School starts tomorrow! Plus, I don't have to teach any classes, so I don't have anything to be stressed out about. I just have to dress nicely and get up early. I'm over my jet lag, but I'm still having trouble being on a schedule because of my time in the hostel and the noisy nights I've been living through in my apartment.
Today I went to the school for the teachers meeting. I wasn't required to go because it was all in Hungarian and I didn't understand a word, but I thought it would be a good idea (especially since I didn't have anything elses to do). It turned out to be very worth it because I met most of the other teachers and was given an introduction when everyone was together in the room. Now no one will yell at me in Hungarian for not having a hall pass.
I was going to have more meetings at the school to figure out my schedule and everything, but everyone's very busy right now. Supposedly tomorrow I'll find out more, but I'm having a good time just going with the flow and trying to figure out my life until they have time to figure out what they want me to do.
I did a lot of exploring today and saw some more really cool places. I can't really remember where, because the days are starting to blend together, but I covered some distance. There are a whole bunch of cool looking bars and restaurants, and I keep finding more which makes me even more motivated to make some friends so I can go enjoy them. Today I had some sort of hot dog baked into bread at a bakery, a cup of espresso at a really cool little cafe, a pizza (that came with a small pitcher of some sort of pizza sauce) at an interesting pizza/hamburger/milkshake/ice cream restaurant that consisted of four buildings and a bunch of mismatched tables, and finally a beer inside the bar that I sat outside of last night. Just about all of these places offered the atmosphere that I was hoping to find here.
Now, I'm going to bed. I have to get up early to attend some ceremony that most likely contains the Sorting Hat and floating candles from Harry Potter.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
A Glimpse Into the Future and the Past
This morning, I went on a tour of my school. My contact lady came to my apartment and brought me to the school. She only had time to give me a quick tour because everyone is very busy since school starts in two days. The school was very nice, and she said it has been recently remodeled. I was introduced to many other people who work at the school, but could really only talk to a few because most didn't speak English. The coolest part of the school (so far) is a huge painting of some ancient battle that was hanging in the entryway (it is a circular room that is open for three or four floors).
After my tour (and a few minor repairs to my apartment by the caretaker) I went out to explore some more. I bought a sandwich for lunch, and I ate it while doing some people watching on Andrassy Utca (the main pedestrian street). Next, I wandered all around and found some cool stuff. I found a large market that was pretty empty today, but I bet it's pretty crowded on weekends.
Also, I found the train station. There's a building that could cause some culture shock. It was pretty crappy and had a remote, rundown, desolate feeling that doesn't seem to exist in the rest of the town. It's a good thing I don't want to leave yet, because I don't think I could if I wanted to. I saw what may or may not be a ticket window, eventually found a timetable poster, and never did figure out which platform was which. I have to say though, it was pretty cool to see a timetable that lists final destinations like Transylvania.
One of the most interesting parts of my day was this monument that I saw:
I briefly saw it when I walked by and laughed because it looks like a guillotine cutting into a rock. However, I took a closer look later on and realized it's much more complex than just a bit of art. The blade says "Trianon" which, for those with less than perfect memories of historical subjects, was the treaty Hungary was forced to sign after being caught on the losing side after World War I. Hungary lost about 2/3 of their territory from this treaty, and these areas are still part of other countries. The rock in this monument is actually a map, with the guillotine splitting off some of the major areas lost. On the steps in front of it are rocks carved into candle holders with names on them (I assume they are the names of towns or regions that were lost). I noticed there were ribbons in the color of the Hungarian flag wrapped around parts of the statue.
This is very interesting, because right now Békéscsaba is about 10 miles from the Romanian border. Pre-WWI Hungarian borders would be much farther away. This is the second reference I've heard about the Hungarians being bitter about losing their terrritory. My contact person and school director were talking about it on the day I met them. I'm very curious to see how many more glimpses I can get into how the Hungarians feel about this topic.
After my tour (and a few minor repairs to my apartment by the caretaker) I went out to explore some more. I bought a sandwich for lunch, and I ate it while doing some people watching on Andrassy Utca (the main pedestrian street). Next, I wandered all around and found some cool stuff. I found a large market that was pretty empty today, but I bet it's pretty crowded on weekends.
