One 'o' clock I'm so tired

Me and my friend J use to love this song by Space called One'o' clock. The lyrics are basically that this guy is tired because all his time went to his girl. The way that the sing is sung you can almost feel the weary nature of the singer. When I'm tired, this is the song that plays in my head. What with the night terrors and the extremely busy week, I am tired beyond tired. I want sleep and I want space and the little things that I would let wash over me are annoying today.

The only thing that is making it better is the knowledge that we have a late start tomorrow and when I get home from work today I will have long, swingy, non frizzy, blondie hair. I need a little treat and am off to get my hair done. Last night saw yet another trip to Ikea, by the time I got home I was ready to weep. Now that the adrenaline of my move has worn off, the tiredness is firmly set in.

Paranoid Android

I actually slept with the lights on last night. After C came round for a cup of tea and we ended up in a very interesting comversation about religion and travel, I found that I could not settle. I could hear voices on the street and each one of them seemed to echo in my ears. So I slept with the lights on, curled up with my face turned towards the lamp. When the morning comes and I woke up, it all seemed a bit daft. But for the last week, when the lights go out a series of intense dreams and fear seem to wash over me.

"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." —Plato

Feels like

On the way home last night I had a flash of familiarity. Suddenly, I could see autumn all around me as the tram trundled past the same advert for milka chocolate that it has every night for the past four weeks. I felt for a moment like Budapest was home, and that the move here has, as I already suspected, clearly been the correct one. Just as quickly that total feeling of calm and comfort was gone. I am not ready yet to call this city home, but at the moment, that is what she feels like.

Half term does not feel so long away now, and I can't wait to see N and her daughter when they come and stay. Only three weeks on Saturday. I am still hopeful that L will be able to make it this weekend, although it is difficult for D, so L will be coming by herself. Either way, it will be good to have a chance to explore the city with people who have never been here before, gives me an excuse to see more of the city that I just have not gotten around to. The Great Market Hall, the House of Terror, the Gellert Baths, Fishermans Bastion, The Dohany Utca Synagogue, all of these places beckon when there is some-one to coax me into the sunshine of a weekend.

Playing with my camera

I finally worked out the whole black and white thing. I love these pictures, the sculpture is in the Millenaris Park behind the Mammut Mall. I went there on Friday to see the Titanic exhibit. I loved the park and will definately be going to hang out there in the autumn months ahead.

Angol vagyok

I had my first Hungarian lesson today. They take place after work on a Friday, which is going to be pretty intense, but I am determined to attend each and every one. After Christmas, I hope to double my lessons and have two a week, but for the moment I am happy to be having at least some language practise. I also found an amazing park today, but will post about that with some pictures tomorrow.

Despite believing that Hungarian is simply too hard to be learnt, I find that I am actually remembering lots of the words that I learnt over the summer when I was attached to my Heaven street sevn albums and my Teach yourself Hungarian books and CD. I am not using many words day to day, as it is easier to resort to hand gestures and smiles when I only know two words of what I want to say. Still, I like the learning and will be happy when I can report that I have had some semblance of a Hungarian conversation.

School trips

Packed lunches that you eat before nine o'clock in the morning. Cagoules, sensible footwear and getting to wear jeans. Long trips on the coach, when you get to sing all the way home. Sand in my shoes from a day trip to Whitby, memories of a traditional coal-mining community in Beamish. Oh, how I loved those school trips. Learning that went on outside of school with sticky jam sandwiches on chewy white bread, the excitement was almost more than I could bear.

When I became a teacher the excitement went the other way and I loved planning and running school trips. When I worked in the UK I ran trips to Rome every year, even Venice one year too. Then I moved to Poland and took all the students to Auschwitz, which was a different kind of rewarding. The trip that K and I took with all the secondary school kids to the Polish Lake district was one of the bext times I have ever had on a school trip, (long time readers will recall the 'waterskiing incident).
In Paris I travelled to L'Auvergne, Monets Garden, and St Tropez on school trips and loved seeing parts of France that I was at that time too poor to be able to travel to.

Now I live in Budapest and even though I have only been here for a few weeks I find myself involved in school tripping once again. I am planning a trip to the Christmas markets in either Prague or Krakow, and am off tomorrow to a Museum in the city to see a special exhibition. I love this part of my job and I am looking forward to a whole year of seeing a different side of the world that I now live in. I am so lucky in my work sometimes.

You Need Some Green in Your Life

Green will make you feel alive, renewed, and balanced. And with a little green, you will project an aura of peacefulness and harmony. If you want stability, you've got to get a little green in your life! For extra punch: Combine green with blue or purple The downside of green: It can promote jealousy in yourself or others The consequences of more green in your life: You will be drawn to a new life path You will feel free to pursue new ideas and interests, no matter how strange You will be released from the demands and concerns of others

What Color Do You Need?