4th Visitor to Budapest: Daddy Dearest

Visitors have been blowing up Budapest. Lindsay, Brenna, and Mandy all came in relatively rapid succession. But, my longest visitor, thus far, has been my father. (Shortest goes to Mandy with a 36 hour trip.)

My Dad was here for 5 days, from 10/22 to 10/28. In particular, my Dad came to celebrate Thanksgiving. For Thanksgiving dinner, we split a huge amount of Chinese food and pizza. To be completely honest, I don't think that I would have had it any other way.

It was a relatively good visit and much better than I thought it would be. We rarely fought and I was still able to jog in the morning (jet lag win for me). I think the only moderate point of contention was that he forgot that I worked here. Interestingly, I think my parents/friends/family forget that I actually do things here. (Once again: university lecturer at PPKE and advisor at FEAC. I don't work a 40 hour work week, but I still stay busy.) We were able to see almost all of the touristy things: Hero's Square, ruin bars, the Opera, Central Market, etc.


Dad does not like getting his photo taken.

We also did two new tourist-y things: climbed to the Citadel and the labyrinth of Buda castle. The Citadel has beautiful views of the city and is actually a pretty cool statue. The climb is epic, but it was a good workout (and great for Operation Swan.)





Inside the Citadel, there is kind of an interesting display about how the Citadel was used to defend against Nazis. (Ultimately, it fell and was used by Nazis.) Naturally, it completely bummed me out to read about Hungary's role in WWII, but it was good to see everything. While the knowledge is difficult, I think that it's important that I work on processing and acknowledging the difficult history of Hungary, especially as I live and work here.






The other new touristy thing that I did was to visit the Budapest labyrinth. It was actually pretty interesting to walk around and get lost underground. To be completely honest, I think that it would be a lot more fun drunk, although equally as scary.

The labyrinth is literally just a huge system of caves with random art displays. The most interesting part is the wine fountain. I didn't drink any of it, although I was tempted.





At some point, I'd like to stop being the repeat tourist, but *sigh* que será, será. At the very least, I have eaten at gyro stands throughout the city, and not just near my house. I guess that's a minor victory, right?

Operation Swan

I have been horribly busy with everyone in Budapest. (One day after Mandy left, my father came.) My dad's trip was better than expected, and it deserves its own blog post. (Especially since he and his family are the only family members that read this.)

Now that my Dad has left, I can more deeply immerse myself in Operation Swan. Operation Swan isn't some sort of covert military tactic to get American style idealism in Hungary. Nope, nothing of the sort. Rather, it is my personal mission to look really good in Christmas family photos.



Here's the thing, my family is gorgeous. Not pretty; absolutely stunning. Thus, even though I may have average looks, I'm still not attractive in my family. (I recently read this article that talked about sibling differences and how minor differences can greatly affect personality.) Combine a beautiful family with morbid obesity for 8 years and acne for 3 years and you have the makings for someone who is really uncomfortable about how they look.

But, since I have been running everyday and participating in No-Sweets November, I have noticed my body change...pretty dramatically. I can see ribs now...and the start of abs. Uhm...what?

So, this Christmas, I'm planning on changing from the ugly duckling to the moderately attractive swan. Watch out Harrell-Padezanin-Koller family, I'm going to be looking fly this holiday season.

3rd Visitor in Budapest: Mandy Zatynski

Following Brenna Flynn and Lindsay Liu was my 36 hours with Mandy Zatynski. Through a serious of strange God-doesn't-want-you-in-Budapest events, Mandy only visited for about 36 hours. To be honest though, I think it was 36 hours well spent and a lot of fun.

Mandy and I did all of the tourist things: Buda Castle, Hero's Square, Central Market. And we ate a lot of the traditional garb: goulash soup, stuffed paprika, langos. Naturally, because it's me, we also drank the national drinks of mulled wine and palinka. So, I think that she got to see a lot of the city and actually experience some Hungarian life.



Some proof that we ate and drank; as if my love of langos and wine wasn't already well-documented.

This blog won't be focused on our time together, but rather on the visitor. I met Mandy at camp in La Coruña, but life in summer camp isn´t conducive to profound conversations. What students are doing, if the monitors will talk to us, and what is for dinner are the typical conversations of the day. Therefore, though I was friends with Mandy and had a general semblance of her life, I didn´t really know Mandy.

