October Field Trip! Herend and Tihany

Every month, Fulbright organizes an excursion for grantees. It's great that they do that, because it provides a chance to see more of Hungary and also gives us time to reconnect with one another. Yesterday we had our very first excursion, and it was wonderful! (Except that we had to meet at 8 a.m... that was not wonderful. I have grown accustomed to sleeping in.)

We piled into the bus, and drove out to the countryside. Our first stop was Herend, the largest porcelain manufactory in the world. For hundreds of years, Herend has produced fine porcelain pieces with extremely delicate hand-painted designs on it. We were able to take a tour to show us how the pieces are made, from start to finish.

First, talented potters mold the clay into plates, cups, vases, etc. They also add handmade decorations, such as flowers. The piece is fired, glazed, and fired again, giving it the white, translucent look that is characteristic of fine porcelain.

Next, an artist stencils on the design using coal, and begins to paint the colorful patterns that are characteristic of Herend. If just one mistake is made, the piece is destroyed.

The final result is an enormous collection of intricately painted pieces. Breathtaking!

 The pieces at Herend were stunning! I am generally not a details-oriented person, so the idea of painstakingly slaving away over a single piece for several days is mind-boggling to me. It also helped me to understand why the only thing I could afford in the gift shop was a tiny dish, about the size of a half-dollar. Even this small object was hand-painted to perfection, making it worth the $8.

My small memento from Herend. Look at the detail in the butterflies legs and antennae!

The best part of the Herend tour was that, at the end, we got to eat at the restaurant from real Herend porcelain. The food was as delicious as the plates were beautiful! Sweet potato soup, chicken salad, and coffee with rétes (strudel) for desert. Yum!

Tihany Abbey

After eating our fill, we waddled back on to the bus, and made the short journey to the Tihany peninsula of Lake Balaton. The lake is considered the "Riviera of Hungary" and is where many Hungarians spend their summer vacations. No wonder, too -- it's beautiful, with blue-green water surrounded by rolling hills.

The volcanic soil in and around Tihany is particularly good for growing lavender, so everything in the village shops is lavender-scented or made with lavender. Lavender everywhere! We all sat down to enjoy a nice cold lavender beer -- although, as one of my colleagues so eloquently put it, "It really only tastes like lavender when you burp."

The main attraction in Tihany is the Tihany Abbey, a still-functioning benedictine monastery dating back to the mid-11th century. The crypt underneath the abbey houses the grave of King András, one of Hungary's earliest kings. The abbey itself stands at the highest point of the village, looking out over the crystal-clear waters of Lake Balaton.

No place better for a selfie!

After spending some time wandering around Tihany village, it was time to make the two hour drive back to Budapest. After a long and exhausting day, we were tired and hungry, so a bunch of us made plans to go out and eat good ol' American style burgers for dinner. As if giving us a parting gift, on the drive back to Budapest, we got to witness a beautiful sunset from the comfort of the bus.

I am already looking forward to the next field trip!

Finding My Routine

I have been in Budapest for almost a month now, and things are starting to fall into a comfortable routine. It has been a bit of an adjustment, to say the least, but I’m finding it very fulfilling so far.

When I first got here, I had an enormous amount of free time, especially compared to my life in Houston (where I was working full-time and going to school every night). At first, I wasn’t sure what to do with myself here! I would get home after work with no roommates and no pets and wonder what to do. Do I go to dinner by myself? Do I introduce yourself to random people? Maybe I should just wander around the street until I hear someone speaking English and say, “Hello! I hear you speak English. I also speak English! What a coincidence! Let’s be friends.”

Now, however, work has been picking up and I’m finding other things to keep myself busy. I found a Pilates studio (in English!) and a yoga studio (also in English!) and a dance class (in German!), so I’ll be trying all of those out in the next few weeks. I’m also hoping to join a Hungarian language class so that I can be less useless in non-English situations. I’ve been hanging out with other Fulbrighters, as well. Earlier this week, we did a test run of the English-version of a new Escape Room at a museum here (very exciting), and yesterday we went to an Embassy event welcoming the new director of the American Corner. This mostly involved us hanging around talking to each other in a corner and being awkward. Networking has never been my strong point.

I have also been spending a lot of time studying for the Foreign Service Oral Assessment. I will be taking the OA in November, and there’s a lot to prepare. It's a nerve-wracking, all-day group and individual assessment. I have a study group on Skype and we practice weekly (as well as reassure each other not to panic). This is the first time I have made it to this step in the Foreign Service recruitment process, but given the career track that I picked (Public Diplomacy), I need to do very well on the Oral Assessment if I want a shot at actually getting hired. So that’s something I’m focusing on for the next 35 days. (Not that I’m counting.)

Life is good here. The beautiful, cool fall weather makes me want to walk around for hours on end (which I do). The endless numbers of coffeeshops on streetcorners are a constant source of delicious cappuccinos while I people-watch and make observations about Hungarians. 

