The Meeting

It began on Monday, when my contact teacher approached me and “asked” me to stay late on Wednesday. Actually, her exact working was something like, “You should stay late on Wednesday, to have a meeting with Éva (the director). She wants to talk to you about your future plans.”

So, being the easy-going (read: lazy) person that I am, I first assumed that this meant she just wanted to confirm my staying next year. But then, two days is a long time to mull over what the director could possibly want with me. Especially since the other shoe never dropped. And I’ve been saying since September that I’m staying here, and anyway that one simple question wouldn’t seem to warrant a Meeting. So my mind started coming up with other possibilities. My favorite scenario involved me being fired. Because really, this wouldn’t be so terrible - I was looking over my contract (for no particular reason, just checking up on things) and I think it says that if I am fired, depending on the reason for firement (it’s a word, right?) the school might still have to pay me and for my flat until June. So, hey, that would really be great.

Anyway, the meeting. Éva was half an hour late, so I waited in the teachers room, not biting my nails. Finally, Kati tracked her down and we went into her office. On a tangent, I hate that office, because it has padded doors. I mean, really - I’m sure they’re for soundproofing or something legit, but it’s just so sinister looking.

Right, no more tangents. The Meeting. Was. Awesome. They love me. They want me to stay forever. They want to help me in a variety of ways to make my life easier. They want me to design some of my own project classes for next year, they want to give me a completely free hand - I could do a film class and do nothing but watch American movies, I could do a literature class and they would make the students buy books, or I could do a history class and they would let me take the kids on excursions to Pest. They wish that we could communicate better, because everyone thinks I seem like such a nice, good person. They think I am an excellent teacher, that I prepare well, and I learned that the classes which give me trouble (namely, most of the 8th grade) also give Kati trouble. And Kati is wicked fearsome, so if she can’t control them, no one short of God could.

So, unfortunately I guess, I wasn’t fired. But I can’t mean that, because this outcome is so much better than I could have imagined.

And the day ended even better with - yes, it’s basketball again - Szolnok beating nasty Kesckemét. Their fans were louder, and had three drums plus airhorns, and yet... both our team and our fans still beat them.

By the way, for anyone who can’t appreciate my recently-found obsession with the Olaj, it’s only because you’ve never seen a game. In which case, I invite you to Szolnok for the last game of the season, April 12th at 6 pm, against Nyíregyháza. Then you’ll understand...