Skating on the Lake Fertő

Neusiedler See or in Hungarian the Fertő-tó is frozen. It's been below zero for over two weeks now, so you can skate on the thick ice, and people say, the ice hasn't been this smooth for years. If it is windy when it freezes, or if there's snow on top, the ice gets bumpy, but now it's like glass.

Christmas Eve

We are still up because we're going to midnight mass in a while all together as a family for the first time. In Hungary it is Christmas Eve that has most of the celebrations. We decorate the tree, open the presents and eat fish traditionally today. Luckily we were ale to get salmon, and to my surprise Kevin had three helpins of it. :)
The biggest hit with the boys is the pirate ship game they got from Kerry and Jenn, thank you guys so much. Bella is happy with her hairdresser's head doll, she's learning to braid hair now. But the nicest thing about today is that we are all together and have nowhere to rush, and just enjoy each other's company. Merry Christmas to all who read this blog!

Caroling

This weekend two mmeorable things happened. One was that on Saturday we went to Austria for the first time since the border opened. Hungary joined Schengen on the 21st, and now we do not need passports to cross into Austia, Slovakia, Slovenia. We've become the ouside border of the European Union. It was strange to cross the same border with noone checking our passports.

The other cheerful event was that we went Christmas Caroling last night. Our little choir went all along the Deák tér (the longest square in Central Europe) and stopping at lit up places we sang a few songs. It was lots of fun, but after an hour we got very cold, and went to a pub called Cézár for a glass of mulled wine.

Video

So here's the link to Miss Bella the Angel...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8042295048633815387

Bella's Class Nativity Play Part 2

Bella's Class Nativity Play

More Nativity pics

Pictures of Class Nativity

Patrick as Joseph the Jedi

This is just a small exerpt from the class Nativity play, the photo camera doesn't do long videos. They were very sweet, Patrick playing Joseph and wearing a sort of Franciscan Star Wars costume. He is shy, I've noticed, but he knew his part well. Enjoy!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1475273574826471004

Kevin on Stage at the Main Square and Synchronised Swimming Christmas Gala

This Saturday our programme was absolutely wild. At 9 am. Bella had to go to her Regnum meeting, and by 10:30 she had to be at the pool for dress rehearsal for the Christmas Synchro Gala. Kimo went sleighing with the boys and some loaned children in our friend's car. I came home and began baking "pogácsa" a biscuit type thing with sheep cheese in it. Kimo dropped off out boys at my Mum's house, brought Bella home for lunch, and she had to go back to the pool at 3:30. Picked up my Mum and the boys, took Patrick to a birthday party at MacDonald's at 4:00, came home, we walked down to the Town Square where Kevin was performing with his Kindergarten at 5. Kimo drove us to the pool, went back to pick up Patrick, picked up some other friends, and came to the swimming pool where the Gala started at 7pm. Afterwards Bella and I were invited to dinner, and around midnight finally wahsed the gelatine out of her hair. Phew!

Our two lazy cats

Brownie batter and Regnum

One of the favourite activities about making brownies is when the children can lick the bowl of the batter. Here's what happens...

Regnum Marianum is a Hungarian religious community sort of like scouts, but instead of the outdoor survival skills, they focus a bit more on spiritual growth. Bella is part of a group of 12 kids her age and they are lead by two university students. Under communism members of the community couldn't meet at a public place, so a tradition developed that each meeting was held at one of the members' home. Now even though there's no danger of us being persecuted for gathering, this tradition lives on, so the children meet each time at someone's house. Last Saturday it was our turn to host them.

More swimming

Swimming

Bella went swimming with her school for four weeks every day and yesterday was her last day. We had fun watching, I hardly recognised her classmates all in swimming gear. She and two other kids were swimming in a different lane, since they knew how to swim already. Most kids have never swam in the deep pool before. She truly is a little duck, her element is definitely water. :)

Saint Nicholas' Day

Our whirl of celebration is at the door. This morning the children got up at five, because last night they put their boots in the window for Saint Nicholas to put his presents in there. He came while they were asleep so Patrick made sure all of them were up by 5:20. This of course made it easier for us to go to Rorate early morning mass at 6:30. From now on, we'll be having shows, performances, galas all the way to Christmas. Kimo had his debut as Santa last night for the synchronised swimming girls at the pool. :)

Early Christmas Party

Also a traditional happening in our family since we came to Sopron, is the Language school company Christmas party. This year we decided to do it early, so all women have the other weekends to get ready for their own family Christmas. What this means is at 10 am cca 15 ladies show up (Kimo usually moves to the back and pretends to be working), and we start cooking lunch together. Our boss thinks up the menu and brings all the food, and everyone's expected to bring some home-made desserts. One year we also had two guys, but male language teachers are hard to find.

A very special event at this party is the "cheesy raffle". What it means is that everyone is supposed to bring a useless horrible object, and then we draw the names from a hat, and you go home with something other than what you brought. Moreover we vote for the MOST terrible object. This year the winner was a pair of hand-made earrings, which our colleague made especially for the occasion. It was a loop with a large feather, a small golden ball, and a soft red angel dangling on it. Truly a winner! This is the event that the children are always so excited about, and they usually offer McDonald's toys, but one time the lollipop-turning machine was what they gave, and it almost won the prize.

Anyway, we had a good time, and had a huge lunch, and by 4 pm, all the dishes were done, too. In the evening, Kimo and I went to a concert, a band called Prakker was palying, they're the Sopron band from the sixties. Good music, dancing, but not nearly enough sleep is what we got...