Also, I found the train station. There's a building that could cause some culture shock. It was pretty crappy and had a remote, rundown, desolate feeling that doesn't seem to exist in the rest of the town. It's a good thing I don't want to leave yet, because I don't think I could if I wanted to. I saw what may or may not be a ticket window, eventually found a timetable poster, and never did figure out which platform was which. I have to say though, it was pretty cool to see a timetable that lists final destinations like Transylvania.
One of the most interesting parts of my day was this monument that I saw:
This is very interesting, because right now Békéscsaba is about 10 miles from the Romanian border. Pre-WWI Hungarian borders would be much farther away. This is the second reference I've heard about the Hungarians being bitter about losing their terrritory. My contact person and school director were talking about it on the day I met them. I'm very curious to see how many more glimpses I can get into how the Hungarians feel about this topic.
My First Near Death Experience
This won't be as exciting as the title suggests, but I bet your heart skipped a beat when you read it! I bought a frozen pizza earlier today that I planned to have for dinner. When I was ready, I went to turn the oven on, but found out that it's a gas oven (which I didn't know existed) and I didn't know how to turn it on. So, being a man, I flicked on a lighter and started turning nobs. Nothing happened. After various skype calls to mom and more trial and error, I managed to make the whole place smell like gas, figured out how to light the stove, and how to light (but not keep lit) the oven.
Out of desperation, I called Hajni. She's Hungarian program director who had called me about an hour before to check in with me and remind me to call her if I ever need anything. I needed something, a frozen pizza to change states into a hot pizza. Her English isn't perfect, so she was having trouble describing what to do and I wasn't helping with my gas oven ignorance. After thinking about it a little more, she decided I shouldn't try to do it without asking someone to show me how. She recommended I make something else for dinner, because she said the old communist oven she had where she used to live would shoot a wall of flames out everytime it was lit. We laughed about it, and she told me she might call tomorrow to make sure I'm still alive.
Today I explored the Csaba Center, which is a small mall here in my town. I was impressed because it was fairly good sized and had a lot of nice stores. I also wandered around the town for a while and kept being surprised by how much I like it. I saw a lot of buildings (houses, churches, restaurants, and even places that had unidentifiable purposes), and I wanted to describe them with happy words such as "charming", "quaint", and "picturesque". So many areas looked like they were straight out of a travel magazine advertising exotic, hidden European places.
I also did laundry. I'm very excited that I have a washing machine in my bathroom. I laughed heartily when I noticed that the hose that drains the water from the machine is simply placed in the bathroom sink to drain. These appliances are out to get me, the washer hopes to flood the house as a result of my forgetfulness, and the oven is doing its best to blow me up.
Out of desperation, I called Hajni. She's Hungarian program director who had called me about an hour before to check in with me and remind me to call her if I ever need anything. I needed something, a frozen pizza to change states into a hot pizza. Her English isn't perfect, so she was having trouble describing what to do and I wasn't helping with my gas oven ignorance. After thinking about it a little more, she decided I shouldn't try to do it without asking someone to show me how. She recommended I make something else for dinner, because she said the old communist oven she had where she used to live would shoot a wall of flames out everytime it was lit. We laughed about it, and she told me she might call tomorrow to make sure I'm still alive.
Today I explored the Csaba Center, which is a small mall here in my town. I was impressed because it was fairly good sized and had a lot of nice stores. I also wandered around the town for a while and kept being surprised by how much I like it. I saw a lot of buildings (houses, churches, restaurants, and even places that had unidentifiable purposes), and I wanted to describe them with happy words such as "charming", "quaint", and "picturesque". So many areas looked like they were straight out of a travel magazine advertising exotic, hidden European places.
I also did laundry. I'm very excited that I have a washing machine in my bathroom. I laughed heartily when I noticed that the hose that drains the water from the machine is simply placed in the bathroom sink to drain. These appliances are out to get me, the washer hopes to flood the house as a result of my forgetfulness, and the oven is doing its best to blow me up.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sweet Home Békéscsaba
I made it. I'm here. I'm in my new home.
It's awesome.
