Monday, February 4, 2013

Knitting Update #2 - Mom's Cardigan

This project has been in the works for three and a half years. Out of that time, I probably didn't touch it for about two years for sure. The reason is simple, I think: I stalled out at the sleeves like I always do. It's the decreases, or more specifically keeping count of them, that leaves all my sweaters and cardigans somewhat unappealing once I get there.
But my mom's 50th birthday was coming up in August, and I figured two sleeves will be a quick knit for over two weeks time spent on vacation. Needless to say I was wrong. For one, I have a baby, and for another, we were always on the move, visiting one family member or another, so not much downtime remained. The fact that once I finished a sleeve I realized it was too narrow and had to reknit it again, didn't help either.
But over fall and winter I made sure it was a priority, and just before Christmas, it was done. Well, the knitting part, at least. Then came the blocking, and the three days of drying because our house is so cold. It's hard to block something this big when you don't have a bed and your baby crawls around all the warmer parts of the house. So I ended up mailing it out a couple days before New Year's.

Pattern: Indigo Playmate by Wendy Bernard
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Black (195) and Little Lovely (92)
Needle: US 7/ 4.5mm
Size: Medium

The yarn is Malabrigo, which was great to knit with. My mom chose pink, because she loves that color, and we chose black, because she wanted more of a coat-type cardigan, something to put on as she ran out to the store, so this way she wouldn't need to wash it every 5 minutes. I estimate I used about 6-7 skeins of black and a skein and a half of pink to complete this project.
My mom has a bit wider shoulders and bigger chest than I do, plus adding the extra ease that a coat would need, it looks quite big on me. Luckily it fits my mom much better. Some other changes I made were adding some buttons and pockets. Unfortunately, I could not find quite big enough buttons here in Fukuyama, which would please my mom as well, so the ones I ended up adding are just a tiny bit too small, hence they unbutton quite easily.
The pockets turned out alright, though I probably should have picked up the pocket stitches the other side, to keep the "lip" on the right side, making them lie flatter, than they do now. Luckily the pink edge helped a lot in this regard.
As for the sleeves, I decided to lose the second set of decreases completely, and I'm glad I did. They are nice and loose now, easy to wear over another sweater. I also knit them a bit long, as I like my sleeves on the longer side, thinking my mom can roll back the pink cuff if she needs to.
I also decided to crochet the belt instead of knitting it, but forgot to use a bigger hook for casting on, and it curls. Oh well, it adds an interesting design element.

Overall I'm satisfied with the project, and I'm glad I finished it. My mom likes it a lot, too, and that's always a plus, especially as I'm quite sure it'll be the last one for a while. It's now my husband's, dad's, and brother's turn to receive something. (^_^)v

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Knitting Update #1 - Rini

It's been bugging me a little lately that this blog is supposed to be about knitting, at least in part, but there has not been one knitting related post in.... a while. So let's fix this, shall we?

In the past year Rini has received four knitted objects from my needles. These are as follows:

Cherry blossom viewing in Onomichi on April 10, 2012.
Pattern: OpArt by Melissa Dominguez 
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Chunky in Oceanos/240 and Citrus/91 colors, 3 skeins each
Needle: US 11
Final Size: ~ 41 inches across
If I remember correctly, I started this blanket maybe two or three days before Rini was born. At that time, I didn't know about this, and thought that surely I would have another week before any Cesarian, and would finish by then. Since that was not the case, it ended up being my hospital project to work on, while she slept. I think it took me about three weeks to finish this, making me consider this a really quick project.
I've always loved Malabrigo for it's colors and softness, but this yarn went above and beyond! It's absolutely luscious and spongy, and great to knit with! It does fuzz a bit with wear, but it's nice and warm. Since it's not meant to be washed every other day, I use it at home only when Rini sleeps to avoid making it dirty as much as possible.

Not pictures again!
Pattern: Betty Lou Lace Cardigan by Kristen Rengren
Needle: US 1.5/ 2.5mm
Size: 0-3 months old
This cardigan only resembles the pattern in name and starting number of stitches. Instead of garter on top I did stockinette, and instead of the lace pattern in the book, I used the one in EZ's February Baby Sweater. It took me about two and a half months to knit, but I didn't work on it every day or anything like that. Though I'm happy with it, it became too warm for Rini to wear it by the time I finished, so I hope it'll be good for baby #2. The yarn is really yummy, but it also looks really delicate, and not sure if I would really let my baby wear it for long, unless it's a special occasion. (>o<)

Pattern: Stella Pixie Hat by Kristen Rengren 
Yarn: 1/4 skein (110 meters) of Malabrigo Yarn Sock
Needle: US 0/ 2mm
Size: bit small for 7mo Rini 
Fun little pattern, but turned out a bit small, making it really easy for Rini to pull it off, like a hood. Once again, baby #2 will enjoy it.
As for yarn, I used what remained from making a baby cardigan for my cousin's baby last year. The colors are nice and neutral, and they didn't pool at all. I like the springiness of it, but it always surprises me just how thin it is. Still, it was a relatively quick project, taking about two weeks to make.

#4 - All Ears
Pattern: All Ears by Katt Walker
Needle: US 3/ 3.25mm
Size: 8 inches long
First I made a 9 inch long 3-stitch I-cord, then made ear flaps using seed stitch. When both were done, I cast on extra stitches, and knit the hat until the yarn almost ran out. It's slightly on the big side, so I think she'll be able to use it for at least a few years.
This yarn is the same one I used for my Ripley hat (where, the yarn was doubled up), so I knew it will be soft and warm. Finally something she can wear for a while!