I’m relishing it!

Where My Feet Took Me

This morning, I stepped out of my building with the intention of going to the grocery store. Instead, when I reached the grocery store I kept walking. I didn't have anything planned for the day except lesson planning and studying Hungarian, so I decided to take a short walk. The short walk turned into a long walk, and I ended up wandering around the city for most of the afternoon. I didn't have a destination in mind, I simply went where my feet took me.

First, I wandered down Váci utca, the main pedestrian shopping street in Budapest, and enjoyed the sight of endless colorful shops and the sounds of tourists from all over the world. One of my favorite things to do in tourist destinations is listen for languages. In Vörösmarty ter, a big open square, I sat for a while and heard people walking by speaking German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Swedish, Polish, and (naturally) English. I also stumbled upon these two majestic horse heads created from aluminum cans. Houston is home to the Beer Can House, and Hungary is home to the Beer Can Horse Heads. 

The end of the shopping street led me to the entrance of Széchenyi Lánchíd, the famous chain bridge that spans the Danube and is guarded by imposing lions. Our tour guide during orientation told us that the man who sculpted the lions boasted that he was so confident in the perfection of his creations that he would jump off the bridge if anyone were to discover a flaw. People looked and looked for imperfections, but could find nothing -- until one day, someone finally found a mistake: the lions had no tongues. The sculptor had no choice but to jump off the bridge into the Danube. Of course, this story, like much of the stories Hungarians tell about their history, is likely rooted more in fiction than in fact, but it makes for a good tale.

Still, the bridge is beautiful, so I walked across it to the Buda side of the city. I thought about riding the funicular up to the top of Castle Hill and going to the museums inside the castle, but on such a beautiful day, I wanted to stay outside. Instead, walked over to the zero kilometer marker. This marks the "heart" of Hungary, so mile markers (or kilometer markers) all over the country use this as a reference point. Unfortunately, right as I took this picture, a lady bent over to care for her baby, which didn't make for a great visual composition -- but I love that the little boy is pointing and laughing at the situation.

Not wanting to climb any hills that day, I turned around and returned to the Pest side of the city on the other side of the bridge. I couldn't figure out how to cross the busy street, and my search for a crosswalk led me to another pedestrian street. I walked by Central European University and stumbled upon something absolutely wonderful.

Right by Szent István Bazilika (St. Stephen's Basilica), there was a crowd of people. My glasses are not currently at the right prescription, so I had to get closer to find out what it was... and imagine my sheer joy upon discovering it was a dessert festival! Since I hadn't yet made it to my original destination (the grocery store), I was hungry! 

So of course, I bought myself a coffee, and then set about exploring the isles and isles of chocolates, cakes, cookies, macarons, truffles.... yum. One stall in particular gave me a good chuckle -- the Angol Csemege, or "English Sweets". It was an odd mixture of American and British junk foods, with a good ol' American flag up just to reinforce the theme.

After eating my fill, I decided to check out the basilica. (When I told my friend Rachel about this, she said "Finally, you went to church!"). The inside of the basilica was ornate and absolutely stunning. I couldn't explore much of it, though, because there was a service going on, so tourists were contained in one smallish corner. A foul-tempered candle-seller-person periodically shush-ed the increasingly noisy group in various languages. Leise! Silence! Silencio! etc. I was impressed with his multilingualism, less impressed with his grumpiness.

By this time, it was getting late in the day, and I still needed my groceries, so I turned back into the direction of my apartment. By a struck of fate, I walked right into the best grocery store I've found so far! Spar had everything I needed and more, and I left the store with a few extra items that weren't on my list. On my way back home to my apartment, I also happened upon a few stalls selling crafts. I bought a little heart-shaped ceramic dish, which will both keep my rings contained and also remind me of my unplanned day of exploration of the city. I didn't finish my lesson plans or study Hungarian, but I'd still say it was a productive day.

A productive day of impromptu exploring!

First Day(s) of Work(s)

This week, the real work began.

As you may know, every Fulbright recipient has a host institution. In my case, I have two host institutions, because I actually have two jobs. First, I work at Eötvös Loránd University ("ELTE"), where I teach two courses on American English. I also work at the EducationUSA Advising Center, where I help Hungarians find their way to study in the U.S.

Both of these jobs started this week, which meant that I had two first days of work, two rounds of getting to know new colleagues, and two times the confusion of starting a new workplace. While I was a little anxious about this, it went pretty smoothly.

Job #1: Teaching at ELTE

Today was my first day teaching at ELTE. Because I teach only part-time, I actually only go to the university on Wednesdays and teach back to back in the afternoon. (Of course, as this is the first time I'm teaching this class, there is quite a lot of lesson planning that happens outside of class on the days when I'm not physically there.) On Monday, I went to the university for a faculty meeting and to get oriented as far as administrative issues are concerned (where to print, what resources are available, etc.).

