Try Curiosity!: On my way to work

Inspired by fellow expat teacher @chamada in Vietnam, I share my commute to work. I look forward to seeing the paths of others. Seeing how we all start our day is a natural connector.

The act of getting out the door in the morning is often hectic, but once we are on the road we all settle in to thoughts about the upcoming day. It's a short trip - just a few miles - but so beautiful!

Last thing I grab on the way out this morning: my purse and the flannels I made last night!

My beloved Opel Astra wagon (1991), the most reliable car I've ever owned. Bought for $6,000 five years ago, it has well surpassed my $2,000 per year limit on car expenses. We live in a house just barely within the city limit in a area called "Adyliget" which is a park named after one of Hungary's poets, Ady.

There's a house being built right next to us. I miss that empty lot but look forward to meeting the new family. They are a young Hungarian couple with two children and they speak English!

My girls say goodbye to our dog, Sami. They are in grades 6 and 4 and all packed up with their PE clothes, lunch boxes, soccer cleats, homework...

Our street. We'll head left to get to our school, The American International School of Budapest. We are surrounded by walking trails, and my husband bikes to school through the woods most days. We're about 20 minutes from downtown Budapest and you can walk through the woods all the way into the city.

And we're off! We head away from the city. Here's a bus stop we pass along the way. The whole drive takes five minutes and is very rural.

We could be behind a tractor, a Mercedes, or a VW bug like we were today. Either way, it's either too fast or too slow!

We pass this small tribute to a boy who was killed along this road. It is maintained by his grandmother; she puts fresh flowers and plants there weekly. I think of the two of them every day.

And seconds later, we enter our school gate...

...and we're out of the car, walking up to our building, the elementary school. We have about 400 students this year. This building just opened a couple of years ago. I did well today - arrived at 7:45.