Passion

The secret came out of the bag today. I walked to the front of the classroom, smiled at everyone and said "My name's Jeremy." In Hungarian, of course, which makes it much more impressive.

Then I drew on the board a small circle about a foot east of Budapest, a few inches south of the city of Eger. "And I'm going to be living in Heves this year."

Everyone smiled and nodded, as if a truth had been revealed. Then Hajni, our country director, laughed. "Heves is the Hungarian word for 'PASSION!' You will have a good year."

So ordained, I'm even more excited to trample off to Heves, gaze over the wine-producing Valley of Beautiful Women and get to the business at hand: a bit of Hungarian passion.

Or teaching English to 7th-12th graders in the little town of Heves, whichever comes first.