The second driving exam

I failed and the only reason it annoys me so much is that the examiner could have let me pass. I made some small mistakes, such as not getting close enough to the broken white line when wanting to turn left, but I didn't create any dangerous situations or anything like that. So, the examiner said that he thought I had been driving really well, I had had good control of the car, it had been a pleasant ride and he would whenever trust me to drive the car that he was sitting in, but he was going to fail me. Great.

So, let's call it a draw. I passed the first exam, even though I think the guy could have failed me. I didn't pass the second exam, even though this second guy could have easily let me pass and just say "miss, pay more attention to this and this". When the examiner left, my teacher - who was also sitting in the car - said that he thought he was too strict. There's not much I can do. I'll have to register for another exam and practise. Oh, and spend more money on learning to drive.

The story of a pot of mayonnaise and two cups of coffee

I hope most of you speak French too. A friend of mine posted this story on facebook and it was so nice that I had to let you read it. Here we go...

Quand il te semble qu'il y a « trop » de choses dans ta vie, quand 24
heures ne te semblent pas suffisantes. Rappelle-toi du pot de
mayonnaise et du café !
Il était une fois, un professeur de philosophie qui, devant sa
classe, prit un grand pot de mayonnaise vide et sans dire un mot,
commença à le remplir avec des balles de golf.
Ensuite, il demanda à ses élèves si le pot était plein. Les étudiants
étaient d'accord pour dire que OUI.
Puis le professeur prit une boîte pleine de billes et la versa dans
le pot de mayonnaise. Les billes comblèrent les espaces vides entre
les balles de golf. Le prof redemanda aux étudiants si le pot était
plein. Ils dirent à nouveau OUI.
Après, le professeur pris un sachet rempli de sable et le versa dans
le pot de mayonnaise. Bien sûr, le sable remplit tous les espaces
vides et le prof demanda à nouveau si le pot était plein. Les
étudiants répondirent unanimement OUI.
Tout de suite après prof ajouta deux tasses de café dans le contenu
du pot de mayonnaise et effectivement le café combla les espaces
entre les grains de sable. Les étudiants se sont alors mis à rire.
Quand ils eurent fini, le prof dit :« Je veux que vous réalisiez que
le pot de mayonnaise représente la vie.
Les balles de golf sont les choses importantes comme la famille, les
enfants, la santé, tout ce qui passionne. Nos vies seraient quand
même pleines si on perdait tout le reste et qu'il ne nous restait
qu'elles.
Les billes sont les autres choses qui comptent comme le travail, la
maison, la voiture, etc...
Le sable représente tout le reste, les petites choses de la vie.
Si on avait versé le sable en premier, il n'y aurait eu de place pour
rien d'autre, ni les billes ni les balles de golf. C'est la même
chose dans la vie. Si on dépense toute notre énergie et tout notre
temps pour les petites choses, nous n'aurons jamais de place pour les
choses vraiment importantes. Faites attention aux choses qui sont
cruciales pour votre bonheur. Jouer avec ses enfants, prendre le
temps d'aller chez le médecin, dîner avec son conjoint, faire du
sport ou pratiquer ses loisirs favoris. Il restera toujours du temps
pour faire le ménage, réparer le robinet de la cuisine. Occupez-vous
des balles de golf en premier, des choses qui importent vraiment.
Etablissez des priorités, le reste n'est que du sable. » Un des
étudiants leva alors la main et demanda ce que représente le café. Le
professeur sourit et dit :« C'est bien que tu demandes. C'était juste
pour vous démontrer que même si vos vies peuvent paraître bien
remplies, il y aura toujours de la place pour une tasse de café avec
un ami.

Mother's Day Lunch

The past 5 years I had never been at home on Mother's Day, so I thought I should really do something now. The flowers and the chocolates are nice, but they are not too personal. I figured the present should be something we would do together and I decided to invite my mother and my two grandmothers to my place for lunch. My grandpa came too, which complicated things slightly: I had to get another chair so that everybody would be able to sit. See, I only have the bare essentials.

I made a dish resembling that instant thing I used to love in Holland: Kip Madras, or Madras chicken, except that I didn't buy it in a box but made it from scratch. There is a small Asian shop in the market of the Vámház Av. and that's where I bought the spices I used - that's where I always buy the spices I use. I got the chicken, the apples, the sour cream and all the stuff you need and it turned out to be really tasty. I used some chilly pepper too; yummy. I made a big salad for starter and my grandma brought dessert, so we had a complete three course meal.

I think my grandparents haven't seen each other since last summer, so they enjoyed catching up with each other, talking about what old people like talking about the most: being sick. They also, of course, started talking about the good old days, back in the Communist era, when all three of them used to work in a factory. It turned out that one of my grandmothers was a Stakhanovist. I never knew about that and the only thing I could think about was that "this explains it"... (When I told this to someone at work, his first reaction was to laugh out loud and ask "runs in the family?") I learnt that when my grandma was a child, she could only go to school every other day, because they only had one pair of shoe and every other day her sister would wear it to go to school. I also learnt that when my mother was a baby, the state gave one litre of milk per baby per day to the mother in the form of a milk ticket, which they were able to exchange for the milk.

We had a very good time together and all of them enjoyed seeing each other after so long, so I'm glad I took the time and energy to cook and have them over. It was really lovely. And this is them: the parents of my father on the left and my mother and her mother on the right: