Millers in Shanghai: June 2012

We can hardly believe that the school year is over this Friday (June 15th). Our time here in Budapest has been going so fast.
Here is an update on what we have all been up to.

Mallory has had a great year in school. We went to her end of year "student-lead conference" on Friday to look at all of her work. She was excited to be able to bring home everything that she has been working on. She has developed into a really good reader and writer. She enjoys her Hungarian culture class, and loves art, music, and PE. Mallory has done several after-school activities, like basketball, volleyball, fun baking, ballet, gymnastics, story club, and arts & crafts.

Luke is finishing grade 6 this week. He has been the 6th grade representative for the middle school student council this year. He was very involved in getting the administration to add a "rec room" for the middle school, including foosball tables, bean bags, outside terrace, etc. He was on the swim team during the winter season, and has kept up with training on Saturdays since then. He partcipated in international school tournaments in both Warsaw and Budapest. Luke also played on the middle school softball team, with a tournament in Bucharest -- he played catcher and outfielder. A few students, including Luke, from his school were selected to go to a Budapest-wide international school poetry recital contest (there are 5-10 international schools of various sizes here in Budapest). He performed Shel Silverstein's poem "Boa Constrictor" and ended up winning 3rd place in the category for students aged 11-14. We were quite proud of him, even though nobody in the family was able to go see the contest that night (it was a crazy evening). Luke surprised us by receiving an award at the end-of-year awards ceremony for being the Outstanding 6th Grade Student in Music because of a composition that he wrote -- we weren't surprised because we think he isn't musical, but because we had no idea he was even working on a music composition project for class - in fact we still haven't heard the piece of music he wrote. Luke has lots of friends here and has adjusted well to living in Budapest.

Grant officially "graduated" from middle school at a graduation ceremony honoring the 8th grade class this week. We were prepared for a long and boring ceremony, but it was actually a really nice event. When each student received their certificate, they had a few photos of the student shown on a screen while they made a 15 second speech about something they have learned during middle school. This week they also took an evening cruise on the Danube to celebrate the end of the school year, and they also didn't have to go to school on Friday, even though the rest of the grades had to go. Grant did swimming this year, along with Luke, and went to both of the tournaments in Warsaw and Budapest. Even though the season ended in February, he continues to improve by training with a group of students on Saturdays. Grant enjoyed getting in to playing volleyball this year, and played with the school team at tournaments in Vienna and Bratislava. He also played guitar and drums in a band with a few of his friends, practicing several times a month -- they were supposed to play some time during graduation, I think at the reception afterwards, but they couldn't get it worked out with the school administration. Grant (as well as his brothers) continues to study German at school, and he went with the rest of his German class on a trip to Dresden for about a week in March to get more immersed in the German culture (never mind that we lived in Germany for 3 years).

Nash studies. A lot. The 11th grade year in the IB program requires a lot of work, and he is relieved that the year is over. Nash received awards for being the Outstanding Student in both History and Economics -- he does really well in both those classes and enjoys them. He has taken the SAT twice, and has spent a lot of time researching and preparing for applying to universities, which he will do in the Fall. In addition to school, Nash has continued to participate in Model United Nations, attending events both in the Hague, Netherlands and here in Budapest. Nash was inducted into the National Honor Society at his school, and was elected to be the Vice President next year. He was on the Prom planning committee, responsible for fund raising and budgeting, but he didn't attend the event....maybe next year.

We have finally started to take Hungarian lessons -- once a week we have a teacher come to the house for a 90 minute lesson. It helps that we are learning together so we can test each other and help each other throughout the week. Of course, Nash is picking it up more quickly than the rest of us, but it has been really helpful to at least start learning the basics.

Perfect gift for the person on your gift list who loves bacon AND gummy bears: Gummy Bacon!

Grant and Luke in a hole, helping to tear down someone's old shed.

While waiting to pick up Nash from the airport, I used every ounce of persuasion I had to try to convince Luke to try to eat a corn nut (yes, they do have corn nuts in Hungary -- only Mallory and I like them, though). This is as close as Luke got to tasting the corn nut.

