Womens Day 2006

Boldog Nöinapot!

That's how you might go about wishing any of these fine Hungarian women running around the place a "Happy International Women's Day."

I'm willing to debate the international-ness of the day, as I've certainly never celebrated it, or even heard of the occasion, back home. But here, it's quite the spectacle. All day long, students run into the teachers' lounge giving flowers to the lady teachers. It smells like a greenhouse.

I should be careful when I say "all-day-long," though, because classes ended at 11 today. This afternoon, the teachers have a program and a lunch. Everyone wins, except for the lunch ladies who have to work overtime on Women's Day.

I asked a boy today, a twelfth grader, if there is ever a mens' day. He said "Every day is mens' day!" Except he said it in Hungarian, so I was the last person in the room to either laugh or boo, based on gender.

As a post-script:

The women were in the front of the canteen, the male teachers sat in the back. It was just like a classroom. The kids sang, the kids played the saxophone, then the liquor came out. We all got flush in the face. I think it's awesome that the school owns a set of hundreds of shot glasses.

Then the men waited hand and foot on the lady teachers. They liked it. We even brought the dirty dishes to the window...so that the lunch ladies could wash them. Guess the day only carries so far.