The Adventure Begins in Earnest

During our 2-week language training course, our class visited the beautiful town of Tapolca on a day off

It is the evening of my first full day of service in Sárszentlőrinc, and I’m finding myself in front of my computer with a serious case of writer’s block. I begin to type, only to erase the words a few seconds later. I simply don’t know where to begin in relating the last twenty-four hours, let alone the last three weeks, to you. I arrived here yesterday. I came by car from Monoszló, where we had been for two weeks of language training and five days of orientation. I travelled with Julia, who is a volunteer from Switzerland, and Dick Otterness, who is an American pastor working with the Reformed Church in Budapest. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations on the way here, about Hungary from a foreigner’s viewpoint, and about the impact of the European Union on Hungary since it joined in 2004.

When they dropped me off, it struck me that this journey, which began when I sent in my application in February and has been in the making in one way or another ever since, was now beginning in earnest. The interviews and decision making was behind me. Vaccinations had been taken care of, paperwork filled out, fundraising completed. There had been a week of orientation in Chicago and another in Hungary, along with two weeks of language training.

With Emilie, my roommate from both our Chicago and Hungary orientations

In all of this I had been encouraged to think about the meaning of service, the theological and social aspects of mission, the intricacies of minority issues, the impact of poverty on local populations, and the implications of my approaching year of service on me as an individual. I had been cautioned about culture shock and language difficulties, and provided with advice and tools to help me deal with them. Above all, I had been told that this experience would change my life. After months of preparation, of anticipating this moment in abstract terms, I was about to dive in headfirst.

When I arrived in the village on Tuesday, I had been in the country three weeks already, but had been living in a bubble for most of that time. During language training and orientation I had been together with other volunteers, including other North Americans, at all times. English was the language of operation, and when we were addressed in Hungarian, everything was translated for us. Now I was on my own in the village—the only volunteer, the only foreigner, the only English speaker, and the only one who has no idea what is going on most of the time.

Now let me clarify, I don’t mean that in a bad way. I am most certainly not alone in the literal sense. Péter, my mentor here, has been incredibly helpful and generous in helping me adjust. He has gone out of his way to make sure I have everything that I need. And others—coworkers and those around the home in which I live—have been very gracious as well. I have an incredible support system of friends and family back home, other volunteers around the country, program support staff in Hungary and the United States, and individuals in the village. I’m very grateful or every aspect of this support system. And for anybody reading this, that includes you. So by “alone,” I only mean that I am no longer surrounded by people in the same boat as myself.

The language was definitely a wake-up call. I can’t communicate at all, other than a few very simple words and phrases. I am grateful for the language training we received, for at the very least it helped me move beyond the point at which Hungarian words just looked like a random and haphazard collection of letters and allowed me to accept that, just maybe, they might actually mean something. As those of you who have studied another language already know, two weeks is a dreadfully short time for language study, no matter how good the teacher or how eager the student. And when that language is Hungarian, which has ranked on lists of the most difficult languages in the world to learn, well, it makes fourteen days seem even shorter. But when immersed in the language in my day to day live, and with Péter and others coaching me and being so patient and kind as to bear with my haltering attempts to communicate, I know that the language will come, however slowly.

My language skills, or lack thereof, have definitely been a frustration, yet not so much as to overshadow the many joys of my time here so far. Yesterday evening we went to a Bible study in a home in the nearby village of Uzd. There were about eight Roma women gathered, in addition to Péter and myself. The women were wonderfully warm and welcoming. Their warm smiles and kind eyes put me at ease and made me desperately want to learn the language quickly so that I am able to communicate with them.

This evening, Péter and I travelled to yet another village, known as Hensce, to give lessons to some Roma children there. Peter and two others from the church go each week to the village to teach the children some basic lessons, which is seems are a supplement to what they learn in school. As our car rolled down the tiny road, we were greeted by the children, on their way to the home where we would be meeting. They were grinning from ear to ear and waving excitedly. As children have a way of doing, these kids found their way into my heart very quickly, even though it was our first meeting.

We sat, four adults and about seven children, around a couple of tables in the yard. The children worked on the simple writing exercises and math problems we gave them, getting distracted every once in a while by chickens ambling by the table and dogs darting in and out between the children’s legs. I wasn’t able to help much, as my Hungarian language skills were far outstripped by even the smallest child in attendance. But somehow children seem to care less about language than do adults; kids will chatter at you uninhibitedly, even when they seem to understand quite well that you have no idea what they’re saying. They did gaze at me with curious smiles, however, when I couldn’t sing along with them to the Bible songs and seemed amused by the fact that they could speak the language, but I, an adult, couldn’t. I look forward to getting to know these children better, and I know that I will, as I will be seeing most of them twice a week.

Péter has informed me that there is great flexibility with my placement. He’s left it largely up to me to decide how I would like to serve in the community here. We’ve talked about me teaching English to adults and/or children here in the village and that’s probably what I’ll end up doing, or at least one of the things I’ll end up doing. I’m very excited about that prospect, though nervous as well. I have no idea how to be a teacher and I have no materials or curriculum to teach from. I’m glad to try though! I have already met people in the community who are eager to learn English. I truly do want to serve this year in any way that I can, and if, as an English speaker, I can help others learn the language, then I am excited to give it my best.