Teachers' Conference in Budapest

At the conference with Ágnes, our principal
The morning after I arrived in Kalocsa, I boarded a bus headed back to Budapest for a national teachers' conference. I accompanied the two women I had met the night before, Ágnes and Annamária. Someone else from our school could not attend, so they offered me her place at the conference. It was held at a huge convention center in the city and every region of Hungary was represented.

It was an all-day affair with breakfast, lunch, and even a "brown bag" dinner for the bus ride home. The event was put on by the major Hungarian educational materials publisher: Apáczai Kiadó. The morning session was a series of speakers and the afternoon split off into different topics. Unfortunately my Hungarian language skills were not proficient enough to really understand the content, but I certainly benefited from listening to it all day. As the day progressed I learned a few more words, but for the most part this is what I understood:

"-------to teach--------important-------that-----------------in Hungary------------very---------teachers and students---------------naturally------------work--------true------------every day-------------books-----------children--------------- etc."
(I think you get the idea)

The day concluded with a musical performance. The stage was transformed and we were treated to scenes from ballets, operas, musicals, and a fabulous solo violinist. What a treat!

violinist Zoltán Mága