My class last week was the first one that I've disliked. I guess it had to happen sometime, but I was disappointed, especially since the topic should have been very interesting. The professor, however, was absolutely abysmal. Too bad, but I guess it had to happen eventually. This week should be a lot better.
After the terrible exam of the terrible class, I decided it was time for weekend. I kicked it off by attending the:
That's right. Budapest is hosting the Rubic's World Championships. Not only that, but I am rather well acquainted with the 133rd runner up. Paulina and I headed over after class. We sweet talked our way into a free guest pass then watched for awhile. We saw some really fast cubers and witnessed a world record being broken - 15 cubes solved blindfolded. He was fourteen years old.
Saturday, the majority of my program, along with my roommate David, hopped on a train to Tokaj, which is a city in the countryside famous for its sweet white wine. This weekend was their harvest festival, complete with wine tasting stands. I've realized that I'm not a huge white wine fan, however, the experience was still great. First of all, the Hungarian countryside is beautiful. Parts of it remind me of the Pioneer Valley, actually, which can be kind of fun. I didn't get too many pictures, as its hard to get any good shots through a train window, but here's the best I could do.
I had two favorite moments during the festival. The first came when a marching band started playing. Great, I think. I love marching bands. Then, I hear what they are playing. It's the 4th of July song! The one that also has the words "be kind to your web footed friends, 'cause a duck may be somebody's mother...". I always thought this was American. Apparently, Hungary loves it too. I guess there aren't that many rousing marching band songs around. The best part? About an hour later, they played it again.
My other favorite moment was a little less bizarre. After strolling around the festival for awhile, one of the Hungarian students who was with us suggested that we go to a wine cellar just outside the center of town. It was so cool. Again, this was hard to get pictures of, but it looked a little something like this.
We hung out there for quite a while. I got some attractive pictures of my friends.
The best part, and the part that I absolutely could not get a reasonable picture of, was that there was a tradition of sticking coins into the wall for good luck. The wall was, therefore, covered in little dots of metal, mostly 1 and 2 HUF pieces.
Since then, I've mostly been home. Julian, who is one of my friends from high school and is spending a semester traveling around Europe, showed up at my house for the second time today. He had been in Budapest a few weeks ago for quite awhile with another of our friends, Cale. Then, Cale flew back to the US and Julian continued on his way. However, after a rough experience in Romania, Julian showed up on our doorstep again. It's been great - my apartment is rarely empty.
1 comment:
As you know, Liza, I am living your blog through the eyes of the Hopkins alum, William Stiles, the diplomat who met Kossuth. Anyway, he too was impressed with the Hungarian countryside. He likened it to his native Georgia, and therefore felt a kindly disposition toward the Hungarians. He probably would have approved of the spooky memorial to victims of Communism as well. Keep up the good stuff!
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