Plus, the day was very interesting. All of my fellow teachers and I were supposed to meet in the lobby of our hostel at noon today, where we would be introduced to our "contact person". Our contact person is an English speaking teacher from our school who has agreed to be our helper during our time here. Therefore, everyone was either excited, nervous, or both because we were about to meet someone who will be quite important to us for at least a year. I was talking to the guys sharing my hostel room, and we became almost giddy after realizing it felt like Christmas because we had no idea what was about to happen (except one of them told me he didn't feel that way because he never worries that Christmas could be horrible).
A teacher from previous years had an interesting comparison by saying it was like a bunch of kids at an orphanage about to meet their new parents. This thought was remembed as I led the moving wall of 45 curious teachers-to-be up the stairs towards the classroom where the contact people waited. Inside the room, we found a whole bunch of people sitting at desks and a table at the side with bottles of water and sandwiches. We all stood at the side not quite sure how to proceed, and some of the Hungarians held up hastily made signs with names on them, or frantically looked between our faces and a small passport photo they held.
As I started to slowly migrate towards the back of the room, a very nice looking lady came up and confirmed that I was who she was looking for. Then she introduced herself as my contact person, and also introduced the director of the school. Then they said it's quite a long drive from Budapest to Békéscsaba and asked if I was ready to leave immediately. We grabbed my bags and off we went.
It was a rainy day here in Hungary, and they told me they were late arriving to Budapest because of some heavy downpours they had to drive through. I was impressed at how beautiful the city was even with the dreariness of the weather, but it made some of the rundown, communist type buildings look much worse (there were a lot more of them on the outskirts of the city).
The countryside, however, was prettier than I had imagined. It was very flat, there were lots of trees, and I saw all kinds of cool buildings. I saw many red roofed structures, a fairly large building with some sort of thatched roof, chickens and other various animals wandering (seemingly) freely, and even the picturesque, stereotypical Hungarian countryside image of a small white house with a red roof and bushels of paprika peppers hanging on the side. The funniest and least attractive highlight was a bus full of high school aged kids pulled over next to a field where they were all standing and...um...relieving themselves. I won't judge them, I also hate the smell of rest stops.
The Director and my contact person treated me to a lunch at a really cool restaurant near the town of Kecskemét. I had a Hungarian stew of some sort of pork pieces, lasagna made with cottage cheese and sour cream, and a giant plate of cucumber salad. It was awesome and so filling that I couldn't finish it all. I was also finally able to try some fine Hungarian wine that they picked out for me. I loved everything about the meal (and couldn't help but notice that the restaurant had many cloves of garlic hanging all over the place - I must be getting closer to Transylvania).
We finally arrived in Békéscsaba where they very graciously stopped at a supermarket so I could get some food, and then they showed me around my apartment. It's much bigger and nicer than I expected. It has a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, a toilet room, a shower/sink/washing machine room, and a large broom closet. Plus, it's literally right across the street from the school, so my commute will be very easy.
One down side, I'm realizing as I right this at nearly 2 AM, is that many loud people appear to frequent a few bars and nightclubs right down the street from here. They seem to be under the impression that stereos were put into cars to entertain people inside the houses they're parked in front of. It's pretty funny as long as it only happens on weekend nights.
I had time to do a little exploring and I really like the look of this town (at least the area right around me). I'm right off the big pedestrian little street and there are a lot of fun looking little restaurants, bars, and stores. Now I just need to make some friends so I have people to go enjoy these places with!
Now it's time for bed. I'm going to have good dreams, and their soundtrack will be car strereo techno music and slurred Hungarian.
I love it here.
It's awesome.
Plus, the day was very interesting. All of my fellow teachers and I were supposed to meet in the lobby of our hostel at noon today, where we would be introduced to our "contact person". Our contact person is an English speaking teacher from our school who has agreed to be our helper during our time here. Therefore, everyone was either excited, nervous, or both because we were about to meet someone who will be quite important to us for at least a year. I was talking to the guys sharing my hostel room, and we became almost giddy after realizing it felt like Christmas because we had no idea what was about to happen (except one of them told me he didn't feel that way because he never worries that Christmas could be horrible).
