Kiemelt témák

Hi girls,

Well I'm not too happy this morning. First I tried to make a video tape of Bence for my parents but for some reason my video player doesn't recognize the camera to be connected to it so I can't get the picture through. We just took the video player in for fixing about 2 weeks ago because it didn't eject the tape. I wonder when they "fixed" it they did something to it.
After this I phoned our internet provider because my e-mails are totally screwd up. I either can't reveive or I can't send. Actually it seems like it goes but they never get it on the other end. They don't know what the problem is it could take a whole week to fix it. So so far my day's been just "great". (just past 10:00 am..)

Nora, I'm curious how much your husband can speak in Hungarian? Does he need to use Hungarian for work? Is it enough to be able to communicate in stores and when he's around people who don't speak English? How's his pronunciation? So after you moove to Texas you'll stay there for good? Or are you gonna move back to Hungary later down the road?

Katalin, good luck with your driving test! I'm sure you'll pass. Let's hope you don't need to do parallel parking. (Although maybe you are good at it. I'm sure not! )

Well I'm gonna go and try my taping again. Maybe it'll work this time.

See you later!

Agi

not moove, MOVE! sorry!

Hi girls,

I have a question in connection with English grammar: Can we use the form: I'm going to go, or I'm going to come?

Thanks for the answers,

Virág

Hi girls,

Wow, a lot of chit-chatting is going on...... Great!

Nimaat,
Yes, over 10 years is a lot considering that I have been homesick since day one. I actually moved to the U.S. because of love. I got married to an American. Four years later we got divorced but by that time I had started school and stayed. And by the time I finished school I had met my (Hungarian) "honey" and stayed again. Then our son came and I stayed one more time.... Now it is really time to pack and move back to Hungary. (Probably next summer)Was it hard to get used to the way things are done in Hungary after you returned? I am a little scared of moving. I was 24, fresh out of college,when I left the country in 1989. Different political and economic system. I never even paid a bill back home........

Agi,
We exchanged a couple of words here on the Babanet, under the "Kulfoldon elo..." topic.
My first husband was American and he tried really hard to pick up some Hungarian. He could never master the language. He understood a few words but was never able to put a sentence together, let alone lead an entire conversation.

Zsoka,
I admire your patience and tolerance! I would never be able to live with anyone who puts himself in constant danger. I would be toooo nervous and frantic all the time!

Iboly!
Welcome! It is nice to hear from you again. Your advice helped me a lot with breasfeeding a few months ago.....

Well, that's it for now. Have a great one!
Cipomama

It worked! Sorry, I'm talking about my VCR. I was able to get it work and I am taping right now.

I'll be just a minute because Bence just woke up.
I just want to ask you Cipomama about your move.
(I checked out the other topic and I think we just talked about the move in the reflection of September 11th. I can't remember if I talked to you or someone else about renting a container for the move.) Could you tell me the details about it if you already know. I'm thinking about stuff like will the moving company pack your house for you or you'll need to? (I know some of them don't take responsibility if you do it) If you don't live on the coast, will that be a different company who'll ship everything to the boat? Is this extra cost? How about when the ship arrives into Europe? Is it more money to get your container to Hungary? So I'm just wondering about these kind of detalis.
Thanks!

I have to go, Bence is yelling: mamma, mamma.

Bye!

Agi

Hello everybody,
For everybody: I have thought all day about this travel of my man , and I think I let him do what he wants. Actually, I think I have NO rights to say: NO, this is his job, his life, and just we met I can not say don't do that 'cause I am here.
You know, I was in Alaska with him, in 1997, and it was so beautiful, so great adventure, that I understand him absolutly that he wants to go to far and undiscovered places. I saw bears, mooses, muskox, wolverines etc in their own natural habitat. I were like places where people have never been before us. I saw goldminers and fishermen and so on... And I would like to go back there and see them again. And show that all thing for my children.
Norcsa, would you translate that phrase - Hang in there - 'cause I don't understand, it is not in my concise dictionary, and my "big dictionary" in my computer doesn't work. I am really curious!
Now I have to go and have to answer to some e-mail
bye for now
Zsóka

Zsoka, I am sorry about the phrase. i do not even know whether it really exists. My husband uses it a lot. It means something like: "Kitartas!" So southern Texas slang.

Agi!

I do not have direct information on this, probably Cipomama knows more, but we tried to ship things from the US before, so I share what I know. You have to be careful to pick an International Mover company, some advertise themselves as ones, but they only mean within America (canada, Mexico, etc.). So the company arranges all the shiping for you. door-to door. Most of them (the good ones) only take responsibility for your staff, if they pack it. Always insure the shipmennt. these companies use different other companies, rail ,shipping, trucking companies to get your staff. The difficult thing is the customs.

I know it is not much, but i hope it helped.

That is all for know, I have to go.

Nora, thanks a lot! It did help! I haven't looked into it too deeply yet because we won't move for a few years but I'd like to know roughly what to expect. In the other topic people were saying it would cost about $1,500-2,000 USD to rent the container. Do you know if this covers the shipping as well? I'm just wondering how much I'm looking at.

Zsoka, I admire you for your attitude. I couldn't be this way. I would probably freak out about plans like this. I understand that it is beautiful to be at places like that but this upcoming plan isn't just beautiful, it's dangerous too.

