DONE!

I don't know who feels more triumphant, the seniors or we the teachers of ICSB. The seniors can certianly claim this as more of a milestone, as it marks the end of their high school career. But it has been a milestone year for me, too, in so many ways. I SUCCESSFULLY completed my first year of real teaching. The fact that I was successful is huge, in that I feel like I did a good job in spite of the overwhelming challenge that it has been for almost the entire year. I have had a great first year here, having met so many wonderful friends and families and students. I am certainly feeling at home here. But I am also lonely! I miss my family and everybody back home! I can't wait to see you all this summer.

Below are some pictures of a few of my seniors I caught during their reception post graduation.

Erin will be joining her sister in Ohio and will be taking classes at a state school for her first year.

Han Jing will be going to college in Boston.
Joeleoleol will be close to home, attending Trinity!

Sarah L. is going to Taylor! And she's going to play lacrosse (right, Sarah ;)? )
Marjorie Marjorah is off to PBU!

It was such a whirlwind time that I wasn't able to catch everybody to get pictures with. And then it hit me afterwards that that was probably the last chance to say goodbye in person to many of them. It's so sad. But many of them will be coming back to visit family over Christmas break and such, so I have hope. One last picture:




Michelle is not a senior, thank God! She is one of the many that I have to look forward to next year! I'm excited. This is a standard self-portrait that the students love to take. Michelle is a riot, as you can see, and I'm so looking forward to next year with her.

an especially stellar moment =)

Allison and I in an especially stellar moment. We are in the new gym awaiting the deidcation ceremony to begin, and making faces at a camera was a nice preoccupation. Our responsibility at the time was to make sure our students behaved and weren't goofing off...

So the new building is at last officially open and dedicated, and we had all the big names behind the project present to dedicate it, including the mayor of Diosd, and Larry Thompson, the key player who put the idea of the school into a reality. It is incredible to think how big this place is now, in numbers and in structure, compared to the handful of students that began it 14 years ago. In our weekly devotional meetings we've been hearing lately from board members of the missions represented here at the school, and their message to us as teachers is one of encouragement as they tell us how key the school is in order for the families to stay on the field here in Hungary. May the Lord continue to be praised and glorified and served through this center of education!

a rare moment

I know I know, it's about time I posted something on my blog! I have been back now for a month??? I can't believe it. And so much is going on these days with end-of-the-year activities almost every day. It's actually somewhat sad, as the year pulls us with our feet dragging to the end. This means good-byes are going to have to be said soon. That makes my heart so heavy, because a lot of these good-byes are for good. Thank God for the hope of heaven.

So, fortunately Mary, my roommate, is somebody that I wont have to say good-bye to. But as it is, I hardly ever get to say anything to her at all. She and I are generally like two ships passing in the night. So, it was close to miraculous that we ended up in the same hallway at school at the same time, wearing almost identical clothing, AND I just happened to have my camera in my bag! You better believe we documented this moment. I'm so glad you're coming back next year, Mary!

It came!!!

My long awaited visa arrived at 10am this morning, thank you God!

The Waiting Game

When will my visa show up? Who knows. So now we wait with great anticipation. It could come in two days, it could come in ten days, it could come in twenty days. One way or the other, there will be great rejoicing and cartwheels when it comes at long last.

(By the way, I love this picture of my 11th graders. It characterizes them so well. I love that class.)

My nephew fix

The Blomquist family has been blessed with three strapping young men added to the family in the past 3.5 years (4, according to Jake). Joshua is my sister's son, and Jacob and Noah (pictured right) are my brother's boys. As I have had to come back to the US for my visa, I've taken advantage of the time I have to visit these adorable nephews of mine. I had been feeling like I was missing out on so much of their cuteness, knowing that they change so fast at this age, and so I took the opportunity to go and visit all three of them this past week. Can I just share some of their cuteness with the world? My sister and brother-in-law and my brother and sister-in-law are all very adorable, too, but somehow I didn't get many pictures of them. Sorry, guys! I really enjoyed my time with you, too!

A tribute to Paula

Paula Hardy is so cool!

You should check out her blog (click on the link in the right margin).

Paula, thanks for fending off the police on my behalf! What were they after me for this time? =) By the way, we need some more pictures of us. Thanks for being such a great friend! Don't have too much fun without me!

