The view from Budapest

When I lived in the US, I would have never consider staying up for a Fantasy Baseball draft, but here I am again (This is my 3rd year to do it from here). It’s 3am and I’m in Round 12 of my draft. I did get a little sleep before and hopefully I’ll get some after. It always seems like a better idea when I agree to it than when the alarm goes off.

Key Stats
1st Round Pick - Miguel Cabrera
Latest Pick (12th Round) - Austin Kearns

Better get ready for Round 13. Maybe Luis Gonzales (hope none of the other coaches are reading this)

So Far so Good.

This post if high on the geek factor if you aren’t a blogger.  If you are a blogger, then you are going to think it is really cool.  Either way, I’m way overdue for a geeky post so here it is.

Thanks to Andrew Jones for pointing me towards this blog software called Qumana.  It is pretty cool and allows me to compose offline, add pictures and do all kinds of cool things without having to be online. 

I’m on my 3rd try so I haven’t been having much success.  If you are reading this, then you’ll know the third time is the charm.

Tags: blog, software, qumana

One of those fun facts that you learn about when you move overseas is that Daylight Savings Time is different in different parts of the world. Here in Hungary, and most of Europe I think, we went on DST last night and lost that precious hour that we so enjoyed back in the fall.

It’s weird because you guys in the US have to wait another week so we are 7 hours ahead of Eastern, 8 hours ahead of Central, and 10 hours ahead of the west coast. Please keep this in mind if you are going to call us next week.

Here’s a website with all the facts.

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This week Valerie had a chance to go on a retreat with our new team. It is the Area Leadership Team for Eastern Europe & Russia. We spent the week at a beautiful hotel in the Hungarian countryside called Szépalma which means “Beautiful Apple.” It is a horse farm and hotel and is owned by a Swiss Christian banker. He operates it as a hotel and offers large discounts to Christian groups so it was a wonderful place for a retreat.

Valerie & I are both totally exhausted, but totally energized about the chance to work with this team and these wonderfully faithful people. The exciting part is that there are 2 other couples that are new like us and they are both Eastern Europe nationals. One is from Poland and the other from Romania. They will be the first nationals to serve on our Area Leadership Team!!! Praise the Lord!!

It was soooo close.

All evening, I wondered if I would be able to stay awake long enough to watch the game. It started at midnight here and at 10 I was yawning like crazy. When the game finally started, I didn’t think I would have to stay up much longer as LSU took a 9-1 lead. I thought maybe the Aggies didn’t have anything left for another game.

Then, they started coming back and before I knew it they went on a 17-0 run. They were back even with the Tigers and we had a game on our hands. They never let the Tigers get out of reach and it was an incredible game.

When Acie Law hit the 12 foot jumper with 20 seconds or so to go to put us up by 2, I thought we had them. Our defense had stopped them all night. Nothing had come easy for LSU so all we had to do was make one more stop. Also, they had scored almost all of their points from inside the paint, so the worst case scenario was a tie and overtime. They had only made one 3 pointer all game, so we were safe.

Boy was I wrong. LSU put up a 3 pointer from 5 feet behind the arc. It was a prayer. My first thought was that they put it up a little early on purpose so that they could get a rebound and score off that. They hadn’t shot anything from that far out all game.

It went in with 3.5 seconds left. Everything ended. All hope was gone.

It was an incredible run! This is definately an Aggie team that should show great things in the next few years. We will be back! I guess it means I’ll be able to get some sleep through the rest of the tourney. This one kept me up until 2:25am. I wasn’t hard because it was such an great game. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Gig’Em!

Absolutely incredible! Aggies not only show up at the tourney, they dominated a really hot Syracuse team! I had to keep reminding myself that this was the Texas A&M, football only, Aggies. This might get us over the hump to being a decent team every year. We’ve already landed some big recruits for next year!!!

Also, there wasn’t much of a celebration after the game. They acted like they had been there before and they expected to win. I like that!

Normally, a 12 seed would be a Cinderella, but A&M was way underseeded and Syracuse was way overseeded. I guess if we get the Sweet 16 there will be a little Cinderella feel.

Watch out LSU! Hope that game is at a decent hour here in Budapest. (Just found out that it will start around 6pm eastern which is midnight here. Sleep is overrated)

Time to get ready for work!

I set the alarm for 4am not knowing if I’d really get up, but here I am just before 5am watching the Aggies doing the job against Syracuse. It was a great first half and the Aggies are really on their game and totally out hustling the Orangemen. I hope they can keep up the intensity in the second half. I think Syracuse might have gave all they had emotionally in their run to the Big East Championship.

I guess this will go until around 6 and I get up at 6:15. There were be time for sleeping some other times.

The Aggies haven’t played in the NCAA Tourney since 1987 so I didn’t want to miss it. So far I’m glad I’m up.

“Goodbye to Hungarian Class.” (I’m sure my Hungarian is wrong, but it is close)
On Wednesday, I had to say good-bye to my Hungarian Lessons. After 2 1/2 years of taking lessons each week, I finally had to call it quits. Over the past few months, when it is time for my lesson, I struggle to decide whether I should work or go to lessons. With my new job, it will be impossible to continue. I’m very sad as I love learning Hungarian. I know that if I stop lessons that the little Hungarian that I have will go away.

Valerie is going to continue and I hope that I will have some time this summer to take some more lessons. Thanks so much to my great teacher ZsuZsa. You made every week a lot of fun!!

If you follow my co-worker Jerry’s blog, you know that he and his family are moving back to Orlando this summer. Valerie & I are totally bummed about this and yet we know that it is what God is leading them to. It has been an incredible experience to minister alongside of Jerry. I’ve never had the chance to work with someone with whom I was so well suited. It has been an incredible experience to work with such a good friend.

Since Jerry made his announcement, many people have asked, “What are you going do now?” Ever since we moved here, the thought of Jerry leaving before me has always caused me stress. We work so well together that I didn’t want to even think about working alone.  

Amazingly, as the Hertzlers were in their decision making process, the Lord began to do something in my heart. He gave me an incredible peace about our future. Even though I knew that the Hertzlers would probably leave, I had a peace that the Lord would take care of us. I still knew that the Lord was calling us to stay here in Budapest and I knew that the Lord had good plans for us.  

A few weeks after Jerry & Cathy announced their decision, I was called into a meeting with our Director of Affairs for Eastern Europe and Russia, Larry Thompson. He challenged me to become his Chief of Staff. The Chief of Staff assists the Director by coordinating his activities and following-up on major projects. The Chief of Staff is in some ways an extension of the director that can act for him when he is not around. In addition, Valerie & I both will join the Area Leadership Team. 

 My first thought was, “Oh, Lord, maybe this is what you have planned for me!” Many things about the job are a perfect fit for me. I like to have many things going on at the same time. I like variety in my work, and nothing is ever the same in Larry’s office. I like to coordinate teams, and I will have that opportunity as I facilitate the Area Leadership Team meetings. 

As Valerie & I talked and prayed about it, we knew that the Lord was calling us to this new role. We accepted the role and I have already started. I will continue to transition with Jerry and I hope to continue working on some technology projects in the future. 

Please pray for Valerie & I in the transition. I’m humbled by the opportunity, very excited about the role, but also a little fearful of the huge challenge that is before me.

Also, pray for the Hertzlers as they transition back to the US and we transition to life without them.

On Saturday night at the tournament, we were all getting ready for the two championship games when Valerie got my attention and told me to come with her in a hurry. When we got there, we found Kendall laid out on the floor and in a lot of pain. She was running down the stairs at the stadium and twisted her ankle. After our physical therapist friend look at her, we were off the hospital.

We had always heard of Szent Janos Korhaz from many of our friends, but we had never been ourselves. It seems like it might be a type of rite of passage for expats here in Budapest.

We arrived at the front door to the hospital and the guard gave us a huge map of the complex. It had 30-40 different buildings. After driving around for a while, we finally found the one that was taking child emergency cases. We entered the waiting room where there was a locked door and we waited. This is typical of the doctor’s offices and hosptials. You wait outside and they come out to get you. There isn’t a receptionist or window or anything. They came out pretty quick and we were able to get the x-ray. Thankfully, she didn’t have a broken ankle!!!

She is doing much better today although she still has plenty of pain. Hopefully, it will heal quickly and she will be back to her normal active self.