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...

Thanksgiving Saturday dinner

Well, this was our third one since we moved to Sopron. This time we didn't have AS many people come, due to the fact that some friends we'd invited couldn't make it. Still there were 13 children running about. The interesting thing was that the ages of the kids were older than before. Three four-year-olds, and all the others were older. I suppose not only ours, but our friends' children are getting bigger, too. So the atmosphere was quite different, instead of boys chasing girls it was girls teasing the boys, and trying to impress them.

The funny story about the evening was, that of course the children did not really want to eat dinner (Patrick only had stolen brownies and other pastries), just picked at the food so they'd have more time to play. As the last guests were leaving I heard this big scream form the kids' room. I honestly thought there's bones broken, and when I ran in to see what's happening, Patrick's saying his tummy hurts because he's hungry. And a few minutes later Kevin starts crying (but I mean really crying with tears) he's hungry, too. So Kimo and I just looked at each other, thinking we haven't had a more fully packed table in a year, and our kids are screaming for hunger. ;)

Big bad Hungarian language

Ah, the beauty of it...

the first part of this sentence is pedestrian,
the second part walks ALL OVER YOU!

Eközben a piaci szolgáltatások hozzáadott értékét enyhén csökkenő dinamika jellemezte, ami összhangban áll a fiskális egyensúlyjavító intézkedések következtében mérséklődő reáljövedelmek belföldi keresletet visszafogó hatásával.

WHOAH baaby!

Halloween in Pictures

Saint Elizabeth Day

I know in protestant churches saints aren't honoured, but to my heart Saint Elizabeth is very close. For one thing she is Bella's patron saint, for another we went to church on Easter Sunday when Kimo proposed to me to the St Elizabeth Church in Budapest and she's alo the parton saint of families and health-care workers. She was born 800 years ago today. Here's her life story that Kimo translated recently.

Saint Elisabeth of Hungary was born on November 19, 1207 (feast day: November 17) in Sárospatak (according to other sources in Óbuda or Bratislava). Her father was King Andrew II of Hungary and her mother was Gertrude of Merania. Elisabeth was the third of five children, and her older brother later became King Bela IV of Hungary. She was betrothed to the eldest son of Hermann I, landgrave of Thurginia, and thus she moved first to Eisenach and then to the Wartburg castle. Her fiancé died in 1216, and Hermann’s second son, Louis, became heir to his father’s title and was married to Elisabeth in 1221. Their marriage was a happy one, as the young couple truly loved each other, which was rare for the arranged marriages of that day and age. They had three children: Hermann, Sofia and Gertrude (venerated as Blessed, November 13). Her manners were unusual for the medieval court, as she did not enjoy dancing, preferring horse riding instead. Nor was she willing to learn the tippy-toe walk required of noble ladies of the time; but her most shocking behaviour was her willingness to openly express her emotions. She was “most generous to the poor, always full of goodness and divine love”. During a famine in 1225, for example, she emptied the stores of the Wartburg, distributing all of the food to those in need. Her husband, Louis, left on a crusade in 1227 and never returned. Following the death of Louis, Elisabeth joined the Third Order of St. Francis. She took vows of poverty and dedicated the rest of her life to religion. She initially served in Eisenach and then built a Franciscan hospital in Marburg. She died on November 16, 1231, at the age of 24, and was canonized by Pope Gregory IX four years later. A church dedicated to her was built over her grave in Marburg (1236-1283). King Bela IV of Hungary had a church dedicated to her built in Kápolna.

Her's some more reading as well:

http://www.catholicforum.com/saints/sainte01.htm

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05389a.htm