Tracking Changes in Photoperiod Around the Globe

Introducing Mystery Class #9

You can read about and see our city, school, teacher, and us below, and be sure to click here to see us on our WWW site too.

INTRODUCING: Our 1,100 Year Old Country

I. Hungary in a Nutshell

• Official name: Republic of Hungary.

• Area: 93,030 square kilometers. Greatest distance from North to South: 268 km, from East to West: 526 km.

• Location: Central Europe, Carpathian Basin.

• Neighbors: Austria (West), Slovene, Croatia, Yugoslavia (South), Romania, Ukraine (East), Slovakia (North).

• Surface: The Great Plain, Transdanubia with varied topography and the Northern Mountains.

• Highest point: Kekes, 1014 m.

• Longest rivers: Danube, Tisza, Raba, Drava, Zagyva, Harmas-Koros.

• Biggest lakes: Balaton, Lake Tisza, Lake Ferto, Lake Velence.

• Population: 10,277,000, density: 110 per sq. km.

• Official language: Hungarian.

• Public administration: 19 counties and the capital city, Budapest.

• Public holidays: January 1, March 15, Easter Monday, May 1, Whitsun Monday, August 20, October 23, December 25-26.

II. Hungary is Your Precious Experience
Famous and nice towns are in Hungary, for example: Sopron, Koszeg, Veszprem, Szombathely. Gentle Pannonian forests teeming with game and babbling brooks, fortresses perched on rocky crags, romantic castle rains, quaint medieval village, churches and towns embellished with Baroque beauty.

You can find special artistic touch in Sopron, near the border of Austria. Sopron offers so much, that you could spend weeks here and never run out of things to see and do. In fact, the town Sopron was awarded the Europe Prize for the Protection of Monuments in 1975.

Around Koszeg the air is fragrant and bracing, the meadows and hills are green. And the town, where practically every building has a story of its own - where the vast number of ages and styles have blended together over the centuries, is a living treasure of art history. (Agnes Tuske)

Our 750 Year Old City: Zalaegerszeg
The first written document about Zalaegerszeg was issued in 1247. As a market-town, it was first mentioned in 1446, under the name "Egerscug". In 1885 it was declared "town with council", which promoted its development.

The Hotel Arany Barany and our Zrinyi Miklos High School were soon consecrated. In 1937 the first oil-field in the county was opened up not far from the town. Thus, rapid industrialization started in the area. After World War II the oil-refinery and the clothes-factory were built. Further factories began to operate in the sixties. As a county town, Zalaegerszeg went through a dynamic progress in the past forty years. From a clerk-town, counting thirteen thousand inhabitants, it became an industrialized, middle-size town of sixty-five thousand people.

The housing estates in the town, which is situated in a basin surrounded with hills, were built in the past twenty-five years. The settlement had gone through many changes, until it developed into a city, that harmonizes with the environment. In 1975 it received the Hild Award for outstanding town-development. It has a college, a theater and a modern sports hall. The first village museum and the only oil-industry museum in the country are here. The TV-tower and the pottery-house are popular tourist attractions, too. (Ilona Kovacs)

Our 100 Year Old School
The building located at 30 Rakoczi street is the oldest secondary school of the town. It is called Zrinyi Miklos Grammar School. Karoly Kovacs the mayor of Zalaegerszeg opened it on 17th March 1895. In the World War 1st and 2nd a military hospital took part in the building. In 1923 the school was named after Ferenc Deak. This grammar school has celebrated its centenary recently on the occasion of which a busk depicting Ferenc Deak was set in front of the building.

Another busk standing opposite the other one portrays the poet and general who is the denominator of the school. The monble sculpture is the work of a local artist.

The grammar school is a nice three-storey building which was built in the eclecting style with classicist elements. On the facade there is a tympanum with an inscription of Millennium and the date of the inauguration in Roman numbers.

There are specialized classes of Mathematics, English and German. Many different kinds of study groups run at the school, for example: basketballing, handballing, diving, computer studying.

Next to our school you can find an economical middle-school. Opposite the grammar school the oldest house of Zalaegerszeg can be found. Here stands a statue erected in 1935 commemorating the martyrs of the 48th Imperial and Royal Infantry Regiment. It portrays Sandor Petofi, one of the most popular Hungarian poets and took part in the revolution, and a Hungarian soldier who is just about to throw his hand grenade with a flag in the background. (Dominika Kovacs)

Our 40 Year Old Teacher
His name is Tibor Juhasz. His nickname is Tibi. He is middle-aged. His hobbies are astronomy and diving. He is full of energy, and he is always in good mood. He is a good Physics teacher, because we have been interested in physics since he has been teaching us.

In Hungary there is a chocolate called "Tibi". We always buy him one for his nameday, birthday and for some other special occasions. We have always fun on his lessons, we enjoy him really. We think, that we are his favorite class, that's why he has selected us as a mystery class. We are lucky to have such a teacher like him.

He always organizes astronomy and diving circles, and he plans to go to the seaside in the summer. If you are interested in astronomy, diving or maybe in our teacher, sit down of your computer and write to him! (Aliz Kardos)

Our 2 (or 16) Year Old Class
Our class counts 33 students, but there are only four boys. I think, they feel very well among so many girls, they are like four kings. It is a good team and there is a good atmosphere. We often help each other with the homework, because we don't want anybody to drop out. If somebody lags behind, the others will help him/her. I like my classmates, because they are helpful and honest. They are all hard-working and most of them are bright, too. We find the teacher-student relationship ideal, because they import a great deal of knowledge to us and they are satisfied with us. But we are given a lot of homework, so we haven't got too much freedom. We like meeting at weekends and having a talk with each other.

Our class looks always beautiful because every week somebody brings a bunch of flowers. It is much easier to learn in such a nice classroom. Everybody is looking forward to the summer holidays so all the class is counting the days which have left. That's why the end of the school is the most important thing for all of us. (Zsuzsa Szemes, Irisz Tomka)

Tibor
juhaszt@alpha.dfmk.hu