily that can involve mostly action. I have been able to help with math and writing because I understand numbers and can write, the frustrating part is when it comes to explaining the math, which I have few words for other than add and subtract (I’m working on the whole multiply, divide, equals thing). I usually play with the kids at recess and they are forever asking me “Lesz a parom?!” (I think the spelling on that is wrong…but it means “Will you be my pair?” aka “will you hold my hand when we walk to the next destination?”)

4th grade classroom (taken by Livia)

For the most part school has been very good, the kids are always happy to see me, which washes away any frustration of not knowing the language / not knowing what they are saying to me / not being able to talk to the other teachers or people at school. As I said before I am primarily with the second graders, but one day at recess I played with some first graders and now everyday at lunch and/or snack there is a handful of them who yell “Emilie-néni! Emilie-néni!” I have also learned how to play tag in Hungarian and a few other recess type games that involve running (which is good because that is the only exercise I get). In tanc (dance) the other day they also played musical chairs, so I understood that too. So I have found that excited, happy children are some of the best bright lights to any situation and have found them to be great friends! (Especially because they will talk and talk and talk to me, even if I don’t understand—which is good for language learning and for morale—and they are definitely helping me on both accounts.)

4th graders working hard on some coloring (taken by Livia)

This is not to say that the school day goes along smoothly or easily by any means. Everyday at least one child in class is crying because of some kind of violence inflicted upon them from another—a kick or a punch, ect. The kids are always fighting—sometimes in fun, sometimes for real and the teachers are constantly working to break them up. Listening doesn’t happen a lot of the time and sometimes a good chunk of time is spent just trying to get attention so things can get done. One good and bad thing about not knowing the language is not knowing when bad words are being said—but also a downside because I can’t tell a child to stop saying something if I don’t know what they’re saying. Also bad because I can’t understand why a child starts crying if only words were spoken. (Understanding body language and tone does go a long way, but I am generally helpless when it comes to stopping it and can only offer a few words of comfort afterwards. There are a lot of bad words spoken as far as I can tell and by now I have picked up on a decent amount of those words.) Comforting a hurt child has also been somewhat difficult and something that makes me feel like I wish I could do more. I can ask what hurts, but can’t find out the story behind why it might hurt (other than who might have hurt them), so most of my comforting just comes from holding them and/or getting the kid doing wrong to leave them alone.

More 4th graders working on some drawing (taken by Livia)

A few times I have been left alone in charge of the children—a frightening experience which has gone both ways. One time I successfully got the 2nd graders to lunch and recess afterwards without incidence; another time got them to snack with only one incidence (someone got kicked and was crying); and the other two times absolute chaos has broken loose and I felt helpless and voiceless. But thanks to the advice of Livia (or what I think she said) was that I might as well just talk to them in English. So that is my new weapon against the chaos of the Hungarian classroom (luckily I am also learning more and more commands as the days go by, such as Stop! And Sit down!)

I do my best to help where I can and also try to learn as much as I can. The kids get a kick out of my little notebook where I copy down their lessons and try to figure out what they are learning. I definitely am learning, which is great, and anytime I can understand what is going on (or think I understand) is a wonderful feeling. At this point I am feeling very hopeful about the school and very glad to be where I am. I enjoy the kids and look forward to getting to know the teachers (when I can speak with them)!

And that is the school day.


More to come on what happens after school.


*I was reading the NY Times online the other day and looked at an article, “The Real Peace Prize will be Elusive” by Peter Baker (from 11 October 2009), where he discusses the war in Afghanistan and the eight years he has covered it, being one of the first journalists, and the first American journalist to go to Afghanistan after the start of the war. In the article he talks about Afghanistan and the long drawn out war in a country that has been fighting for decades. At the end he says, And perhaps the biggest question of all: With the Nobel medal staring down at him in the White House for the next three years or perhaps seven, will the designated peacemaker eventually figure out just what peace means in a land without it? Will he earn the prize he has already received? I found this to be a good expression of how I have been feeling ever since I heard that Obama got the Prize and I hope that good will come from it for Obama, his work, legacy, as well as the work in both Afghanistan and Iraq.  (And this is me, trying to keep up with the news in the world...)