April. How did that happen ?

Knock, knock knockin' on Nagyörút's door.......

There's a tour bus that passes by me whenever I go to school. I wonder what they say to the tourists.....

This is where she goes to school, this is where she goes home, this is where she learns all the things she never would if she had just stayed home.

This is quite possibly the best thing i've ever done.

And now I must wrap my head around the lesson we have learned today, which is THIS:

If we want to stress that the actions of two clauses take place or start or are completed at the same time, we put the demonstrative pronoun (akkor, addig, azóta) in the main clause which is the pair (antecedent) of the relative pronoun (amikor, amíg, amióta) starting the sub-clause. As for the word order: the predicate (verb) follows the demonstrative pronoun. If the demonstrative pronoun is put in the sentence, only the amikor, amíg (ameddig) or amióta forms of the pronouns can be used. The forms mikor, mióta, and míg occur only in unstressed sentences (which do not contain the demonstrative pronoun)

OH GOODNESS!

It's been three weeks. How did that happen? The highlights? A bunch. The weather changed and now there is an opportunity to get out there.

Went to a Hungarian flea market and found a few interesting treasures. I went with my mother's friends who are wonderful people. We have the same taste in movies and music, so the conversation is always great! As for the actual flea market, It was kind of intense. Relics from a whole other world. And some from my own, including the South will rise again painting hahaha:

That Saturday night, I went out with my cousin István and his friends. His friends are going to go live abroad so there was a party to see them off. Lots of walking, lots of buses, LOTS of palinka shots. That was a rough next morning, but so worth it :)

Had a break from school where I FINALLY managed to take some pictures of my new neighborhood! I walked around about a couple blocks out from where I live. It was a calm, wonderful day and in the coming weeks I'm going to be selecting new streets/neighborhoods in which to document with photos:

As for me? I'm doing considerably well. Aside from the language I'm learning so much more. I've learned that sometimes you have to move far, far away to determine who is willing to stay in your life and who's going to give up on you. Sometimes it's the person you least expect.

That sounds really dramatic, but without this experience I guess i'd still be in Denver, oblivious to just how freaking big this world is. How it's completely possible to live a different life and all you have to do is get on the plane. And those who show you support and are interested in your journey, emotional or physical are people you should hold dear.

I've also been making new friends, and have been able to get out of the house, the weather is GREAT. Yesterday I went to Ikea where they have AMAZING food. I never would have thought haha. And of course, I chose the swedish meatballs.

And also on the subject of amazing food. The humus bar is one of the most amazing places ever:

I will try to get back into the habit of blogging more often so that I don't have to leave these HUGE gigantic posts anymore.

Wonderous Saturday

So my homesickness is subsiding. I'm relaxed here, it's wonderful. I had to let go of a few things holding me back from home. I realized that the world is SO big and there is no way that you can know that until you.... well, go see some of it. There are too many people to meet and so many new things to feel all around you. I know i'm a sappy traveler but this experience is beautiful.

That said i've started venturing out and exploring a little, the sun is out (although the wind is NO JOKE. It is a cold, serious, and apparently very pissed off wind)

I've been wandering up and down a street called Ferenc Józséf, its comparable to Broadway, as it has a lot of little shops, places to eat and businesses. Along it runs the 4 and 6 tram and I am pretty familiar with all the stops. I am going to arrange a stop by stop tour for myself once it actually warms up around here.

Here on the map, the blue push pin is where I live, right by Petofi Bridge in Pest and the black pin is where my school is, on the other side of the Duna in Buda:

So every morning on my way to school I walk up to the top of the bridge, hop on a tram, the 6 and take it into Buda into school. The tram which is below is quite awesome (and yes I know I am quite the lazy photographer but the awesome thing about the found picture below is that it is what it is actually traveling on the same bridge/direction that I go.... basically I could easily be on it right now)

Today I went down to the mall to be around people, listen to the language, and ALRIGHT FINE scope out the sale at Mango because I am in love with that store. (Why there isn't one in Denver, I'll never know)

I met a couple while I was in line at Media Mart (think best buy). They reminded me of my parents: a suave charasmatic well dressed guy and a petit brunette with a warm smile and kind eyes who was also super stylish. I heard them trying to talk to each other... the man was speaking only in Hungarian and the woman was answering back in English..... but they weren't really getting anywhere. I looked over and said good afternoon, which is kind of code for "I speak english"...

She almost jumped she was excited. She immediately asked me where I was from and if I could assist her in communication. She told me they had met three weeks earlier and that they had somehow fallen in love even though they couldn't really talk to each other. HOW ROMANTIC. Seriously, I was completely enamored with the idea that just being with someone was enough. And that getting to know someone can be a more creative and interesting process if you have to get around a language. Beautiful.

