Teaching at High Schools

The universities in Hungary are now in the "exam" phase. Higher education is done so much differently here. Students come to class or rather most don't for many weeks, and then show up to take the "exam" during the exam period. I'm waiting patiently for the doctoral students in my classes to give me the required products from those classes. They are due tomorrow and Monday. I'll be interested to see if anything shows up!

Meanwhile I've been doing presentations in high schools at the request of American Corner Pecs. Staff there asked me to talk about blogging, as this is uncommon in Hungary.

The first presentation was Monday. Reka, one of the AC staff, took me by cab to a school complex in Kertvaros area of Pecs. The high school was in a large education complex. This may sound horrible, but is quite wonderful. There are primary, middle, and high schools all in one location. They are somewhat smaller buildings that we build. The landscaping is very beautiful and somewhat restful. This area also includes a dormitory for students who come to school from villages too far for daily commuting.

My second school was the one near the Cathedral. I walked there and met Reka by the St. Istvan's fountain, both of us in torrential pouring rain. I'm so glad we didn't have a long trip on that day.

One thing I found in the school is this display of all their partnerships with other schools in Europe.

The classroom area is so very beautiful.

Today the nearby Szent Mor School was having a language day. My felllow Fulbrighter, Bruce, came down for Budapest to speak about creative writing and read some of this short stories. I enjoyed this session very much and the students laughed themselves silly over a story he wrote and read in Hungarian.

While walking in the hallway I noticed students leaving a classroom and couldn't believe my eyes.

Did any classroom you had in high school have a ceiling like this?

We were presented with a wonderful gift. The calendar is an academic one for the coming year and the pictures are paintings done by students in the school. The wine is from the Bishop's Winery, now a very private winery.  I had learned about this the very first day I was in Pecs, but the first time I've had a bottle of wine from there. I will look forward to sharing this with fellow Fulbrighters when they return from a trip in Germany.

And I must note we don't need a thank you gift. It was a wonderful treat to meet the high school students and learn a bit about their school life.

Update: On Friday, June 4 I did another presentation -- this time at a high school for students from a German background. This school is also part of a large complex, but the area is simply charming. The school teaches some classes in German. But I forgot to mention that the first one I went to earlier this week teaches some of its classes in English -- students don't just take an English class, they study other subjects using English as the medium of instruction, too. In the States we call this immersion.