Mandy went to Ohio State University and majored in journalism. By her senior year, she was already working full-time covering education policy for a newspaper. Within a year of college, she landed a more lucrative job in California. She stayed there for two years and developed a "real-person" life: bedroom sets, kitchen appliances, and expensive stilettos.

Then, one day, she quit. She wanted to see the world, and that's just what she did. She hopped on a flight to Barcelona, took a TEFL class, and started to live the oh-so-glamorous life of a TEFL teacher. Since then, she even moved from Barcelona to Madrid and is now teaching in the public school program.

...what?

Not only did homegirl quit her job, throw away most of her possessions, change careers, but she moved to a country where she didn't have a solid mastery of the language. And, unlike me, she didn't have the US Dept. of State backing her up.

Qué cajones tiene.

So many of us in the States have a travel-bug and this desire to do something else. But, we limit ourselves. If it doesn't fit into our clear box of right/wrong, black/white, successful/unsuccessful, we don't want to do it. Why do we all need to have these linear life progressions? And why do we force our live progressions onto others?

I think that a lot of people view me as aimless and whimsical, unable to stay in one place for longer than 10 months. Maybe their assertions are a little bit more true than I would like to acknowledge, but so what? I want to see the world, to dance on every continent, to make friends, and exchange ideas about philosophy, cooking, and Lady Gaga. I want to be more like Mandy, full of ambition, drive, and motivation to do exactly what makes me happy.

So, my dearest Mandy, this one goes out to you. You are certainly an inspiration to all the yinzers with big dreams in the world, even though you can't keep up drinking-wise.

Krakow: The City

Poland is gorgeous, Catholic, and foggy. It's everything that I want in an Eastern European government-sponsored holiday.

Gorgeous:




Foggy:





More Catholic than I imagined:





(On Tuesday, there was actually a ton of Polish folk in church praying and going to Confession. It was quite nice.)

I really liked Krakow. A lot.

Krakow: The Three Gyro Night

At points in my life, I can be a mess. I know it and I love it. It's what I live for, walking the fine line between Fulbright scholar and complete joke. As a Gemini, I'm great with being bi-polar. It makes life easier.

I started off the night going to dinner with John and three girls that we had met at the conference. John was on his game and found a restaurant ahead of time. We went near the restaurant and a promoter offered us a free shot with each beer. Win.

During dinner, I ordered a long island iced tea. (It's nice to have some America in Eastern Europe.) However, I didn't think the long island was actually from long island...rather, just an iced tea. So, I ordered 2 beers and got 2 shots. I was feeling pretty good, especially as that long island was indeed alcohol-ific.


Delicious pierogies.

Dancing beer.

The beer in Eastern Europe is strong. Like really strong. Every person in our little lunch group was feeling pretty good. We went to a local dance club called Prozac. However, I am super cheap and didn't think that I would be able to afford a drink. (For those following my life...didn't I get a huge per diem? Yep. I did. I'm just full of poor choices.)

So, I decided to split a bottle of Amaretto with one other girl in our group. However, homegirl didn't actually want to drink any of the Amaretto---just pay for my half. I drank the entire bottle of Amaretto over the course of the night. (At one point, I showed the bottle to the members of the group and loudly asked, "WHO THE FUCK DRANK ALL MY AMARETTO?")

Post Amaretto, but pre-dancing, we decided to take a pit stop at a local gyro station. Because, well I was very insistent. For those of you who have not heard about my obessession with gyros, it is somewhat all-consuming. Somehow, I ordered the gyro, got the gyro, ate the gyro, made friends with other Fulbrighters, but NEVER PAID for it. I'm not quite sure what happened or if God covered my bill, but I woke up with all of my Polish zloty accounted for...and I had forgotten about my first gyro the next morning (until reminded).


Just dance, it's gonna be okay.

I kind of loved them.

During the dancing, I did...a lot. I definitely made new friends, twerked on a stripper pole, and stunned many Poles. Apparently, in fact, some people recorded my dancing performance with Stephanie (black hair) to Barbara Streisand. I feel no guilt about it, and fully believe that I represented America well. After all, I was not only an amazing dancer, but Papa 'Bama even bought some other people drinks. If that's not a mess of diplomacy, I don't know what is.

Stephanie eventually left me to dance with some random Poles and I took extreme offense to this and decided to leave the bar. I left and in my stupor, walked around the city completely lost. My first stop: a gyro stand (gyro 2). A gyro later, I felt better. But, I was still lost. So, I needed to stop and find the way home.

