Thursday, December 29, 2011

Not home for Christmas

This Christmas my friend, Jess, who many of you have been praying for and thinking about, was not with her family. She is still being held hostage in Somalia. Please keep her in your thoughts for a safe return home soon.

Jess, we still hope and pray.

Monday, December 26, 2011

CHRISTMAS!

Like everyone else around the world who celebrates Christmas...

We ate!
And drank.
And hoped for snow.
On our Christmas afternoon walk through the city, we saw some remnants of the few flakes that graced us on Christmas Eve Eve.
It was a gorgeous sunny winter day with friends, pumpkin pie, ham, presents, and several phone calls around the world.

Merry Christmas from Budapest!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Living in a News-less Culture

Budapest is a laid-back city, and Hungary even more so. The news stories are no different: not much to report. Whenever I peruse the Hungarian news, the stories are sometimes political, but most often not. More typical are articles about living in Budapest or a famous person's birthday. My favorite article last month was the five best places to buy kremes, a typical Hungarian dessert. These are today's headlines:


Budapest Mayor Asks Theater Director To Reconsider Hiring Of Csurka Following Anti-Semitic Screed


Tales from an American College Student Studying in Europe


A little different than Kenya invading Somalia or America withdrawing from Iraq. But I like the calm atmosphere in my new city. It's peaceful. I think I'll be happy living in a news-less culture. For awhile, at least.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Cool Kids

A third grade conversation in reading group today:

"Falsely attractive is like the food on Vietnam airlines. They try to make it look good, but it's not."

"Ya, in Turkey it's like that too because they try to sell designer bags, but the rhinestones just fall off."

How many countries can we mention when talking about one vocabulary word? My kids are so cool! And the best part is... traveling the world is so normal for them, part of their every day lives. I love it!

Friday, December 9, 2011

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The last three Christmases looked like this:
80 degrees, a nice sun tan, swimming pools, and flowers blooming never quite felt like Christmas for this Alaska girl.

This year Christmas looks like this:
Christmas markets, mulled wine, lights hung, wooly hats, my HUGE new warm parka... It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. And feel like it too... Brrr! But my first European Christmas definitely puts me in the Christmas spirit! It's even inspired the making of 5 stockings and a tree skirt (thank you pinterest).