Nagyon Örülök

(So nice to meet you)

Language class is pretty cool. What I probably find the coolest is that 3 days ago I could not speak a word of Hungarian, could not even read it coherently, but today I feel confident that I could go into the local market and buy some fresh fruit. The language school (separate from maths school near my apartment) is broken up into 4 classrooms, each with about 10 students. So far, we’ve covered the alphabet, counting, fruits and veggies, basic conversation/introductions, direct object, pronouns, prepositions, about 7 conjugations, and other little phrases, notably about 20 different ways to communicate that I’m an American student and I don’t know much Hungarian. The class is structured smartly, so that vocabulary is more focal than sentence structure/grammar/verb tenses, which would be massively difficult to grasp in 2 weeks. So even if we’re saying the equivalent of “forints how much wine are?” and become an endless source of entertainment for Hungarians, at least we don’t need a translator.

Although it’s about a 40 minute hike to the language school, my roommate and I insist on walking. This means she gets up at 6 and I get up at 7, which, if you know me, is an exceedingly unusual schedule for me to be on. But we usually make a nice hot breakfast and get a very pleasant chat on the walk before sitting for hours on end.

The teacher, Erika, is very good. She takes time out to answer any questions we have about the city, slows down/speeds up accordingly, and knows which phrases are the important ones to learn. And, strolling through the city these days, the other students and I will proudly point out “look, husbolt! meat market!” or “feher–that must mean it’s white wine”. And we always toast “egeszsegedre!” (to your health), thank “kosonom”, and excuse “boscanat”. Of course, our accent tends to be entertaining for the Hungarians we talk to, but sometimes everybody needs a good laugh. Entering a club called Szoda on Friday night, we were stopped by 2 serious-looking bouncers who started firing off in Hungarian. Timidly, I requested, “angolul beszel?” (do you speak English?) to which they guffawed and responded, “magyarul beszel?” (do you speak Hungarian?). But then they ushered us inside with bright smiles on. Aha, you silly Americans.

Speaking of this weekend, I should mention it has been exactly as I’d hoped: busy. Most of this has revolved around one of the student’s (Mike’s) 21st birthday.
Part I: On Thursday night, we enjoyed a strawberry-yogurt-flavored, nutella-frosted (nutella is everywhere) birthday cake, and later went out to a Mexican-ish restaurant called Iguana (near Parliament). Although it didn’t exactly go along with the “immersing yourself in Hungarian culture” thing (very Americanized), the place was comforting and yummy. And one of the first nights I really felt like I clicked with a group, mostly made up of the students in my classroom.
Part II: I went exploring a lot on Friday, but that night we we hit a bar near Babilon (language school) called Katapult, then continued on to Mumus, this wonderful artsy/smokey (really they all are) hole-in-the-wall that we remained at way past our bedtime. Walking there, I made myself notorious by administering a concussion test when one of the students hit his head smack dab on the pavement. He was fine.
So when we finally got into Mumus later, we got to experience this awesome stalagtite/stalagmite-paper-mache room with a laser sunflower on the wall (Mumus is simply impossible to describe), and before I left I got to hear a song in which this mob of dancing, belligerent Hungarians on the dance floor (Anthony proudly reports, “Hungarians are terrible dancers. This is great for me.”) shouted out the chorus containing the words “Magyar” (Hungary) and then “Amerika” (USA). I can only imagine what was said.
On a side note, I have never administered a concussion test. Muna, my beautiful hallmate-frosh at Bryn Mawr, told me about getting a flashlight shined in her eyes to check how fast they dilated, so that’s what I did. She plays rugby–enough said.
Part III: Went to a small apartment party/getting to know you on Saturday at Mike’s apartment in the ninth district (near a bunch of museums). This was a great topper to the weekend. I feel like I have a great majority of the 40 or so names of students (who are doing language course) down at this point. Then come another 30 when maths starts…

Of note is my aim for this experience in Hungary. I realize much of the study abroad culture these days revolves around drinking and doing less work, but this is not my idea for the semester. I purposefully chose a program that is not exactly mainstream, one that is academically rigorous, and one that has an intriguing culture, to get an experience that’s best for me.

On Saturday, I took a long run all the way to Buda (I’ve witnessed exactly one runner since I arrived in Budapest. Anna from Bryn Mawr informed me nobody runs in Budapest).  On the way, I stopped to gawk at the Operahouse, St. Stephen’s Basilica, Parliament (again), a large academy, the Chain Bridge over the Danube, and then Buda. Budapest is truly a beautiful city, and I feel as though I’m getting to know it better every day. I only wish I could have taken someone on my run to be able to say, “Wow, check out that statue!” Hopefully I’ll get those pictures up soon.

And today has been more about sleeping, getting things done, studying the language, and visiting a nearby park (Varosliget). Hopefully Brittany and I will pay our rent soon (whoops?), get the bed fixed/figure out laundary, mail a postcard or two, and maybe someday I’ll find a bank that won’t charge Bank of America customers an unfair amount per transaction.

But til then…egeszsegedre! At least we have our health.