Last Spring with my retirement looming I decided that maybe what I needed was a retirement adventure. After all, every year for the last 52 (one way or another), when Fall came around I was starting school. And in the coming year, the fall of 2019, I would be starting... nothing. So I did a little research and came up with the perfect solo adventure.
I had heard of a program called Angloville, where native English speakers traveled to other countries to work with adults who wanted to improve their conversational English. Angloville has programs in several European countries but the country that captured my imagination was Hungary. Shortly before WWII my fathers family immigrated to the United States from Hungary; I had always wanted to see "The Old Country" so working with Angloville seemed like a great fit.
My trip to Hungary coincided with the first week of the new school year. I was too excited about my upcoming adventure to miss any of my old routines. I planned to fly to Budapest where I would spend a few days on my own and then meet up with the Angloville group and travel to the Varga Tanya Hotel in the heart of Hungary, near the Kiskunság National Park..
After a few days on my own I joined up with the Angloville volunteers and our fearless leaders Astrid and Kornél . The other volunteer English speakers were from Northern Ireland, Scotland, The US and South Africa. Early on in this adventure I knew I had found my people, funny, talented, kind, open hearted and irreverent, because of course, I am funny, talented, kind, open hearted and irreverent. The Hungarians were a bit more nervous at first, but soon they were open to the experience of living outside of their comfort zone.
During the week each native speaker was assigned one Hungarian to mentor. The mentoring would culminate with a 5 minute presentation, in English. Additionally the native speakers met with other Hungarians in a variety of sessions including one on one discussions and group activities. Each night ended with a good glass of wine and folks just sitting around chatting about life. Language camp, with wine, for adults, how could life get any better!
I was seeking an adventure to begin my retirement and that is just what I got. The Angloville program helped me kick-off this new phase of my life and blessed me with a host of new friends. I'm ready to go boldly into retirement and live my dreams. :)