Anyway as it turned out they reminded me of my parents in more ways than one. I figured out that the guy wanted to take the girl shoe shopping (something my father would regularly do for my mother) and that he would like to know if she wanted to.... and when I told her his wishes she was MORE THAN ENTHUSIASTIC. They walked away arm in arm and I couldn't stop smiling for the next 20 minutes.

They made my day.

Well them and this hilarious lady on the tram. I was on my way back to my house when I looked down and say an "Obama is KICK ASS" pin on this ladies bag. She saw me looking at it and then she leaned over and said "He's the president of AMERICA" to which I nodded and smiled, she then said "AMERICA is kick ass, SUPER kick ass".... I agree. I didn't say anything, because I was content with that being the whole interaction.

I've been trying to speak out loud to myself and read as much as possible in Hungarian. I've been reading one of my mothers old books from the 70s and it's really cute. It's a childrens book:

So far it's about a little girl and her family, and it's cute. But now i'm about to fix some dinner and settle into the rest of my Saturday. Tomorrow it's lunch at my cousins house in Pest!

Ver a sívem

As we last left off I was on my way to go see a show in another part of the city.

I had a GREAT time. Great time. Everyone was nice and I was able to kick it with people around my age. The venue was a bar/upstairs venue type of a deal which is nothing new, but the interesting part is while there was thrash punk going on upstairs there was what was the equivalent of The Church or Bash downstairs. Madness

In the stairway downstairs from the venue.

I loved the music and it was nice to see how things go down at shows in Hungary. There were no men running around puffing out their chests and making sure everyone knew how tough they were. It was refreshing.

The band Reflections of Internal Rain from Serbia:

Oh and there were some delicious late night eats at a turkish restaurant.

That also used to be a strip club:

The next day I was invited down to see my great grandmother and my great aunt and uncle again. I had some very delicious food and we talked about how school was going and how weird I find learning the language is. They are such wonderful, wonderful people and I love that I can hop on a train and see them when I want to.

As far as the learning is going. Holy, holy. I haven't even started past or future tense because I have about two more weeks to go on just how many different ways there are to say something. Not in the way of there are multiple words or multiple meanings to every word (well there are but I don't want to get into it right now) I mean.... I mean..... I just need to study is all haha.

This is a chart of suffixes that I made to help me understand: (if this gives you any idea)

What else, what else. I've been trying my best to walk around and listen to everyone talk but I am SO not feeling the weather. For the first time today the sun came out, and actually stayed out. Today I also got a visit from my cousin Nati, who is probably one of the sweetest people i've ever met. She told me all about her school which is not far from here, she's going to be a medical technician! She also showed me pictures from her vacation to Montenegro. Which by the way is probably one of the most beautiful places i've ever seen. HELLO! future honeymoon spot. Speaking of honeymoon there are some extremely attractive dudes here. It's insane.

But now I have more studying to do. I've also decided to limit the amount of english intake that I will expose myself to. So after studying today I'll be watching The Break Up in Hungarian. I can only imagine what kind of voice they are going to use for Vince Vaughn.

I'm American

So i've slowed my blog roll. I've been hanging out, studying and trying to get used to this new atmosphere.

Along with language courses, there are also a few that i've unwittingly signed up for.

Included are: Advanced Buearucracy and social politics in post Communist Eastern Europe.

I find here that there is still a very strong presence of the "iron curtain". People have heavy hearts. It's almost contagious.

I find myself saying "In my country we CAN" as much as people here are saying "In my country we CAN'T"

It's completely eye opening. I don't think I would have been able to grasp the freedoms afforded to me by my own government without this trip. I can (and yes this is corny) say now that I understand what it is to be American. To experience the way they do things here, the way they handle customer relations and the way they handle official dealings. It's strange.

I've been having a few hang-ups, with my school and with the immigration office, but i'm determined to see them through. It has to work out, and it will if I believe.

My class is starting to get really difficult as this language builds on itself. It's amazing, and quite beautiful.

Tonight i've been invited to see a show with some new friends, and that will definitely help me de-stress and get ready for next week.

Until next time.....

Hell to the Yes

Yesterday, on my way to school, my bus stopped and turned around about 6 to 7 stops before mine so I walked the rest of the way in the snow. AWESOME. I guess this was just one of life's little tests.

After I got home, my new Hungarian friend Mate (Ma-tay) gave me the scoop on a pizza place you can order from and I SO did. It was kinda geeky feeling proud of myself for ordering pizza, mostly because I was SO confused about how to read them my address, but none the less, delicious pizza AND a special Hungarian delicacy were both delivered to me.