"Hang in there" it is a phrase that is used a lot here. And yes, it does mean "kitartas" or "tarts ki".

I need to go, see you later!

Agi

Hi there,

Zsoka,
I agree and disagree with you at the same time. I agree that it is hard to say no to certain things, especially if they are a given and you knew about them before you two tied the knot. (Travelling is his life/job etc....) However, he is now responsible for you and your child as well. What I mean by that is that he cannot think of his own passions and needs solely. He needs to look at what's best for his family. And putting himself in danger will not benefit anything else except for his advanturous nature. Sorry, I did not want to hurt you in any way - this is just my opinion.

Agi,
The rental fee of a container should cover the transportation as well. First you might want to look around in Hungary for transportation companies that haul things from Canada to Hungary. I know about a company which delivers between Los Angeles and Budapest. They arrange everything, from p/up through customs clearance to delivery to final address for a set price.

Virag,
"We are going to go (somewhere)" or "we are going to come (to the party)" are both correct depending on the context. Can you give us an example of how you are planning to use it. We might be more useful .....

Take care
Cipomama

Dear Cipomama
you are right in both. I feel same way. We'll have a hard talk about that, I'm afraid... And, what is pretty important viewpoint: we got a big amount of money for this film. And we need it sooooo much... But of course, the money doesn't replace the father and the husband...
thx
Zsóka

Dear Zsoka,
my husband is a "workaholic" too, as I mentioned earlier. But we are lucky with his job. He likes adventures very much(I think, I told earlier,that he was a soldier of the Soviet Army, he served in Siberia, and a lot of interesting places).Now he is working at the lake Balaton, he has an iteresting job. And what's more important, he doesn't have to go far from the family. Of course he has strange ideas nowadays, too. For example, he wants to learn diving, he plans, that we are going to dive together, but I'm a bit coward.
But I always in fear, that his job will not be interesting enough for him, and we have to leave this lovely place and he will search for another challange. I told him that a family cannot live in such insecurity, ha was just smiling.
I think there are male human beeings , for whom family is not a big challange after some years.
Bye for now
Eva

Dear All,

Ági how did you guess my weakest point re. driving? Oh I hated parallel parking esp. backwards and that is exactly what I had to do yesterday! What is more, I knew that right from the beginning, so my nervousness started right there... no need to say, I failed and will be going again soon. I am really disappointed, and will need to practice much more to "feel the car" esp. when moving that hated backwards...If any of you should know the trick of this move, pls urgently let me know!!!!!!!!!! Thanks.
Ági how is your son doing with the spoon. Has he coloured all your walls by now?
Cipomama, how many times have you been back to H. since you left? As I said, I was back only 1x within the 5 yrs - I also left in 1989, just before the Berlin wall went down. That time I was hoping to get a refugee status, but because of these events, I was not able to any more...
It was indeed strange to return to a different Hungary in 1994 - even the car numberplates had changed by then, I kept thinking they were German cars!!!!!! Also I forgot quite a bit of fluent speaking the H. language, I dreaded going into a shop where there was no self service (unbelievable, but I had moments when I could not say 'carrots' in H. for example) - it was not easy anyway. Cipomama if it comes to that, try to forget the old Hungary, and how things used to be, but also don't expect things to be on the same level/standard. I particularly hated the great number of smokers all over the place (please excuse me for saying this, if any of you are a smoker .....) in England at least, it is forbidden to smoke in public places like bus stops etc... Also the extremely bad language young people are using nowadays on the streets, was very shocking for me. OK I could go on, but life definitely is not the way as in the West.
Anyway Cipomama do let us know when you are back here and I will be happy to support you. Have you many friends back in H.?
Zsóka I will look forward to hearing how you work out your husband's plans... after all, only you two can decide.
May I have a question re. ENGLISH:
how do you say properly: "the higher the coloumn (in a chart) IS, the greater the satisfaction IS."
Do I need to put the "IS" in the two places or not????? Thanks for the answers.
See you soon,
Katalin

Hello everyone,

Yesterday I wasn't arount the net too much becaust first of all my husband was home and he was using the computer and second of all I had to go to the dentist to have a rootcanal done on one of my teeth. This thooth broke a few weeks ago and they were gonna just put a crown on it but it started to be sore so they decided to take the nerves out before the crown. It wasn't too bad except for the price. Costed me $1,000. And the crown will be another 1,000. Considering the fact that my Mom works at a dental clinic at home, I could've bought airline tickets for the whole family for this price and get it done for nothing at home. But right now I don't want to fly and we can't take any time off from work.

Katalin,
I can't beleive that you had to do parallel parking! Maybe it was a bad omen that I said it earlier. So I'm gonna say "I hope you have to do angled parking next" and let's see what happenes? Unfortunately I can't give you too many good avdises on the parallel parking. All I can say is try to avoid it as much as possible. I know that won't help at the exam though
I think you don't need to use the second IS in your you last sentece. I think! I'm not totally sure.
Did you ever think about moving back to England with your family? Was it hard to find a job in Hungary when you first moved back?

Cipomama,
I think that's great that some of these moving companies are doing everything for you and all that is included in the price.
What kind of job do you have over here? And what are you planning to do when you move home?

