Iskola (Hungarian for "school")

I started school on Friday the 13th of September, and let me tell you there was nothing unlucky about my day :). Having your first day of school be a Friday is an excellent way to have it make a good impression. In addition, I do not have 1st period on Fridays so I got to sleep in a bit (only until 7:30 but still). My first class was music, not the way we think of music; it consists of theory and music history. I walked in and was immediately met with a "can I help you?" There were two girls, named Eva-Linda and Dori, who helped introduce me, translate, and make me feel comfortable my first day. The teacher was also really welcoming, he is my favorite so far. I really like them. So my first day went really well and then I had a weekend :)

My schedule, at Flora's request on my behalf, consists entirely of English, Spanish, Hungarian, Music, and PE. Seeing as I don't understand Hungarian literature or grammar those classes are relatively optional, which gives me another day each week with no 1st period. Because I don't have the appropriate uniform, and the teachers speak no English, PE is exceedingly optional (as in I don't go, ever) which gives me time to do this a few hours a week :)

Unlike most of my Hungarian piers I do not have a class that I attend the majority of my lessons with, which means that I don't have any classes like math, chemistry, physics, biology and such but it also means that I will not be able to spend a large amount of time bonding with one class of thirty people. The way my schedule was made does not indicate that it should have taken the two weeks it did to construct. My classes have been thrown together helter-skelter and I can pretty much make changes as I wish. After a week I have 8 Spanish classes, ranging levels 1-4, 5 English classes, 4 music classes, 4 fairly optional Hungarian classes, and 3 very very optional PE classes. By the end of next week I hope to have at least one history class, one more music class, and no PE. 

The freedom of my schedule is really nice for me and keeps every day different, unlike American school with the same 6 or 7 classes everyday. Though not having one class will, I think, make it harder to make friends I have met many people in the 22 classes I have attended so far who are very welcoming and friendly. Some stop to say hello to me in the hallway or on the street, others help me find my classrooms and translate the lessons for me, and others facebook message me, ask for my email, and say they would like to hang out sometime. All these things make me feel more welcome than I ever could have anticipated after hearing peoples horror stories about the loneliness at the beginning of school and being really nervous at first myself.

So, overall, school has been a success. I am not expected to try very hard, pay attention, or do homework (except in spanish where the teacher likes me to participate, even in the completely spanish level 4 class). I do pay attention, and do homework when I can understand the assignment though because, at least for now, I want to be as engaged as possible to give a good first impression and hopefully make lots of friends :). I am off to a good start. Wish me luck :)