And I saw that the ringing was coming from your throat

This time next week I will be back in Oregon.

I've been having mixed feelings about going home. I'll get excited for a little while, then something will happen that makes me remember how much I love everyone here, then I get all sad again. Honestly, I can barely wrap my head around it. Before I left for Budapest I couldn't actually envision leaving. Now that I'm here I can barely think about what being home is going to be like. What am I going to do without a Voula to cuddle with and listen to me moan about boys and a Casey to color and eat Nutella with and a Kristoff to eat raw meat with and an Aaron to be whiny with and a Bruce to be my big brother and a Kyle to talk about scrubs with and a Mihály to talk about poop with and a Pat to do magic tricks for me? I am going to miss my friends here so much. I know I will see Voula again, that's just kind of a duh thing. Plus that would give me an excuse to visit my Boston relatives. I will see Kyle next summer when he drives through Oregon. And Kristoff is going to run the Portland marathon next year, mostly as an excuse to visit me and eat Sushi Takahashi and Voodoo Donuts. Also if I ever go to New York to visit Kate, they both live in Rochester suburbs.

I am going to miss the beer and the music I've listened to here and the delicious food and the walks around the city. The walking. I am not going to get this much walking every day probably for the rest of my life. My shoes are all worn down. I'm considering leaving my Vans in Hungary, they're so worn out. My socks are all full of holes, I only have a couple of intact pairs left.

This last week has gone by so fast. I've started making friends with people I've barely talked to through this whole program and now I only have a week left to hang out with them.

My Hungarian final was on Monday. I'm not sure how I did on the final, but I know that I got an A- in the class, so I'm not complaining.

On Tuesday, Aaron, Voula, Mihály and I went to the Opera. Strauss' Elektra was playing (which, contrary to popular belief, is not based on the Marvel comic book), but it was kind of a re-imagining of the Greek myth. It took place in a bath house, had naked people, and ended with Orestes killing Elektra with a machine gun. Huh.

Friday was my Graph Theory final. The prof stayed and graded them and calculated our final grades, which is possibly the only nice, considerate thing he did the entire semester. Kristoff and I went in together to find out or final grades. He went in before me and came back out, triumphantly saying "C is for Chris Chilas! And also for cookie!". I went in right after him to claim my own C. I got a D on the final, but for completely stupid reasons. The last question was entirely dependent on whether or not we were either well versed in probability theory, or had written down the proof of the lower bound of R(k, k) on our note sheet (not that that makes any sense to anyone). And I am neither well versed in probability theory, and I hadn't written that proof on my note sheet. So that was one question down. But whatever, I got a C in the class and my grades aren't transferring to LC, only the credit is. Hooray!

Friday afternoon I hung out with Haggai and Dan, then went to Voula's for pancakes and applesauce and Grave of the Fireflies, then met up with Haggai again for a long walk around the city in the very, very cold.

Yesterday daytime was full of Hungarian's. Éva planned a farewell lunch for me and Sarah and invited her daughters, Erika and Monika, and Monika's family (husband and two young sons). There was so much food. I started falling asleep after we ate, so I went into my room, took an hour and a half nap, then came back out for more socializing. Went over to Voula's once Erika, Monika, et al had left, hung out with her, Zeb and Luke, then once they'd left I made dinner for Voula and I (reggeli sandwiches and salami). Casey, Jon and Yuan came over pretty soon afterwards with wine, so we played drinking games, drank the (absolutely foul) wine, then metroed over to Morrison's for karaoke, tons of dancing and a couple pints. Our student coordinator, Anna Fóti, had her birthday this last week so we convinced her to come out with us, too. Casey, Jon and I walked back to Buda around 2:30 and I crashed in Voula's bed (she'd headed out a little earlier).

Woke up this morning a little másnapos (hungover), had some tea at Voula's, then came home, showered, ate breakfast, then came over here to California Coffee Company, where I am currently sitting and procrastinating.