Everyone here is so ready for Hungarian class to be over and to start what we came here for: MATH. The language course isn't particularly well organized, so classes leave us feeling frustrated, antsy and annoyed that Hungarian has more suffixes than PDX has coffee shops. Today we had a scavenger hunt, with the questions written by another one of the 4 classes. (The A group wrote questions for the B group, the B group wrote questions for the C group etc). The questions were supposed to be tricky, but not impossible, and all the answers were to be found on the city block that the language school is on. The question I had to answer was supposed to go something like "What model is the 23,830,013th numbered shoe in the store with the yellow-orange butterfly?" but was worded "What model is the 23,830,013th numbered shoe in the orange yellow butterfly store?" Which tripped me up because in Hungarian, the word for butterfly is the same word as prostitute, so I kept looking at the escort agency around the corner. I found the answer to my question right before the time was up, and my group still came in last. Somorú! (Sad)
Luckily there are only 3 days left of the language school, then it's geek-out time! Not like everyone in the program hasn't been geeking out already... Mihály and Voula spent their free time today working on a proof, Bruce studies for the GRE every day, and I have seen more geeky math t-shirts here than you could shake a protractor at. My favorite? One that made fun of the old Antidrug commercials from the early 00s that says Integrals: My Antiderivative. The close second is the one with an i crossed out that says "Keepin' It Real"
I finally got paid for my last month of work today, which means that tomorrow I can venture to my first Hungarian mall and find the Vodafone store that Misi (pronounced Mee-shee, one of the Michaels on our program) told me about. He said that he got a SIM card there for just over 1500 ft, which means it was about 8 dollars. I've heard them going for as much 4000 ft, so I'm hoping this place is as cheap as Misi said. Tonight I'm treating myself to sort of expensive (still less than $10, I'm sure) Indian food at a restaurant called Kama Sutra that one of Voula's friends recommended to her. But you know what? Whatever, it's payday!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
My Budapesties.
Here are some pictures of my friends here. This isn't all of them, but it's a good cross section. (For a better view click on the picture, it'll open a larger version of the picture).
This is Eva. She goes to Scripps, but she's more of a Mudd-type. Plus she's UU, so that = awesome.
This is Michael. Better known as Mihály.
This is Bruce. He's a frat boy, so I was prejudiced against him at first... but now he's one of my best friends here, so who knows.
I give you... Voula (left) and Mad. Voula lives about 15 minutes from me in Buda and goes to school in Wellesley. Mad goes to school at Wesleyan. Don't get them confused.
This is Zeb! That's short for Zebediah, but he goes by Zebadeus (Zeb-a-day-oosh) in Hungarian class.
This is Pat. He does magic tricks!
This is Pat. He does magic tricks!
Friday, August 24, 2007
My name spelled phonetically in Hungarian is Dzsesszi.
There was a storm last night! As I was walking home from the Metro at 11 something at night I was surrounded by huge bolts of lightning and thunder. By the time I made it to my door it had started to rain. It was still in the upper 80s Fahrenheit. It reminded me of Florida, but the rain wasn't quite as biblical. These nighttime summer storms seem fairly common here, since there have been maybe 3 in the past week since I got here. Oh holy bajeez, I've already been here over a week!
Since the language school started (on Tuesday) I've been spending most of my free time with friends I've met through the program. There's five of us who have been hanging out a fair bit; me and Voula, who both live in Buda (the west side of the Danube), and Bruce and Michael (now dubbed Mihály: mee-hi), who share an apartment by the Opera in Pest. We're all in the language class together, since all of our last names are at the beginning of the alphabet. After class we end up hanging out in Pest, sometimes missing one, sometimes joined by others. I'm glad I've been making friends so easily here!
I've gotten used to using public transport here, and I'm finding that public transport in a big city is way more convenient than a car, except when I want to get home from Pest after 11 (that's when the metros stop running). The metros come every 5-10 minutes, or less, and the busses come fairly regularly, but are often a little behind schedule. Besides a few funny situations IN the metro stations themselves, riding them has been pretty uneventful.
Funny metro experience 1:
Yesterday Sarah and I were on our way to language school. We had gotten off the metro at Astoria and were on our way up the (ridiculously long) escalators. A 30-something man caught sight of me as he was going down and I was going up and after a funny look he started yelling at me very heatedly in Hungarian. He yelled his entire way down and when he'd reached the bottom, he stood at the foot of the escalators and yelled up the escalators at me until I was out of sight. Sarah caught the word "blue" so we think it might have had something to do with my hair.
