The 70th anniversary of Széchenyi secondary school kicked off on Wednesday with an art exhibition that included wood carvings, paintings, and hand-crafted replicas made by teachers and students. The carvings were particularly moving – the heart of the artist shined through each stroke. My particular favorite was a carving of an old Hungarian man and his wife; the lines on their faces – the joy, the hurt, the pain, the solidarity of being together so long – living, life. It was not perfect, but beautiful nonetheless.
Friday brought shortened classes and a true celebration. The freshmen were introduced through an initiation ceremony that they prepared with the senior class. They performed skits, sang, and generally humiliated themselves (in good fun) in front of the student body. Afterwards, a mandolin player serenaded us all with folk music on two unique shaped mandolins. Then events began to occur simultaneously. There was karaoke, Rubik’s cube tournaments, trick bike shows, field games, and bands playing. A few of my students brought homemade apricot preserves from their mother’s garden to sell on waffles with towering peaks of whipped cream.
Széchenyi Days will conclude tomorrow with open classes (one of which I will be teaching) that the community has been invited to attend. The closing ceremony will then be held to give awards to winners of the English reading contest (Jess and I were two of the judges! One of my students from Teleki Blanka won first place!)
Friday brought shortened classes and a true celebration. The freshmen were introduced through an initiation ceremony that they prepared with the senior class. They performed skits, sang, and generally humiliated themselves (in good fun) in front of the student body. Afterwards, a mandolin player serenaded us all with folk music on two unique shaped mandolins. Then events began to occur simultaneously. There was karaoke, Rubik’s cube tournaments, trick bike shows, field games, and bands playing. A few of my students brought homemade apricot preserves from their mother’s garden to sell on waffles with towering peaks of whipped cream.
Széchenyi Days will conclude tomorrow with open classes (one of which I will be teaching) that the community has been invited to attend. The closing ceremony will then be held to give awards to winners of the English reading contest (Jess and I were two of the judges! One of my students from Teleki Blanka won first place!)
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