Eventually, I found a group of gorgeous, English-speaking Poles who not only took me to get my third gyro of the night...but also provided delightful conversation and led me straight back to my hotel. Perfect, right?

I woke up the next morning, covered in lettuce, dressing, and hot sauce. But, oh, what a fair price for all of the dancing that I did.

Krakow: Conference Content

I am breaking my experience at Krakow into three posts: the things I learned, the dranks I drank, and the things I saw. Let's be honest, this post is going to be kind of boring, but for the other EFL professionals out there, it might be handy.

As I went to the conference, I was pretty pumped: no lie. Let's be honest, I'm still a little yinzer and get excited about going to things like conferences. Doesn't this kinda validate my life and give me sufficient reasons to validate my over-inflated ego? Well, it might, except..



Yep, check the name. Herrell. Not Harrell. Mother fucker. So much for being a badass.

Anyway, I was interested in the actual content of the conference, even though I have my masters in bilingual ed, it's always nice to get new ideas from people. I think that good teachers are constantly reinventing themselves and learning from others and pop culture. For example, who wouldn't want a substitute teacher that sings Fuck You and not a Journey song?

The actual content of the conference was quite minimal. I didn't really find any new resources, but rather found myself teaching my peers. I showed several teachers how to make a didactic unit and just kind of exposed my educational philosophies on people.

Some of the people had never taught before and were getting peer pressured to change the entire world. Don't they remember their own education? Some classes you don't remember things from, and it's not a big deal. In fact, it's much better if you have a smaller goal that you want for your students: to like art, to think outside of the box, or to write an MLA-style paper...all of these are things that can be transferred to everyday life and the real-world. A critical reading of "Turning of the Screw?" Not. so. much.

Actually, I turned into a loud-angry-former-at-risk-minority when one of the teachers talked about how he let his kids physically hit each other in the classroom and that he never stopped them. Across the conference hall, I talked about how safe classrooms were needed to learn and that as a teacher you should never tolerate physical or verbal violence. (Well kinda, I think it was more just a shout.) As I am opinionated I felt completely fine about doing this, but was later shocked that the moderator didn't step in and instantly shit on this idea. Later, some people came up and thanked me for what I said and did during the conference. Geeze.

While I may not have gotten many new ideas from the conference, I did get one amazing new resource: the US Dept of State Publications Catalog. Teaching abroad, it's really challenging to find stuff for your students. So, the fact that they have a ton of materials online is really good. Further, for my own needs, they have cultural stories and a teacher training course (which will most likely be adapted for my pedagogy class next semester).

All in all, I don't think that I actually gained an exponential amount of knowledge from the experience. But, it did validate that I am competent in the classroom, and I had a lot of fun. So, it was definitely worth the trip. ;)

Krakow, Poland Day 1

Currently, I am sitting in a hotel room in Krakow, Poland with fellow Fulbright ETA, John Shadeck. To me, I have been feeling this overwhelming blessing and luck in my life. I'm just so fortunate and thankful for everything in my life and I really can't be more appreciative for all of the opportunities that I have been given. Hard work, determination, and a little bit of faith really go a long way!

Anyway, the reason why I am walking around with a smile on my face is simple: I'm not going for broke here in Krakow. Honestly, I expected that I would have to spend a lot of money here, so I broke my "no-credit November" rule. This was a miscalculation on my part, but I'm over it. To be honest, I do work hard and I don't overspend too much. (Reason why I quit, I actually thought: "I don't have enough money in my budget for ketchup.")

The conference in Krakow is paid for: flights, hotel, breakfast, lunch, and a per diem. For some of my friends unfamiliar with the joys of a per diem, it is quite simply awesome: it's money just for incidental expenses. And, it's about 200 euros. 200 euros, in an Eastern European country, when room and (most of the) board is paid for? LIFE WIN.


My stipend.

Getting to Poland was an adventure, as everything in my life. I went to bed at 7 AM the morning of my flight, woke up 5 hours later, went for a run, and then packed my bags for the flight to Krakow (running late of course). Eventually, I met up with Jon and we caught the train at the airport.

For those of you who are from a big, fancy city: you have more street-smarts than me. In fact, I'm kind of stupid about certain things. Therefore, when we got to the airport and didn't see our flight reservation, we assumed that we were too early for the flight. Grabbing a beer, we stayed for an hour. Eventually, my paranoia kicked in and I realized something was wrong.