On Monday I also met some of my colleagues, who have been very welcoming and friendly to me. Being a professor in Hungary is not a lucrative position, and many professors teach upwards of 7 to 9 courses a semester, so I very much appreciate that several new colleagues took time out of their day to introduce themselves to me and show me around. Specifically, one of my colleagues, Orsi, who is teaching the same class I teach, game me a small tour of the department and helped me get situated for the start of class.

Today is when classes actually started for me. It went smoothly -- especially because today was syllabus day, so we really only got oriented and did a few introductory activities. I got to know my students, as well, because prior to the start of class I have received very little information about what this class is for, who takes it, etc. Turns out, most of my students are in the undergraduate teacher education program to learn to teach English, and my course is a compulsory one. I have two sections of 16 students each. All but one of the students are Hungarian (there's one Italian student here on the Erasmus+ program) and all but two are female. They all seem quite pleasant, although a little hesitant to participate.

The unfortunate thing is that next Wednesday is UNESCO International Day of Sport, so my classes are canceled for the day (and thus, for the week). Unlike in the U.S., where we have two 90-minute class periods per week, here there is only one 90-minute meeting a week -- so I lose out on a whole week's worth of material because there's no school on Wednesday. That means I'll just have to pack extra material into the rest of the semester! The other drawback is that my classroom is relatively small, and has no projector or whiteboard, so for any activities I want to do on the computer, I either have to check out the department's projector or have my 16 students crowd around my laptop. So, no weekly PowerPoint presentations for me! (I know more than a few professors who would be freaked out by the lack of PowerPoint, but after Mozambique, I'm just happy that all my students are well fed, clothed, and can all read.)

I'm looking forward to getting into the material more in two weeks when classes resume (stupid Sports Day!). While I was pretty nervous about teaching, as I haven't taught at the undergraduate level before, it went well and I already like it. It's good to be back in the classroom, despite the inevitable beginning-of-semester jitters.

Job #2: EducationUSA

Yesterday was my first day at the EducationUSA center. The center shares space (and is affiliated with) the Hungarian Fulbright Commission, so I already knew several of the staff members from our orientation last week. Everyone is very friendly, and most of them have spent considerable time in the U.S., so they made me feel right at home.

End-of-day treat

I first got a tour of the office (which was just renovated, so things are a bit scattered at the moment), and then I was assigned my first task: to produce a newsletter, compiling relevant information from U.S. universities, scholarship opportunities, etc. to send out to the e-mail list. This, thankfully, was a task I felt totally capable of doing. In the next few weeks, I'll be trained on advising Hungarian students to study in the U.S., and I'll also start leading twice-a-week workshops on important tests like the SAT, TOEFL, GRE, and one workshop on writing skills.

I work at EducationUSA twice a week, so I will be going back tomorrow to finish the newsletter and start learning some new tasks. Looking forward to it!

It's always a little nerve-wracking to start a new job -- now imagine starting two new jobs in a foreign country where you don't speak the language. Eesh! Thankfully, everything has gone smoothly so far, in great part thanks to my wonderful colleagues at both workplaces. As a treat to myself for getting through two first days, this afternoon I bought myself an iced coffee with whipped cream on top and spent some time reading my book at the coffeeshop in the park near my house. Yum!

First Week in Hungary: Settling In

Today marks one week since I have been in Budapest. So much has happened that it's hard to believe it has only been one week.

The "Danube Bend" -- beautiful views!

We had orientation until Friday, and we took a nice field trip to Szentendre, a small artist town up the
Danube a bit (which I will surely be visiting again!). We punctuated our sometimes dragging lectures with delicious Hungarian food, so orientation was on the whole a great experience. Although it was very informative, it was nothing compared to the 10 weeks of intense training we got in Mozambique as Peace Corps volunteers! I feel like I still have a very tenuous grasp on the language and there are some cultural mysteries I have not yet worked out.

Still, these little discoveries are all part of traveling. Today, I had a small victory. After much confusion and several unsuccessful attempts, I finally put credit onto my phone. Apparently, you're supposed to be able to do this quite easily using an ATM or online, but only if you have a Hungarian bank card. If not, you can go to the newsstands in the metro stations, but the lovely resident newsstand lady refuses to help me because I don't speak Hungarian-- even when I learned the Hungarian phrase for "I want to top up my phone." Not all Hungarians like foreigners -- more in this later. In the end, I just went directly to the main Telekom store, where I had to wait a bit, but a lovely person helped me to put enough credit on there to last quite some time. So, that's settled for now, and now my phone finally works properly.

