Semester in Budapest

2006-12-29T14:41:00.000-08:00

2006-12-29T13:58:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-12-12T10:47:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-24T03:43:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-11T07:04:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-09T11:22:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-10-30T11:19:00.000-08:00

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).

2006-10-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

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).

2006-10-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

Over the last week I have just gone to class and gone to some of the smaller towns in Hungary. Classes are interesting because since all the students are on exchange the discussions provide insights on business views from around the world. Even outside class it is amazing how different the students from each country behave. While on a trip to the town of Eger in the north of Hungary, we visited a large cathedral. A Chinese girl I was with, Ada (pictured above on the horse), completely surprised me when she said that she had never been inside a church before. She kept asking questions on how to act and what she should do next. She also had never had alcohol before so we quickly changed that. I've also exposed a few of my friend here to Mexican food at a reasturant here in Budapest and it was so much fun trying to explain to a Polish girl the difference between an encilada, quesadilla and burrito.

Another area where I have learned a lot over the past month is in discovering what the rest of the world thinks of America. Of course there were the questions about whether Americans all carry guns on them at all times and if girls flash like they do in the movies, but more concerning is the presumption by almost every European I have met here that Americans are really just not smart. The first few weeks here I agreed with them in that most Americans do not know a lot of world geography and we tend to be a bit ethnocentric. However, I can say that after spending almost six weeks living here now that Europeans are just as bad as Americans when it comes to being ethnocentric. Few of my European classmates know where Chicago is on a map and it is surprising how many think that China has the largest economy in the world. One girl even told me that all Americans do in high school is play games. Moreover, the most arrogant person I have met here was not an American and surprisingly not even from France (however two of the French boys are a very close second) but a German who thinks that Germany should never have reunified or joined the EU. So, my major epiphany on the trip has been that Americans should not feel so bad for our stupidity because we aren't any worse than the rest of the world.

2006-09-24T05:33:00.000-07:00

The Hungarian Revolution

The big news of the week here in Budapest has been the protests/riots that have arisen in response to comments the Hungarian Prime Minister made. Apparently, in order to win re-election he lied a lot about the state of the Hungarian economy. The riots were supposedly really bad during the first few nights but I really haven't noticed anything here. ISU contacted me to make sure that it was dangerous and I know a lot of my friends here have been contacted by their friends and family about the conditions here but there really have been no incidents affecting any of us. Some of my fellow students saw police beating some of the protesters/vandals in front of their apartments but I have only seen peaceful protests and had to walk through one police barricade like the one pictured above thus far.

So, it was another fairly normal week here. I learned about EU law in relation to trades and the WTO and had consumer behavior and organizational analysis which are exactly the same here as at home. I did have my first Hungarian exam and that was an experience. Apparently, cheating is much more widespread and tolerated here than at home. Students just talked during the exam and the teacher was helping the other students figure out the answers. I just sat there in shock. I asked my Polish roommates about it later and they said that it was completely normal and many of there Polish friends had problems with it when they came to America to study and didn't know they couldn't cheat on exams. Very weird.

2006-09-18T01:11:00.000-07:00

My place here in Budapest now feels like home. My flatmates and I are getting more used to the fact that it is just the three of us in the flat now. Even school is becoming more normal with a little reading and a few assignments. Because of the way the schedule works here I have some intensive classes that last a few weeks and a few that last the whole semester. So, right now I am taking E-business, Hungarian (what a treat that is by the way), International Business Law, Organizational Analysis, and Consumer Behavior.

This past weekend was the first weekened where I didn't have a class on a Friday so a friend of mine and I went to Vienna, Austria for the weekend. It was an interesting time to say the least. We were able to see all the major sights in only a few days. Vienna was a much more diverse city than I expected and while out we met people from all over the world. For instance, I had a beer and talked American politics with a guy who was part Syrian, which was interesting and terrifying all at the same time.

Because we were able to see all we wanted to see in two days in Vienna and all other Austrian cities were too expensive to travel to, I took a day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia. I can honestly say that is was the most communist place I have ever been. We only needed four hours to see all the sights, including the miles and miles of communist era apartment buildings. Seeing the apartments made me so glad to have been born in the United States. I am glad I went but hope to never be back again.

By the time the weekend was over I was so glald to be returning home to Budapest. Vienna was a pretty city but it seemed kind of snobby compared to Budapest and the prices were expensive to say the least. I have grown accustomed to the three-course meal for around $5 that you get in Budapest. I can honestly say that when this trip began I never thought I would prefer Eastern Europe to Western (with the exception of Bratislava of course) but now I do. Eastern Europe is much more liveable to me.

2006-09-10T02:32:00.000-07:00

Over the past week I have got settled into a routine here in Budapest. I have classes a few hours everyday. The classes here are interesting with lots of discussion and not a lot of outside work. Free time is spent seeing any sights in Budapest, attempting to find food, and hanging out with the other students at ESSCA.

