Submitted by Ashley Manero on the 2014 winter session program in Budapest, Hungary sponsored by the School of Education…
Hello, my name is Ashley Manero and I had another amazing week in Budapest. However, this week was a little different. We spent three days teaching and observing in two schools. The first school was the Britannica International School. Here we taught a lesson on bullying and interacted with the children throughout the day. It was a great experience getting to know the teachers and students at the school. My favorite part of the classroom visits was asking the children what languages they spoke. Every student spoke English, but depending on where they are from, they speak various other languages as well. We also visited the International Christian School. I handcrafted a bulletin board on diversity for the hallway and the students and teachers were excited for the new addition to their school. Visiting these schools was a wonderful learning experience and I can’t wait to go back next week!
In addition to school visits, our group has done numerous other activities. We took a nighttime boat tour of the famous Parliament building. I was taken away by the beauty of the Parliament building as well as the Chain Bridge.
The group also took an overnight excursion to a city called Pecs. Pecs is the fifth largest city in Hungary. We were able to explore the small city for a day. My favorite part of the city was the lock wall. On the lock wall, couples and families from all over the world, write their names on a lock and lock it to the wall. There appeared to be over hundreds of locks attached to the wall.
All in all, I am having a great experience in Budapest. I am learning a lot and I know this is a once and a lifetime experience.