As soon as orientation ended on Friday, I came down with a cold, and spent my first free weekend in bed with a fever -- which was not exactly what I had in mind. Still, I forced myself to not mope around all day, and I made two excursions in between bouts of sleeping and binge-watching Netflix in bed (which works here!) First, I explored the Budapest Cat Café with some Fulbright friends. Unlike the cat café in Houston, which is basically a normal café next to a cat adoption center, this place legitimately just had cats wandering all around the cafe. There was a big cat with tufty ears that just wanted to sleep, and a little rambunctious kitten that kept trying to drink everyone's foamed milk, and also a Siamese looking thing that didn't want to have anything to do with anybody. It. Was. Awesome.

Also, I went to a concert on Sunday night. Kriszta, one of the Fulbright staffers, invited us to attend a concert of a Hungarian folk singer that she really likes, Palya Bea. The open-air concert was in a picturesque little courtyard, and we sat, talked, drank some beer, and enjoyed the beautiful music. Palya Bea is a very evocative and passionate singer who delves in her Hungarian, Jewish, Gypsy, and Bulgarian roots to create a unique sound -- you can hear some of her music here and here. Beautiful!

This week the real work starts, by which I mean my teaching at ELTE university as well as my work at the Fulbright EducationUSA advising center. Later this week I'll write about how the first days of work went. Wish me luck!

Hello, Budapest!

I have arrived! After a long journey, I finally arrived in Budapest on Monday afternoon. I took a taxi to my apartment, where I was greeted by my wonderful landlady, Kinga -- a former Fulbright grantee herself -- who kindly showed me around the apartment, invited me for a walk around the neighborhood, and bought me a much-needed cup of coffee. I felt so welcome, and the apartment is just perfect. It's a little studio apartment on the third floor of a building directly in the middle of the central district downtown, very close to my university and within walking distance of several modes of public transportation. There's a park right next door and many shops and restaurants around the area.

My little apartment.

I was supposed to arrive in Budapest a few days early, so I would have time to get situated and learn my way around the city. However, I had to change my flight when my original flight was canceled out of Houston (thanks, Hurricane Harvey!) so I ended up here later than expected. This meant that I jumped right into orientation the next morning (yesterday), and was extremely jet lagged the whole time. At our fancy welcoming dinner last night I could barely keep my eyes open! However, surprisingly I feel almost normal already today, and all the excitement during the day probably helps.

The other Fulbrighters all seem very friendly and they have an enormous range of research areas, from mathematics and chemistry to rural agriculture and ceramics. We've been learning some basic Hungarian words, and getting a primer on Hungarian history, politics, culture, etc. Yesterday we took a tour of the city, and tomorrow we have a field trip which we are all looking forward to. On Friday, thankfully, we will end early, so I will finally have time to go figure out my cell phone plan, buy a public transportation pass, etc. Next week, I begin teaching, so that's very exciting as well!

Right now, we are on the move all day with Fulbright activities -- but as soon as things calm down a little bit I will update with more photos and information. Until then, viszontlátásra! (Goodbye, pronounced "vee-sont-lah-tah-shrah")

Budapest on the Danube

Welcome! Üdvözlet!

First time in Hungary (2008)

The first time I stepped foot in Budapest was on a cool spring day almost a decade ago, to visit my good friend Dorka from high school. I arrived with zero knowledge of the country, but I soon became enamored with Hungary's beauty, gaining a deep respect for the resilience and determination of its people. At the time, I made a mental note to myself that I wanted to return someday to explore further.

That day has arrived! A few months ago, after a grueling application process that took well over a year (and took parts of my soul, too), I excitedly opened an e-mail telling me that I had received a Fulbright grant to teach English at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest for one academic year. I'll also be working at Fulbright's EducationUSA office, helping Hungarians who want to study in the U.S. make their dreams come true. I could scarcely believe my good fortune!

Now, faced with the prospect of finding an apartment, selling my car, putting my things into storage, leaving my job, and chipping away at an alarming to-do list that grows longer by the day, I, of course, have decided to focus on the important things, like setting up a blog and googling "Hungarian food"--yum!

My first blog, "From Texas to Tete: My Life in Africa" documented my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mozambique, and was met with critical acclaim from even the most important critics (by which I mean my Oma). However, I wasn't always able to post regularly, sometimes due to lack of electricity/internet, and other times, admittedly due to laziness or lack of inspiration. Thankfully, Budapest has reliable internet, so you can expect to hear from me at least once a week this time around. Plus. three years and two Masters degrees later, hopefully my writing has improved too.

With this blog, I plan to share stories about my life and the lives of those around me, insights about Hungary and its culture, challenges and lessons in teaching, and tales of my travels and adventures. I hope that this information will help Americans (and others) learn more about Hungary, and that it will give insight and inspiration for other teachers, world travelers, or people with aspirations to apply for Fulbright grants.

It's going to be an exciting year, and I invite you to join me by following my adventure! To Budapest and beyond!