A teacher from previous years had an interesting comparison by saying it was like a bunch of kids at an orphanage about to meet their new parents. This thought was remembed as I led the moving wall of 45 curious teachers-to-be up the stairs towards the classroom where the contact people waited. Inside the room, we found a whole bunch of people sitting at desks and a table at the side with bottles of water and sandwiches. We all stood at the side not quite sure how to proceed, and some of the Hungarians held up hastily made signs with names on them, or frantically looked between our faces and a small passport photo they held.
As I started to slowly migrate towards the back of the room, a very nice looking lady came up and confirmed that I was who she was looking for. Then she introduced herself as my contact person, and also introduced the director of the school. Then they said it's quite a long drive from Budapest to Békéscsaba and asked if I was ready to leave immediately. We grabbed my bags and off we went.
It was a rainy day here in Hungary, and they told me they were late arriving to Budapest because of some heavy downpours they had to drive through. I was impressed at how beautiful the city was even with the dreariness of the weather, but it made some of the rundown, communist type buildings look much worse (there were a lot more of them on the outskirts of the city).
The countryside, however, was prettier than I had imagined. It was very flat, there were lots of trees, and I saw all kinds of cool buildings. I saw many red roofed structures, a fairly large building with some sort of thatched roof, chickens and other various animals wandering (seemingly) freely, and even the picturesque, stereotypical Hungarian countryside image of a small white house with a red roof and bushels of paprika peppers hanging on the side. The funniest and least attractive highlight was a bus full of high school aged kids pulled over next to a field where they were all standing and...um...relieving themselves. I won't judge them, I also hate the smell of rest stops.
The Director and my contact person treated me to a lunch at a really cool restaurant near the town of Kecskemét. I had a Hungarian stew of some sort of pork pieces, lasagna made with cottage cheese and sour cream, and a giant plate of cucumber salad. It was awesome and so filling that I couldn't finish it all. I was also finally able to try some fine Hungarian wine that they picked out for me. I loved everything about the meal (and couldn't help but notice that the restaurant had many cloves of garlic hanging all over the place - I must be getting closer to Transylvania).
We finally arrived in Békéscsaba where they very graciously stopped at a supermarket so I could get some food, and then they showed me around my apartment. It's much bigger and nicer than I expected. It has a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, a toilet room, a shower/sink/washing machine room, and a large broom closet. Plus, it's literally right across the street from the school, so my commute will be very easy.
One down side, I'm realizing as I right this at nearly 2 AM, is that many loud people appear to frequent a few bars and nightclubs right down the street from here. They seem to be under the impression that stereos were put into cars to entertain people inside the houses they're parked in front of. It's pretty funny as long as it only happens on weekend nights.
I had time to do a little exploring and I really like the look of this town (at least the area right around me). I'm right off the big pedestrian little street and there are a lot of fun looking little restaurants, bars, and stores. Now I just need to make some friends so I have people to go enjoy these places with!
Now it's time for bed. I'm going to have good dreams, and their soundtrack will be car strereo techno music and slurred Hungarian.
I love it here.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Last Day of Orientation
Only a few more of my crash course in Hungarian-teaching-culture-life-classes before I'm sent off to the wolves (perhaps literally). It's going to be very exciting to finally see my town, my school, my apartment, and all the other hangouts where I'll spend the next year of my life. I think it'll be very interesting to see the contrast of Budapest life to Békéscsaba life.
Today I want to run a few errands, and we have a dinner tonight that all the new teachers are going to. I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but it's supposed to be one of the best in Budapest. It should be exciting, tasty, and another glimpse into Hungarian culture.
By the way, I have yet to see any Greyhounds. I mostly see stocky, medium sized dogs with big ears and wild looks in their eyes.
Today I want to run a few errands, and we have a dinner tonight that all the new teachers are going to. I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but it's supposed to be one of the best in Budapest. It should be exciting, tasty, and another glimpse into Hungarian culture.
By the way, I have yet to see any Greyhounds. I mostly see stocky, medium sized dogs with big ears and wild looks in their eyes.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Budapessimism
My orientation here is going well. I'm meeting a lot of interesting people, learning a lot about Hungary, and even learning a little Hungarian. Even though I'm getting pretty sick of my temporary hostel life, I am enjoying Budapest.