This will all blow over

What will? Oh, just my apartment complex. At least that's what it felt like a couple nights ago, when the wind blew so hard that the curtains over my CLOSED windows were moving. And every crack in the doors or windows created a nice high-pitched wistle that woke me up every 20 min. in the night. I don't think they have sealant over here... We have these roller shades that we can roll down over some of our windows and over our balcony, and so we put them down over the balcony in hopes that it would cut down the wind that was blowing through our closed windows. But they didn't help a bit. The next morning as I walked two steps forward and blew one step back all the way down to school, I was nearly blown over by the strength of the wind. It was taking tiles off the roofs. Kind of dangerous, if you ask me. When Mary and I got back to our appartment our shades over the balcony were completely torn about and off the tracking system. They are apparently not strong enough to withstand 70mph wind. After great struggle and much time I was actually able to fix them, so they are back to functioning, but just not in the great condition they were in earlier. Oh, and this is the day after 1) I dropped my jelly jar and scattered glass all over my feet and the kitchen floor, 2) Mary fried our vacuum cleaner (it started on fire and has been rendered useless), and our shower hose tore, so we have little pressure and very erratic shower streams. When it rains it pours. When it blows, lean into it.

Ok, so yes, there were two allusions in the last post, one intentional, and the other was just an attempt at humor, but I also immediately thought of Amelia Bedelia as well. I LOVED Amelia Bedelia books when I was little, so I guess she has influenced me in ways I don't even realize! I'm so proud of those of you who recognized the mark. And then the quote from Bambi was just so appropriate, as snow is such a rare thing these days in Budapest.

"What's all that white stuff?"

I woke up this morning thinking it was going to be yet another overcast day based on the lack of light penetrating our curtains. But once I drew the curtains (I used compressed charcoal on recycled paper) I was shocked to see a white world outside. Right now it's just a thin layer, but it is still gently coming down. At last! We are getting the long-anticipated Budapest winter. I'm excited, as I love snow. I just hate being cold...

(...do you recognize that quote?)

Lisa in Pisa

These are my good friends Joni and Shannon, with whom I met up with over Christmas break. I was able to spend a most fabulous time trekking through Italy in their company for a bit. It was so great to see them again. It was great to see Italy, but I think I mostly enjoyed just kicking back with these awesome women of God. This was actually taken at PFO last June... I'm really bad at getting pictures, so Joni and Shannon, if you have any of the three of us, please send it my way!

I think the person taking this picture was a little thrown off by the tower, as it is not completely level =)

Roman forum ruins
you should recognize this one

O sola mia!

the "streets" of Venice

charming Sienna
Florence's Porte Vecchio

My homemade Vanochka that I never got to taste

I made two of these traditional Czech Christmas loaves, as this sweet bread is simply my favorite. Spread a little slice of butter over it, and it tastes heavenly. I am proud of myself (if you couldn't tell by the picture), because I was working with foreign ingredients and a risky oven, AND because I have only made it once before. I was quite relieved to see they came out of the oven looking spectacular. How they tasted I will never know, alas, as I took them as hostess gifts to some social gatherings, hoping that we would cut into them while I was there, which we didn't. I missed out on my vanochka... I would throw the "Christmas tradition" label aside and make it again if it didn't take 2 plus hours...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

(Sarah dear, the "peace"and "joy" pictures are for you!)

I spent Christmas Eve bustling around my lovely little apartment making vanocka, going on a run around Diosd, putting hostess gifts together, cleaning, and listening to classical Christmas carols. It was wonderful. And then I had dinner at the home of Parker's close friends, some of whom I already knew from BFA and Wheaton days. I had so much fun getting caught up with them. And then I spent the rest of the night with my good friends from the school, Paula, Emily, Heather and Lisa A. We made cookies, told stories, did hand stands, put out a fire, and fell asleep to "A Christmas Story".

Hungarians celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. And then they take the next two days off as holidays, where hardly any stores are open, especially on the 26th. It was amusing to me how many of them were finally getting their trees on the 24th. I saw so many cars with trees on top at the last minute.

Budapest is certianly a beautiful city to be in around Christmas. I will have to post some pictures of the Christmas Market and the lights down town at a future point.