Zsoka,
I hope so too that you and your husband can work things out. But I still admire your attitude on this subject. What do your parents think about this that he lives such a dangerous lifestyle and you are just sitting at home with the kids being nervous about him? Although of course it doesn't make a difference what they think right?

Ok, it's only 7:00 am here so I'm gonna go and have a shower before my family wakes up. See you later!

Agi

Hello Ági
I am so happy someone has been around in the afternoon - I am usually "alone" at this place at these times
To answer your question, and sorry I forgot to answer to it earlier, well, I do not think I would go to UK now with my family. It is difficult to start off a new life there. I have an old friend who got married there, have now 3 kids, and she complains about lots of things. Incl raising the kids under uk conditions, and finding a job etc. I think that is the worst, also I have not such a financial reserve as to live from saved up money perhaps for weeks/few months... that is the reason. (I should have found a husband when I was living there, ...
Otherwise I would have no objection re. living in UK - many of my friends who live there are doing great! Also: finding a job for my dear husband, would be difficult too - he is working for the ambulance. Also he is an absolute antitalent in languages & I doubt if I would have enough patience to teach him/help him in learning.
One of my friends went out to New Zealand recently, to try their luck, but there, both of them know at least some English... So that is the situation my dear Ági.
I will write about the job search issue next time, hopefully tomorrow, because my work time is ended, and I've got to go home now.
Dear Everyone, I hope you are not getting bored of what I have been telling Ági, if you do, pls let me know - I am not so sure about proper "behaviour" here at Babanet - ie, talking with several people at the same time, and still answering individual questions etc. Pls do tell me if I am not behaving myself, as I dont't want to be disliked at this topic
Thanks a lot, and you all pls have a nice evening.
Katalin

Hello everybody,
Eva,
It is good and you can thanks for God that your husband has an interesting job and doesn't have to travel by it. I think, he (Donvito) has such an adventureous life before that he doesn't need much more ones...
Diving: I fear water, so I can understand you... I think I never be able to go under the water...

Katalin and Ági,
I don't know how will be - que sera, sera .
Ági,
my parents have never said anything fo me in contact with this, so I don't know. And as I wrote I went with him too, and I will him with too when the kids will be older. And, in addition, we also will bring the kids.

later
Zsóka

Agi, back to your question, what I found before is 2000 USD for one container door-to-door. But of course it varies by the size of the container. Some friends of mine were moving to the US a month ago, and they paid about (sorry, their company paid for it) 5-6000 USD. But they had shipped everything, like dining-room furniture, bed, cabinets, etc.

I have to tell you guys about today. To cheer my husband up - he is pretty homesick these days - I decided to cook a Thanksgiving dinner. This is not the first time that i have done this type of meal but knocks me out each time. The traditional meal is a stuffed turkey roasted in the oven, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy. So I went to buy the turkey yesterday. The smallest baby turkey on the market was 7.6 kilos what I had to purchase. I took me half an hour to get it in the oven. I used all possible tying tips from like 3 cookbooks to make it fit into the oven. Anyway I was cooking all day and I am so tired. I think this tradition is not very housewife friendly. I saw it on TV that in Corpus Christi-Texas (I hope I spell it right) people have a tradition to bowling with frozen turkeys before Thanksgiving day. Must be women protesting.

I am sorry I did not want to complain I am just tired and I have to go fight the mess in the kitchen.

Everybody, take care.

HI everybody,

I won't be long this time because I'm at work and those few hours that I spend here a day sould really be used for work. But I didn't have a chance to write all day so I have to pintch a little off of my work time for this.

Nora,
Thanks for the info! I'll write more to you about it tomorrow. Congratulations for the turkey. I only made turkey dinner twice. Turned out ok although I overcooked it a bit. Oh well.

Katalin,
I forgot to answer your earlier question about the spoon. Well, I have to admit we are not trying too hard. It's easier for me to just feed him and avoid the mess. I only give the spoon to him when he's eating buttered bread pieces. Those just roll under the cabinets but don't make and incredible mess.
I don't think you are behaving badly here at the Babanet. I think we can talk about anything in topic, nothing is "off" as long as it is in English. Right?

Ok, I need to do some work. See you tomorrow.

Agi

Thanks Ági for the reassurance!
Now I can more comfortably talk to you about me finding a job in H when I returned from UK. So, actually I already had a job by the time I arrived, so it was easy for me. I also have a nurse's qualification and finding such a job was easy. I am originally from Veszprém but I wanted to settle in Bp so I chose one of the big hospitals (my favourite, the one specialised in accidents near Keleti pu) I had a 3 month trial period as it usually happens, and it was a matter of honour to me (I want to say here "becsületbõl") to not run away before the 3 months expires. Nurses etc are so badly paid in H and what is more we were constantly forced to carry out tasks only doctors would have been allowed to - so I said no more of this thanks. I quitted, and just turned to a job centre where I found an office job quite easily, I guess I was lucky.
Zsóka I have seen your messages in some other topic, so I learned about your previous adventures like California. I do quite envy you in fact, you and your husband are lucky to have all these opportunities! You also sound like you can enjoy these times But do take care...
Zsóka by the way don't you know by chance in which topic I can find bigacsiga most easily - somewhere I read that she has some bread recipe, and I would like to ask her.
Girls, if any of you has some bio-recipes, I mean food recipes made w. wholewheat flour, any cakes or biscuits made from such ingredients, pls can you let me know. Thanks.
Eva, I just want to say that as I am from Veszprém, one of my favourite places is actually Tihany. I basically grew up there (+B/füred...
I still love it a lot.

