Midpoint break in Szeged, Hungary

Hello, volunteers! I've been in touch with your wonderful PD, and I know that your midpoint break is just around the corner. I hope that you're all excited about it, since it will be held in my hometown of Szeged, Hungary. I won't be there, unfortunately, so you'll have to continue to think of me as this random mysterious person who occasionally posts on this blog...

I know that you've all received some information about the hostel and the city from your PD, but I want to post a few pictures from my collection to give you a better idea of what to expect. Enjoy!

Dom ter (Dome square) in central Szeged

A gate honoring those who fought in WWI (this is very close to the hostel)

The beginning of Karasz utca (street)

A 2006 volunteer in front of Szeged's best ice cream shop

Inside the salami and paprika museum -- always big hit with LE volunteers!

Yay first week

i hope things are going well for everyone.

i have 3 classes, which, my host mother basically divided up for me. one is for kindergarten -2nd grade, another for 3rd grade - 4th grade, and the other for 5th grade up to...15 year olds. classes are an hour each, and i have an extra 30 minutes class for 4 students who are 15 so that they can just talk about american culture if they want to.

here's what worked:

1. hachi pachi: this game has AMAZING effect on the first two classes. and the oldest kids like it too, if there are enough people. I often hear kids whispering "hachi pachi" to one another when talking among themselves before class.

2. fishy fishy: probably the favorite game of the first two classes. they LOVE running around.

3. musical ball: I made this one up, and, against my worries, it has worked very well. kids sit in circle, pass the ball around . while they do that, i play some exciting music (the last one i played was Numa Numa...yea.) when the music stops the kid with the ball has to answer my question.
kids really like it and giggle a lot.

4. wall race: the big kids surprisingly get REALLY involved in this game. it's a team game. the only thing i'd be careful about is putting the relatively small kids in one group and the older in the other. the small kids lose and complain and so on..

yay! :)

First Week

What worked:

1. 4 Corners

2. Hatchi Patchi

3. Teaching them a dance similar to the Cha Cha Slide

4. With more advanced students, to reinforce numbers, i used uno cards and had them get into groups and work together to make a number like seventy eight. so i'd say "seventy eight" and they'd have to find the number 7 and the number 8 and hold them up in the correct order. And then i would ask them "what number is that" and if they said it correctly they get a point. You can play up to five points, or ten, or whatever.

Shiny happy people

...3 minutes after we arrived to Nagyvárad (Oradea)

FIRST POST FROM ROMANIA

I'm here!
It's absolutely wonderful. I start teaching Tuesday - yay! :)

Question!!

Hello! Jeehyun writing here...I have a question regarding the village students' level of English proficiency. Maybe Jon, Zsofi, or Kinga can help me?

So, as the time of departure nears, I actually got myself to sit down and generate some concrete lesson plans. But I think they can be improved a lot if I knew exactly how proficient my students (both villages are in Romania) are. Would the younger students understand me if I explained the rules of a game in English? I've been trying to learn Hungarian, but couple weeks of cramming can only get me so far...

Thanks!!
JH

Introducing myself and Oradea (Nagyvárad), Romania

Hello, volunteers! You're wonderful PD Jonathan introduced me to you on this blog a few weeks ago, so hopefully my post won't come as complete surprise. Just to recap my background: my name is Zsofi (the Hungarian version of Sophie -- I was born in Szeged, the city in which you'll have your midpoint break), and I was a volunteer in what was back then known as the Eastern Europe Village Project (Croatia, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia) in 2004 and 2005. I was later hired as the European Liaison to oversee the newly split Croatia/Romania and Hungary/Slovakia programs for 2006 and 2007. (I first met your PD at orientation in Budapest in 2006.) Although I am no longer formally involved with LE, I try to help out with the Europe programs when I can. If you have any questions for me, ask away!

I also want to introduce you to a very important city in Romania -- Oradea (Romanian name) or Nagyvarad (Hungarian name). Kinga lives and works there, and most -- if not all -- of you will at least pass through the city. I spent a week there last July and had a great time hanging out with Kinga (and the volunteer who taught there during the second session), despite the 100 degree heat. The city isn't huge, but it has some wonderful sights and a picturesque downtown area.

Here are a few photos to get you excited about traveling to Oradea/Nagyvarad!

Hungarian-Romanian border

Me (left) and volunteer Jenny (right) in front of a fountain in Oradea/Nagyvarad