There are also a few projects that I started but have not yet finished for various reasons.
These are:
* Bliss by Allegra Wermuth, is a current project. I made gauge swatch, did some calculations, cast on for 18mo size, and after finishing all of the cable section and getting used to knitting the skirt, .... I realized it was waaaaaay too small. So now I went up a needle size and cast on for 2T. I also want to add some button holes so that the straps can be somewhat adjustable. It'd be nice if Rini could use this as a little dress from spring to fall, then as a vest/skirt in winter and after. 
* Two Just A Little Undershirt by Robin Hansen, hibernating because I can't quite make the crocheted edges work.
* And one of Carina Spencer's baby cardigans, hibernating because my gauge is weird, and I should measure it against Rini, to make sure it'll fit. Plus, in truth, by this point, the size probably won't work any longer, with winter almost gone (especially by the time I'd be done).

So there you have it. All the Rini related projects. Next I'll show off something I made for my mom.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Clutter...

I have to admit, I'm a little bit all over the place lately. It's re-contracting season at JET, and we decided to stay one more (and final) year. I'm happy about this because I love my job, but our upcoming vacation in NYC, the little hints coming from random family members, and my urge to settle down for good so that I could be at home with my daughter, all make my head a place of chaotic contemplation of various possibilities of the future.

Truthfully, if there would be any way to stay in Japan and make the same amount of money, but with James working and me staying home, I probably would jump at the chance. But that would make learning Japanese that much harder, and I really want to learn Japanese well enough to communicate with minimum mistakes.

Would I miss my job? Sure, but I probably would get over it. Though I do wonder if I could be as productive in a home setting as I am at work. I have on several occasions stayed waaay too late at my job because I wanted a job finished, but had not planned ahead properly enough.The job environment urges me to be productive (and stay late), which is something I won't have at a home setting.

I guess then it's a good thing that we're planning on moving to Hungary after Japan, where I hope to learn how to actually run a household from my aunts and cousins, and of course, my dad. I think that's probably what worries me the most, not being able to run a clean and sufficient house, with good home-cooked meals daily. I have this image in my head of how I'd like to be once I become a stay at home mom, and I'm a bit scared that I'm not going to be good enough or won't have talent for it. Because that's what I think homemaking is: self-motivation and a fair amount of talent. Neither of which I have much of.
Cleaning I can do and do it fairly well, though maybe a bit slowly (darn perfectionism), but I suck at decluttering and organizing, and so far haven't been great at planning meals either. By planning meals I mean meals that flow into one-another somewhat over days, so that we wouldn't have to buy little bit of every ingredient daily, making cooking a bit more costly than I'd like. Of course, Japan is the country of buying only a little daily, because it's fresh and there's no space to hold 5kg of anything in such a tiny house, except maybe rice.

On the other hand, the memory that popped into my head just now reassures me. When I was on maternity leave, around week 6 or 7, I started doing something that I haven't done in a long time: wash dishes. After getting through the first few weeks of taking care of a baby, settling into a routine, I found myself... well, I guess bored with a pinch of nesting. So instead of waiting for James to do the dishes when he wants to, one morning I just started to do them myself, because I had nothing better to do and wanted to do something nice for my husband, who has until then gone above and beyond to make sure Rini and I were comfortable. And the funny thing is, I didn't mind doing it. Washing dishes has always been one of those chores that I rather avoid given the chance, but to my surprise it was actually soothing.
So my point is, who knows what happens once I'm not working for long enough? Right now I feel like a couch potato because I'm tired from the rest of my week. But if there's no other work....

And now I feel like even more of a lazy bum... Thinking about all the other parents who work all week and still manage to keep a clean and organized house, with good meals to boost. Or is that just a myth?
Either way, if I could be anywhere close to as good as our neighbor is about running her household, I'll be quite happy. Maybe I'll ask her for some pointers before we move away.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

This Year I Will...

...that's the title of a self-help book I've listened to recently that tries to help with keeping resolutions. Apparently, most people give up their New Year's resolutions soon after they make it. Here's the list of reasons the author, M.J. Ryan, gives why this happens:
 
   10 Resolution Pitfalls
  1. Being vague about what you want
  2. Not making a serious commitment
  3. Procrastinating and excuse-making
  4. Unwilling to go through the awkward phase
  5. Not setting up a tracking and reminder system
  6. Expecting perfection, falling into guilt, shame, regret
  7. Trying to go it alone
  8. Telling yourself self-limiting rut stories
  9. Not having backup plans
  10. Turning slip-ups to give-ups
My particular problem with resolutions, that is, the reason I end up giving up, lies mainly in two things I think. The first and biggest reason is me being a bit of a perfectionist. The second is reason #10 or as this quote from the book demonstrates it: "Once I eat one cookie, I might as well eat the whole damn box." So, once I miss a chance to do something I'm supposed to (whether it was my fault or not), it becomes much easier to blow it off next time, and the next, and by the fourth time, I give up completely.
Listening to books like "This Year I Will" and "Eat That Frog!" helped me realize how unrealistic it is for anyone to reach goals perfectly the first time, and being OK in something and doing it is much better than wanting to be perfect and not doing it at all. (You would think that as a knitter, this would have sunk in by now, but maybe that's why I like knitting: I can always fix my mistakes to make things perfect.)
Reasons #6 and #10 are not the only reasons for failing in my resolutions, however. I'm also guilty of #3, #5, #9... and if I'm really honest, probably #2 and #4 as well. That's at least 7 out of the 10 pitfalls. Sheesh...

So this year I will try my best to stick to my resolutions. Hey, isn't that a resolution, too? Anyways, I have a plan. I really love making plans. Plans are fun, and puts things in order. The first step in my plan was to get an app on my phone to track my progress on building my habits. It reminds me of things I want to do, then keeps track of whether I did something or not, how many times in the past, and on what days. A good thing about this app is that I can put in my results for the day before (in case I forgot to do so), but not earlier than that, making using this app another habit that I can't cheat on.

As for the resolutions themselves, the one I'll share here is one I made last year, too:

To write 52 blogs in 52 weeks this year.

