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: 

Cuvee Events House

Hello everyone! Once again, I apologise for the lack of updates – but here I am with another blogpost!

It’s crazy as I only have six weeks left here – where has the time gone??? I know that I will make the most of my time here, which includes sitting outside in the beautiful weather. During my time here I have attended two concerts in the beautiful Cuvee Events house in Sárospatak. It was built in the seventeenth century but has since undergone a renovation. The original wooden doors and the wine cellars have been preserved and the events house can be used for conferences, family events such as birthdays or christenings and weddings. My friend Niki and I received free tickets so along we went to the concerts.

The first concert was on the 21^st of March with the Hungarian chamber orchestra Mozaik. Although the speaking part of the concert was Hungarian we all understood the universal language of music. The orchestra played Rossini, Debussy and my favourite song Somewhere Over the Rainbow from my favourite film The Wizard of Oz.

During the break there was an opportunity to visit the wine cellar and to taste some of the wine that was on the offer. Outside we were treated to a fantastic view of Kis Patak (little Patak in Hungarian) and on the right hand side, there was the magnificent Sárospatak Castle.

A few weeks later there was another concert held at the Cuvee house. This time it was an acapella singing group called Octovoice. They are based in Budapest but perform all over the country. Their sweet melodies and harmonies enchanted the audience and they gave a rendition of Let it Go from Frozen and A Whole New World from Aladdin during the break. The evening was beautiful and many people enjoyed sipping a glass of wine outside as they enjoyed the view.

They were two very enjoyable evenings and I hope to return to the Cuvee house soon!

International Women's Day

Sunday the 8^th of March marked International Women’s Day. This has been recognised over the world as a day to celebrate women and all they do. There is not really a big celebration or tradition for Women’s Day in the United Kingdom, so it was quite a surprise when I was given a lovely yellow flower by a student  last Friday(don’t know what type it was – my knowledge of flowers is shocking!) 

The weekend quickly passed and Monday arrived. I started my first lesson and some very sweet male students gave me another flower on behalf of the class. As the day went on I received more flowers, including some in a pot plant. Finally at the end of the school day there was a short meeting held in the staff room and the headmaster read out a passage from the Bible (Proverbs 31) and he thanked the women for all of their hard work and said this should be a day to celebrate them. We then received a lovely lily from the male teachers, a delicious cake and a bookmark with a verse from the Bible on it. It was a lovely gesture and I realised that Women’s Day is a much bigger celebration in Eastern Europe than it is back home. I spoke to my mother about it and she said she would much rather have this celebration than Mother’s Day. Maybe the celebration may rub off on the British – we never know!

If any flower experts are able to identify the flowers in the pictures, please let me know and educate me! :)

Rachel

xxx

  

Proverbs 31:10-17: 

¹⁰A wife of noble character who can find?
    She is worth far more than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
    and lacks nothing of value.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
    all the days of her life.
¹³ She selects wool and flax
    and works with eager hands.
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
    bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night;
    she provides food for her family
    and portions for her female servants.
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
    out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;

her arms are strong for her tasks. 

Budapest Part 2

Hello everyone! I apologise for the delay in blogposts, however the internet access here can be limited and when it works, it can be temperamental! Anyway,  here I am with another blog update. This time it is about my recent long weekend trip to the capital city of Hungary. Yep, you guessed it: Budapest.  It was half term at school and I wanted to take a holiday to the big city. On Valentine’s morning I travelled by train to Keleti station. It’s a long journey (four hours) but it is worth it. 

Upon arriving at Keleti station, I went straight across to the metro to buy a ticket. However the machines weren’t accepting my cash or card much to my frustration so instead I had to go to the ticket and information office to buy it. Not to worry though as I soon was headed to my hotel. Arriving at Deak Square, it took me at least half an hour going around in a circle trying to find my hotel on Vaci Street. I don’t know why I got so lost, it was right in front of me! I thought I was good at following directions as well!

I checked in and arrived at my room where I proceeded to flop down on the bed and access the wi-fi on my phone. It was also good to watch some television (I don’t have a television in Sárospatak) and listened to some great songs on the music channel. A few hours later I was starting to get hungry, so went off in search of something to eat.

I managed to find a reasonably priced (and posh) restaurant just off the corner of Vaci Street. It felt strange as it was Valentine’s night and here I was sitting eating alone. Rather than wallow in self pity, I ordered myself a plate of paprika chicken, which was delicious. After leaving the restaurant I wandered down to the Danube and was once again amazed at how pretty the centre of Budapest looks at night. Then it was back to the hotel and to bed. 

Sunday morning arrived and it was a quick metro ride to Golgota Church. This church was founded in the early 1990s and since then it has become a thriving church for many Christians in Budapest and the rest of Hungary. The services are conducted in both Hungarian and English. I attended the 12pm service and it was good to go to an English speaking church, as I have not been in one for around six months (apart from Christmas). After the service it was time to go sightseeing and I spent most of Sunday afternoon at Buda Castle, walking up to the palace and enjoying the beautiful view of the city. I also saw soldiers at the palace who were marching, which prompted many tourists to take photos and videos (myself included). Then it was time to return to Vaci Street, where I treated myself to a McDonald’s (which I haven’t had for such a long time!) 

Monday arrived and it was my last full day in Budapest. It was also the day I met my friend, who works as a missionary. I met her when I volunteered for an English camp in summer 2013. It was great to see her again and we enjoyed a great lunch. The rest of the day was spent going on Metro 1 (the oldest metro line in Budapest – build in 1896) and visiting Heroes Square. It is a spectacular monument with statues of very important Hungarians. Behind the monument is City Park with a Bavarian-style castle where I enjoyed walking around and watching people ice skating. Returning to Vaci Street I had another McDonald’s, visited different shops (some which were familiar from home) and bought a cinnamon funnel cake (which is a European speciality). I took one final walk along the River Danube to visit the iron shoes memorial for those people who were shot into the Danube during World War II. This brought a close to the final night in Budapest. 

The next day I sadly had to leave Budapest, but not before I visited the synagogue, the Jewish quarter and a fantastic coffee shop just across the street. I had the most delicious cappuccino, white chocolate and coffee cake. Four hours later, I was back in Sárospatak exhausted but so happy that I had gone on this trip. However it won’t be long until I am back in Budapest again!

Below are some photographs of my trip: