My Expat Interview http://www.xpatloop.com/interviews_list_detail.php?id=261

The Return to the U.S. - Death of Anna Nicole Smith A week after I returned to the States Anna Nicole Smith collapsed and died. Sadly, I don't think the public in general could appreciate her but I think to a lot of women she was somewhat (and I say this hesitantly) modern-day Lady Diana Spencer. Anyway, I was a real fan and was very sad to hear the news. There have been some great things about being back in the States, but I miss the kids and the weekend trips.

Turning Hungarian - Global Warming Last week it was very warm in Szarvas. Sunny and bright and looked like a September day. I asked at least five of the kids - Is this normal? And they said no. "Why is it so warm this week?" - And they answered, globális felmelegités (global warming). Classroom management was a MAJOR problem: voices were raised, kids were asked to leave the room (before minutes later being told, "OK, you can come back in - but please, no talking"), and diets got very broken.

In Hungary everything gets blamed on the weather. They don't share our concept of stress as it pertains to psychosomatic ailments. So a headache isn't from stress - it is from a warm or cold front coming in. You will hear that explanation every time someone has a headache. It is a totally different way of thinking and when you see it in action it's a shock. Similarly, they told us during the August Orientation that Alzheimer's or any sort of "syndrome" ( i.e. "middle child" was an example) is just attributed to someone's character. They don't have a word for a lot of the (vernacular or layman) medical terms we use!

So - because of global warming, me and two girlfriends (Eve and Lisa) were forced to blow some cash on a wine-tasting weekend in Eger. Enjoy the pictures (below)!

Parish Rehab
So, today was my first day back at the school in three weeks. There was a two week Christmas break and the week prior I had the nastiest flu/fever/sore throat, not to mention problems stemming from being a cheek-biter. Sheesh, it wasn't pretty. I saw a doctor, alone, and wrote down Hungarian translations of the following (they don't speak English here): flu, fever, body aching all over, sore throat, c*nk*r issues, can't sleep. She chuckled at my list; I guess it came off as self-diagnosis when really it was my only way of attempting to describe what I thought might be wrong. She listened to my heartbeat, and then gave me tablets - no temperature taking or anything like that. Kinda odd. Well, it probably didn't help that she had a grown woman kinda crying in her office - but I have never been sick like that.

It was nice to be back today - the kids all looked older or different for some reason. I saw my beloved 5.b. today - this class contains several I want to adopt; I just want to take them home, make dinner and read stories. In particular, there is my Victor, who is the most charming, bright, charismatic little guy. I'm tellin' ya - at times I overidentify with this new teacher role and am pretty attached to my ten year-old fifth graders. There have been a few times where they have burst into tears in the middle of class (once from bullying, once from the stress of (voluntarily) singing "Rudolph" for extra credit, and the other time because the girl got bad news from the office). Anyway, this breaks my heart and I just have to think on the spot what I can do to make sure they have a smile on their face in five minutes or less. I just feel thankful that in general the school seems to be a happy place and refuge in a lot of ways - so if there are problems at home, at least they have a nice school to go to. Statistically speaking, there are surely a lot of problems and it makes me sad to think about it. Will be sad to leave but staying for the year just seems like too much. In addition, among other things, I am applying for a Master's degree in ESL from the College of Notre Dame which leads to teacher certification in the State of Maryland, so fingers crossed. That degree program begins in late May and only takes a year to complete.

So, back to Parish Rehab - over-identifying, detoxing, reforming, and regressing (to "safe" celebrity crushes) all at the same time. This morning I read that the band Blue October is playing at the 9:30 Club (an old haunt in Washington D.C.) on the 23rd of January. The lead singer, Justin Furstenfeld, is a dream. Just a vision of heaven in every way; well, minus the eyeliner. MTV and VH1 Europe were playing the "Hate Me" video every hour for weeks. Apparently I like round faces with a "mean, bouncer build", according to my girlfriends here. Sh*t. For a second I thought about changing my return ticket from the 25th of January to the 22nd just to see this god in the flesh, but that's pretty ridiculous I think. I also saw the movie Dé J a Vu recently and Denzel Washington is looking a dream these days as well; probably right up there with Blue October guy. At least a celebrity crush can't end with, "Other than not telling you about my 15 day fiasco of a marriage, I'm not sure how I wronged you." Classic, and right up there with being e mailed a 15-week Amazon Transformation Workout Plan from a latent homosexual doctor. I can't ever imagine dealing with that kind of nonsense ever again and thank God for Parish Rehab is all I can say. This last year, my poor friends had their ears talked off many a time regarding, "I can't figure him out" or "I haven't heard from He-Who-I Shall-Not-Mention" in days, maybe he's busy?". Well, I can assure you it will never happen again! What a waste of time and energy.
Anyway, I went with my buddies Sara and Ian to Slovenia from Christmas Break. This is the country where Melania Knauss is from, leave it to me and my tabloids to know that. The capital, Ljubljana, is a really charming little place; very fairy taleish with the castle, river and little streets. We also went to the Istrian coast, "The Green Mediterranean" (very beautiful even in winter) and spent a day in Trieste (on the Italian border) to see a castle called Miramare. Slovenia was in the news recently because as of January 1st, they switched over from their currency (the tolar) to the Euro. That day Romania and Bulgaria were officially welcomed in to E.U. as well.

Well, a new year is here! Hope everyone's is off to a good start. If looking for a good book, check out The Secret Life fof Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd. Also recently read and very much enjoyed Arthur Goldman's Memoirs of a Geisha.