So here's to a New Year with new (and old) resolutions, and keeping them.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Looking back...

As I look at my daughter sitting next to me playing with her blocks and her other toys, I'm thinking about what an incredible year 2012 has been.

2012 for me began in New York and almost 6 months pregnant for the first time. I'm enjoying a vacation with my family and friends, I'm comparing bellies with my dad, and eating sooo much delicious home-made food, I'm sure I've reached my weight-limit 3 months early. I'm enjoying every minute, every second of being pregnant. I'm excited, but nervous... I know I'm ready to be a mom, or at least I keep telling myself I am.

Now, my husband is playing with my daughter and I hear the most joyful of giggles coming from the bedroom, into which she crawled. She's 9 and a half months old, she can sit up, crawl, and kneel on her own, stand up as long as she has something to hold onto, and her first tooth just popped out 10 days ago, as a late birthday gift to her daddy. She's all smiles and quiet curiosity, and the best baby and child a parent can wish for.

I feel I have grown a bit, too. I think I've become more responsible, and I'm more at peace. Mostly, I think I've finally come to accept the circumstances of my daughter's birth as something that was out of my control.

I'm sure by now it's no secret how much I was looking forward to giving birth as naturally as was possible. I looked at giving birth as a sort of major accomplishment, that if I could do that, I could do anything. I could finally be proud of something. For someone, who believes she has scarcely accomplished anything in her life, this was a powerful motivator... 
But then circumstances led to a C-section birth, and a scheduled one at that, with only a day of advance notice. Needless to say, I was pretty much crushed. It took my all to get through the night before the surgery, and to try and muster some sort of positive outlook. The surgery itself was the worst experience of my life by far, and I believe the only reason I was able to get through it because my husband was sitting right next to me, holding my hand through the whole thing. (As a side-note, I cannot imagine in my wildest dream why any woman or doctor would choose a C-section over natural birth without a valid medical reason, like so many do today. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against C-sections in general. I think they are life-savers, when they are necessary. I'm only talking about/upset with C-sections without any medical reason what-so-ever, like doctor trying to get home for dinner, or woman hoping to combine it with a tummy-tuck.) I was so enveloped in my own discomfort that I almost missed the moment when my daughter was lifted out of me, and even that barely registered and tries to fade from memory. The only thing that saved me from being completely lost in self pity was being able to breastfeed her without problems from the start. 
Getting to know each other...
However, this wasn't enough to make me feel like I could move heaven and earth for this new little being, like I read so many other mothers did after giving birth and thought I was supposed to feel, too. The love I felt for my daughter wasn't earth shattering love-at-first-sight, but something very slow and gradual. From the moment I was sewn up and back in my room, I went into autopilot mode, feeding and changing her as she needed it, and generally taking care of her, letting her leave my side only while the kind nurses bathed her, so I could shower myself. Please don't misunderstand, I don't think I had the baby blues, and I definitely didn't not wish to be a mother, or anything like that. But I did not feel like a mother, and in fact for months I felt more like I was just babysitting. I was thinking that any minute now someone will come and thank me and pay me for my services, and take her away because her real mother was back, and I'd be sad.
It was not at all how I imagined this would go, and the first night back at home, a week after my daughter's birth, away from all the caring nurses, as I laid down next to her to sleep, I looked at her and I cried. I wanted her back inside me, I wanted to turn back time, I wanted to feel different, to feel more, to feel attachment. I think this was my first step of grief.

Add nine months to that day and little by little, through watching my daughter reach new milestones, through constant negotiations with my husband, through support and guidance of friends, and last but not least, through increasing job satisfaction, I've reached a level of confidence in myself, which originally I thought I could gain through giving birth only. I still hope that maybe with our next child I can give birth naturally, but if for some reason it's not meant to happen, I don't think I'll be as crushed as I was the day we got scheduled for the C-section. 

Snuggling.
It has not been an easy year for me. A month of (in my opinion) useless hospitalization, an emotionally difficult birth, the months of sleep-deprived exhaustion, the hardship of maintaining some sort of intimacy in my marriage, the heartache of missing Rini's firsts because I'm at work, all contributed to this fact. However, it is all worth it, when I hear my daughter giggle and see her mischievous smile. Or when she crawls to me just to kneel at my feet and look up, smiling, and when I pick her up, she snuggles real close, like she wants to melt into me and never let go. Over the last nine months I grew into a mother, and I'm growing still now.

I think I'm very lucky. Though the year wasn't a smooth ride all the way, I got what I've always wished for: a loving and happy family. I'm really thankful for that, and I'm looking forward to this upcoming new year.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Should I stay or should I go...?

It's now November and I guess it's needless to say just how much I doubt I'll fulfill my New Year's resolution of 52 blog posts in 52 weeks... Oh well, such is life of a working mother of an adorable baby. On that note, here's Rini!

Ready for Halloween!
I've been really busy with work lately. I really like my job, it's quite fun, but it's also very tiring. Being "genki" for 8 hours a day takes a lot of energy, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. When I finally get home to my loving husband and adorable baby, it's only their smiling faces that give me that last bit of energy boost to enjoy my evening actively by playing with, feeding, bathing, and finally putting my daughter to sleep, just to go to bed soon after myself.
I have nothing to complain about and I really do enjoy my life a lot. I just wanted to point out the reason for the lack of posts in the past 6 months. Considering I'm not too big on writing during the best of times, I believe it's no surprise that this was my first commitment that fell to the side to give space to spend time with my family and to rest.

But lately, more and more I feel the need to let some thoughts loose. Whether it's because my husband has been blogging more lately, too, or it's just getting a bit crowded in my head, I don't know, but here I go.