One of the main themes that I've been learning about is the Hungarian outlook on life. Supposedly, they are very pessimistic and generally depressed about life (which seems to be supported by the extraordinarily high suicide rate). I am told they never encourage children in school, they only criticize them for mistakes. In my opinion, that is one way to make kids grow up without ever being happy.
Even the beauty of the city has a depressing outlook. Remnants of communism are everywhere, and just about everything seems run down. In a way, it seems to make everything more beautiful. Rather than taking everything at face value, it requires you to imagine how it would look if history had been more kind to this city.
The people fit right in with the rest of the city. The men look rough, the women are gorgeous, there are dogs everywhere, and everyone looks like their grandmother just died. They smile so rarely, that they look like the happiest people in the world when they do.
I have one more day of orientation and I will be picked up by someone from my school on Saturday morning and taken to Békéscsaba. I'm pretty sick right now, so I'm hoping to feel better before I have to go about my big move and start my new profession. An interesting side note is that it is Hungarian law to get a note from a doctor in order to call in sick from work (the Hungarian who told me this said it's left over from communism when the state "didn't trust anyone and believed everone was criminals").
Now for dinner, I'm going to hunt down my first Gulyásleves of the trip.
One of the main themes that I've been learning about is the Hungarian outlook on life. Supposedly, they are very pessimistic and generally depressed about life (which seems to be supported by the extraordinarily high suicide rate). I am told they never encourage children in school, they only criticize them for mistakes. In my opinion, that is one way to make kids grow up without ever being happy.
Even the beauty of the city has a depressing outlook. Remnants of communism are everywhere, and just about everything seems run down. In a way, it seems to make everything more beautiful. Rather than taking everything at face value, it requires you to imagine how it would look if history had been more kind to this city.
The people fit right in with the rest of the city. The men look rough, the women are gorgeous, there are dogs everywhere, and everyone looks like their grandmother just died. They smile so rarely, that they look like the happiest people in the world when they do.
I have one more day of orientation and I will be picked up by someone from my school on Saturday morning and taken to Békéscsaba. I'm pretty sick right now, so I'm hoping to feel better before I have to go about my big move and start my new profession. An interesting side note is that it is Hungarian law to get a note from a doctor in order to call in sick from work (the Hungarian who told me this said it's left over from communism when the state "didn't trust anyone and believed everone was criminals").
Now for dinner, I'm going to hunt down my first Gulyásleves of the trip.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
How do you say curtains in Magyar?
Did I mention it's almost impossible to log into this site? It's all in English, just like it was when I set it up in the United States...but not until I log in. Before that it's a bunch of words that mean absolutely nothing to me (unfortunately). Trial and error...
I strolled around Budapest by myself today. I tried to see how familiar I could make myself feel even though I still hardly know any of the language. It went pretty well and there's a lot going on because this is the weekend of the big Hungarian national holiday. I bought some food at a stall that was similar to pizza. It was baked dough topped with a whole bunch of cheese, something like sour cream or cottage cheese, big chunks of fatty bacon, and plenty of spices. I don't know the Hungarian word for "delicious", but I would use it if I did.
Now as the afternoon heat has set in, my happy friend named jet lagged has begun to reappear. I would consider taking a nap but I think my room is about 500 degrees celsius (imagine what that is in farenheit).
The view from where I'm staying is incredible because the building is on a hill overlooking the picturesque city of Budapest. My room, however, is on the opposite side and is overlooking a picturesque view of why communism sucks. Oh well, that's what curtains are for.
I strolled around Budapest by myself today. I tried to see how familiar I could make myself feel even though I still hardly know any of the language. It went pretty well and there's a lot going on because this is the weekend of the big Hungarian national holiday. I bought some food at a stall that was similar to pizza. It was baked dough topped with a whole bunch of cheese, something like sour cream or cottage cheese, big chunks of fatty bacon, and plenty of spices. I don't know the Hungarian word for "delicious", but I would use it if I did.