Mallory posing with the Welcome Home sign she helped make for Nash when he went to the Hague for Model United Nations.

Luke getting ready to make a flip turn during a race at school.

This is the pool they have at here AISB (American International School of Budapest) -- really nice facility.

Heidi and her friends from Hungary on a Polish Pottery trip...

...where she also met up with her friends from Germany.

Mid-winter in Hungary, with chunks of ice on the Danube.

Part of Nash's induction ceremony into the NHS, where he was later voted as the Vice President.

Mallory, hard at work in Grade 1.

Left over photo from our trip to Florida -- this is in the back of someone's truck. Why? I don't know. I guess the man is married to the woman with whom he is locking arms. But who is the other woman? Ex-wife? Mother-in-law? Mother? And why would you have this made into a window-thing for the back of your pick-up truck?

And in case you cannot tell, Five Guys burgers are popular in our family.

Mallory, dressed up for one of her crazy-dress up days at school -- shirt and pants are on inside-out and backwards. Doesn't look very comfortable to me.

Remarkable how much Nash looks like Gaddafi...

One of Heidi's creations -- a Whopper cake...

...made for the return of Grant from a school trip.

Heidi's birthday.

Wooden spoon - doll.

Nash at work in Biology class.

Mallory and her friend with creations they made from stuff they found in the back yard.

My office, in the town of Szentendre, a few kilometers north of Budapest.

Grant, at the Budapest train station, getting ready to go on his trip to Dresden, Germany.

Crazy Hair Day.

I went to Romania for an "offsite" with the team in Bucharest. We went to a town in the Transylvanian mountains about 1.5 hours north of Bucharest, near Brasov. It is also near Bran Castle, which is commonly called "Dracula's Castle" even though there is no direct link to Dracula and this castle.

No team-building offsite is complete without costumes and skits.

On the way back to Bucharest we stopped in Brasov to look around.

And we also stopped in Sinaia to see Peles Castle.

Grant in his volleyball uniform, ready for a tournament.

More fun in the backyard for Mallory and her friend. They found that it is much easier to learn to rollerblade on grass than on the concrete driveway -- it hurts less when you fall.

In April I went to Tbilisi, Georgia for meetings with all of the countries in our "direct markets" group.

Tblisi has an imposing looking Soviet-era parliament building.

But also nice monuments and public squares.

The Georgian language has a unique alphabet -- I don't think any other language uses the same set of letters.

A short excursion outside of Tbilisi to the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral.

This is believed to be one of the first baptismal fonts in Christianity - claimed to be from the 4th century.

Another monastery at the top of a hill, with views overlooking the valley where two rivers merge.

Dinner at a traditional Georgian restaurant,

complete with Georgian music and dancing.

Luke, at a laser-tag birthday party, taking aim at his opponent.

She asked me to tie her to the tree. Really.

Churros!

Luke at the airport, on his way to Bucharest for a softball tournament.

My finance department on a hiking excursion on a Friday afternoon.

One of the highest points in this area of Hungary, Dobogókő, with a view of the Danube, and beyond to Slovakia.

There is an ice cream place near St Stephen's Cathedral in Budapest, where they shape your ice cream into a flower.

Genetically modified strawberries? Or just random variation? Either way, this is a strange-looking strawberry.

Mallory showing off her artwork at the Grade 1 Fine Arts night.

And her musical skills.

And her dancing skills.

This is the King & Queen dance, where we are taking our turn doing a promenade.

The boys have been happy to take turns mowing the lawn -- I hope the novelty of mowing the lawn will last....

Grant and his volleyball team.

Grant is giving his "Peace One Day" speech at school.

Heidi and Mallory have been experimenting with various hair styles.

Luke and his friend looked at this sign and pronounced it "Pizza Fort", so we had to take a picture so they'll remember it actually says Forte. I'm not sure what that pose is about, though.