In just a couple months we as a family have to make a big decision once again, and that is, whether we stay in Japan for another year (as in from 2013 summer to 2014 summer), or do we take the next step come this summer?
This next step most likely would be to move back to my home country, Hungary, and try our luck there for the next 5-10 years. There are many reasons why moving to Hungary would be a good idea, some of which are:
  • our child(ren) could grow up in a calm and safe environment surrounded by a loving family;
  • they could learn Hungarian well and experience the culture, something that I alone cannot fully accomplish;
  • they could form close bonds to a part of their identity, and know where half of their roots come from, without a question.
This is not to say that our family on the East Coast is not loving, but I am weary about raising our child(ren) in such a city as New York, where there is so much noise, concrete, pollution, and general stress is found. Sure, we could try to find a smaller place away from the city, but that will also draw us further away from what family and friends we have there. Even before Japan, we saw most of my husband's family maybe twice a year, and that's quite unlike what I experienced in Hungary, where we'd drop by my grandmother's and aunt's house once a week or so, where no prior arrangements are necessary, because it's 15 minutes by car, and if they are home we're welcomed with food and good conversation, and if they're not, we'll try next time. My father's house, where we would live, is also a place where I could let kids run around in the backyard without a thought and know they were safe, where they could explore and play and climb trees and play with water in the summer or build a snowman in the winter, and no outside harm could come to them. It's a neighborhood, where I'd have no problem letting my 4-5 year old run to the baker around the corner two blocks away, or let her walk to school on her own a week into 1st grade. All the while, if I do want the excitement of a major city, it's no more than 30 minutes away.
This is what would await us in Hungary. A safe place to calm home.

Now the only problem is, of course, money... more specifically, finding not just jobs, but good jobs. Hungary is not a rich country, but it's a place I think we could make things work, especially since we speak fluent English. However, it is also a country with it's own unique (and quite difficult) language, which potentially makes fitting in hard, if someone doesn't understand what people are saying all around. This is where my worry for my husband comes in. He had a hard enough time the past year and a half dealing with a country, where he did not understand the main language. At least we had some "ready-made" friends through my job, who spoke English, and he could also blend in when/if he wanted to. So moving to a country where we didn't (yet) have any English-speaking friends and where he would stick out like a sore thumb, worries me quite a bit.

So why not just leave this idea be? After all, in America, we both have friends, we both can speak the language... Part of the reason is what I already mentioned above. The other part is quite selfish on my part. I miss my family. I miss my culture. My father, and not to mention grandmother, is getting older and older, time slipping by, and I'd like a chance to reconnect with them not just as my family, but as people. I want to learn recipes only my grandmother could teach me before she forgets how to do them. I'd like to be able to help my dad out with holding onto the home I grew up in, at least until my little brother settles down himself and can take over. I'd like our child(ren) to grow up playing with cousins of similar age and forming bonds and memories that will help them decades from now to keep our family connected.
Also, America is not completely off the list.... I just would like it to wait a little. Wait until Rini is a bit more grown up, when she can start to appreciate the diversity and culture the city and that great country can offer. I want New York and I definitely want my husband's family to be part of our child(ren)'s life. I believe my in-laws could teach amazing things, and to that point, I will try my best so that our child(ren) can spend summers with them if they are welcome to do so.

Now the finally question remains... should we stay or should we go?
If we stay, we could save up more money and I could learn more Japanese. We could also be either pregnant again, or have a newborn in our hands, which would make moving to a new country and settling in a lot more stressful.
If we go, we could have time to settle into our reversed roles, my husband working full-time and me staying home with Rini and work part-time teaching English. We could get to know the system and have no major changes going on when we do decide to try for our second child. Or if for some reason we can't find jobs, we'll only have one child to deal with when we move back to New York, and I'll have family support in Hungary, while James looks for a job and a place for us to stay in NYC.

So.... should we stay or should we go? We'll just have to see.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

You Know You're Hungarian...

I found this very entertaining, and I thought I'd post it here. Some of you might not get everything, but if you know me even a little you will find something that will make you smile... ^_^

You Know You're Hungarian...

1. When you use sour cream more than ketchup.

2. When your parents come to visit for 3 weeks and you all stay in a one bedroom apartment.

3. When feeding your guests is your main priority even if they claim they're not hungry and in which case you get slightly offended/upset that they don't want your hospitality.

4. When someone says that Hungarian "is like Russian and all those other Slavic languages," and then you have to go into great detail about the origins of Hungarian with a scolding history lesson.

5. When Paprika is just as important as salt & pepper on the table & in food.

6. When you know what Unicum is and prefer it over Jagermeister.

7. When it's shocking for you to realize that TV channels of foreign countries don't broadcast full live coverage of kayak-canoe and water polo world championships in prime time.

8. When you tell someone that you are Hungarian, they ask "Are you hungry?" Then you congratulate them on being the millionth person to say that to you.

9. When you've heard, "If you're hungry, why not go to Turkey?" at least once in your life.

10. When you have a relative who's named Attila. Or Jozsef. Or Janos. Or Laszlo.

11. When half of your mothers friends husbands have the name Jozsef.

12. When you know that the "goulash" you see in many restaurants has in actuality little/nothing to do with the gulyas leves we really eat.

13. When meeting another Hungarian in a country outside of Hungary is amazing.

14. When you know the meaning of "kurva" even if you don't know any other Hungarian word.

15. When you love Turó Rudi but cant really explain to foreigners what the hell that is until they try it.

16. When your foreign friends ask you if you still believe that Santa Claus brings the presents on the night between December 24th-25th... then you answer somehow confused that Santa Claus brings the presents on the 6th of December and it is actually Little Jesus who brings the presents on Christmas, but the presents are already there on the 24th at 6PM.

17. When a pancake is extremely flat in your country and you roll it up instead of folding it.

18. When you know the phrase "three is the Hungarian truth".

19. When you do not speak with your mouth full.

20. When guys keep telling you that Hungarian girls are the cutest and prettiest and hope that you just believe it and they get laid.

