Leaving the airport in Budapest what struck me immediately was the impact of globalization. Within minutes of pulling out of the airport parking lot, I saw signs for Burger King, MacDonald’s, the Hard Rock Café and Chevron. I could have been in the outskirts of any major airport in the United States. But, of course, I was not. My driver, Tibor, explained to me that because it is difficult to earn a living here, Hungary is having a problem retaining its young people. In fact, he explained, the city with the second largest Hungarian population, after Budapest, is London. The airport in Budapest is named after composer Franz Liszt. So as I settled into my hotel room and checked my lesson plans for my first day of teaching at the Scheiber Sandor School I pulled up Liszt on YouTube and let the music help me relax and focus.