Iboly where are you. Sorry I have not checked Hajnal u. in Göd, but I will do so during the w/end.
Ok and here I would like to wish you all a very good weekend! Bye,
Katalin

Hi girls,

Dear Cipömánia,


Thank you for your answer. A boy learning English said, that their teacher had told them not to use the forms: 'going to go' or 'going to come', because these aren't correct. The present continuos is used instead. For example: Correct: We are going to a restaurant, Not correct: We are going to go to a restaurant.
I was quite suprised by this grammatical rules. Maybe it is a difference between American and British English? What do you think?

Thanks,

virág

Hello everyone,

Virag,
I don't think her name is "Cipomania" it should be "Cipomama". Actually I'm not sure if the o should have the accents or just a regular o but is't for sure mama and not mania. Sorry about the correction.
About the grammar that you asked, the teacher is wrong. Both are correct. You can say " we are going to a restaurant" and also "we are going to go to a restaurant". The meaning is slightly different though. The first one means "megyunk az etterembe" the second one means "menni fogunk az etterembe" so depending on what she was trying to teach, it is possible that one was incorrect. Because if she was teaching the present tense than yes the "going to go" is "wrong" because it's not present. But overall both are correct and being used in the everyday language.

Katalin,
One more question about moving back to H. Did you find a huge gap between the level of life and how easy or hard to get by between the two countries?
When are you gonna go to repeat your driving test?
I read it in another topic that you are planning to have another baby? How exciting! When? Sorry if I'm too personal!

Nora,
My boss here in Calgary told me that everytime her dad moves (he lives in the States and works for an oil company and he's being transferred to different places a lot, not just inside the country but sometines overseas too) and the moving allowance that the company gives him is $50,000 USD!!! So that's why I was so worried about the cost. But even 5-6,000 isn't so bad I think. We are probably gonna move some furniture too. I think once we sell the house a few thousand dollars for the move is not too bad. But tens of thousands would be eating up a lot of our money. How much stuff are you gonna take with you?

I have to go now so see hou all later!

Agi

Hi everybody,

I was off from work yesterday for Thanksgiving. Like Nora, I was cooking all day long, but it was worth it. (We will have turkey for an entire week)

Norcsa! How did your hubby like the holiday menu? I hope he appreciated it.

Katalin,
I am not bored at all with your "story". I like to listen to people and like to learn about their lives. Anyway, thank you very much for your offer to keep in touch with me when I will have returned to Hungary. It means a lot to me, because I do not have too many friends left back home. One of my best friends died, many others just live their own life. I guess time and distance did not help matters (or friendship). I can totally picture myself in the very same situations that you were in. I visit H. once a year, still, sometimes it is really strange to talk to people in stores, banks or offices. Once I went to a headhunter just to see if I could get a job. He was asking me about my current position, experiences, education and I had the hardest time explaining those to him in Hungarian. I felt so stupid, like "Lenni magyar, csak beszelni kicsit". Otherwise I think I speak the everyday language OK.
The answer to your English question: I do not think you need the "is" anywhere. "The higher the coloumn, the greater the satisfaction."

Agi,
7:00 am and Bence is still asleep? Lucky you! When does he usually wake up in the morning?
I am in marketing communications for an investment management company. Not too exciting, but a relatively steady job. I have no idea of what I might find in H. I just hope I wont be considered too old (35 yrs old) to get a job.

Virag,
"We are going to a restaurant." Correct in present tense. "We are going to go to a..." Correct in future tense. I studied English both in Hungary (Kulker Foisk.) and in the U.S., and this rule does not depend on whether you speak the american or the british english.

Zsoka,
What will be the earliest when you take to kids along on one of those trips? (I mean age-wise)

Tace care guys,
Cipomama

I mean: Take care
Cipomama

Hello,
Katalin,
htere is a topik named Üzenõfüzet, I think you should write into that and probably Bigacsiga Lkata will read that.

Cipomama,
Abel was 18 months old when we went to california. But the earliest was: when he was for weeks old embryo - and also Emese she was three weeks old one . As I wrote I became pregnant with my both kids in the U.S.
I have to go nowe I want to watch a film on HBO
Zsóka

Hi Zsoka,

Could you tell me some ideas about flying with an 18 month old? I know there is a topic for this and I will check it out but I thought to practice English it's a good one to talk about. I want to go home for a visit with Bence in June and he will be 20 months at that time. Being summer time I'm sure I'll have to hold him on my lap all the way there and I can't even imagine how that will be. How can he sleep when he's on my lap?
Thanks!

Agi

Dear Agi,
As I wrote when we travelled to the U.S., Abel was 18 mos old so we had to pay only 10 percent for his air-ticket. That's why he had no his own seat. Bt we were so lucky except our first flight we always had plus empty seat on thwe plane. The stewardess(es) always helped to us to find those seat where were other free seat. The first "night" on the plavne was terrible, he hardly could asleep. Then we made a "tent" from a blanket between the two line seats what ade a little dark then he slept better.
He enjoyed very much the cartoons what was on "tv" on the plane. We took some (not too much) toys, e.g. NEW books, an old car of him and his old little cat. I trhink some new toy is very good idea because the kid doesn't know them yet, but he/she needs some of his old, usual toys too.
If you'll have ten percent price seat probably you wont get food for the kid. On the Malév plane the stewardesses were very friendly and they gave food to him, but no on the other planes.
What else? If yu have more questions pls ask!
later
Zsóka

Hi Zsoka,

Thanks for the answer! The thing is though that I will be travelling with him alone and in the summertime, so I doubt there will be empty seats at that time.
Although I have to tell you I just talked to my sister today and she said she'll may come out for a visit and we could go back home together. That would be great because at least we could flip up the armrest and he could lay down on our laps.
When we went home at the beginning of this year I also had to pay 10% of full fare for him but I had an empty seat beside me and I could put the car seat on it and he slept in there all the way. He was only getting breastmilk at that time so I didn't care too much about food but it's good to know that I should pack something for him just in case.
How was the awake time for him? Was he really fussy? I can't even imagine to keep him in one spot for 9 hours. Probably even walking around won't help much. Although he will be 7 months older than now but still.
I have to go now, I would like to figure out this Profile thing here. I already filled out mine but I don't know how to see other peoples?

See you later!

Agi

Dear Agi,
Once the waking up was terrible - when we landed everybody had to sit down (I mean not lieing ) then when we landed you can do what you wants. So I was so angry why I had to wake my little boy up for some minuntes sitting... But usually we had no problem of waking up.
Probably the walking will be help a little but (sorry for the Hungarian) készülj fel a legrosszabbra . Ági, sorry, but I think this subject is too difficult for me in English so if you would write to any travel topik, I would reply to you there. Sorry.

Dear Nimaat,
I found Bigacsiga Kata's e-mail address in the table of families of babanet:
oreg123@freemail.hu
I think it wont be problem if you write to her and ask the recipe.
later
Zsoka

OK Zsoka, sorry! I'll go over to the other topic.
I also realized that I need to write my password in too for other people to be able to see my profile. So if you click on my name above you can see it.

Dear ági,
you don't have to sorry anything!!
I watched your profile, how cuuuuute little boy you have!!
I check the other topic
Zsóka

Thanks Zsoka! I checked out your profile and I have to say the same thing to you about your son and daughter. I think they look a lot alike. Now it's less than a week and you husband is home! What do the kids do after not seeing their dad for so long?
I have to go and do a bit of work that I brought home for the weekend. I was cleaning the house all day long but now all the windows, cabinets, everything is clean, ready for Xmas. So see you later!

Agi

Hi girls, I am sorry, I am not coming here every day.

Cipomama, thanks for the question. The man was a tipical man on Thanksgiving day, he loved the turkey, he ate a lot an fall asleep on the sofa. I was fighting with the kitchen afterwards.

Agi, I am interested to hear about travelling with babies since we travel with our daughter all the time and I am intereseted to know what is it that I have to look forward to. She is only 9 months old now, and airplane travel was not a problem with her up to now, but I can not imagine what will I do when she starts to crawl around. I will be happy to hear about how did it go for you.

Last time we travelled overseas there was a family sitting close to us with an approx. 18 month old baby. They have asked for the cot you can fix on the wall in front of you which is obviously too small for a big baby like that to strech out, but the boy managed to sleep in it somehow also he sat in it with his toys playing for a while. It also give the mother a little rest.

Also if you book your ticket ask for a reserved seat and also they can reserve the seats around you, (at latest at check-in if you go early enough) so those seats will be given out last if the plane is full. You might get lucky to have those seat for yourself.

Also we have not decided about the amount of stuff we wil take, since we would like to keep this current flat if we can afford it. That case we would not bring too many furniture just basics and baby stuff. 50 000 USD seems to be a lot.

Dear Ági,
My husband arrived yesterday evening. It was soooooooo gooooooooood. My English knowledge is too poor to write it...
Emese began to cry when see him (he wore black jacket - and Emese fears of the black clothes. But then (after he gave some cookies for Emese) she smiled a lot .

Ábel was talking all evening for Zoli . And they played with each other.
And, of cours, MY Santa Claus came TODAY .
LATER,
Zsóka

Zsoka this is great!!! I thought he'll only arrive this upcoming Sunday. So enjoy the time with him I'm sure you have a lot to talk about.

Agi

Zsoka! It is so good to read that you are so happy. You deserve to have a good time after being alone so long. I hope your husband stays home for a little longer now.


Girls, I tried this profile thing. I tried and made a profile, but the pictures I added came out to be so big. I have to fix that somehow. I guess I am not a big expert on the babanet yet.

My daughter was 9 months old last week. Time goes so quickly. She was hust born, and now we are getting ready to her first Christmas.

I was readin some of the old messages I wrote, I am sorry about all the spelling mistakes I have made. I have to brush up my grammar too.

See you all later.

Hello,

Nora you daughter is really cute! Congratulations! Zsoka and I moved over into the Hungarian "repules pici babaval" topic but if you want me I can tell you about my experience. I flew home with Bence when he was 2.5 months old and came back when he was 5.5. Well, knowing how he is now and seeing how hard it will be with him in the summer I have to tell you flying with an infant is the easiest. He practically slept through the whole thing. We did have the bulk head seat but we didn't use it because there was an empty seat beside me both ways so I could put the car seat there and he was in that. It was more comfortable for him. I would say the bulk head is only good for really small babies. My stroller was taken away from me as we entered the plane and they brought it back to me when we landed. (My car seat just snaps onto the stroller so I had an easy time at that time.) The only problem we ran into was that I didn't take his passprot with me. I took my husband's accidentally. So we had to spend an extra night in Germany and my husband had to send the passport after us with the next flight from Calgary. Also I left with a 2.5 month old baby and $20 in my pocket. I know it's not funny but I figured I'm going home I won't need much money. Good thing Air Canada paid for a hotelroom for me because it was their fault too not checking the passports at boarding. I'm glad the Germans didn't just put me on the next plane and sent me back to Calgary. I'll tell you it won't happen again.
Ok a have to go now. Talk to you later!

Agi

Katalin, where are you? Did you do your driving test again?

Dear girls
You are so lovely .

Ági,
my husband went to sleep at 9 p.pm and he did the sam eon the last two days. So in daytime we are with the kids, in the evening I am alone. You know, there is 11 our idõeltérés (bocs a magyarért, de a szgépes szótár-cédémet egyszerûen nem hajlansdó olvasni a gépem ) and he get so tired by evening...

Norcsa,
you have to resize the picture in your comp. If you think, I help you - send me the picture and I put it into your profile. dersu@axelero.hu .
Oh, no, it's not good because I would need your password. So you have to resize it. My picture is in my profile is 9x13 centimeter (about).

later
Zsóka

Thanks Zsoka, good idea. I will try to resize the picture. I just loaded up from the camera and saved it as a jpeg file.

I will be back.

What happened??? Did I miss something?? Girls!

I know! I wonder why everybody dissapeared?! I can't talk to myself. (I could but it would be a bit weird )

We decorated the Christmas tree this Sunday. It is very unusual in Hungary to do that so early, but I notice each year that stores come out with their Xmas decoration a little bit earlier. The city decorated more now. Also I think sometimes it is overdone. For example Andrassy ut, they did 4 kinds of things, they wrapped the trees with lights, there are lights hanging over the pavement like an arch, and also there are 2 kinds of lights on lamp-pols ( i am not sure the spelling of this one).

I guess everybody is busy buying gifts for the holidays. Me too. I am totally out of ideas. I know that there is a topic about that, but what if we share a few things here??? I think the easiest to buy/make for are the kids. What do you girls get for your man?

Here are my gift ideas for my family:

parents: I got them tickets for New Years Eve for a theatre show
sister: a silk wrap and a matching purse (party wear)
brother: ?????????? I do not want to get a shirt and a sweatshirt like last year - he is 25, student, a;ways sort of money (who is not?) so maybe I refil his mobile-phone card
husband: ?????? worst case scenario I buy him a fast lense for his camera as he wanted, but that is no suprise
Mother and father in law: they live abroad, where we will visit for the holidays, they will get us and a nice photo album of their grandchild and ????
brother in law: NO IDEA

I wait for any creative comments. - Agi, you are a big hope! Also thanks for the air-travel story. We go to Houston from Budapest on the 20 December. Maybe this is the only reason I am happy that she is not crawling yet. I hope it will not snow on the trip. Out of 5 times I flew iduring the winter time I spent quite a bit of time delayed, on the airport, airport hotels, etc... Somehow I always end up in Minesota. It happened quite a few times that the bags always came a day after Xmas with the gifts, so I use the internet now for shopping.

Chat with You all soon!!

Hi Nora,

We are going to decorate the tree this upcoming Sunday. If it was up to me I would celebrate the way hungarian people do it but because of my husband we are trying to incorporate both traditions into the Christmas celebrations. So we'll decorate the tree early just like everybody here but we won't be putting any gifts underneath until Christmas Eve. That evening we'll open some gifts that will be brought by baby Jesus just like in the Hungarian tradition and next morning Santa will bring some more gifts representig the Canadian tradition. Little mixed up but I couldn't come up with anything better.
Gift ideas? Well, I'm not much better than you are. I bought some clothes (jeans, turtle neck sweater, sirt etc.) and some books he asked for. My parents took their presents home when they were here in the summer time. I wrapped them labeled them and they will open them at Christmas. I bought a jacket for my Dad and a portable CD case, some make-up and a shirt for my Mom and a sweater and a dry erase board kit for my sister. She's a teacher and she just bought one of those white dry erase boards for her class so I bought some markers and eraser and a cleaning liquid for her board. (I hope she won't be reading this here ) My in-laws: My mother in-law will get a soap and bath oil kit my father in-law I have no idea. That's my husband's job to figure it out same as my brother in-law.
Nora, will your daughter speak both languages?
Actually the icing on the cake for my last trip home was that I couldn't find my luggage (took me a few hours in Vienna) and on the way back to Calgary they arrived a day late. So I know how "good" of a feeling that is.
I have to go now and I hope this topic will be a more alive.

