Hi there, everyone. Or, to be more specific: hi there, me. Okay, so I've been slacking just a bit on the ol' blog posts this semester, so I'm gonna try to salvage what I can from my ever-poorer memory while I can:

This semester, unlike the first, has been defined much more by me feeling like I'm really a part of Koszeg life. I started my Hungarian language classes with Nori back in I think November, but since then, I've been seeing much more of her and her husband Zoli ("the big"), including working with him to move my English Media Club (EMC) to Jurisics Var (the castle--that's right! I have a club in a castle!), to make it part of the kikötő - the youth club. I've become way better friends with Biego, even though we argue all the time...we have the funniest friendship ever. And I've also finally started hanging out with some young folks from town. There's a couple dudes who have a ska band here (how cool is that, I come all the way to Hungary and they like ska too?!), so a lot of times on the weekends I hang out with those guys. I've also become friends, I guess, with a girl named Evelin, who's a student, but not MY student. It's kinda weird. My town is just weird. Apparently it's totally normal for people of drastically different ages to hang out, so even though I think it's strange to hang out with her, nobody else does. The teachers were even like, "Oh yeah, she's a nice girl. And it's good she can practice English with you." So...cool? I dunno, still makes me apprehensive. I guess I really am, to quote Biego, "too fucking konszervativ!"

Despite that, though, I've started going out regularly on the weekends to the bars and restaurants in town, so I've seen way more of my students outside of class. At first, again, this was totally weird to me--and still is, really--but I think it's helped solidify my presence as someone they can talk to about shit they don't feel comfortable talking to older teachers about Thus, I've become kind of a counselor/older sibling-type for some of the kids I see around. We can chat about how their parents are mad at them, or how they're sorry they never do their homework--whatever. It's kind of nice to have the dual-role going on.

So anyway, let's back up: after Winter Break, I was really happy to get back, do laundry, and just relax. Franny and Jon came in with me for the last day before our break ended, which was really nice. Franny and I had big plans to lesson-plan, but...yeah, that never happened. Instead, I took them to Garabo for pizza, and the next morning we made eggs and watched Hungarian cartoons ("Igeeeen Maaaasteeerrr!"), and then met Nori for coffee. Lovely day. Unfortunately, they had to make a hard bounce back to Kalocsa that afternoon. That left me Saturday afternoon and Sunday to lesson-plan, but knowing me, I probably still didn't. This whole second semester, I definitely honed my abilities to hammer out some lesson notes in a matter of minutes, type up a functional vocab/discussion worksheet, and have plenty of time to kick back and watch "How I Met Your Mother" on Megavideo. Good times.

So, my weekends in January were pretty busy: first, Briggi hosted a "Mexican Buli" in Heves. Then came the Szallagavato (basically "prom" for the graduating classes), and finally....SOB...Jake and Ellen's going-away party!! Ok, so first, the Mexican Buli: Briggi is awesome. From what I recall, she did CETP a year ago, but was in a different location. Then she went home for a while, but missed Hungary, and thus decided to come back. Now she's in Heves, a little tiny village on the east side of Hungary. A lot of us went, and rendezvous'ed in BP to take the bus together. Thus, it was a BUS PARTY! There were seven of us: me, Franny, Jon, Hanna, Gergo, Lauren, and Lyla. Great ride. We OWNED that bus. I also got a student discount because the bus driver thought we were cool, and also thought we were a band, for some reason. The party itself...oh man. SO GOOD. Various people contributed Mexican-esque things. My contributions were: mariachi music, and....paper moustaches. Here, have a look:

Wow, I'm cool. Also, my definition of "Mexican" apparently includes enormous gold hoop earrings and halter tops. Ah, stereotypes. Anyway, good times were had by all. Especially when I biffed it on somebody's step in a tequila-related mishap. Best fall ever. Thanks, Briggi!

Next came the Szallagavato!!! Now, I had been waiting for this for a loooong time, because I really wanted to see my darling students all dressed up! Here's how it goes down: the graduating classes (13A, 13D, and 12C) all do a dance for their families and teachers, and then there's a party. The boys wear suits, and the girls, for some reason, wear wedding dresses. The local elementary school gym gets all decorated, and one at a time, the classes perform waltzes that they've been practicing for months. Don't ask why--I have no idea. But it's adorable. Then the girls go change into slightly more appropriate clothing, and everybody dances, or chills with their families at the tables, and eats whatever snacks they brought. (For some reason no formal dinner is served; it's up to families.) Highlights for me included getting to wear my black dress that I KNEW I brought for a reason, being forced (yes, I'm using the word "forced") to do shots of palinka with Csilla's parents, Metaxa with Csabi, and a shot of Jaeger with Zsofi's mom. Oh, Hungary. Did I explain my thesis yet? My thesis on this entire year is that Hungary wants me to be drunk ALL THE TIME. It's doing a pretty good job thus far.

So, I'm sure you're DYING to see some photos from this thing. Here ya go:
Here's me with some of my favorite 13D girls: Dori, Barbi, and Kitti. THEY RULE!!!


Here's the 13D class in formation for their dance. ...Yup, wedding dresses!

After the Szallagavato, the 13D class all had a party in town at Kazamata, one of the only bar/discos in town. It's right next to Biego's shop. They invited me along, and what can I say...I'm a native English speaker who likes to party. So I went along, under the guise of "keeping an eye on things." (Which I did, by the way. I lectured enough students on quitting smoking to fill my quota for the rest of the year.) Anyway, MAN, my kids know how to kick it.

Evidence:
Notice that Istvan specifically wore shades to a party that started at 12:oo midnight, and was underground. Love that guy.


So, the Szallagavato was kickass. On Monday, I thanked them for letting me see them in their "natural habitat." I was a little worried at first that my students seeing me with a beer would make them respect me less, but if anything, it actually made them even better students. Weird! I'm really gonna miss the 13D's. Not to play favorites, but...yeah. That's the class with the girls above, who always take me out for pizza (and recently, to Romkert, a nightclub in Szombathely!), and Adam, Zoli, Dori, and Zsofi, the students I tutored for most of the year. I'm really gonna miss all of them. *Tear.*

Ok, so the last weekend in January was Jake and Ellen's going-away party. They had both been teachers in BP for a year and a half, and finally decided to move on. Jake returned to the States (Minnesota), and Ellen moved to Sweden to live with her boyfriend. Sigh....they're great. We all miss them a lot. Basically, the party involved me sleeping at Ashley's (of course), all going to Szimpla (of course) and then Szoda, and then going to The Irish Cat Pub the next night. We had brunch on Sunday at Cafe Vian...basically, just hit up all the stomping grounds. I also met Jenny that weekend--Jenny is Ellen's replacement at her school--and we've been great friends ever since. It's funny, because I spend most of my time in Koszeg, but I have kind of a double life in Budapest. I'm there pretty frequently--an average of once a month, I'd say--so I kind of feel like I live there too. And I see a totally different assortment of places than I did when I lived there the first time. It's cool. I'm so comfortable there, it's weird to say I commute to BP on the weekends...what the hell, me? Living abroad is fun. I love being able to say that. (Photo above: the most appropriate picture I can find of Ellen and Jake: doing the Koala with Ashley. Tooootally normal.)

Aight, well this brings us to the end of January! As usual, if you found this incredibly boring, I understand. I just want to get my own life in print so I can read this in 20 years and be like, "Oh man, yeah...we DID go to the Irish Cat, that was sweet." So, bear with me. When I return, I'll try to make my post more photo-y, and less long-winded. (Unlikely.)