Blog Question # 2

What/if any/are the differences in the way Hungarians celebrate Christmas?  Are there any new traditions you have learned about?

So anyone who knows me, knows how much I love Christmas!  To start with, I continually am awestruck by a day that represents the God of the universe sending His son for our salvation.  I also love the spirit of the season, the lights, the music and so much more!  This year was my first chance to spend Christmas in Hungary, and although I dearly missed friends and family in the USA, I had a great time.  So, I would love to share with you about some traditions.

Szent Miklós Day
In Hungary, Santa Clause comes on December 6th (Saint Nicholas Day) to bring presents. Children typically leave their boots on the windowsill on the evening of December 5th. By the next morning Mikulás(more common spelling) leaves candy and gifts if they have been good, or a rod (virgács) if they have been bad (most kids end up getting small gifts but also a small rod). In Hungary he is often accompanied by the Krampusz, the frightening helper who is out to take away the bad ones.  This year, our kind landlord hung a little Mikulás on our window and left some chocolate.


Christmas Market
Another Christmas tradition in Europe, which I absolutely love, is the Christmas market.  Most major European cities (including Budapest) host a market between Thanksgiving and New Years.  Here you can find homemade crafts, pottery and authentic food.  It is always fun to walk around Vörösmarty tér (the main square) with a glass of forralt bor (hot wine) and peruse the wonderful variety of treasures.


Gerbaud Advent
Gerbaud Cukraszda is a Viennese coffee house and confectionary in Budapest that has been around since 1858.  Every year, they make an advent calendar out of their windows.  Each day, at 5pm, they "open" the calendar.  This year, I got to witness the opening of the 22nd window.  It is a fun way to celebrate and count down the days to Christmas.


I am sure there are many more traditions that I am not aware of.  There are few that I have been told about, but have never experienced first hand.  For example, the Christmas Eve meal usually consists of carp soup.  Also, Hungarians do not put up their Christmas tree until Christmas Eve in preparation for baby Jesus (who brings the presents the next morning).   Overall, Hungary is a wonderful place to celebrate Christmas.  Each year, there seems to be more and more decorations and traditions.  Here are a few pictures I captured this year of the Christmas season:

Christmas Lights at the Christmas Market

More decorations on the walking street (Vaci)

Gerbaud in the backdrop of the Christmas Market

An Advent Wreath

The Gerbeaud Advent Calendar being changed

The Gerbeaud Advent Calendar

Blog Question #1: How do you like the food?

Many places around the world have their own unique flavor and Hungary is no exception.   I actually really like the food in Hungary, although I can only eat it so often.  Hungarian food is very heavy.  They like fried things and heavy sauces.  Some Hungarian favorites include stuffed cabbage rolls, langos (fried dough covered in cheese and sour cream...woah), chicken paparikas, stuffed peppers and, of course, goulash (pronounced goo-yahsh).  Contrary to popular belief (in America), goulash is not a thick beef stew.  In Hungary, it is a broth-based soup with beef, vegetables and lots of paprika!  It is traditionally cooked in the backyard over a fire in a big metal pot.  I have had the opportunity to enjoy this authentic Hungarian experience!  My favorite Hungarian dish is paprikas csirke or chicken paprikash.  It is basically chicken stewed in a creamy paprika sauce.  It is delicious with some teszta or Hungarian noodles!  One of my favorite sweet treats is kurtos kalacs or chimney cake.  It is basically a pastry that is cooked over an open fire on a cylindar.  It comes in plain, vanilla, nuts or cinnamon.  I prefer the cinnamon, or in Hungarian, fahéj.  In the town where I live, Diósd, there is a great little kurtos kalacs stand that sells the sweet treat every Friday for a bargain 280 Hungarian Forint (about $1.50).   Overall, the food has been an interesting experience here in Budapest.  While I am a picky eater, my taste buds have definitely expanded their repertoire since my move to Eastern Europe.  Below I posted some pictures of the above mentioned foods.  Enjoy!  Thanks to Kari for the great question!

Yum, yum..Hungarian food!

Istvan making some goulash over the fire :)

The Hungarian "delectables" from our staff dinner (honestly have no idea what this is)

Kurtos Kalacs

Traditional Hungarian food being cooked at the Christmas market

My favorite...Chicken Paprikash!