There are two terminals in Budapest, and I was at Terminal 1. We went outside and caught the bus to go to Terminal 2. Luckily, we caught the bus in the wrong direction, and it went back to the city. (shit.) Finally, realizing how stupid we were, we jumped off the bus, ran across the street and caught the bus back to the terminal 1 (after waiting 10 minutes).

At terminal 1, my panic forced us into a taxi. We took a taxi from terminal 1 to terminal 2, as the cabbie mocked us relentlessly in Hungarian. (Douche. I understand body language like a mother fucker.) Eventually, we got to the check-in center to find that the plane was already boarding.

The woman was super nice and let us check in for everything and let me to avoid checking in my overly large bag. Jon did the check-in process in Hungarian, smiling and playing coy. Because of this, he got bumped to business class where he was served sushi and champagne. Ironically, this is the second time that day in which I really lamented not speaking Hungarian. Sign? Maybe.

As we rushed to the security checkpoint, we saw a 20 minute line to get to the plane. Sensing my panic and seeing my eye twitch, three gorgeous flight attendants let us jump the line to the very front. All of this, without the stern "come 2 hours early" lecture that you are apt to hear in American airports.

We finally made it to our destination at around midnight. Overall, the flight was relatively uneventful, which was nice. Off to explore the city and help stimulate the local economy!

A Note to mis alumnos

Ever since I won the Fulbright, I have been exceptionally worried about this blog and my presence on social media. For those of you that don't know, the Fulbright Commission needs to make sure that I don't represent myself as the Fulbright Commission, but rather a Fulbright-er. This is why I have the glorious legal disclaimer at the top of my blog.

I have to be super conscious about what I say on here and how I represent my blog, but if I'm so nervous about the blog, why do I keep writing it?

Well, for reasons like this:



I haven't lived back in America for about 2 years. Between Qatar, Spain, and now Hungary, I have put a great deal of physical distance between myself and my loved ones back home. Sure, I'm always on gchat and I tend to be relatively aware of the coming and goings of my friends, but it's not the same as grabbing a beer at PHI and talking about what we did that day. So, this blog, is mainly for them.

While my blog is mainly for them, they are not necessarily the ones that read it. In fact, my blog is most popular in Hungary and has been for quite some time.


Stats for my blog: all of the countries listed make sense, although the proportions are a little strange.

I have known for quite some time that my students and that the Fulbright Commission read my blog, but it never really bothered me. To me, I have a very distinct life. In the classroom, I operate as a teacher. Outside of the classroom, I am a human being. I think that wearing these multiple facets is easy to process: I am who I am, depending on the situation. Obviously, I'm not the same person at a Lady Gaga concert, as I would be with my parents in Church. It's all me, but just different aspects get emphasized.

However, blogging has really seemed to throw off my students:

*In office hours, while eating pizza*
Student: "I read your blog."
Me: "Oh...okay. Do you like it?"
Student: "I don't understand you. Your life is...I can't explain it. Too much. It makes me uncomfortable."
Me: "Well. This makes me uncomfortable, so I guess we're even."

For some reason, it makes me genuinely uncomfortable to hear that my students read my blog and know about my life outside of the classroom. Why? Well, I'm not quite sure. I do have the blog open to the world, and I love the fact that 23 people follow my blog and that people send me e-mails and gchat me about it. But, I also know that I have an (arbitrary) position of power over my students and consistently worry about respect in the classroom. I think that because of my previous training and experiences in the States, I purposefully distance myself from my students. It may be a cultural thing that I would never smoke or drink with my students, while they are my students. But, I honestly hope that as soon as my class is over, my students invite me to grab beers and go clubbing with them. They are amazing; and I really like some of them. But, I don't think it's appropriate to hang out with them outside of "class" time. Weird cultural thing? Yep.

So, my dearest students that read this blog, I am happy that you are able to read about my life and practice your English. But, don't tell me that you read it. It just freaks me the fuck out. Sorry.

2nd Visitor in Budapest: Brenna Flynn

I won't lie, I am blessed with absolutely amazing friends. First, Lindsay Liu came to visit me. We had a very chill time, where we cooked our own food, saw all of the sites and contemplated grown-up life. To be honest, it was very mature. While I am mature, I am an occasional hot mess. That is especially exaggerated whenever I am around certain friends. One of these friends? Ms. Brenna Flynn. Brenna is an absolutely amazing girl and we had an amazing time. More importantly, her visit to Budapest reminded me of the following:

"It has been said something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world. - Chaos Theory "

Brenna and I met at Summerbridge Pittsburgh. Summerbridge was my very first teaching job, at the tender age of 18. I was left with a room of 24 7th grade at-risk, inner-city students and told to change their lives. While I'm not sure if I changed their lives, I know that my students loved me and that I had a great time as a teacher. More importantly, it is what better helped define my career objectives of working in education policy when I grow up.