Now as the afternoon heat has set in, my happy friend named jet lagged has begun to reappear. I would consider taking a nap but I think my room is about 500 degrees celsius (imagine what that is in farenheit).
The view from where I'm staying is incredible because the building is on a hill overlooking the picturesque city of Budapest. My room, however, is on the opposite side and is overlooking a picturesque view of why communism sucks. Oh well, that's what curtains are for.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Now I'm Across the World
Guess where I am... I'm in Hungary. I got here safely without any problems (except screaming babies in the seat in front of me). It's pretty cool so far, except I can't read anything, anywhere. And I'm tired. And I'm hot.
I'll be excited when I solve those problems. I'm excited now, except I keep forgetting. Because I'm tired.
I rode to the hostel I'm staying in from the airport on a funny little bus. The airport is in the middle of nowhere and the area doesn't look very attractive. Then the roads started to become busier, more like city streets. Then all of a sudden, the bus went past the wall of buildings ride onto a bridge over the Danube and the view was incredible. That's when I realized that I'm somewhere very different.
The next time I realized I was somewhere different was when I didn't know how to work the door handle to my room (it doesn't turn, it has a button on the outside).
The next time I realized I was somewhere different was when I couldnt figure out how to flush the toilet. Don't worry, I figured it out. But it splashed me.
Now I'm going to try and find some food, and then get some sleep. This should be interesting.
I'll be excited when I solve those problems. I'm excited now, except I keep forgetting. Because I'm tired.
I rode to the hostel I'm staying in from the airport on a funny little bus. The airport is in the middle of nowhere and the area doesn't look very attractive. Then the roads started to become busier, more like city streets. Then all of a sudden, the bus went past the wall of buildings ride onto a bridge over the Danube and the view was incredible. That's when I realized that I'm somewhere very different.
The next time I realized I was somewhere different was when I didn't know how to work the door handle to my room (it doesn't turn, it has a button on the outside).
The next time I realized I was somewhere different was when I couldnt figure out how to flush the toilet. Don't worry, I figured it out. But it splashed me.
Now I'm going to try and find some food, and then get some sleep. This should be interesting.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!
Lucky you, you have found the spot where I will tell the story of my next adventure. I am leaving on August 20th, to travel to Hungary where I will teach for a year. But before you say, "Wow Alex, you must be going to Budapest because that's the only place in Hungary I've ever heard of. How Exciting!" I have to tell you that I'm not going to be in Budapest. I will be in a town on the eastern border of Hungary called Békéscsaba (I'll explain the pronunciation once I'm sure of the correct way).
Next, everyone asks about the details and I laugh. I laugh because I don't know many of the details. I'm going to be teaching at a "bilingual" "secondary" school. I interpret this to mean I will be teaching "high school" kids...something. I may or may not be teaching English. I may or may not be teaching high school students (what does secondary mean anyway?). All I know for sure is I will be teaching, and it will be, well, interesting.
While I'm gone, I would love to keep in touch with all my family and friends. I know I wont as much as I should, so I have created this blog to encourage communication. Here are the instructions: You will read it to know what I'm up to, and then you will send me an email telling me what you are doing in your life. Then, you will send an email to everyone else you've ever met and tell them to read this blog. Then everyone on the planet will read it and I will be proud.
In summary, I will land in Budapest on August 21st and will hopefully be able to start filling in more of this exciting mystery. Until then, wish me safe travels.
Next, everyone asks about the details and I laugh. I laugh because I don't know many of the details. I'm going to be teaching at a "bilingual" "secondary" school. I interpret this to mean I will be teaching "high school" kids...something. I may or may not be teaching English. I may or may not be teaching high school students (what does secondary mean anyway?). All I know for sure is I will be teaching, and it will be, well, interesting.
While I'm gone, I would love to keep in touch with all my family and friends. I know I wont as much as I should, so I have created this blog to encourage communication. Here are the instructions: You will read it to know what I'm up to, and then you will send me an email telling me what you are doing in your life. Then, you will send an email to everyone else you've ever met and tell them to read this blog. Then everyone on the planet will read it and I will be proud.
In summary, I will land in Budapest on August 21st and will hopefully be able to start filling in more of this exciting mystery. Until then, wish me safe travels.
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