Snow, Snow, Snow (Yes, this is a "White Christmas" reference...one of my faves)

 A few of you have sent me questions to answer on my blog, so thank you!  If you haven't sent a question yet, keep 'em coming!   I will start answering questions next week!  On this Christmas weekend, I wanted to point out a funny thing that happened Christmas night :)  You may have seen me mention on facebook that it occasionally snows in our bathroom.  Well, keeping with tradition, it snowed quite a bit on Christmas night, and that snow came right inside.  For you doubters, I even attached pictures.  Because of the sheer amount of snow getting in, I went to our landlord and asked to show him the problem.  As soon as he came in, he just started saying over and over "Jesus and Mary" (this is my rough translation guess of Jezus Maria).  I then proceeded to have a conversation with him in Hungarian about solving the problem (keep in mind I speak little to no Hungarian :).  As far as I can tell, he said he would come this morning (it is 1pm here and no sign of him yet).  All that to say, hopefully soon it will no longer snow inside the bathroom.  I love it on the outside, but not so much in :)  As I have considered this situation, I feel like my response normally would have been aggravation with this inconvenience, but I just can't help but smile when I think about it.  I guess it is just one of those enjoyable little quirks of living in a foreign country.  Enjoy the pictures and I hope it brings a smile to your face too!  Merry Christmas!  Boldog Karácsonyt!

Snow in the Window Sill

More Snow in the Window Sill

Snow on the Bathroom Floor

More Snow on the Bathroom Floor

Even More Snow on the Bathroom Floor (Note the great help the towels were...not so much)

Snow where it belongs...in our courtyard

View from our Front Door

Our Shared Patio

Christmas Traditions

I love Christmas traditions.  From Pillsbury cinnamon rolls Christmas morning to Christmas carol charades with the Mehlers to LRC with the Berliners, I simply love things that we can always look forward to year after year.  This year, I think I may have discovered a new tradition I want to be a part of.  On Saturday night, my church hosted a festival of lessons and carols.   I got the unique privilege of participating because the Christmas choir I am in sang two songs.  I had never heard of this type of event  before, but it was really great!   This idea started at the Kings College at Cambridge University.  On Christmas Eve in the year 1918, Cambridge hosted its first Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.  To this day, they still hold the service every Christmas Eve.  In 1928, they began broadcasting the service and it has been broadcast every year since (with the exception of 1930).  The festival always begins with the hymn "Once in Royal David's City" and always ends with "Hark the Herald Angels Sing."  I am hoping to make the listening of this service part of my yearly Christmas traditions.   Would you like to join me?  This year's service will be at 3pm London time (9am Chicago time) on Christmas Eve.  If you would like to listen, click here and enjoy!  Hope you have a blessed Christmas season remembering the great gift we received from the most generous Giver!

Stories

I love stories.  Who doesn't?  I especially love hearing peoples' life stories.  Perhaps it is the history teacher in me, or perhaps it is just a quirk.  Either way, there is little I enjoy more than a good story.  Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit down with one of my students to hear her story.  I thought I was sitting down to help her write a bio for a scholarship possibility, but in the end I think I got a beautiful picture of how God can use one person's story to shower His grace on many.   You see, this particular student doesn't have the typical middle class suburban life story so many of us know as "normal."  She was born in the midst of war.  She had to leave her home country and live in a refugee camp.  She saw things know child should have to see.  She was bullied when she was finally able to attend school.  Eventually, the Lord brought her to ICSB.  While there is heartbreak in her story, there is also clearly the grace of God.  I was amazed to watch this resilient girl share about her desire to use her experience to help others.  What struck me the most was not that this girl saw (in my opinion) some of the worst sides of human evil, but that she saw the need.  The need for someone to help.  The need for someone to instigate change.  She is not content to sit by as others live in poor circumstances.  As we ended our conversation, I couldn't help but think (and share with her) that God is going to use this story in a mighty way.  It is clear to see how He is using it in her life, and I am excited to see how He is going to continue to use it in the lives of others.  I was blessed yesterday when I heard a story.

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. "  Genesis 50:20

Nicest shower ever!

So, a couple weeks ago our shower started to leak through the ceiling into the downstairs.  Needless to say, we stopped using the shower and called our landlord ( I should note here we have two showers, so we weren't going for weeks without bathing).  Anyways, about a week ago our landlord brought a plumber in who ripped everything out leaving a vacant cement slab.  When we came home today they were installing a new shower.  The shower we had previously was relatively new, but they still put in a whole new shower.  To say we were amazed is an understatement.  Our new shower boasts two heads, a seat and eight jets that spray out the side.  Pretty cool and somewhat hilarious.  Please enjoy the pictures below!

The whole shower

The jets and the seat...apparently it gives a back massage

The dual heads

Shelf

Shiny...huh?

New Year, New Digs

Well, I am about to begin my third school year in Hungary and it is hard to believe!  I have lived overseas for more than two years!  I am really looking forward to the coming year.  Although it will be full and busy, I anticipate a joyful year in ministry.  At the end of last school year, my roommates Emily, Hannah and I moved to a new house.  For those of you that know the Olsens, it is their old house, so it may be familiar.  I am grateful for my roomie Hannah, who got here a week before Emily and I, and cleaned out most of the spiders!  Ick!  Here are a few "cleaned up" pics:

This is the living room

Dining Room and "2nd" Living Room

Kitchen

Kitchen

Entryway looking out into the Beautiful Garden

My Room!  They actually built a wall around what used to be a loft to make my room :)

The rest of my room