Their website:

http://www.pizzaboy.hu/

Today I slept in (finally) and then spent some time watching movies i've rented off of I tunes (which take FOREVER to download and are only available for about 24 hours after you start to watch them... bogus? A little bit). Got to talk to my mom, and I asked her where the Tesco was by our house because I needed a few items.

Now going to the store and buying stuff is not a hard thing to do. Did it everyday in America. BUT I suddenly felt myself being excited for this new adventure. I was about to validate my whole existence here. Find the way there, pick stuff out, pay for it, pack it into the bag I brought (SO weird, I still can't get over this you must buy a bag to take it with you thing) AND enjoy the fruits of my adventure.

I was nervous but OH so excited. I also made a new friend on the Vilamos. He asked me if I wanted to "marry", which immediately after that his friend smacked the back of his head, pulled him close whispered something in his ear. My future fiance turned back toward me, mouth totally agape and said "I NO MEAN MARRY, I THINK DATE? DATE ME? I take back marry. no marry, no marry you..... date" Completely amazing. I politely declined but secretly thanked him for the HILARIOUSNESS that was the great moment between us.

Tesco is an amazing place. I really, really, wish we had them in America. I didn't take photos of it because I decided to not take pictures of things that others find normal such as stores while i'm alone because that sends signals such as "She's not from around here" and I don't need that to send them other signals like "Easy target".

But I do have other photos (yes I know i'm cheesy and lame):

On my way!

An engagement ring. How romantic.

SO STOKED, I did it.

My bounty: Which included a fleece blanket, choco balls cereal (AMAZING), popcorn, a new movie, and soup in a bag. Life rules.

I'm totally doing it

This is the view from my classroom. We are looking out over Buda.

I'm totally doing it.

Today was wonderful so far! I even went to a bookstore, asked for what I wanted in Hungarian (they didn't have it) but the point is I tried! I can do this! Yesterday my mother left, and I already miss her so, so much. I am alone now, so it's time to put on some big girl pants.

I like what this no car thing is doing for my thighs (I type as I'm eating a Hungarian carmel, cake, pie cookie type deal) Delicious.

Well what's new huh? Sunday night I went to see Henry Rollins perform spoken word on a boat. I've been talking about it non stop since then and be thankful that I'm not in the US because i'd have been smacked by now. He is amazing. And incredibly sexy.

At school i've been meeting some more new students. One guy from Kazakhstan, who actually likes Borat. And it was he, not I, who brought that up because i've learned that most people from there HATE that movie. I met a nice Egyptian guy, who had the best pair of Diesels i've EVER seen. He bought me some coffee in the cafeteria. Very nice guy.

Speaking of fashion there is a GREAT assortment of things going on out here. There is a great deal of western influence. So basically a lot of people look like hipsters, but have actual working class jobs. It's interesting. There is this brand out here called Mayo Chix. They make really cute stuff, I just can't bring myself to wear anything that says "Mayo" because I find mayonnaise completely repugnant and I'd feel strange. It pretty much says condiment wear to me.

Other interesting facts:

1. My teacher does not believe that my grandfather cooks because, men don't cook in this country. Huh.

2. In Hungarian the words are A KAGILLION miles long because they are a complex code of pre fixes and suffixes that make me want to poke my eyes out. Oh and they also put the verb at the end of the sentence. A phenomena that I am completely perplexed by

3. I have no idea how to convert from the metric system, and I don't plan on learning.

Now, as an American ambassador, I feel the need to educate these Europeans on a couple things.

First is the door hand off. You know what this is, it's when a crowd is walking through a doorway and one person extends a hand, supports the door, and looks back long enough to watch the next person extend their hand and take the door's weight from you. NO SUCH THING OUT HERE. I've often found myself looking back, realizing the person behind me has NO INTEREST in the door rapidly approaching their face, only to keep holding the door, facing away from them and thus looking like a dipshit. Not cool, Europe, not cool.

I will make sure that by the time I leave, this is common practice.

Another thing that I find quite strange is the elevator behavior going on around here. In Hungary it is completely customary to wait until you or you and your party board the elevator, push the desired floor button and then immediately push the door close button. Regardless of ANYONE ELSE in the vicinity of the elevator area.

I propose we wait maybe? Be courteous? Especially since all the elevators are the type that go where they are told and do not stop off at any floors before reaching the desired floor. BOGUS.

And lastly, this:

This is a sticker that is on the back of my classroom door. I found it the other day. I think the gist is that penis plus vagina equals baby carriage, which is technically correct. I have no idea why it is here. It's most likely a safe sex, educational type, sticker, but I find it completely hilarious.