Saturday, October 30, 2010

Tanulok Magyarul - I study Hungarian I


This fall I finally decided to take seriously my lifelong desire to learn Hungarian by taking language lessons at a local language school.  During the last two year I have studied Hungarian under various tutors and friends, but by going to language school I have become more motivated and my ability to understand Hungarian has increased.  Because Hungarian an extremely difficult language for English speakers to learn I am only able to have very simple conversations, but with each new word I can use to communicate there is another victory.  For me living in a foreign it is a great feeling to be able to communicate through reading, writing and speaking in the local language. It takes some of the helplessness of not understanding what is going on around you.

Below are some ways that Hungarian differs from English:
#1. There is only one word for he and she Ő (this is the easy part)
#2.  Hungarian most prepositions in Hungarian are formed by adding a suffix to the end of the word i.e. to say  in the store you would say “boltban” bolt=store ban=in
#3 Hungarian has 14 vowels: aá eé ii oó öő uú üű


Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A walk around my neighbourhood

On a love summer/early fall on a walk around my neighbourhood in Budapest here are a few things you might see (watch out for the dogs barking at you from behind the fences):

On of the many different types of side walks found in Hungary - there are no standards.

A hedge hog - they are very shy and only come out in the evening

The only clean sign (no graffti) I could find
The bus stop I wait at every morning on my way to work

Kelenföldi Pályaudvar - I see this train station on my way to work every day.

The kiosk where I buy my monthly bus pass

Budapest city buses - the red ones were called the 'Red 7' when I first arrived two years ago, but now they are the '7E'

A map of South Buda - the beautiful eastern hilly side of the city

Ok well the parliament building is not in my neighbourhood, but it is only a half hour tram ride away and a beautiful sight on a sunny day


Tuesday, October 19, 2010

A house warming party


A while back I gave you a tour of my new flat in Budapest shortly after that I had a house warming party to allow my friends to see where I live.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and inside and out the flat was full of hanging out and chatting.  I am not sure how many people came, but it must have been between 15-20 people.  What a blessing to have such great friends here in Budapest!  I had excellent feedback from the attendees and I hope to have another party one day soon.  Here are some pictures from the event:

Greetings in the hall

My bedroom - Hungarians often host people in their bedrooms if  they do not have a living room

Our lovely patio

Monday, October 18, 2010

Blessings from Budapest : Update October 2010


Why I love my job

The other day afterschool Beni in grade 2 came into the library and asked if I had time to read to him.  Although I always have many tasks to complete I wanted to take the time to read with him. We had fun reading about Benny and Penny in the Big No-No and Elephant and Piggy in There’s a Bird on my Head.  It is amazing how the Lord provided the time for me to encourage Beni to love books and to show him he is important enough for me to take time out of my busy day to read with him.  It is times like this when I can truly say I love me job and I am so glad the Lord brought me to the International Christian School of Budapest.