On Friday, my flatmates and I prepared a big meal for some of our good friends here. The Polish made a traditional rice dish and I introduced the other students to twice baked potatoes and pigs in a blanket (a long story that I am too lazy to tell accompanies that choice). It all was delicious and hopefully it is the first of many dinners that allow me to taste the cuisine of around the world.

On the weekend, I went to Szvendre, a small artist town outside of Budapest, and Visengrad, a castle on a hill on the Danube. Both were lovely and it was another relaxing weekend. When I come home in a few months it will be so weird not going away every weekend. I am totally used to life without TV and constantly doing something. I suspect that I will have a bigger culture shock when I go back home then when I arrived here.

2006-09-04T04:51:00.000-07:00

My last week in Budapest has been a trying one. On August 30th my flatmates and I found our other flatmate, Karol, dead in his bed. It turns out he had some sort of undiagnosed kidney problem and he died peacefully during the night. Karol was only 22. Needless to say, it was a big shock for us and we had a difficult few days. We decided to move out of our flat and we had to deal with some paperwork which made the whole experience more stressful. But everyone here took care of us and his family. And, my other flatmates, Olka and Kuba, and I have become much closer than most people who are only living with each other for four months. So, now we are trying to make the most of the time we have left here. Karol was all about enjoying every minute and so I will try to enjoy my time here in Budapest as much as I can.

Therefore, I decided to get away for the weekend in order to relax some. A large group of the students here at ESSCA went down to Lake Balaton here in Hungary and we rented a large house. The weekend was spent relaxing by the water, riding around the lake in a sailboat and observing how insane the Italian and Portuguese men really are.

So, thus far my study abroad experience has been intense. In so many ways it has been much better than I expected. There has been little homesickness and culture shock and the other students here have all banded together (with the exception of the French students of course). But dealing with the death of a flatmate was a shock to say the least. It is hard to believe that all of this has happened in my two weeks of being in Budapest.

2006-08-28T01:58:00.000-07:00

I now have a permanent residence here in Budapest. I am living with some Polish people that are going to my school, Kuba, Karol and Olka. So far it has been fun but the culture shock is still there. The eating habits of the Poles are a little different than I am used to, lots of bread and sausages. Water has been replaced with beer and vodka But it is nice to see how another group of students lives. (In reality, not too different from what goes on in America).

I also went to the famouse baths here in Budapest. That was quite an experience. I have never had to change in an open locker room before and I got to see way more of the Hungarian people than I bargained for. But once I got past all the nudity and got into the water, it was fun. The pool looked like a palace and everyone just hangs out in the hot water.

When we are not sight seeing here, most of the students just hang out at someones apartment and we talk about each others countries. I have probally learned more in the past week about world history than I have in all my classes in schools. It has been interesting to here the Polish take on World War II and here the French and Anglo Canadians discuss the issues of Quebec.

So, thus far I have had no desire to return home and have been having the time of my life. I can not imagine a more studying abroad experience. Hopefully my opinion remains the same when classes begin next week.

2006-08-21T02:34:00.000-07:00

I have made it to Budapest. The flight over was once again memorable thanks to my full usage of the motion sickness bag while sitting next to a bald man with tattoos. After that, I actually got some sleep on the plane. I was able to get to the hostel without any trouble. The shower at the hostel is a real treat. They claim that the two showers in the room are separated. However, I would make the argument that when what is separating the showers is a piece of see through frosted glass, it really is only one shower. Needless to say, I will be only showering when no one else is in the room and rather quickly at that.

Last night there was some sort of holiday here in Hungary so all the streets were closed so I just ended up wandering around. I'm not sure what they were celebrating (I believe it was St. Istvan day, Hungary's patron saint) but it was most certainly different from celebrations in America. There were no rides or fair food, just mass amounts of Hungarians roaming the streets in packs and lining up around the river to look around. I did feel safe, I suppose, though because there were police like every three feet.

Today, (Monday) I made it to my school. The place is in a nice old building. So far there are not a lot of other students here. I think I am going to go look around for some apartments today and hopefully find some roommates. The school is a lot different from schools in America. They really are very scheduled at all about orientation activities. We just kind of show up and they informally help us and answer questions. No strict routine.

This post may come across with a lot of negativity, but the actual city of Budapest is quite nice. It is easy to get around and it feels completely safe. Compared to other cities of Europe, it feels much smaller and manageable. As soon as I find a place to live, learn a little Hungarian, and start school I expect I will like it a lot.

2006-07-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome everyone to my blog! For the Fall 2006 semester I will be leaving the friendly confines of Normal, IL and Illinois State University and study international business courses in Budapest, Hungary. Through the course of my semester in Budapest I will be posting updates and photos of the various going ons of my time abroad. I hope you will enjoy my tales and pictures from my adventures in Eastern Europe.