Graduation

The first of May is an important day for the senior students of Refi. They have a farewell ceremony before their final exams to say goodbye to the school, their fellow students and their teachers. In Hungarian it’s called ballagás (closest word in English is graduation). The school was decorated with beautiful flowers. They were laid down on a line in the ground, on the floors and on the stairwells at school. The graduating classes had their classrooms decorated and these were decorated by fellow students.

The day before the ceremony was the senior students last day of school. There is a tradition called the ‘Farewell Bell’ where the students ring the school bell and then they receive a ceramic bell from the headmaster with the school name and the year they graduated.  There were a total of 86 students graduating and some students were louder at ringing the bell than others!

That week I received bottles of wine from the two graduating classes. On one of the bottles I also was given a leather pencil case with my initials on it, which I’m so pleased about. One wine was Hungary's famous Tokaj wine (sweet white) and another was white wine which was homemade in Tolcsva, a small village not so far from Sárospatak. I felt pleased but sad because I knew I would miss the students and the school would be quiet without them.

The farewell ceremony started with the students and their form teachers walking down the school stairs, out of the school, the school yard and then out of the gate to the church. I walked with some colleagues to church and we sat upstairs. The ceremony lasted about two hours, but I think most people started to get restless. There was a farewell speech by one of the school’s top students and another student gave a speech to his graduating classmates. Prizes were also awarded to three students who had excelled in school and in competitions. Eventually the ceremony ended and it continued with a procession throughout the main streets of Sárospatak and into the school garden. My friend and I went for an ice cream. By the time we came back the students were returning to the school where they would have photos taken by their families. All of the students said hello, smiled or waved at me – it was very sweet.

This is a tradition that happens every year in Hungary and in my opinion it is a lovely tradition. It is a good way to say goodbye to your school, plus there are a lot of beautiful flowers!

Below are some photos I managed to get from the day. You can check out the professional photographs on this Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.681239865336139.1073741937.207643612695769&type=3

Hungarian

I haven’t posted anything yet about the native language of the country I’m currently living in, so here goes:

There are around 16 million Hungarian speakers in the world. As well as being the official language in Hungary, it is also spoken in some of its neighbouring countries: Slovakia, Romania and Serbia.

I have been told many times that Hungarian is one of the hardest languages to learn. This is because of the grammar, the ending of words change constantly and the fact that Hungarian has no similarities to any other language in the world. It has been known that Russian has more similarities with English than Hungarian.

However that’s not to say that you cannot learn it. I am able to have a (very) basic conversation in shops, train stations and other places. I also know and understand some words and their meanings.  If I don’t understand I just say nem értem (don't understand) or nem tudom (don't know). These phrases are useful!  If I stayed in the country for a number of years, then I believe I would become proficient in the language. The fact that more and more people are speaking English and want to learn English hinders my progress in learning the language (although that doesn't stop me from trying!)

Below are some survival phrases in Hungarian (I will put the English first then the Hungarian followed by pronunciation.

N.B. Like some languages, Hungarians have different words to say hello or goodbye depending on who they are talking to. I will write this down on the table too:

Hello/Goodbye	Szia	See-ya
Hello (polite)	Szervusz	Ser-vus
Hello/Goodbye (plural)	Sziasztok Szervusztok	See-ya-stawk Ser-vus-stawk
Goodbye	Viszontlátásra	Vee-sont-la-tash-ra
Bye	Viszlát	Vees-lat
Thank you	Köszönöm	Kur-sur-nurm
You’re welcome	Szívesen	See-vesh-en
Yes	Igen	Ee-gen
No	Nem	Nem
Please	Kérek	Care-ek
I am (....)	(....) vagyok	Vodge-ok
Do you speak English?	Beszél angolul?	Bes-ells an-go-lul
Good morning	Jó reggelt	Yo reh-gelt
Good day/afternoon	Jó napot	Yo na-pot
Good evening	Jó estét	Yo esh-tet
Good night	Jó éjszakát	Yo ay-sa-kat

If you’re planning a trip to Hungary then I would highly recommend using these audio lessons from: http://www.letslearnhungarian.net

They are free to download and you can listen to them or download them onto your iPod, MP3 player, iPad etc...

Hope you enjoy learning Hungarian! 

Viszontlátásra! xx

Furry Friend

It was exam week last week so that meant days off school! However for the students (particularly final year students) it meant exams. However there was something unexpected that happened. I headed out for a walk and this gorgeous blonde dog ran up to me. I kept walking away from it and it kept on following me. I decided that it just wanted to play. When I told the dog to roll over it rolled over, I stroked his stomach and gave him lots of high fives. He followed me to my door and I gave him a drink of water (which he lapped up eagerly).

I went back into my house thinking that the dog would go home. However it sat there for a while and I kept on going outside to check that it was okay. The rain started to come on and I went back inside and when I looked out my window the dog had gone.
Since then I have never seen that dog again, but I have a feeling it belongs to one of my neighbours. So you can appreciate its cuteness, here are some photographs of my furry friend: 

Visit to Tengerszem: 26th April 2015

It’s now spring and the weather here has changed for the better. People are putting away their winter clothes and digging out the shorts, t-shirts and sandals which have gathered dust in the attic for the last few months. More people are now out in the streets eating delicious ice cream and enjoying the sunshine.

I decided to make the most of this weather by hiking up to Tengerszem with my friends. I had heard about this beautiful Hungarian heritage site and I never got the chance to visit it until now. We set off from the main street of Sárospatak at 3pm and kept on walking until we got past the railway line. From there it was a steep uphill climb. I’m not the fittest person around and Sárospatak is a small town so amenities are quite close by. However I managed to get up to the top without desperately panting for breath. The view from the top was beautiful, looking down we saw a lake which was surrounded by a huge quarry. It used to be in operation and miners used to work next to it, but now it is just a popular hiking route for tourists and locals. I think its part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site as it is placed in the Tokaj Wine Region Historical Cultural Land (sounds like a fantasy land, I’ll have to admit). Tengerszem does look like something you would read about or see in a film like Lord of the Rings or The Wizard of Oz – it truly is beautiful.

I almost took a tumble when descending (the stones were not fixed in place) but I managed to get down the mountain safely. About an hour later we returned to Sárospatak, where a lovely meal and delicious cherry cake greeted us. I then returned home exhausted and ready for bed. It was a fantastic experience and I will hopefully get to visit Tengerszem again before I return home to Scotland.

Below are some photographs of this magnificent place: