Ben's Last Days of Teaching in Hungary

These last 2 weeks I have had to say bye to my students here in Hungary. Last week I finished with my Thursday group. That included 2 groups of 11th and 13th graders. Today I said bye to 3 groups of 9th graders and 2 groups of 10th graders. I was sad to say goodbye to them. We definitely had some interesting days to say the least but overall they were an amazing group of kids. 

I decided to give each class something to remember me by. I gave one item to each of my 9th grade groups that included my football, a Marvel Comics poster, and a Wrigley Field poster. To my 10th graders I gave a poster of Texas and a "Cowboy Lane" street sign. My 11th graders received a Beatles poster and my Texas Flag. I also gave all the students Obama campaign stickers from 2008. I am not trying to convert anyone by any means. It is just that a lot of them think American Politics are interesting. We brought them because they were cheap and he is the President. So we bought a huge roll of them after the election. The kids thought they were cool. I signed everything and gave everyone my e-mail address so they could keep in touch.  

Here is my 11th grade classroom. You can see
 the flag and poster in the back.

You can see my message in the corner. You can also see one
of the Obama stickers.

My message.

Beatles poster. 

My message.

More of the 11th grade classroom. This has been
my home for the last year.

The view out the window of the classroom.

I never got tired of watching the seasons change while teaching here.

Much more natural light in classrooms here.

This is one of the hardest things to get used to while teaching here.
Two of my classes gave me alcohol as a farewell gift.
I got a bottle of wine and this bottle of palinka.
 It is totally normal but my American teacher neck hairs stood up
a little when I got this. Kids would be suspended in the blink of an eye for
possessing alcohol at school back home. It was a very thoughtful gift
though and I sincerely appreciated it.

One of my students invited Dana and I over for dinner this last weekend.
I keep saying "my student" because I want to maintain his privacy since
 I did not ask to put him on the blog. This is his mother's back yard.

We were served a delicious paprika chicken dinner. We had a wonderful time and really
enjoyed getting a final taste of the amazing Hungarian hospitality.

Today my 10th grade was playing with our laptop while I was talking with
some other students. They are a great group and I have loved teaching
them. So I find the pictures priceless!

This is me with the whole 10th grade class.

Some of the gifts I received from my students were as follows: a t-shirt with the class picture and the batman logo signed by the class, signed picture of the class, palinka, wine, and the Hungarian flag signed by the class.

All in all I have loved teaching here. My colleagues were great and the students were motivated and respectful. If I had to give a class by class break down it would go like this. The most challenging grade: 9th. The most involved and engaging: 11th. The most laid back and entertaining: 10th. The most mature: 13th. Even though 9th grade was probably the most difficult they were still a blast to work with. I really enjoyed getting to work with all the grades since I have only dealt with 10th grade world history for the last 3 years. I really will miss Dienes High School and I really hope to keep in touch with my students. They are great and I really will never forget these students!