For Brenna, it had the exact opposite effect. She realized that she was a great teacher, but it wasn't what she wanted to do. So, she changed her major and became a scientist. (No joke, this girl was the youngest D1 athlete in the country and she was a science major. Talk about badass.)

But, if it hadn't been for the summer, if it hadn't been for Kevin Brezler, if it hadn't been for a serious of really small and trivial things we wouldn't have been at the Lady Gaga concert in Budapest. In fact, I was the one who sent her the link to the Teach and Learn program and strongly encouraged her to apply. How did that happen? I saw her on FB chat and decided to talk to her (for the first time in 3 years).

To me, all of these really minor things are super cool and really interesting. To think about how much different my life would be if I had just done X. For example, had I gotten the CA position in Mudge my junior year. I would have graduated in 2009 with a BS, ran for Student Body President as a graduate student with Sheikh, and then had my masters at the end of 2010 from Heinz. I would most likely have gone straight into consulting and never, ever, ever visited Europe. I might not even have my passport yet. Woah.

But, the weekend with Brenna was flawless. Naturally, like anything in our collective lives it started with a disaster. My door broke. I have no idea how it happened, but somehow my door just stopped working. And, my kicking did nothing....except knock the handle off of the door. What was my reaction? Keep punching the door, swear in English, and then get really mad. LUCKILY, I had just come from the gym (without showering), so I smelt horrible and permeated with sweat. Hi, Officer Murphy. Don't worry, I'm still following your law.


With all of the screaming and kicking, eventually several old people came outside of their homes. And by several, I mean 5. Yep, 5 senior citizens walked over to see what was wrong. Since I don't speak any Hungarian, I pantomimed for a few fruitless seconds. Eventually, a kind old man entered his home and then came back with a screwdriver, hammer, and a gritty determination. Within three minutes, he broke my door down and I just stared. My only thought was centered on the fact that I would not get my safety deposit back. Glorious.

As I stood there dumbfounded, he put my door back together. That's right, he broke and fixed my door within a span of 10 minutes. It turns out later that he was a locksmith back in the day. I'm going to take that to mean commie spy, which is pretty badass.


Retired commie spy, I'm sure.

Literally, 20 minutes after the old man broke into my home, Brenna arrived. The first night was spent with a brief recap of the last 4 years and tales of roommates gone crazy. The second day concentrated on the Lady Gaga concert. The final day was spent doing random tourist things and me lesson planning for the next day. (Grrr...responsibility.)

Beautiful, Dirty Rich: Gaga in Budapest

Waking up on Monday morning, was like paying a subtle homage to The Hangover. I was surrounded by feathers, make-up, empty vodka bottles, and communist war gear. (Alas, no tiger.) Further, the room permeated with a sense of moral indecency and poor choices. Clearly, I had spent the last night at the Lady Gaga concert in Budapest.

I am American. I don't know if I have mentioned this several bazillion times already, but I don't think that I can ever lose my culture (nor as I spend more time abroad, do I think that I ever will want to lose my culture). You know what Americans love? Dressing up. Costumes kick ass! That's why college is a blurry haze of Halloween, 80s, and porn star parties. Honestly, I can think of anything more fun than making a costume, taking numerous photographs, and dancing all night.

When I went to Lady Gaga, I did what I assumed everyone else would do. I dressed up.


Brenna and myself in costume.


Brenna, the dress was so hideous in real life that it was perfect for Gaga.

Costume = old commie navy jacket, actual gas mask, hot pants from a thrift store, too expensive boots, Brenna's make-up, and weird jewel dingers I found at a chino. The pants were honestly the most random/amazing thing I have ever seen in my life.


Germans...does this count as a costume? Or national Heritage? Frankly, I think that they just wanted to remind us that America made Lady Gaga, but Germany made Oktoberfest.

Here's the thing: I'm not in America. I keep forgetting this. Therefore, as I went to the concert in hot black sparkle pants, more make up than a Romanian whore, and a gas mask...I got some dirty looks. Even more awkward? The fact that I saw 4 of my students and spoke with them. Most professional part of my life? No. But, fuck it. I be who I be.