Funny metro experience 2:
The payphones have been the cheapest, most convenient way to keep in touch with Rob since I got here, since you just need a T-com phone card. You put the card in the slot on the phone, then dial the country code and the number, and then are only charged 9 ft/minute to talk to the US. I called him quickly this afternoon from the Deák station and while I was standing there at the phone a young-ish man (maybe a year or two older than me) situated himself about 10 feet away from me with a camera, crouched down, and started video taping me talking on the phone. I gave him an inquisitive look and he just smiled, gave a half wave, taped for a few more seconds, then got up and left.
Again, besides those two experiences, public transportation has been quite uneventful.
And now... it's the weekend! I can't wait to sleep in tomorrow. Tonight I'm going to hang out with Voula, Eva (a UU from Boston) and Mihály... and probably others, since Bruce said he'd call if anything came up. I'm at my usual internet cafe right now, and once I leave here I'm going to go down to the grocery store and grab some bread and a tomato and eat that with the cheese I have in my backpack over at Voula's before heading over to Pest.
But before I go... THERE ARE PICTURES!!
Air show by the Danube St. Stephen's day weekend. There's a little plane around the middle of the photo... it was doing tricks and practicing for the big race on the holiday itself. Sponsored by Red Bull. Thank you, America for all you have done for Budapest. That big impressive building in the background is the parliament building
Budapest <3s Critical Mass!
My Internet Cafe
The Courtyard in my apartment building. All the apartment complexes have private courtyards, even the complex my language school is in.
Fireworks on St. Stephen's day. This was far and away the most impressive fireworks display I have ever seen!
I plan on taking more pictures tonight and this weekend, and I'll try to be regular about posting them!
Since the language school started (on Tuesday) I've been spending most of my free time with friends I've met through the program. There's five of us who have been hanging out a fair bit; me and Voula, who both live in Buda (the west side of the Danube), and Bruce and Michael (now dubbed Mihály: mee-hi), who share an apartment by the Opera in Pest. We're all in the language class together, since all of our last names are at the beginning of the alphabet. After class we end up hanging out in Pest, sometimes missing one, sometimes joined by others. I'm glad I've been making friends so easily here!
I've gotten used to using public transport here, and I'm finding that public transport in a big city is way more convenient than a car, except when I want to get home from Pest after 11 (that's when the metros stop running). The metros come every 5-10 minutes, or less, and the busses come fairly regularly, but are often a little behind schedule. Besides a few funny situations IN the metro stations themselves, riding them has been pretty uneventful.
Funny metro experience 1:
Yesterday Sarah and I were on our way to language school. We had gotten off the metro at Astoria and were on our way up the (ridiculously long) escalators. A 30-something man caught sight of me as he was going down and I was going up and after a funny look he started yelling at me very heatedly in Hungarian. He yelled his entire way down and when he'd reached the bottom, he stood at the foot of the escalators and yelled up the escalators at me until I was out of sight. Sarah caught the word "blue" so we think it might have had something to do with my hair.
Funny metro experience 2:
The payphones have been the cheapest, most convenient way to keep in touch with Rob since I got here, since you just need a T-com phone card. You put the card in the slot on the phone, then dial the country code and the number, and then are only charged 9 ft/minute to talk to the US. I called him quickly this afternoon from the Deák station and while I was standing there at the phone a young-ish man (maybe a year or two older than me) situated himself about 10 feet away from me with a camera, crouched down, and started video taping me talking on the phone. I gave him an inquisitive look and he just smiled, gave a half wave, taped for a few more seconds, then got up and left.
Again, besides those two experiences, public transportation has been quite uneventful.
And now... it's the weekend! I can't wait to sleep in tomorrow. Tonight I'm going to hang out with Voula, Eva (a UU from Boston) and Mihály... and probably others, since Bruce said he'd call if anything came up. I'm at my usual internet cafe right now, and once I leave here I'm going to go down to the grocery store and grab some bread and a tomato and eat that with the cheese I have in my backpack over at Voula's before heading over to Pest.
But before I go... THERE ARE PICTURES!!
Air show by the Danube St. Stephen's day weekend. There's a little plane around the middle of the photo... it was doing tricks and practicing for the big race on the holiday itself. Sponsored by Red Bull. Thank you, America for all you have done for Budapest. That big impressive building in the background is the parliament building
Budapest <3s Critical Mass!
My Internet Cafe
The Courtyard in my apartment building. All the apartment complexes have private courtyards, even the complex my language school is in.