21. When they wanna show off by saying that they know your capital: Bucharest and no, they are not joking!

22. When you go into a Chinese restaurant and order your Sechuan chicken with French fries, cucumber salad and ask for a few slices of bread as well.

23. When you have a funny accent in every other language you speak.

24. When you love Mákos Guba and you can't explain what MÁK is, neither GUBA to anyone.. and if you finally can, everyone will think you're some kind of weirdo for eating that.

25. When catching a bus an old lady with lots of heavy bags runs by you and reaches the bus first, then sits down panting and complaining how old she is and how the stuff is heavy and young people are not well educated, etc.

26. When you start counting on your hand with one being the thumb.

27. When you can swear for 5 minutes straight, with one breath, not using the same word, ever.

28. When you know what 'lángos' is.

29. When you can show off your engagement ring, worn on the opposite hand.

30. When you know why the bells of every church ring every day at noon.

31. When you have difficulty pronouncing words started with "W" in English, but you're capable of creating long and meaningful sentences using only "E" vowels in you mother tongue.

32. When you would rather stand up in a tram/trolley when there are plenty of seats available.

33. When you have more excuses for the controllers than you have tickets.

34. When the train hasn't even left the station, but you are already eating your home made sandwiches (usually with half a paprika or tomato in it). And most likely include Wienerschnitzel.

35. When you call a 79 km long lake (the Balaton) the Hungarian Sea. And you are able to swim across it!

36. When you can eat ANYTHING deep fried (with breadcrumbs on it) and can make spirits (pálinka) of (almost) EVERYTHING, including paprika of course!

37. When you NEVER leave home with wet hair because you can get a cold and you ALWAYS bring your hair dryer when going abroad, and are astonished when people do not have one in their own homes!

38. When you sit always on the same place and chair, even when the (class)room is empty and "your" place is in the end of the room.

39. When zou cant tzpe on and English kezboard because y ans z are mixed up.

40. When you know the difference between s and sz. and also u and ü.

41. When you know what a pogácsa/dobos torta/kürtös kalács/főzelék/túrógombóc is, and love most of them.

42. When you understand cynicism and sarcasm; you sometimes go cynical/sarcastic yourself.

43. When you kind of dislike Turkish/Albanian people even tough you have never seen one in your life - you have the strange idea that they must all be related to jumurdzsák and his evil lot.

44. When you are more creative in cheating then any other nationality.

45. When Winnie the Pooh and The Flintstones is actually much funnier translated into your language than the original.

46. When you go abroad and joke with the people there as at home and they just don't understand but get possibly hurt by your funny remarks.

47. When you are snobby and think that anyone who has not read Dostoyewski and Bulgakow is not an intelligent human being.

48. When your language has two words for love.

49. When you deeply believe that Budapest (or your hometown) is the most beautiful city in the whole wide word and -just to make sure- you swear for that before going up to the Eiffel tower.

50. When you know that "a copper angel whistling on a willow tree" is actually a swear-expression!

51. When you have Szaloncukor! On a Christmas tree! :D

52. When you have a nameday and no one foreign understands what that is good for.

53. When instead of a good fruit salad, you'd rather make Pálinka out of your fruits, (and you swear on its healing power - of course).

54. When you use fruit to make soup.

55. When you greet everyone with a kiss on the cheeks! - Even a guy to another guy.

56. When you know that all geniuses and celebrities have some relation with Hungarians. Or they just simply are Hungarians.

57. When you put ketchup on your pizza.

58. When you collect and take home spoons, glasses, blankets, magazines etc. from the airplane.

59. When you can pronounce long words easily like: megszentségtelenitéshetetlenségeskedéseitekért" and you even know it has a meaning.

60. When you smuggle in drinks and food in your bag when you go to the cinema, just to save money.

61. When you know that all parts of a pig are edible, and it takes only half a day, some friends from the countryside and 2L palinka to prove it.

62. When you put on makeup and fancy clothes even when going to the grocery store.

63. When you have guests, you make at least 2 kinds of soup (sweet and salty), 4 different main courses, and at least 2 kinds of cakes, even though you know it's way too much.

64. When you know what is the difference between "puszi" and "csók"!

65. When you think it's perfectly reasonable to take small kids ( < 1 year) for a walk when the outside temperature is below zero, because they need some fresh air.

66. When you know what a Hungarian orange is. It's slightly yellower, it's slightly sharper, but our own.

67. When you tell to every single person that the Rubik's cube was invented in Hungary.

68. When for every meaning there are about 5 words.

69. When any foreigner's passing mention of Transylvania will set off a twenty-minute rant about the Treaty of Trianon.

70. When you have ever poured yourself a nice glass of milk - from a plastic bag.

71. When you start singing one of the saddest songs at midnight on New Years Eve when everybody else is happy as can be.

72. When it surprises you again and again, how much more impressive and chiseled are the Hungarian translations of most non-Hungarian poems, than the original ones.

73. When you say 'Jó étvágyat' before you start a meal and "Egészségedre" if somebody is sneezing or for drinking.

74. When you steal sugar packets from different coffee places.

75. When you know what tejbegriz is, and love it!

76. When you tell everyone that Lugosi Béla is from Hungary, more so, the real Dracula himself was Hungarian, and anyway, Hollywood majority was created by Hungarians.

77. When the telephone rings in your house, everybody yells "telefon!!!" as if people needed to be told that the phone was ringing, and needed to be picked up.

78. When your dog is a guard dog, not a pet.

79. When you know your language has the best and most clever jokes!

80. When your parents could tell if you were lying as a kid by feeling how 'soft' the tip of your nose was.

81. When you can make astonishingly delicious dishes without spending more than 3 euros (krumplistészta, káposztástészta, túróstészta).

82. When you swear that garlic and tea with honey can cure sicknesses in less than a day.

83. When all the neighbors in your apartment complex want peace and quiet as if they were living in a "kertes ház". You tell them to go move out of the city into a "családi ház".

84. If you've never been to a school in America, you are scared shit of it, because all you ever see about it on the news are school shootings.

85. When you've experienced the worst customer service ever known to mankind.

86. When you've ridden the BKV for free, either not gotten caught, or been able to talk your way out of a fine.

87. When you love to swim and swim in one of Budapest's outdoor pools at least 2 times a week.

88. When you can hum or whistle the Malév signal, even if you fly "fapados".

89. WHEN YOU KNOW THAT HUNGARY'S POLITICIANS ARE OUT FOR THEMSELVES, LINING THEIR POCKETS, AND FUCKING UP THE COUNTRY.

90. When you were a child you had to eat carrots all the time... and when you asked the question: Why? your parents answer is: "Hogy jobban fütyülj"!

91. When you are a shitty tipper.

92. When there's a Petőfi, a Széchenyi, and a Kossuth street even in the most behind-the-world kind of settlement. And you can get ANYWHERE in Hungary just by consistently following the Kossuth street through all towns you go.

93. When you laugh at Americans who think paying $3.00/gallon for gas is a lot.

94. When you tip your doctor.

95. When at least one member of your family had or still has a wartburg/lada/trabant and is proud of it!

96. When if you had a same size older cousin or sibling, then you pretty much inherited his/her clothes and school stuff, including a map with Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia on it - where you used to spend some of your holidays with the family, anyway.

97. If you are not a native Hungarian, and other Hungarians can tell, and when you go visit Hungary/Budapest you feel like person a non grata when you're there 'cause a lot of people will assume things about you and think you're super rich and automatically be jealous of you, and then go out of their way to try to make you unhappy.

98. When you know that beside the unquestioned Finno-Ugric relations with the Finnish, we have the Polish-Hungarian brotherhood as well.

99. When you are having a hard time explaining to any foreigner that actually, your family name is the first in your name, and it is not your given one.

100. When everyone having ever lived in Hungary has at least one acquaintance of each of the following surname groups: Kis(s), Nagy, Varga, Kovács and maybe even Béres and Balogh.

101. When you've traveled to/vacationed in/visited at least 10 countries in your life.

102. When you don't use measuring cups when cooking.

103. When you are standing next to the two largest suitcases at the airport.

104. When you have rugs covering every inch of your house.

105. When you live abroad and you could kill to eat proper Hungarian food!!

106. When your neighbor sun tans topless.

107. When people question you for eating a sandwich for breakfast.

108. When mixing red wine and coke is a delicious combination and you can't believe that foreigners think its weird.

109. When every 2nd person you know is either a Gábor, a Feri, Csaba, György, Balázs, Éva, Bea, Ezster, etc.

110. When - even if you have a cold - your grandmother tells you to gargle with salt water!

111. When you have ever had a Romanian say something bad about Hungarians.

112. When you can think of at least 5 different varieties of pörkölt and couldn't imagine your life without rakott káposzta or somlói galuska.

113. When you know that CS, DZ, DZS, GY, LY, NY, etc. are all ONE LETTER, and when telling it to your foreign friends, they all think it's weird.

114. When you say 'Szia' or 'Hello' instead of 'Viszlát' to your friends when you say good-bye to them, and your foreign friends think it's weird as well.

115. When you think that a glass of 'pálinka' or 'forralt bor' is better than medicine.

116. When you know what 'kakaós csiga' is.

117. When you have a bumper sticker on your car or map in your home of "Nagy Magyarország".

118. When you smuggle salami back from Hungary.

119. When you can (actually) pronounce Gy, as in HOGY VAGY - and not say hogi-vagi.

120. When you think that's weird that Americans don't have gates around their homes.

121. When having a barbecue means roasting lard on a stick and dripping the grease on bread.

122. When friends/family celebrate your birthday by pulling your ears.

123. When there is thermal water or a spa in your hometown or very close to your hometown.

124. When you have a good time with your friends by singing songs containing the words temetõ, keresztfa, sírhely, meghalt.

125. When you think zsíros kenyér and pálinka is a balanced meal as long as you also have onions.

126. When you know you can easily find a shop open in the middle of the night to buy alcohol and you will not be asked for ID.

127. When you know which nation has the most Nobel prize winners related to its population.

128. When you know what tepertős pogácsa is.

129. When you have to stand out to the rain to grow tall.

130. When rántotta is an egg food and not hitched by something.

131. When people from all over the world keep on asking you if you understand anything from Finnish language.

132. When you can talk about the most intimate things with complete strangers on the bus, waiting for the doctor, etc., but you are avoiding discussing your financial state even with your closest relatives.

133. When you know that the front passenger seat in a car is called "anyós-űlés"... and then proceed with a few mother in law jokes to top it off!

134. When you can't make do with normal sized pillows, they have to be huge or minute.

135. When there are more books in your apartment than in a foreign friend's entire neighborhood.

136. When you speak to foreign people in Hungarian, but slower and louder than normal to make them your language understandable!

137. When you eat bread with just about everything, even with potatoes.

138. When you never eat your steak if it's not very well done - like roasted dark.

139. When you are a citizen of the only country that has a crown with a tilted cross on the top.

140. When most of your childhood games revolved around 'bújocska', 'fogócska', and 'snúr' preferably with fillér-s (the old Hungarian 'cents').

141. When you live abroad and wonder around in a bookstore, you very frequently end up in the travel section, longingly staring at the photos of the unbelievably gorgeous Budapest (or which ever city you are from).

142. When your mom chases you with a wooden spoon and your dad says "Vigyaz, mert mindjárt össze akad a bajuszunk.." even when you're clearly a girl.

