Did you know there are 69 McDonald’s in Hungary with 3700 employees? In Budapest, there are 36 braches of McDonald’s, 20+ branches of Pizza Hut, and 12 braches of Burger King. Here’s a picture of the McDonald’s at Nyugati Train Station. It’s so clean you could probably eat off of the floor.
Bizony nem bolond az, aki odaadja azt, amit nem tud megtartani ü azért, hogy ilnyerje azt, amit nem tud elvesziteni.
Language acquisition has been the primary activity for Laura and I these last three months. Today a friend shared an analogy with me. Entering Hungarian culture is like walking with a chain saw into a forest dense with trees. And every tree is a word. To reach a vocabulary of 50,000 words, I can do nothing but learn them one word at a time. Every word is a giant tree that has to be cut down. And cutting each tree down takes work. And even when the tree is down, there is still work to be done on that tree. The branches must be cleared, and the trunk cut into pieces.
A couple days ago, I learned the word “lelkiismeretes.” It means “conscientious.” Slowly and with help, I’ve come to learn the parts of the word. “lelki” is the word for “soul.” And “ismer” is “to know.” And “Ismeretes” is “knowledge.” So literally it means “soul knowledge.”
One tree down.
Soul and the City (Heidish)
The Pursuit of God (Tozer)
A Year with C.S. Lewis
Francis Schaeffer Trilogy
Shepherding a Child's Heart (Tripp)
Why Marriages Succeed or Fail (Gottmann)
Exclusion and Embrace (Volf)
Science and Grace (Morris, Petcher)
Can Man live without God (Zacharius)
The Gospel in a Pluralist Society (Newbigin)
The Story We Find Ourselves In (McLaren)
The Journey (Guiness)
Hitler's Cross (Lutzer)
No Man is an Island (Merton)
Simply Christian (Wright)