Fireworks on St. Stephen's day. This was far and away the most impressive fireworks display I have ever seen!
I plan on taking more pictures tonight and this weekend, and I'll try to be regular about posting them!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Its Insanity!!
Since I last updated, my life in Budapest has dissolved into insanity!
I am currently sitting in my usual internet café, (but using one of their computers instead of my beloved ibook), so typing is slow thanks to a very funny keyboard layout. (The z and the y key are switched and I cant seem to figure out how to make an apostrophe...).
The last several days have been spent exploring the city, learning my way around the metro, finding the cheap spots for icecream and food, figuring out how to call a cell phone from a payphone, and meeting all the other people who are here for the language school.
Yesterday was St. Stephens day, although the holiday was celebrated all weekend. Music in the streets, the most impressive fireworks display Ive ever seen, and my first taste of Hungarian beer (Dreher, which runs about 50 cents for a half a liter, is the Hungarian equivilent of Budweiser, but much better).
Because of my lack of laptop and this keyboard, I will have to cut things short.. but believe me, there will be a longer post soon, complete with pictures!
I am currently sitting in my usual internet café, (but using one of their computers instead of my beloved ibook), so typing is slow thanks to a very funny keyboard layout. (The z and the y key are switched and I cant seem to figure out how to make an apostrophe...).
The last several days have been spent exploring the city, learning my way around the metro, finding the cheap spots for icecream and food, figuring out how to call a cell phone from a payphone, and meeting all the other people who are here for the language school.
Yesterday was St. Stephens day, although the holiday was celebrated all weekend. Music in the streets, the most impressive fireworks display Ive ever seen, and my first taste of Hungarian beer (Dreher, which runs about 50 cents for a half a liter, is the Hungarian equivilent of Budweiser, but much better).
Because of my lack of laptop and this keyboard, I will have to cut things short.. but believe me, there will be a longer post soon, complete with pictures!
Friday, August 17, 2007
Sziaztok Budapestbòl! (A gramatically incorrect hello from Budapest!)
SZIAZTOK!! I'm in Budapest!I got in to BUD about 12:30 yesterday afternoon and was met by Noamy (please excuse my awful Hungarian spelling!) and my flat-mate, Sarah, a Junior from Harvey Mudd. I was disappointed at first, since I thought that because I had a flat-mate, the two of us just had a flat together, not the host-family I'd requested. This disappointment was silly! Turns out the two of us are living in a beautiful flat in the Castle District in Pest (District I, very schmancy!). We live with a host-mother who has hosted girls from our program for several years now. Her name is Éva and she's a little older than my mama. She has two older daughters, who we have yet to meet, and two grandsons. Since her daughters are out of town at the moment (until Tuesday) she brought in one of their friends, Esther, to translate for her. She speaks very little English (but she understands more than she can speak), which is perfect, since one of the things I was really looking forward to on this trip was learning Hungarian, and so far I'm already picking things up from communicating with Éva.
I was so sleep deprived and jet-lagged by the time I got to bed last night (at 20:30 local time) that I slept until 11:30. 13 HOURS. That is ridiculous. I set some kind of record for myself.
When I finally got up I was met by Sarah, who'd been up since 8-ish. Éva had left breakfast for us: butter, cheese and a salami type meat on bread. We hung around the flat for a few hours, talking and figuring out how to compose a note to Éva (who wasn't home) to tell her we were exploring Budapest and would be back by 18:00.
We left around 2 and walked down to the Metro stop by our house, which is about a 20 minute walk from our house. We also could have taken the 16 bus down to Deák square, but we felt like doing more exploring, since the 16 bus stops right across the street from our flat. We took the metro to Deák square, which seems to be the tourist central of Budapest. Most of the signs were in Hungarian and English, there were McDonalds, Burger King, and Subway, and so many damn touristy booths. It was sort of disgusting.
The Red Line Metro after Deák square is closed until the 19th for construction, so we took the M2 bus (which is replacing the Red Line while it's under construction) to Keleti square, and walked from there to College International at Bethlen Gabor tér. There were locked gates all around the school and we couldn't figure out how to get in, so we decided it was about time we headed back home. On our way home we stopped at a huge grocery store to poke around and see what was available. The building is two stories and in the second story there are several smaller shops and a druggery. I've decided I would rather not spend much money here until I understand the exact value of a forint. (I paid 200 Ft for a bottle of Coke today, which is about $1.05... but that was in Deák square, so they probably charged more than other places would).