143. When you are eating something that looks like a plate full of puke, you call it "Lecsó". But it tastes amazing!

144. When you speak a language that no one can understand in a whole world... only Hungarians.

145. When your grandma gives yous "madártej" for dessert.

146. When you can't simply say "fine, thanks" when someone asks "how are you?" but you rather go into details of your life.

147. When you think that huzat equals certain death because again, this was handed down to you by your omnipotent and all-knowing mother.

148. When you say "kurva" to describe something amazing!

149. When your foreign friends have a hard time understanding that your friends in Slovakia and Transylvania are Hungarians by birth but not Hungarian citizens.

150. When you blame everything on the communists, when you have to pay to use the bathroom in public places and eat túrosgomboc, túros palacsinta and everything else with túro and your American friends come over for dinner and they won't touch anything because they think desserts with cottage cheese are gross.

151. When you don't waste food... you save the leftovers for the next day.

152. When you can't be overjoyed enough with the phenomenon that other people can't understand a single word in your language.

153. When you can't leave the house without your pockets full of zsebkendõ.

154. When you know that Karinthy was as great a humorist/satirist as Mark Twain.

155. When you go to visit Hungary, and no matter how many times you tell people you're from CANADA, they still think you're American.

156. When you know the ghost man who hangs around Jókai tér but you have never bought a flower from him.

157. When you rub a bronze horses balls for good luck.

158. When you have hopped around on one leg and slapped your thighs randomly to demonstrate how your people dance.

159. When you have wondered why the main airport is called Ferihegy, when there's not a mountain in sight.

160. When in Paris, in front of the fanciest club, you are drinking a 4 euro wine, and press the tap inside the bottle with your house keys, and you get everything wet, and you have to pour out some of the wine to be able to drink it (so the tap floating inside the bottle doesn't block the way of the wine).

161. When you consider poets historical figures on par in significance with kings and presidents.

162. When you can recite at least ten poems from memory.

163. When you have to explain the difference between the Hungarian flag, and the Italian one.

164. When your childhood fairytales didn't end as "they lived happily ever after" but "they lived happily until death".

165. When your fellow citizens feel to bitch about you or your actions just for the sake of it.



Now let's see which fit me so far...: 
1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 (my cousin, another cousin's husband/ my father and brother/ no one/ two more cousins), 12-21, 23-26, 28-30, 31 (not from head anymore), 37 (only the first part), 38, 39 (on hungarian kezboard), 40-42, 44-46, 48, 50-52, 54-56, (58 - my mom used to), 59-61, 63 (Xmas anyone?), 64 (in English both means kiss), 65, 67-75 (FARINA!!! ^.^), 76-79, 81, 86-90("So that you can whistle better.", 93, 99-101, 103-107, 112-114, 116, 119-124 (those words are in order: cemetery, grave marker, grave, dead), 127-133(I skip the jokes), 134, 135(you should see what we had in NYC), 137, 138(medium-well now), 139-148, 151, 152, 159, 161, 162 (used to be for sure... now... oy), 163(every time I do a self-intro in school), aaaand 164. 
WOW! (O.O) (^_^)v 
Also, most of what I skipped was because it had to do with alcohol, which I don't drink, but I do know plenty of people who those are true for.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

It's been a long time...

So apparently, staying in a hospital for over a month without any internet connection tends to mess up blogging schedules and intentions... Who knew?

Well, it's been over three months since my last blog, and a LOT has happened.
First and foremost, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Rinoa Heléna Tien, who was born at 37 weeks, on March 15th, 2012, at 1:48PM via C-section. She was 2926 grams and 47 cm long. To me she's absolutely perfect, and has been my constant joy and entertainment.
I will write about all the little things leading up to and after her birth in their own individual posts as I get to them. For the time being, I'd like to point you to my husbands blog, Taking Care of Tiny Tien, where you can read all about what has happened since January from his point of view.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

My First Week of “Rest”

So I left of last week with the doctor giving me some meds and strict orders of staying home and resting. And this is exactly what I was planning on doing.
Wednesday went by fine, though I guess a bit boring, as I tried to adjust to doing nothing but sitting and lying down all day. On Thursday though… Now Thursday was quite a bit different.
I woke up as usual, and ate my breakfast as usual. Then about 15 minutes or so later, ran to the bathroom to get rid of that usual breakfast any way possible… and again after another 20 minutes… and again when there was nothing left to get rid of… and again… and again… and again…
After the first few trips to the bathroom, James and I concluded that I most likely caught the virus that our neighbors got hit with last weekend. I tried to drink small sips of water to keep hydrated, but it didn’t stay down long. When I got to bathroom-trip #6 (just on the throw-up side) where all that was coming up was stomach acid for the fourth time, I decided to call my midwife and ask her what we should do. I knew at this point that most likely I’ll end up in the hospital for an IV and some meds, as well as a quick check-up of the baby.
What I didn’t realize is that all that throwing up was stressing out my abdomen muscles, causing them to contract enough to find myself at only 10mm during the cervical exam. That’s all the doctor and my midwife (who came right away to drive us to the hospital with her daughter for translation support) needed to hear and decide that the best course of action was for me to enjoy a nice month-long (until I’m 36 weeks) stay in this hospital, effective immediately.
I got set up in a nice single room, where after some time and paperwork, I changed into my PJs (thank goodness for my foresight) and got hooked up to an IV, which had some meds to prevent contractions and my cervix effacing any more. James went home to pick up things I needed, and I tried to rest, which in my current state was pretty impossible.

