It's Snowing! Not only here, but also in Hungary

Seems like Sundays with Alexandra are becoming something of a tradition. She called me up yesterday and said "Monika and I are planning to go to Hungary for lunch tomorrow, want to come with?" Of course I said yes! She came and picked me up at 11:30, then we went to get Monika. She teaches religion and choir at the HTL, and she is also very cool. She's the one who asked me about the lyrics to an Aretha Franklin song a few months ago. Apparently, the first day I was there, I asked her if she was the Direktorin, which she is still laughing about today! She found it very flattering. So, an innocent and happy mistake :) Now there is a running joke that we call her Frau Direktor. I was hoping to get a stamp in my passport at the Hungarian border, but the control just waved us through quite unceremoniously. We went to a nice restaurant about 3 km from the border, where I think every customer was an Austrian. Of course all of the waiters speak German, and being on the border, you can pay in Euros as well. The currency of Hungary is called the Forint, and something like 240 Forint equals one euro. Of course Hungary is cheaper than here; haircuts, cigarettes, and some other things are about half the price. After leaving the restaurant we went for a quick auto-tour through the city of Sopron. It has a big city feel, and Monika described it as a mini-Vienna. All of the signs on the businesses were in Hungarian and German, and I think half of the cars there had Austrian plates. So, a true border city. I think I will have to go again the next time I need a haircut. Monika showed me where the train station is, and the hairdressers is about 2 blocks away. Then we went back to Monika's (through the border again)and had some coffee and sweets and listened to some music until about 6 o'clock. Her neighbor across the street is an old spintster that watches everything she does through the window, and sure enough she stared at us all as we got out of the car. Konstantin, the 10 year old, amused himself by spying back on her. He says he wants to be a policeman when he grows up, and needs to practice his spying apparently. A and M also told me a lot about their last English assistant, a chap named David from Wales. They said he was great at the beginning of the year, but towards the middle started show up late and unprepared all the time and looked completely tired. They said they didn't know why at first, but then found out that he was juggling at least three girlfriends in Eisenstadt, Vienna, and the Czech Republic! They all found out about each other and he had a hard time with it. I told them that this would not happen with me. Despite his laziness and tendency to be unprepared, he managed to stay for a second year. They also said that my German is better now than David's was after two years of living here. Normally they speak English with the assistants, but they said I was a rare exception in that they feel as though there is no need to speak English to me. Hooray! Therefore, all of these stories and anecdotes have been directly translated in my head. Good exercise for me!
I'm also aware that Thanksgiving is coming up. We assistants in the area are planning to meet up in the Studentenheim and make a turkey on Thursday. That should be lots of fun. Also, Ludwig in Vienna said he's planning a party for the weekend. The festivities carry on despite the distance.

Bis zum nächsten Mal meine liebe LeserInnen-
(Until next time my dear readers-)
-Arthur