When we got back to our flat, Éva was home and cooking dinner. While we had been out all day she had gone to her garden, which is in district III, and picked peaches, apples, plums and grapes. She explained to us, while speaking slowly and using lots of gestures, that when her husband was alive, he would bring her roses when he came back from the garden. She made us ham and mushroom pizza for dinner.
After dinner Sarah and I walked down to the Internet Cafe which is just down the hill from our flat. It's an "American Coffeeshop" where you can get American style drinks and free wireless. Very awesome and handy! I've gotten a decaf Americano two nights in a row, just because I miss the taste of coffee. But I do believe now is a good time to temporarily wean myself off caffeine, what with my schedule so messed up. I got a caffeine headache around 18:00 tonight, which is about when I'd be drinking my morning coffee in Portland (9:00 am).
This weekend is a holiday weekend (St. Stephen's day is on Monday, the 20th) and then the language class starts on Tuesday. It sounds like some other people from our program want to meet up on the weekend sometime, plus there is lots of exploring to do... this should be a good weekend! There will be lots of pictures and stories soon, I am sure of it!
Also, if you feel the desire to comment on my entries, you can click the link at the bottom of the entry that says "X Comments".
Thursday, August 16, 2007
In Transit
I am currently sitting in the München airport using ridiculously overpriced wireless. Seriously, I paid €8 for an hour of wireless. Just enough to check my e-mail, call Mom, Dad and Rob with Skype, and update this sucker.
The last couple of days have been a whirlwind. I moved out of my house on Saturday, spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in Corvallis, packing and taking of errands and doctor's appointments, spent last night in Vancouver at Rob's, and left early this morning. Saying goodbye to Mom and Rob in the airport was long and tearful; it still hasn't sunk in that I'm not really going to see anyone I know for the next 4 months.
I've been vegetarian since mid-April. I know that being a vegetarian in Eastern Europe is virtually impossible, so I've resolved myself to the fact that I will not be a vegetarian during my stay in Budapest. Still, until finding vegetarian options is absolutely impossible, I will continue to avoid all things meaty. Luckily there are enough international travelers on Lufthansa that there seem to always be non-meat dishes available. But who would have thought it would be harder to eat veggie in the Denver airport than cruising at 3000 ft?
My flight leaves München at 11:05 AM local time (it's currently 9:36). I arrive in Budapest at 12:20 PM (same time zone) and that is when this whole experience really starts.
The last couple of days have been a whirlwind. I moved out of my house on Saturday, spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in Corvallis, packing and taking of errands and doctor's appointments, spent last night in Vancouver at Rob's, and left early this morning. Saying goodbye to Mom and Rob in the airport was long and tearful; it still hasn't sunk in that I'm not really going to see anyone I know for the next 4 months.
I've been vegetarian since mid-April. I know that being a vegetarian in Eastern Europe is virtually impossible, so I've resolved myself to the fact that I will not be a vegetarian during my stay in Budapest. Still, until finding vegetarian options is absolutely impossible, I will continue to avoid all things meaty. Luckily there are enough international travelers on Lufthansa that there seem to always be non-meat dishes available. But who would have thought it would be harder to eat veggie in the Denver airport than cruising at 3000 ft?
My flight leaves München at 11:05 AM local time (it's currently 9:36). I arrive in Budapest at 12:20 PM (same time zone) and that is when this whole experience really starts.
Friday, August 10, 2007
6 days - Goodbye Portland!
I leave in 6 days. I'm still not packed (a job for tonight and tomorrow), I still haven't quit my job (tomorrow), and it still hasn't fully sunken in that I'm going to be in another country for four months starting a week from yesterday.
Last night was sort of my "farewell to Portland" outing. Rob, Devon, Devon's boyfriend Matt and I went downtown for cheap night at Sushi Takahashi. Devon and I filled ourselves with cheap cheap sushi, the boys got noodles, and we wrote messages on the unopened chopsticks in the cup at the table. After dinner we walked to Powell's, where I bought my host family a photo book of Portland and myself a book for the plane. After Powell's we walked to VooDoo Donuts. We ate our Donuts standing on the street outside. I hadn't even planned on hitting all three of my favorite downtown PDX locations, so it was a happy surprise that I found myself full of sushi and donuts on the sidewalk on 3rd street, just south of Burnside.
The last two important places to hit before I leave are Burgerville and American Dream, which can be done once I get to Corvallis. (Well... Burgerville will take a drive to Albany, but it's definitely worth it).
