4 Months Late, My First Post

My name is Jeremy, and I am a conversational english teacher in Debrecen, Hungary. I am part of a program called the Central European Teaching Program, which places native English speakers (mostly Americans) in cities and schools throughout Hungary. I came to Hungary in late August, and have been patronizing the local McDonalds, KFC, and Burger King ever since.

First off, please allow me to apologize for the four month delay in posting. I had a call on the other line. In all seriousness, I have wanted to be an active blogger since the day I stepped foot in Hungary. It made all the sense in the world to me. An American, in a foreign place, for 10 months. This is a decent story line - this might just be blog-worthy. So why did I wait so long to finally get active? A few reasons. Firstly, during the orientation for my program, I was told to be weary of blogs. Seeing as that they have computers in Hungary, I have students, my students have computers, their computers have Google, and with any luck they might be able to stumble onto my blog and read all the horrible things I am saying about them, this might just be a recipe for disaster. Fortunately, I like all my students, so I won't have to worry about that. My next question was: Is my life in Hungary really interesting enough to blog about? Maybe not, but seeing as that most people spend hours daily reading Facebook status updates and twitter posts from people they haven't spoken to in years, maybe my posts will be a worthy competitor to John Smith's update about plowing an apple field in Farmville.

So what is the purpose of this blog? For those of you who are interested, I will use this blog to talk about my life in Hungary - about the people I encounter, the cultural fouxpas I make on a daily basis (Did you know that it is extremely rude to shake someone's hand while wearing a glove? Even if it's really cold outside), the places I am able to visit, and the things I learn on a daily basis. I came to Hungary to experience something new, and in doing so to learn about myself, my country, and our way of life. In my four months here, I truly have learned something new every day. Some days I learn about different ways to slaughter a pig. Other days I learn about the physicological effects of communism and the stifling of artistic and intellectual creativity. And that's exactly why I decided this past spring to leave my comfort zone - my family, my friends, and my Whole Foods - to come to a new country where I knew nobody, and nobody knew me. It's been great so far, and over the next five months or so I hope to share some of that with you.

But between you and me, if Jersey Shore is on, I won't be offended if you watch that instead.