December 26
We had three weeks
between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I worked hard to not let my teaching
slip at all. During the last few days, though, we did sing a lot of
Christmas carols. I taught my
students many of my favorites, but without the benefit of accompaniment of any
kind. The students didn’t seem to
mind my singing, though. In fact,
after hearing me sing “O Holy Night,” one told me, “You could be a
superstar in Hungary.”
“I could be a
superstar?” I asked.
“In Hungary,” he
said. Then another student said
that you could be a superstar in Hungary for doing just about anything,
including being on a reality TV show. So
much for my superstardom.
One other fun thing
about teaching Christmas songs is that I taught a few classes “Blue
Christmas” in the style of Elvis, complete with lip curl and hip wiggle.
Also just before
Christmas, many of us teachers performed our annual Christmas play.
Every year, we are asked to write and perform a Christmas play in front
of two audiences, the first mainly students and the second mainly adults.
This year, we adopted the format of a talent show, with several groups
competing to show the true meaning of Christmas – though they all get it
wrong. In the end, though, one of
the judges gets exasperated and tells what the true meaning of Christmas is, and
they all are convinced. I will put
the script of the Christmas play on my web site.
Over Christmas break,
I decided to stay here and not go back to America.
We planned a huge Christmas party in our flat on the 25th, but
before that I went skiing in Slovenia for a few days with two friends.
I had only skied once before, so the weekend was a little painful for me,
but I’m still happy I went. After
all, I got to see MOUNTAINS, which are in short supply here in Hungary.