I've given up on seeing everyone I want to see before I leave. There's too many people and not enough time and August seriously snuck up on me. So if I said I'd see you before I leave and I don't... I'm sorry! I wish I could have!
So tomorrow (Friday) is my last day at my job at the IT helpdesk (until Spring semester, that is) and Saturday I move out of my house and temporarily back to Corvallis. Rob's in California from today until Sunday night, so he'll join me in Corvallis Monday morning. On Tuesday evening, he, Mom and I will drive back up to Vancouver where we'll spend the night at his house and drive to the airport in the morning.
Yes, this is really happening!
Last night was sort of my "farewell to Portland" outing. Rob, Devon, Devon's boyfriend Matt and I went downtown for cheap night at Sushi Takahashi. Devon and I filled ourselves with cheap cheap sushi, the boys got noodles, and we wrote messages on the unopened chopsticks in the cup at the table. After dinner we walked to Powell's, where I bought my host family a photo book of Portland and myself a book for the plane. After Powell's we walked to VooDoo Donuts. We ate our Donuts standing on the street outside. I hadn't even planned on hitting all three of my favorite downtown PDX locations, so it was a happy surprise that I found myself full of sushi and donuts on the sidewalk on 3rd street, just south of Burnside.
The last two important places to hit before I leave are Burgerville and American Dream, which can be done once I get to Corvallis. (Well... Burgerville will take a drive to Albany, but it's definitely worth it).
I've given up on seeing everyone I want to see before I leave. There's too many people and not enough time and August seriously snuck up on me. So if I said I'd see you before I leave and I don't... I'm sorry! I wish I could have!
So tomorrow (Friday) is my last day at my job at the IT helpdesk (until Spring semester, that is) and Saturday I move out of my house and temporarily back to Corvallis. Rob's in California from today until Sunday night, so he'll join me in Corvallis Monday morning. On Tuesday evening, he, Mom and I will drive back up to Vancouver where we'll spend the night at his house and drive to the airport in the morning.
Yes, this is really happening!
Monday, August 6, 2007
9 days
I leave for Budapest in 9 days. I'm barely packed, I know absolutely no Hungarian, and I haven't quit my job yet. Oh, I also haven't done any math in about 3 months.
The program I'm going with, Budapest Semesters in Mathematics, is a math intensive program in the original stomping ground of pure math. I have said math (or some variation) 4 times so far in this post. You're just going to have to deal because I'm going to be talking about math. A lot. I'm going to be taking more and harder math than I ever have before. Three 300-400 level classes in one semester, taught by profs who speak English (though not necessarily well). INTENSE.
These are the math classes I'm leaning towards:
Introduction to Abstract Algebra
Conjecture and Proof
Mathematics of Fractals
Elementary Problem Solving
Graph Theory
Number Theory
I'll have to choose 3 of those... which will probably end up being a pretty difficult decision. Although taking 4 math classes wouldn't be unheard of, from what I've gleaned from the website and the BSM facebook group. I'm also going to take one non-math class. That one's a tie between Hungarian Art and Culture, Historical Aspects of Mathematics, and Film Analysis - Great Masters of European Films.
I made flash cards this morning to help me get around my first couple of days in Budapest. I mean, the language course I'm taking pre-program doesn't start until 5 days after I get there, so I'm going to be pretty helpless for the first week... but I can at least try not to be an ugly American by attempting the language, right?
The program I'm going with, Budapest Semesters in Mathematics, is a math intensive program in the original stomping ground of pure math. I have said math (or some variation) 4 times so far in this post. You're just going to have to deal because I'm going to be talking about math. A lot. I'm going to be taking more and harder math than I ever have before. Three 300-400 level classes in one semester, taught by profs who speak English (though not necessarily well). INTENSE.
These are the math classes I'm leaning towards:
Introduction to Abstract Algebra
Conjecture and Proof
Mathematics of Fractals
Elementary Problem Solving
Graph Theory
Number Theory
I'll have to choose 3 of those... which will probably end up being a pretty difficult decision. Although taking 4 math classes wouldn't be unheard of, from what I've gleaned from the website and the BSM facebook group. I'm also going to take one non-math class. That one's a tie between Hungarian Art and Culture, Historical Aspects of Mathematics, and Film Analysis - Great Masters of European Films.
I made flash cards this morning to help me get around my first couple of days in Budapest. I mean, the language course I'm taking pre-program doesn't start until 5 days after I get there, so I'm going to be pretty helpless for the first week... but I can at least try not to be an ugly American by attempting the language, right?
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