Here’s the summary of rest of the week:
I started Friday exhausted, having not slept at all, and weak from lack of food. I was starving and I welcomed breakfast… until it all came back up again. Though I still felt miserable for most of the day, by the evening I started to feel a little better and went to bed at 8pm.
Saturday morning I realized that the reason I wasn’t getting any rest wasn’t because I was sick but because the bed was just waaay too hard to get comfortable on. So I asked one of the nurses if she can do anything, and I got two of these blow up mats that made the bed much more comfortable. I also had a few visitors. First, my supervisor came by to see me and brought me some beautiful flowers. Then my midwife popped in just to check how I was feeling. Finally, our neighbor came by and brought an amazing picture from her 4-year old son. (That’s me and the baby in my tummy… in breech position. lol)
Sunday morning was the first time when I felt somewhat rested. I was getting used to the hospital routine, which is:
-    Wake up around 6-6:30 by a nurse, who’s coming to check the baby’s heartbeat.
-    Breakfast is at 7:30.

-    Doctor comes by around 9AM if it’s a special day (check-ups, etc).
-    External baby monitoring for twenty minutes a little after 10AM.
-    Lunch is at noon.
-    Another check up on baby’s heartbeat around 2PM.
-    Dinner is at 6PM.

-    Final baby heartbeat check-up around 9PM.
-    Lights out at 10PM.
Also, my supervisor’s manager (our mid-level boss I guess), came by to see me and brought me an amazing fruit basket, full of apples, bananas, kiwi, oranges, pear jelly, and on the side, strawberries!!! \(^o^)/ (This last one was gone before picture could be taken.) Deeeeelicious! Our neighbor came by again for a little bit, too, and brought yummy pastries! (Sorry, these were also gone before I remembered to take a picture of them.)On Monday, the doctor checked the baby on the ultrasound. While healthy, our baby is still in the breech position, and because of this, we still don’t know if we’re having a boy or a girl. Some good friends came by to visit and kept me company, and that was fun.
Tuesday went by without anything special happening, and then Wednesday I finally had the check-up I was waiting for! Here was the day with some good news! My cervix was back over 16mm, so the doctor decided to lower my medication. She also said that if things continue to improve (goal of 20-25mm), she’ll change me over to oral meds, and then I might be able to go home early and be home for my bed rest! So my “goal,” if it can be called that, is to reach over 20mm by next Wednesday’s check-up.
And there you have it… Ups and downs, but overall with a healthy baby with a strong heartbeat and lots of kicking, and an optimist mommy-to-be, who is really hoping she can coax her baby to turn head-down before the doctors have a stroke… (^.^)v

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

And then there was 16…

While there was silence here in the blog, things were quite busy during the past couple of weeks.
First, James and I had a plan to sort through, re-organize, and clean up the whole apartment in order to prepare and make room for the baby. This was to be done only one room at a time on Saturdays, so we wouldn’t overwhelm ourselves and so that I can take it slow and rest as we’re doing things. So far the bedroom is done and the living room is about 80% finished and still awaiting completion, because…

Well, we also went to the doctor back on the 21st. It was originally just a regular check-up to compliment seeing my midwife. However, things didn’t go quite as smoothly as we’d hoped.
There were two problems the doctor seemed really concerned about:

  1. The baby is currently/still in a complete breech position.
  2. My cervix is thinner than normal.
The first concern was really not a surprise (this has been the case all along until now) and also not really a concern to us yet, as I think the baby still has plenty of time to turn around, though I might be mistaken…

The second was more worrisome. For those in the know, this was also not a total surprise, we kind of expected it to happen, but if I must be honest, I guess I started to feel a bit too optimistic that maybe, just maybe, we were lucky enough to avoid this problem all together.

A quick recap… A few years ago, just before JET, I had a procedure called a cone biopsy to remove some close-to-cancerous cells from my cervix. One of the risks of this procedure is that even though the cervix heals fine, there’ll always be a piece missing, leaving it somewhat weaker in the future, so much so that potentially it could be too weak to allow me to carry a baby full term and possibly resulting in second or third trimester miscarriages, or in a premature birth. This condition is called an incompetent cervix. Unfortunately, the likelihood of this is not something the doctors could give me a percentage for; they said we’ll just have to see what happens when we get pregnant. Well, obviously we did, and when I told my doctor-at-the-time about my history, she told me not to worry, it doesn’t happen very often and we’ll keep an eye on it. To up our chances, I tried to take extra good care of myself and the baby, and things were going fine, even back in November, when my newer doctor told me I was good to go on our New York City trip over the holidays.Inside the train

However, now the picture was somewhat different. The length of a cervix that’s considered normal is anything above 30mm. I was down to 24mm. To try and get a better picture, the doctor asked me to come back a week later for another check up, which we did last Saturday, along with my midwife and an assistant midwife who spoke English and was there to help with any language problems.

During this visit we realized that while just having one or the other problem would probably not cause such a concern, having both together was a bit too much for this doctor and clinic (and of course my midwife too) to handle. Our Baby - 2012. 01. 28. They were seriously worried that even though my cervix has not thinned out any further according to the ultrasound, the baby could be born premature with the added complication of being breech, especially if I keep biking, which is a must for work. So in the end everyone agreed the best course of action was to refer me to a bigger hospital that has a NICU for further check ups, and to put me on sick leave as soon as possible, with absolutely no more biking until after delivery, and to stay at home and rest in the meantime.

Sick leave was requested, was approved on Sunday, and appointment to the hospital was made for yesterday (Tuesday). We took a taxi, because it costs only slightly more than public transportation for the two of us combined with the convenience of no walking required for me, and off we went. During this check up, we found out that my cervix was now only 16mm (what happened in those three days, I have no idea…), and was given some sort of medicine to take three times a day after meals, with orders of resting at home (not even short and slow walks outside are permitted at this point), and to come back in a week to see how things changed.

And this is where we are right now. I’m trying not to worry, use my time off productively (YAAY knitting, studying Japanese, and blogging), and bugging James as little as possible. I really hope that on our next check up we won’t get more worrisome news, and that maybe by that time I’ll be able to coax the baby into a head down position with some tricks and tips from various sources. Wish us luck! (^.^)v