The Gaga concert was absolutely amazing. Our seats were close and the concert felt like it was 10 seconds long. I absolutely love that woman, mainly because it honestly felt like going to a pep rally. The whole thing was this giant "be who you are" lovefest...and it was amazing.

That being said, the make-up of the concert really confused me.

1.) Not everyone was dressed up and drunk there.
2.) The concert was loaded with children. Hi cool parents, have you seen the responsible ones? Oh, they're at home with their kids? Hmmm....
3.) Gaga talks about being gay, being true to yourself, and being loud. She advocates for standing up and finding the true you, fuck-it-if-others-don't-like-it....did these 20,000 Hungarians understand that? It confuses me that you can support an artist who seems to literally contradict huge chunks of your culture. To me, it seems that if you deviate from the norm, everyone seems to judge you harshly.

In regards to her singing, she is actually way better live. This guy on youtube uploaded most of her Budapest concert. Also, she actually sings live. How badass and non-Britney is that?

It was amazing to watch her concert, to listen to Hungarians scream with excitement, and to dance to a lot of my favorite songs. One of my life goals was to see someone I am obsessed with in concert...and it looks like another one bit the dust. :)

In regards to the concert, it was set to a "Wizard of Oz" storyline and it was quite good. The visuals were stunning, and her costume changes were pretty badass.





After the concert, Brenna and I spent the whole night dancing and making new friends. It was so nice to stay out until 4:30 AM and still be ready to go raging. As it turns out, you can take the boy outta the barrio, but you can't take the barrio outta the boy.

What better way to end a night of sweaty dancing than with a doner kebab (or gyro like they say in Hungary)? Two doner kebabs. Yep, B. Flynn and I walked down a street after leaving the club and got a gyro. Literally, 800 feet later, we stopped, sat down and ordered a second one at another place. The best part? Neither of us felt guilty for eating them, or at least, that's what we said.




All in all, Gaga was an epic win. And, because I was in Hungary, it was nice to be the prettiest belle in all of the (Monster) ball.

If I go it will be trouble...if I stay it will be double.

Recently, my friend from Spain, Jessica, wrote a blog about"whether she should stay in Madrid for another year." For me, I had similar problems last year about whether or not I should stay in Madrid. It was tough and it was an internal monologue that I had with myself before I was accepted into the Fulbright program. Luckily, the Fulbright's level of prestige and the change in scenery seemed ideal for me.

While the Fulbright program is amazing, it does have one limitation: it is only one year. I can't renew this program for more than one year, and I have to figure out what I am doing for the next year. Is it preemptive to start thinking about next year? Maybe, but that's just who I am.

The options I am currently looking at, and ones that I would love your feedback:

1.) Central European University, MA Economic Policy

Going to get my masters in Central European University might make the most sense for my long-term Ph.D. plans. I have dreams about an ivy-league doctorate, and to be honest, my resume doesn't seem to compare to others. I have been looking at programs at Princeton, U.Penn, and Columbia. A lot of these students entered with a previous MA, so it seems to be required or heavily favored.

Further, the faculty in the CEU economics program are pretty esteemed and I actually think that I would learn a lot from my years of instruction. My classes would be pure economics, super intense and math based. Is it weird to say that I miss math? Maybe, but I do miss quantitative field and having a "right" answer.

Plus I spoke with them, and if granted admission, there is a high chance that I'd be able to get a tuition waiver or a partial tuition waiver. The cost of living in Budapest is extraordinarily low, and I might be able to continue teaching English or advising at the FEAC. This is ideal as I might not need to take out any loans for graduate school.

2.) Volver a España

So, I am thinking about applying to teach in Spain again. The public school program in Madrid would let me return to Madrid and regain my proficiency in the Spanish language and culture. I loved Spain and I know that I want to return to work at La Coruña this summer.

But, does Spain actually do anything for me? Yes, it would be a fun year...but, does it help me actually achieve any of my goals? One of my goals is fluency in a foreign language and gaining a conversational capability in a third. So, yes, in that regard. Professionally? Well, not so much.

Plus, to be honest, I have already seen a lot of Spain. So, this year would most likely serve as a really fun gap year.

