It was a good week! I realized I didn't talk at all about classes last week--oops! This past week was the second week of classes.
Most of my classes are in one of three rooms that look exactly like this.
With a view like this.
I'm taking six classes, five 3-credit courses and one 1-credit seminar.
Beginning Hungarian Language: I quite enjoy learning the language. It's unlike any language course I have ever taken in that we still conduct much of the business in English. In that way, it feels much easier than my Middlebury beginning Portuguese class and even 7th grade French, where we were spoken to in the target language regularly from Day 1. I suppose this is the consequence of learning a language with an entirely different structure than English. I find picking up the vocabulary fairly simple, especially the words that are reinforced through constant exposure (open/closed, women/men, push/pull, etc.)
Nations in the Crossroads of History: Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe: Man, I am behind in European history. This is definitely my most challenging class, partially because there is one 8 AM period and partially because I feel like my European history timeline is severely underdeveloped. I am constantly making motes to myself of things to look up that everyone else seemed to know about. Embarrassing... The professor's accent is the most difficult for me to understand, especially because he stutters (often on the word "Europe," which, as you might guess, is used quite frequently in this class.) He is funny, though, and likes to poke fun at other countries.
Contemporary Cultural Trends in Central Europe: Little did I know that I was going to get to take an English class here! This class is mostly reading fictional stories, though there are also a good bit of articles to give historical context. We read our first story last week, and I was in language analysis paradise. I also think I have more of an English background than others in the class, which is gratifying.
Ethnicity, Rural Society, and Folk Culture in Historic Hungary: This class comes in a double period (160 minutes) on Thursday (when I have a total of nearly 6 hours of class, starting at 8 AM with only one break over 20 minutes, and finishing at 6 PM), which causes a bit of an alertness problem, but I find the subject material fascinating. It's a lot of work, but the professor sings folk songs to us, so it's okay.
19th and 20th Century Hungarian Art: This class is divided into architecture and painting, each taught by a different professor. So far, I have really enjoyed it, particularly because we get to take field trips to see the things we talk about in class in real life. We did one such trip this past Thursday, during which I snapped a few pictures of the sights.
The Vigadó building, built for concerts, a museum, and other cultural exhibitions
European old man fashion--the professor didn't point this one out for us.
The Dohány Street Synagogue: I had to do a presentation on the building this week. It's absolutely beautiful, and the center of Jewish life in Budapest.
Seminar on Living and Learning in Budapest: This course is taught by Elizabeth Simon, the resident director, who is clearly not a born teacher. The moral of all of her excursions with her is that she has an incredible wealth of knowledge about Hungary and Budapest and likes to share it with us...all of it. This quality works best with someone who is born to teach and instruct and can hold attention captive, but, unfortunately, this isn't the best description of Elizabeth. As a result, only 5 people ended up taking this seminar, myself included. I look forward to it, actually, partially because of the small size. All of my classes are quite small, but the particular small size and the fact that it is discussion based mean that it is a great outlet for discussion. The assignments are interesting too: this week, I did one called Obvious/Curious, where I had to go around a neighborhood and take pictures of things that were obvious to me, and things that I was curious about, or made me confused. It was harder than I thought, mostly because I kept looking for things that were different than in the US, but even though they differed, I usually underSTOOD the reason for the difference. Some interesting pictures I took, though:
An incomprehensible sign.
Pizza delivery.
A well-endowed mannequin.
Ping-Pong in the park.
Another notable thing that I witnessed this week was Budapest's Critical Mass. I had never heard of it before; apparently, it's a bicycling event that happens monthly in many cities in the world, and twice yearly in Budapest. The one in autumn falls on September 22, which is International Car-Free event. Depending on who you ask, it's a protest or a celebration, but either way, it involves many many people riding bikes on a main street, substantially disrupting traffic. I got many very poor pictures of this event, which was very cool to watch in person. Here are two.
This weekend, the entire program left Budapest for a 2-day trip in Western Hungary. On Saturday morning, after a very early rise and a two hour bus ride, we visited the Benedictine Archabbey at Pannonhalma: a very old, beautiful building, with a super cool library. Some pictures.
Peace.
The view from right outside the church.
Ornate church entrance.
Inside the church.
Library shelves. I liked the little rainbow volume set near the bottom.
That afternoon, we relocated to Nagyvázsony, a village that was celebrating its harvest festival. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera on the bus for this portion, but it was arguably the most picturesque event I have ever experienced. I'm pretty sure everyone there knew each other, and they were pretty tickled that we came to the festival. There were lots of food competitions, including one for tocsni, Hungarian potato pancakes, so people were constantly handing you food so that you would vote for them. Gypsy musicians cycled through the tents, serenading various members of our group and villagers. There was a riding competition, and a carriage driving competition, where the carriage driver had to stop and eat a sausage off of a string at one station, then drink a cup of wine at another. They also set up a hot air balloon--I purchased a ticket to ride, but it ended up taking forever, so I gave it up. The weather was beautiful and we all relaxed, drank beer, and got dehydrated. A group went to get beaten at soccer by some little Hungarian boys, which was one of the cuter things I've seen recently. Later that night, the festival turned into an all-night party, which many people in the group checked out. I personally did not go, but I thank the people of Nagyvázsony for allowing us to enjoy their festival with such hospitality.
We also stayed in Nagyvázsony that night. Before dinner at our bed and breakfast, some of us went on a short walk to one set of ruins in the town. I confess I didn't listen much to the explanation, but I do know that it was also formerly a monastery, and that it was gorgeous. We also had to walk through the cemetery to get there, and most know how much I love cemeteries.
Ruins.
Sunset.
I also took a few pictures of the place we stayed at. It was very cute, and the food was delicious!
Three of us stayed in this apartment.
The view from our balcony.
On Sunday, we left to visit the porcelain factory at Herend.
Everything is handmade.
Esmeralda, one of the largest pieces they make.
We also made our own porcelain roses! It will turn white when it dries.
Our final destination was Tihany, a tourist town on the shores of Lake Balaton (the biggest lake in central Europe.) We were starving when we got there, and thus spent much of our time waiting for food and eating, but I got some shopping in. I also enjoyed some homemade ice cream. Yum.
A Tihany friend.
The view of Lake Balaton.
Lots of places like this sold souvenirs.
That's all for this week.
Much love,
Avery
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