Semester in Budapest

posted by Maggie @ 2:41 PM 9 comments

Goodbye Budapest and Hello Home!!!

I am now back home in Illinois and have had a nice Christmas with the family. I am incredibly jet lagged (nothing like falling asleep everyone's at 9 pm on the couch and inexplicably waking up at 4 am wide awake) and enjoying American food and shopping. The biggest reverse culture shock that I am experiencing is how long it takes to drive everywhere. I got too accustomed to city living where I could walk or ride the public transportation anywhere in the city in about 15 minutes. But, overall it is very nice to be home.

My last week in Europe was an incredibly fun and sad one. My little brother showed up in Budapest the day after school ended. So, he got a chance to meet all of my friends over there and had probably too good of a time. However, the fun of the final dinners and parties with everyone was tainted by the nightly departure of another one of my classmates home. My study abroad experience was probably a little more intense than most which probably made saying goodbye even more difficult. I got very close to several of my classmates in the four months and it was hard to say goodbye. But all things must end and I am very glad that such a joyous occasion as Christmas was awaiting for me when I returned home.

Before we returned to the States, my brother and I went on one last overnight train excursion. We spent two days in Poland visiting my roommate Olka. Olka spent a day showing us Krakow. On our own we went to see the salt mines and Auschwitz. I had been to a concentration camp before so I was prepared for the horrors that awaited me there, but I was not prepared for the size of the place. It was more massive than I ever imagined. Even though it was a difficult place to visit, I am glad I went.

On the way home to Budapest, we stopped at Olka's hometown of Tarnow. She showed us around the town and we got a chance to drink a few Polish beers with her friends. It was a good time and made me nice and exhausted for the night train back to Budapest.

The last few days in Budapest were spent cleaning my flat and enjoying my favorite things in the city. We went to the baths one last time, walked around the main streets, and ate at my favorite restaurants. Then, on Christmas Eve we got on our planes and headed home. I was greeted at the airport by my brothers, sisters, and nieces. My 3-year-old niece thinks that the St. Louis airport is actually Budapest (American's lack of geography knowledge starts at a young age).

So as I finish my final post on my semester abroad I guess I should look back philosophically. Even though I definitely had some low times abroad and the paper work that awaits me and the many conversations that are in my future to attempt to get all my classes counted towards my degree are daunting, I cannot express enough how glad I am that I studied abroad. The four months in Budapest were probably the best of my life. I learned so much in classes, but more importantly, I learned so much about other people and cultures of the world. Whether it was dealing with the death of a roommate, learning the importance of always knowing the exchange rate when traveling, the midnight talk on the war in Yugoslavia, or seeing first hand the places of some of the most important moments in history, I know the experiences I encountered in the past four months could never be replicated in any classroom. ISU may say that my experience was worth only 6 semester hours but I know that I learned more in the past four months about myself and the world around me than I have in all my formal education. Before I left Budapest, Olka and I said that we went to Budapest still kids and we were coming away grown up. It is kind of corny but true. My experience has left me feeling much more prepared for the future.

posted by Maggie @ 1:58 PM 0 comments

Exam, party, party, exam, party........

The semester is winding down now and that means two things, exams and parties. I got to be honest, both are completely wearing me out. I decided not to do anymore trips until after exams are done because I wanted to spend as much time as I could with the other students here. So, nothing really exciting has happened since Thanksgiving. We have had a few more birthday parties here, a gift exchange party, and I have now completed 3 of my 4 exams. After I take my European Politics exam on Wednesday I am done!!!! Which means more parties are on the way.

In less than two weeks now I will be back at home celebrating Christmas, which is completely weird to me. But, to be honest, I am looking forward to returning to a bit of a more normal life. This whole making the most of every minute of time here has completely worn me out. I am looking forward to going into a self-imposed coma for a good week after arriving home.

My little brother is arriving from Illinois on Friday so I have a few more trips planned, to visit my roommate in Poland and wherever else the mood takes us. So check back after Christmas and I will update on how my last travels and return home went.

posted by Maggie @ 10:47 AM 1 comments

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

My Thanksgiving went pretty good here. I was able to find a turkey. It was truly one of the most traumatic experiences of my life though. I went to the market on Tuesday to scout out a bird and I almost started to cry because all of the turkeys still had heads and they all had way too much left inside for me to handle. I thought I wouldn't be able to have Thanksgiving. I took a bit of break from the scene and went back later and asked for a whole turkey with nem head, nem neck, nem insides (as you can see one of the few Hungarian words I remember is no). They said to come back the next morning and I did. What I got was a turkey without a head and insides but unfortunately way too much neck left for my taste. Luckily Kuba cut it off for me because I don't think I could have handled it. The turkey was really more like a cow though than a turkey. It had to weigh at least 10 kilo so over 23 lbs. It took over 9 and half hours to roast. But the end result was good and I was able to have the whole American Thanksgiving experience with mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, a pumpkin pie, and all the rest of the trimmings. And in true Thanksgiving style everyone just laid on the couch and couldn't move for a while afterwards.

The last few weeks have been fairly routine here. Lots of school work, some parties, and lots of nothing. I am starting to get the urge to travel again so hopefully there will be more interesting things to share in the near future.

posted by Maggie @ 3:43 AM 2 comments

Halloween, Prague and School

Ok, so I should finally be able to catch totally up now. The day after I got back from Romania was Halloween and my roommate's, Olka, birthday. Thus, I had to throw a Halloween theamed birthday party for her and introduce the Europeans to the many Halloween traditions. I was able to find some pumpkins here and I taught my other roommate's, Kuba, sister how to carve a jack-o-lantern. The Europeans didn't quite get the hand of the costume thing so I applied some makeup to many European men that night to make them festive enough. Lets just say a good time was had by all.

A couple days later I had enough of school again and decided to leave the next day with some friends for Prague. Prague is a beautiful city but unfortunately the weather was terrible, very cold and rainy. But, the food and alcohol were both very nice. While there we mainly just wandered around the city taking in the sights.

Back in Budapest this week has been a lot like being at home. Lots of school work was due and everyone was studying for their mid-terms. Need to take a nap now and I will try to update more frequently in the future.

posted by Maggie @ 7:04 AM 0 comments

Excessive Travel Part II

Ok, so it took more a few days more than expected to update but this was a result of spontaneous excessive travel part III (that will be updated at a later date). For my week and a half I had off for my holiday week here I went with six other students to Bosnia, Serbia and the land of the gypsies (Romania).

The trip began with an overnight train to Sarajevo, Bosnia. The only way it is possible to survive such a horrible experience as riding second class in an overnight train is lots of cards, food and vodka. We arrived in Sarajevo at like 6 am and found a hostel at the train station. We all crashed and awoke a few hours later (noon) to explore the city. We went to the tunnel that was used to supply the city with food when the city was under siege by the Serbians. Most of the city was kind of closed because of the Muslim holiday but what we were able to see and do was very nice. Plus, the food was delicious. The second day we climbed up one of the hills to see the city and some of the buildings that were still destroyed from the war. The view was probably the best I have seen in Europe. The city is absolutely beautiful and has an aura to it that few other cities do. I highly recommend Sarajevo to anyone in the area.

Our next stop on the trip was Belgrade, Serbia. Belgrade is a lot like any European capital but without the must see attractions. Supposedly the parties are fun here but unfortunately I was "sick" and unable to make it out to find out for myself. We were only here for a little over a day. While the city was pleasant it had a lot to live up to after Sarajevo and naturally was a bit of a disappointment.

And then there was Gypsieland. Romania started in a bizarre way. We took the night train to Bucharest and lets just say there was a little problem with the heating (it was hotter than a sauna). So I didn't sleep at all and we arrived in Bucharest a little after 6 in the morning. Again we found someone at the train station who said he worked for a hostel. This time it didn't work out as well. He ended up being a crook who dropped us off in the middle of no where and lied to us about the exchange rate so we ended up paying the equivelent of $250 instead of the $25 for the taxi. It took us hours to find a place to stay and ended up getting a couple hotel rooms. But that wasn't the last of getting ripped off. Romania is the type of place where you always have to count the change to make sure it is right and instead of giving you change they will give you a candy instead. Bucharest was interesting to see once but lets just say I have no plans on ever going back. It was quite entertaining to listen to my European friends complain in complete horror that Romania is about to join the EU. I have heard going to Romania is like going back in time. I don't agree. It is like going to a place where every one including the police are corrupt.

But, Romania isn't all bad. After Bucharest we journeyed on to the land of Dracula, Transylvania. We stayed in the city of Brasov which is very pleasanly situated in between tree covered mountains. Again we got a hostel at the train station but luckily this time it ended up ok. Here we visited an old citadel, Dracula's castle, and the city of Brasov. Dracula's castle was a let down but how could it not be unless a vampire appeared.

We were origionally planning on spending more time in Romania but found that we all longed for Budapest after a week away (the gypsy thieves also had some role in us leaving early). We took a train, stopped in the town where Dracula was born and walked around for a bit and had dinner at the house he was born in (can safely say that this is the creepiest town I have ever been in and it was like walking around in a haunted city but unfortunately I forget its name, it started with an s). Then we arrived at home sweet Budapest at 7 the next morning. And how nice it was to be in a place where I for sure knew the conversion rate, for sure knew how to use the public transportation, and for sure had a bed to sleep in.

posted by Maggie @ 11:22 AM 4 comments

Excessive Travel Part I

Sorry for the lack of updates everyone but I have been traveling for what has felt like non stop for about a month now. So, I will first start with my travels with my mother and then I will post later on my travels with some of my fellow students.

My mom arrived in Budapest three weeks ago. While here I was delivered the best present of all, JIF peanut butter and Reeses peanut butter cups. I also took her around the city, went to the opera, took her to class, and had a wine and cheese party for her and all of my friends here in Budapest. She seemed to have a good time and the other students seemed to get a kick out of her as well.

From Budapest we went together to Belgium. We explored the city of Brussels, which was nice, and ate too much chocolate and attempted unsuccessful to drink the much too strong Belgium beer. We also went to the city of Brugges which is absolutely beautiful and one of my new favorite cities of Europe. If you are ever in Belgium you should definately go.

After Belgium we went on to Paris. Having been to Paris before I new what to expect, little help for the locals and a difficult time getting around. We did the typical tourist things there, went up the Eiffel Tower, went to the Louvre, ate crepes, and drank French wine (I'm starting to notice a trend but if you were traveling with my mother you would understand the need for so much alcohol). I left my mom and went back after two days in Paris, which I think is quite enough and headed back to what I now call home, Budapest.

(More pictures are on the way but for some reason they are not uploading correctly right now).

posted by Maggie @ 11:19 AM 0 comments

American food is on the way!!!

After spending over six weeks here in Europe I am seriously in need for mac and cheese, brownies, Reese's, and most importantly peanut butter. Luckily, tomorrow my mom will arrive here in Budapest with the required supplies for the rest of my stay here. I will also be doing some traveling with her and will go to Brussels and Paris at the end of the week. Cheap European travel is one of the many perks of studying here in Budapest.

I had another fairly lazy week. One of my friends here celebrated a birthday so we partied Slovenian style (ie. Vodka). The next night a German had a birthday and we partied Bavarian style (ie. Beer). One of the joys of going to a small school of just under 50 students is that every week someone is having a birthday.

As for school, one of the advantages of going to a school where all the students are international and the classes are taught in English is that I already have a major advantage as an English speaker. Thus, the reading is light (for the native English speakers) and the hours spent in the classroom are more in an effort to make sure the non-native English speakers understand everything. Therefore, I have an abundance of free time at night and on the weekends.

Got to clean the flat now. (By the way the picture above is me with my flatmates).

posted by Maggie @ 8:22 AM 0 comments