I hope you know these lines from Bryan Adams's Summer of '69. As Hungarians would say, I wasn't even a thought in '69 because both my parents were in elementary school at the time. Nevertheless, this song always brings me back some nostalgia, especially the well-known refrain "Those were the best days of my life."
Yesterday we held the elementary school re-union at last, and I can't stop thinking of it. We met in front of the school, which was the first shock of the evening as the building seemed so small (of course it seemed much bigger when we were first graders, though I last saw it in 1999, and I wouldn't say I've grown a lot since then.) There were only 9 of us and 4 teachers (not a good proportion), but I think everybody had a good time. It was really funny and at the same time strange how the teachers arrived one by one and couldn't recognize most of us. The first two of them went on maternity leave after we finished second grade, and the next two taught us through fourth grade. In addition, not all of us graduated from there as some people left after sixth grade to attend junior high school (I'm afraid that's not the proper term, anyway, we started at 13.)
We went in and Gabriella néni (Aunt Gabriella, hehe) opened all the three classrooms we had during the period we spent there. Actually, second-graders were stationed in a separate building some 500 metres or one kilometer far from the school. That place used to be a village school or something like that, but now they had ruined the building and there's a car store instead. My heart bleeds over it.
As we were walking along the corridors, lots of memories popped up and we kept giggling. Of course the classroom decoration is nothing like what we had, except for educational posters on the board. A new wing was added to the school, so my first love's classroom was destroyed. German and Swedish pupils occupy that area now, which entails a strange twist in the organization.
Finally we settled in the classroom which used to be our first classroom, and everyone had to tell about themselves. Gabriella néni also explained the changes the school had gone through, and you can imagine politics didn't leave the school alone (and never does in this country.)
After that we walked to the pizzeria where we had booked a table for 15. Perhaps it wasn't the best choice after all. We were seated in the area called "garden," though it wasn't open air, only the entrance door and the windows were left wide open. There was a dim light, so we couldn't read much of the menu, which was printed in grey and covered with brownish clingfilm (I'm not sure if it's the right word.) The waiter was a bit rude I think, so we shouldn't have given him any tip whatever, but of course we did. The food was served late, but at least they gave us extra large portions for about 1500 forints. I had chicken breast rolled in bacon slices with fries and tzatziki. They also gave me some kind of bun, just to add to the calories, I guess.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to talk to everyone as two of the girls left quite early. After the teachers had left, the seven of us stayed and talked for an hour more, though I can't tell how long exactly. We had some fun, and it turned out that some of the guys now live in Budapest, too. (I come from Kecskemét, and in most cases those who want to go to university either go southward to Szeged or northward to Budapest.)
It was exciting to see how everyone is grown up now, though mainly in the biological sense. I mean, most people either have a job or are just finishing their studies, but only a few can afford to rent a flat, so most live home. (As you may recall, I wrote in an earlier post that about 8 to 10 people are working abroad, either temporarily or permanently.) I guess by the time we will meet next, many of us will have babies and spouses waiting at home, which may be another burden to prevent our re-union.
Finally, one of the guys took me home, which was lucky because there's no night service in Kecskemét, and the night was a bit too chilly for my mini dress and nylon tights. I arrived at my dad's at 11 and went straight to bed as everyone was sound asleep. But it was hard to fall asleep as the thoughts kept popping up.
P.S. I hope the best days of my life are yet to come. I don't want to start mourning my life as early as now.
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