Give Thanks to the Lord for He is Good

Give Thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1

Hello America!

I think only American’s read my blog, and of those, are mostly my family and just a few curious perusers. (I had to look that word up to make sure it was real.) I am happy to report that I have been to the Lego Factory of Nyíregyháza! It was so cool. I am told that if you buy Duplo LEGOs in America, you can be sure they are from Nyíregyháza. They make normal LEGOs too. The class and I took a tour of the factory. They employ 1,500 employees recruited from the surrounding area. The building itself is efficient, safe and sustainable, even using rainwater that is collected on top of the buildings for drinking and bathroom use. The building was completed in just a year and cost 200 million euros.

Enjoy some useless trivia information! The LEGO Group is a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company is still owned by the Kirk Kristiansen family who founded it in 1932. Based on the world-famous LEGO brick, the company today provides toys, experiences and teaching materials for children in more than 130 countries. Apart from moulding all the LEGO DUPLO bricks of the world and a huge number of LEGO elements, the factory in Nyíregyháza handles the packaging of both DUPLO and classic LEGO products. One person works with 12 machines that form the Legos at one time. There are 672 moulding machines, and some of them are pictured above.

The students and I enjoyed the tour very much. We walked through the different rooms where the LEGOs are moulded, where they are sometimes printed with different designs, and where they’re stored for only a day or two in a huge storehouse. We had a chance to play with the Legos that were made at the factory and left with a souvenir, assembly required, of a reindeer. There were really cool LEGO sculptures scattered outside the factory, and even a special store for employees who want to buy special discounted LEGOs.

Otherwise, it has been pretty quiet here. The Christmas market is about to open in the city, which is always nice when you want to walk among Christmas lights and cheerful people. The big tree is up in city center, and there’re even a few pictures hanging from the bottom of what various children want for Christmas this year. I plan to visit the Christmas market in Budapest with the Brauns sometime. Speaking of the Brauns, it would be great if you could pray for them and support them. They are making some changes to their lives, which are still to the glory of God but are more attuned to their needs.

Today is Thanksgiving, and while Hungarians don’t

celebrate it, many nice students have made a point to tell me “Happy Thanksgiving”. I like them very much. At the beginning of the school year, the staff asked me to provide them with American national holidays. I checked the Internet out and gave them some options. To me, it isn’t very odd that they chose two national holidays and that happen to be about food. According to nationaldaycalender.com, December 1st is National Pie Day. Everyone loves pie, so if you aren’t still full from your Thanksgiving feast, make a pie and eat it too. Or, you could give one to a neighbor! I included a picture of a cool pie to inspire you. The students and their parents plan to make pies and sell slices to each other throughout the day. I could definitely eat pie all day!

They also chose to celebrate National Popcorn day on January the 19th. I didn’t know these holidays existed, but there are weirder ones that I chose to avoid sharing. I like knowing what the national day is though, because if it’s a good one, I share it with my classes and we talk about it. I usually start with an opening conversation to start classes. Reading poems and learning songs can get old. This is just another way for me to change things up a bit and get the students to think for themselves. For example, November 1st was apparently National Stress Awareness day. I’ve mentioned before that Hungarians always seem to be under a lot of stress. We talked about what it’s like to be stressed and think of good and bad ways to handle stress.

That’s what’s going on here! I’ve started a countdown to when I get to visit home for Christmas and I have three weeks. Yay! Have a happy Thanksgiving and don’t forget to thank God for how he has blessed your life, including the country that you live in.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

James 1:17-18