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!