Merry Christmas ans Happy New Year to you!

guess I haven't missed celery

I was sitting down to a beautiful salad (a rare thing, unfortunately), topped with some delicious "seasonal dressing" that a student gave me for Christmas, when I realized that I haven't had celery since I've been here! In fact, I don't think that I have even seen it at the grocery store! I love celery! How could I have forgotten about it?

encounter with the police

Yesterday as I was driving home from church I had my first encounter with the Hungarian police. Every once in a while they have days or periods of days when they're out en force pulling cars over randomly to check papers. Well, I had been asked last minute to drive to church (I am one of the few among the new teachers who can drive a stick), and so I presumed that the papers and everything were in order. When the lights started flashing behind us and we pull over to the curb, I wasn't too worried, because I hadn't done anything to break the law, so I figured it was just one of those random checks. I asked Sarah, who was borrowing the car, if I could have the papers, but she had not been given the papers, and had never been informed of the necessity of always having those papers on your person when driving around Hungary. Oops. So we were searching frantically all over the car, while the four cops stood outside my door looking at my passport and international drivers license. None of them spoke more than very minimal English, and I haven't yet mastered Hungarian, so communication was rather difficult to say the least. Sarah did find some registration papers in the glove compartment (not a good place to keep them...kind of like keeping your title in there). So we gave those to them, and after 10 minutes they came back to say that the papers had expired back in September. We were basically driving illegally. Not to mention that I am basically an illegal alien, as I have overstayed my 90 days visitor quota. So all the worse case scenarios started to play in my mind, like we'd be taken in and interrogated and then beaten with barbed wire, and I would be sent home to America with orders never to enter Hungary again. Sarah and I prayed. We were so nervous. It was very likely that they would tell us to leave the car there, that we couldn't drive it anymore. Or that we'd be fined for driving an illegal car. That's happened before to others, apparently. But God came through for us and we were let off very easy, not even a fine! We were simply told to take the car home and leave it there until the papers were renewed...

two of my girls

Meet Sarah and Sol Ji, two of the sweetest girls to traverse this planet. Sol Ji is one of my students, but I enjoy hanging out with her outside of class, too. And although Sarah is not in any of my classes, she is just so quality that I wish she was! It's been so fun getting to know them this semester. More than anything their hearts for God are such an encouragement to me. As we all love cooking and baking, we're going to have a bake day at my apartment sometime before the semester is up.

Speaking of the end of the semester, it's just aroung the corner, and everyone is feeling the pressure of finals, including me, as I have to write them, and then write the study guides for them, and then not to mention grade them... It makes me very tired just thinking about it. And so I will stop thinking about it, and just focus on the fact that it is raining right now. It's December 9th, and it got up to 56 degrees today! It was beautiful, but rather out of place. You're not supposed to be able to run outside in shorts in the middle of December.

Thanksgiving

The Bible study that I am co-leading for our Senior girls has been going through Hosea (click on the picture to open it and you'll be able to read it a lot better). It's not a book frequently turned to for encouragement, but after reading it again, and again, and again, I'm not sure why it isn't. I have been so encouraged by it. It is ever a reminder of the great, unconditional love of our God who wont put up with our disregard for him, but wants so badly for us to look to him and love him. These two verses particularly speak of the love and care and gentleness with which he has dealt with his people. What a good God he is! I am so thankful for Him and His love towards me.

Thanksgiving in Hungary is quite different, I must say, than in the States. I ended up at two different feasts with two different American families and ate enough food for the next month. That should help my food bill. And although you cannot find canned pumpkin here, somebody at each feast managed to make pumpkin pie. I love it. I think they actually took a pumpkin ("Tök" in Hungarian) and pureed the inside to get the necessary consistency. All natural, the real way to do it. A lot more work, but all the more appreciated!

So, Thanksgiving has already come and gone, and I can't believe it! I only have two more full weeks of school and then exams, and then Christmas break! Only two weeks away! I finally get into the swing of things, and then this! Actually the truth is that knowing I get a break in two weeks is what keeps me going these days.

The "Smart" car?

You know you're in Europe when...

the hills are alive!

We recently had a long weekend, which a bunch of the teachers and I took advantage of to blitz into Austria.

From the top:

1. the crew, minus a few
2. the city of Salzburg, from an obscure window in the castle on the hill
3. Mirabel Gardens. The place of the scene in Sound of Music where the kids and Maria are singing and hopping up and down the steps. They also walk around the fountain in the background.
4. our cable car up to the top of Untersberg, just outside of Salzburg.
5. the view from my perch on top of Untersberg

God's handiwork

Another beautiful sunset, as veiwed from the comfort of my balcony. I love our view.

We have been enjoying such mild, beautiful weather, around 65 degrees. I went running yesterday in shorts and short sleeves. I could take this for a while yet. All the veterans like to ominously say to the novices, "ha, just wait until winter". Apparently it gets pretty bleak.