48,000

Forty-eight thousand forint is a lot of money. That’s $222, 180 euro, 26,200 yen. In my funds-reduced life here in Szolnok, 48,000 Ft is approximately half my monthly income. Things that I would like to buy with 48,000 Ft include:

- summer shoes, socks and underwear, or a spring jacket
- food other than pasta and bread
- a broom, or working vacuum
- Draino, so I can take a shower without it being a bath
- burnable CDs, so I could download more Lost, Housewives, or Simpsons
- beer, wine, pencils, and other teaching supplies
- a bus or train ticket to anywhere-not-Szolnok this weekend
- a plane ticket to a sunny, tropical island paradise.

What I will actually do with my precious 48,000 forint: buy a one-way ticket to hell... and back. Specifically, an 8-day bus trip to London with 40 of my students and 3 of the other English teachers. Back a couple months ago, when I agreed to come along and paid the first half of the fee, no one held a gun to my head to force me to come. They laid out two perfectly reasonable options: pay 88,000 forint for this lovely trip, OR stay behind for the week and pick up all the extra English classes. So I made what seemed to be the obvious choice, particularly since at the time I had nothing better to spend the money on. Well... things change.

My mind would also be less financially-occupied if my private students would stop playing musical chairs with me. Student A moved his lesson from last week to today, and wanted it at the same time. So I asked B if we could meet at a later time today. Then A called to cancel today completely, but can we meet tomorrow instead? Fine, so I was reveling in my free hour when C called and wanted me to meet his friend D because she needed to talk to a native speaker. ARGH! The ending is, none of this would bother me in the least if I felt like the money I get for my troubles was going toward something worthwhile. But it’s not, so it does.