Happy, Fun, Mickey Time!

"Hello!"

Hello, Hello, Hello Children! 

Hello, Hello, Hello!

Hello, Mickey! 

Hello! Hello! 

Hello Mickey, Hello, Hello!

Every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I get to have "Happy, Fun, Mickey Time." Or at least that is what I like to call it. I get to sing this song six times a week! Please take a moment to be jealous!
I teach 5 year olds in the nursery school, which means I get to start every lesson with me and my Mickey Mouse puppet singing this song. This song is played on a CD--where a voice that is "suppose" to be Mickey sings, but instead you get a British voice. The first time I did the song for the children they just stared at me probably wondering, "Has this lady lost her mind?" "Why, yes children...I have!" The funny thing about this song is that is says, "Hello!" like a million times. But "Hello," in Hungarian also means "Goodbye!" So I can only imagine their confusion at first, especially for the beginners.

Everywhere you go in Hungary, you hear people say, "Hello" for "Goodbye." The first few times I heard someone say, "Hello," I thought, "Yippee they speak English!" But sadly no...no they don't. After living here for two months the word, "Hello," doesn't make me excited---now I just ignore it. I wonder how I'll react the first time back in the US and someone says, "Hello!" I may just end up staring blankly at them---instead of responding. I may even be bold enough to say, "Hey your not fooling me! I know you don't speak English!"

Speaking of things that do speak English---Dora The Explorer! Yes, she has made her way to Hungary. Parents in the United States can sigh with relief....knowing that they are not the only one's being tortured by watching Dora. However, instead of Dora teaching Spanish here....she teaches the children English. As in she speaks Hungarian and teaches English. Weird, right? Now if only they had Dora speaking English, teaching me words in Hungarian! Now that may actually be useful!

At the end of my "Happy, Fun, Mickey Time" with the children we sing another song called, "Goodbye Mickey." It is the same as the "Hello Mickey" song, but just insert the word "Goodbye" instead. I have now been teaching the nursery school children for several weeks, and I can say with confidence they understand that "Hello" means "Hello" and "Goodbye" means "Goodbye."

In fact, just the other day while waiting for the bus I saw one of my nursery students, and do you know what their first words to me were?

"Hello Mickey, Hello, Hello!"