American Corner

Tom is on a road trip to Rumania this week. I stayed behind because I had to work. I have had quite the week. Besides my usual teaching schedule, I did an event for the American Corner here in Pecs. There are four American Corners in Hungary, all sponsored by the US Embassy. When Tom and I arrived, we paid a visit to the office, introduced ourselves, and offered our services. One program the American Corner sponsors is a Tuesday movie night. They show American movies in English with English subtitles. I brought 3:10 to Yuma, the 2007 Western with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, to Hungary because I wrote an article on it that is coming out next year, and I thought it would be something of interest I could talk about. The Pecs Director of the American Corner, Zsuzsanna Nagy added the movie to their program and asked me to lead a discussion afterwards. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was pleased with the turnout and the response. Some colleagues came, a small number of university students, high school students, and some random town folk. The discussion about masculinity and the western was interesting. We got a little bogged down in homoeroticism; isn’t that always the way it is? I was sorry Tom missed the evening. The next day when I met with Zsuzsanna, she asked me if I would be available to lead a discussion for the other movie nights. Transamerica (remember the transgender movie with Felicity Huffman) is the movie next week. I was relieved that I would be in Berlin and therefore had to decline

Because this is Women’s Issues month, Zsuzsanna (the English equivalent is Susan) asked me if I would write a short piece for the university newspaper on women’s issues in today’s society. Huge topic in less than 500 words. I sat down on Wednesday evening and wrote my piece. When it comes out, I may have no idea what I said because it could be in Hungarian.

Stay tuned because Tom and I both have committed to talks for the American Corner. Tom will be speaking to the Business School on the economic crisis from a personal perspective, and I will be talking to high school students in Pecs. I have suggested a talk on African-American writers during the Harlem Renaissance. The teachers want a snazzy power point presentation. We will see.