3.) Korea or some Asian country

Let's be honest: I am kickass at teaching English. I love new cultures and traveling. Plus, I have about $30,000 in college loan debt that gets transferred to each country I live in. Going to an Asian or Middle Eastern country, I'd get the chance to alleviate some of my debt and explore cultures that I haven't before.

I spoke with Alexa Hart, and read her blog about how she is adjusting to life in Korea. She wrote me a super amazing e-mail and seemed super friendly. She cautioned that the culture is quite different, but I think that it might be an interesting challenge. Plus, she advocated for the public school program, and helped explain the differences in school types and contract types. Pretty nice for a blind e-mail, right?

It'd be nice to get rid of debt...while having an adventure.

4.) Go back to the states and go on the job hunt.

Yes, I love America. I really do. (I know that it doesn't seem like it.) But, I will return to the states at some point. I would hope that I would be able to land a job, but I tend to think that it would be difficult to go about all of these processes again. My friends are getting jobs and the economy seems to be recovering, but I'm just not sure if I'm ready to go and start this life of American grown-up 40 hour work weeks. Everyday I wake up and feel like a poser when I throw on business casual clothing. I hate the Peter Pan mentality of some people, but I also...suffer from it. I want to stay young and not feel like my life is limited and finalized. Am I ready to work a ton? Absolutely. However, doing it in a foreign country adds a level of glamor to everything.

Oh well, it's time for me to listen to some ghetto Hungarian music (and this UK song), and try to figure out my life. Or at the very least continue dancing through life.

No-Sweets, No Credit November

I don't know if it's just me or if it is an American thing, but I need goals. Without something that I am working towards I feel stagnant and useless. Let me repeat: I hate routine, and that is why I constantly think of small ways to challenge myself.

In America, men (and maybe some, though I hope not many, women) participate in "No-Shave November." While I am currently rocking a beard, I don't think that my not shaving makes me any more masculine. (Nor by any means, do I think that I need to be more masculine.) Therefore, I wanted a challenge that I could do for the month of November, just to see if I can do it.

For me, I have decided that my No's this November will be no sweets and no credit cards. Why?

1.) No sweets:

I was recently reading Margaret Cho's blog and was struck by how she has decided to give up her addiction to sugary and processed foods. I thought to myself: addiction? Isn't that kind of a harsh word? Well, for me...not really.

I crave sweets. Not a little, a whole friggin' lot. My days spent jogging are not for my satisfaction, rather they serve as guilt avoidance for my over-indulgence of cakes, cookies, and chocolate that frequent my daily food intake. Further, I rarely eat these things to satiate hunger they are just meaningless calories I feel compelled to intake.

Why is it socially acceptable for me to eat all of this garbage and complain about my weight to others? Though no longer morbidly obese, I still have lingering sentiments from this (extensive) period in my life. I think that now, I have the privilege of eating sweets in public...and I have been abusing it. (In regards to the privilege, I reference the fact that you judge fat people a hell of a lot more harshly when they are eating in public, especially if they are eating something unhealthy.)

Maybe I will view this month as an opportunity to grow more comfortable in my skin and get some self-esteem. It's funny, no matter how much weight I lose or how good others tell me I look, I still have an internal mental image of a fat kid with acne, glasses, and a horrible mole on my face. If nothing else, it will help me be more aware of what I am eating and how this affects my body.

2.) No credit cards.

I, like most Americans, love my credit card. In fact, I rarely actually carry money on me. It always comes as a bit of a shock, whenever a place doesn't accept my card and I can only stare blankly back at them in terms of payment.

Though I pay off my bill each month and have never asked my parents for money, I often feel that I am too much of a spendthrift. In October, after going to a fashion show, I spent way too much money on clothes. From SDS and the glorious George Loewenstein, I know that it doesn't "hurt" as much to use a credit card to make purchases. 3 dollars here. 20 dollars here. Boom. End of the month a $900 credit card bill is at your door, and you don't have anything to show for it.

So, I'm going to put down the credit card and work to live solely on the stipend that the US Fulbright Commission gives me. Yep, it'll be tough, but I think possible.

Loopholes:

Like anything in Hungary, there will be some loopholes; for the month of November, I am going to have several visitors and attend a conference.
Therefore:
a.) If my visitors won't eat something sweet without me, I will eat it (so long as I have physical hunger).
b.) I plan on (sparingly) using my credit card with my father. It just makes life easier.
c.) Also, I may have to use my credit card in Poland, just to avoid the pesky conversion rate conundrum. Although, I will do my damndest to avoid this slip into old behavior.