Bye for now!

Agi

I like the Xmas celebration you have come up with. we will spend the holidays with my husband's family, so we celebrate their way. But it is OK with me. sarah, my daughter is only 9 months so it will not matter for her. To answer to your question, yes, we will try to get her speak both languages. I only talk to her in Hungarian, and my husband in English. Also it is a huge confusion at the moment, because we speak English at home, sometimes a mixed language so I wonder what she will get out of this. Of course we can not always keep the rule either, so my husband often talks hungarian to her asuming she understands that better. ("tapsi tapsi" is quite popular)

Back to the traditions. I do not like this thing where they open the gifts in the morning. We spent quite a lot of Xmas with my sister-in-law who has 3 kids. Guess what, her kids ran screeming across the house at 5 am. Each time to get to the gifts. Followed by the parents who tried to take a video of the big event. Big fun.

I agree. I bet most of the people here don't even know what we really celebrate at Christmas. They think it's all about Santa coming down the chimney. I'm sorry I just don't have Chsristams spirit in the morning in my pajamas.
We are pretty consistant with the language. My husband doesn't speak Hungarian so it's not hard for him to only use English. I never use English when I speak to Bence but of-course he hears me use it when I talk to his dad. But as soon as I say something to him, I turn to him, look at him and use Hungarian even if I used English a minute before.
And I never use "hunglish" So far it's working.
We haven't had breakfast yet so he's demending. See you later!

Agi

I am sorry, I did not write for a few days, but our computer is not workin properly and we had it repaired. Now, it is working, but still needs some work. It has been in and out of the repair place in the last 3 months, and now they say it has a problem with the video-card.

Anyway, we had our first night without our daughter this week-end. On Saturday we took her to my Mom so we do some shoping without her, and my Mom convinced us to leave her there for the night. It worked out OK. I went to pick her up in the morning, and she was ok, slept well. Unfortunately she does not do this at home. I mean the sleeping. Since she was sick (she had a cold), she gets up quite a bit during the night leaving me 3-4 hours of sleep.

It was strange to be without her, it was so quiet. But we got a big sleep.

We will go to Houston on the 20 December and come back on the 6 January, so I will not be writing for a while. Please keep the topic running, as it looks like we are the only ones left here.

I have to go now, but I will come back later!!
Take care!

Hi Girls,

(do you still remember me?
I am just now back after two weeks of struggling with sinusitis, have lots of work, as unfortunately I am having to use some free minutes for chatting at this place. I have not even read all the comments since I was here the last time, I have just printed it all out + will read it on my way home. I just wanted to say Hello to you all, and I promise to join you asap as soon as I have sorted out myself a little bit. Thankfully I do not smoke or drink the usual coffee so I do have a few minutes normally...
Hope you are all well.

Take care
Katalin

Hello,

It's nice to see you here again Katalin! I hope you feel better!
Since the last time I "talked" to you we had a couple of hell days because Bence had a pretty severe diaper rash. So bad that his bum was bleeding. It's still not ok but at least it's somewhat healing. Also he had a cold and of course the two (cold and diaper rash) reached the worst point at the same time. But now we are fairly normal again.

Nora,
There's still more than a week until you leave so I hope you will still come here until then. (Of course as long as your computer let's you ) Anyway I hope you'll have a good flight and tell us all the details about it afterwards. Hopefully Sarah will handle it ok!

I need to go now because I have a lot of work that I brought home from the office. So I'll see you later!

Agi

Hi Girls

It is nice to be back. Although it seems most of you have gone Xmas shopping?!
Thanks girls for replying to my few questions.
Ági I have seen the photo in your profile, now I also have done my profile only my own pic is missing. Sorry about it, I need to get one good photo of myself and then I will put it there.
Good news: I finally passed the driving test, having had to do a kézifékes domboldali elindulást. If anyone knows how to say this in English pls let me kindly know I started the day then with a chamomile tea - I think it helped (to relax me). I think it all came out perfect. Now I am practicing driving in the streets of Vác - many one way streets included. Getting better but sometimes I get upset when things don't go so well... It won't be before Xmas though that I can get my driving licence

Ági
I am so sorry your son has been badly - how are you curing him? For my daughter, only one type of popsicream worked - I still use that at night when she needs a nappy (she is 3 and a half)....
Ági where did you read about my plans for 2nd baby?? I am curious as I can't remember. Actually, no baby yet, and this is not such an easy issue.... But not because the baby does not want to come, thank God...it's more practical things.
And you had another question, re. my transfer to Hungary ... I do think there are still lots of differences, mainly in people's mentality (I am talking about the average Hungarians) - You basically can get anything here if you have money, it is not a problem. Although it is still hard for me not to have acces to shops I got used to in London... And I find that even shopping centres are different. Here they tend to be stuffed with little sized privately owned boutiques - many contain the same type of Italian shoes for example, and so on. Even the clothes section of a Skála Áruház is bigger than for example, a Marks&Spencer. This is just an example. I got so used to large stores with several levels of shopping area in UK. It is a good sign that in shops shop attendants tend to become friendlier and more helpful. It's OK though, if you don't expect so much. Other things like the hygiene level of non-Intercity trains which I use every single day, is literally devastating which I had never found in the West. No such huge cd or book stores here either. Although I don't have any info about the Americas, but I guess it is similar to UK and Western Europe. Sorry I did not want to complain. Some people say the health service in some ways is better over here - my mother-in-law also says this - she comes here from Sweden to have her illnesses be cured. However she never complained yet about what we do not have here: free choice of menus for lunch in hospitals. Here you can be happy if you get some food at all - quality is low. So Ági I think you'd better prepare for some things that will be worse - and then you can enjoy those that might be better. I hope I have not frightened you??? I am also surviving nicely, but have got toys for my daughter from abroad as well when I got fed up with what is available in this country. I am overall not so keen on Hungary - but pls girls do not condemn me for that, I am trying hard, still I am not so successful.

Nora,
I read that you do internet shopping - which sites do you normally use? So far I have only used Amazon (UK version) for cd's/books, and one Hungarian site for cd's. It is so comfortable just to choose what I want in my armchair, and then just wait until I get it. Saves me from the crowds which is absolutely nice.
I have seen the photo etc in your profile, pity I cannot see you?

Zsóka where have you gone?
I think this is enough for today, but it is a little bit hard to make up for my "lost" two weeks.
See you soon,
Katalin

Katalin, it is nice to have you back!!

For internet shopping I use American sites, as the gifts will be delivered there. It is convenient, since the people I shop for on the net are there. It saves me a lot of road, and space to carry gifts over. Anyway, we use e-toys, amazon, yahoo. For Hungary I tried some websites ot purchase air-tickets but the lowest fares avaible in Hungary are still at travel-agencies. I have to admit that sometimes I get exreamly lazy and I order basic groceries over the internet. So far it works OK. You know when it is snowing and raining like this I can not go out with my baby.

Agi, I am sorry about your son. I hope he is better now. I have not experienced this with my daughter, but I imagine that was very hard on him and you as well.

I only preparing for the trip mentaly at the moment. The big discomfort is that our flight from Budapest leaves at 6:30 am, so check-in is at 5 am. My husband and I are not tipicly morning people.

I have to go now. see you all later.

Hi girls,

Thanks for the sympathy! We are better now. Bence's cold is definitely getting better. His bum looks better too although the area that was bleeding before is still pretty raw. My poor baby. We are using some cream that the doctor prescribed and an other barrier cream to cover it up so the poop can't touch his skin and the ointment can't leave it. It seems like it's working but it'll take awhile before it's completely healed.
Also we are not allowed to use baby wipes. I can only use water and soap wich is much better for his skin but it's a pain in the butt to do.
Katalin,
I roughly know how things are gonna be at home. I was just wondering if it was really hard to get used to it. For me it's still better than to be away from my family.
I read under the "cloth diaper" topic that you are thinking about having an other baby. You said something like your questions are not for now because your daughter is older but for the future for your next baby. Sorry if I missunderstood it. But really, are you planning to have one more?
The picture in my profile is not the best one of me but this was the only one where I was on with him. Normally I take the pictures. I'll get my husband to take new ones and maybe on those I'll look like me.

Nora,
Yes, all you can do is prepare yourself mentally for the trip. It's funny when you fly for the first time it's exciting, you don't know what to expect, and you are looking forward to it. After a few times you wish to just skip the travelling part. At least that's how I am with it. I just wanna be there without the hassle of travelling. Especially now with a child.

Anyway I have a bunch of things to do so I'll see you later!

Agi

Dear Girls

I am glad Ági and Nora you are still both here - hoping others will soon turn up?
Ági I was at this point only generally speaking about 2nd baby - I do hope I can still have one kid in my life! But I don't yet know when. I hope it will not be long?...I do enjoy having one brother, although we live quite far from each other. He 'keeps me company'. So I think it is always good to have more than one child.
I am also glad Bence is getting better - it must have been awful for him and also for you.
Ági I understand how you feel - I think language might be the hardest to get used to for you! Do you get any chance now to speak Hungarian around your present home?
I don't actually see any huge difficulties for you - you said you are moving back near your parent's place. Will you have friends around? That might be a bit tough if you will be 'alone' in the beginning. I experienced the same. And, even though British people are said to be a bit cold, I found Hungarians not too friendly first (I was living in Budapest that time). Now, in my place in Göd, it is different, because it is a small place and people are naturally more friendly.
Nora! How do you do ordering basic food stuff? What sites do that kind of service? I understand - it is so easy. But is it not more expensive as well? I would be interested to hear your experiences... Do you just give them your credit card No. and off the order goes? Do you use SafeNet for your orders ( I believe you will know their services) - they send you a code and when you order things via internet, you need to confirm it by a special code. I always do it that way.
I am really tired now. All day I was running around at my work place, like crazy. Hope to have a more quiet day tomorrow.
Hope to hear from you again.
Ági by the way which is the topic for travelling with babies etc that you earlier talked about w. Zsóka? I did not see you at Repülés... etc.
I might fly next year to UK, I am not sure yet, with my own daughter - I am a bit scared of that as well. Being squeezed in a small compartment with any size of a kid can't be a paradise....
Take care, I am running home,
Katalin