Still here! 

Hello Everyone!

I know I haven't kept to my promise of one blog per week. Some of it is my fault of not wanting to get up and actually write and the other is from the internet hating me here at the dorms. However, due to my gap in writing I will write either a long one now or several short ones this week...probably several short ones due to my upcoming trip to Transylvania!

Things I have learned thus far of living in Budapest for a month!

1.) English is not something that I should take for granted. Everyone has their right to speak their mother tongue and thus it is not fair or right of me to assume that others will know mine. Language is part of our identity for each and every person and my growing knowledge of Hungarian has only made me appreciate the very concept of language and how much emotion (thank you vowel harmony) and history ( A FRANCE!) is within every language.

2.) Care packages are amazing. I had never really received any when I was in college but to get a package this far away from home...it's like Christmas!

3.) I truly do enjoy the simple things. Sure I like to see and experience extravagant things as well but what really makes me happy and at peace are the small things.

4.) Soul mates exist. I know, I know it sounds corny and maybe it is but being 5000 miles away makes you think...A LOT!

5.) Chocolatechip cookies are amazing and extremely difficult to make in Hungary. I haven't found a cookie sheet so thank goodness for Rachel, who also went and proposed the adventure of making cookies, had tin foil.

6.) There are words that sound a lot like English words in Hungarian and I should make aware to myself and others of which language I am using. (Thank you Petra for my ever lasting Hungarian lessons O_o)

7.) Even though families fight and bicker I still miss seeing mine.

8.) I still don't fully know what I want to do with my life...and I am coming to terms that this is ok. I should not feel pressured to make decisions I am not ready for. I should continue to better myself and along the way try to better things around me. Graduate school will happen. I am not one to start and never finish. I was not raised that way. I just need a break to regain and re-focus and there is nothing wrong with this.

9.) It is not selfish to focus on me and what I like. I have spent years worrying about others and taking care of others and it is ok to find out who I am....still an ongoing process :P

10.) There are cultural differences everywhere I will go and I have to get used to them....even if I don't particularly appreciate them. (Girl issues, not finishing food, Pálinka)

There are plenty more and these above are just self reflections but I have come to realize they are good to have. Going abroad has been the best choice I have made even though it is also the hardest. When you go abroad and you meet amazing people and in my case make amazing friends it is easy to see what you are missing, taking for granted, or never notice in your own life.

Next post: Excursions :D

Last first day of school...well until grad school that is!

 I keep looking around and I want to pinch myself. Surely this small town mid-west girl (yea corny as it sounds) made it 5000 miles across the world and in Budapest. But it’s real. It’s real from the language, the food, the times I have gotten lost. (Don’t worry I obviously made it back safe and sound!) Yet I still don’t believe that it’s real at times. I have enjoyed the weather though. It is sunny and beautiful during the day and cools off at night with a few rainy days. Hopefully it lasts like this forever :D at least until the end of September.

 Corvinus University is where I am attending and it looked so amazing on the outside when I was looking at pictures in America but I cannot describe how beautiful it is on the inside. I can only show you:

  

Me on the Last First Day!

And so it reached the last first day of my undergraduate career on Monday. How has the time passed by so quickly? Again I feel the worrisome feelings of freshman year with being in a new country and a new university. But truly where has the time flown to? When did I reach the age of 22 wasn’t it just a few weeks ago I was turning 19 and worried about fitting in at IU. Crazy to think after this, until I go to Grad School, I will be released into the real world…the world of having a career, marriage, children…well those two things can wait a bit :P but still. I will no longer be a child and so with this I have come to the realization. I need to live. I need to experience life while I am young. I need not worry and I think one of the hardest lessons I have learned so far (not just in Budapest) is that sometimes you cannot make plans. Sometimes those plans even if you have one from A-Z don't work out and when this is realized you panic. So I have to take one day at a time. I have to enjoy what is today and not worry so much about the future. And for those of you who know me truly, this really is the hardest lesson that I have faced. Coming in second though is the transportation system of Budapest! :D

So far classes haven’t been too crazy. Hungarian language is definitely the most unique language I have had the chance of learning. It is like nothing I have heard or seen before but I will get the hang of it. Every once in a while I get the courage to speak a little while I am out and people tend to understand me. That or they are being too nice…it could be just that. But thank god for my Hungarian roommate Petra. She is amazing not only for the advice and information she has but in all seriousness she is an amazing person. It is good though too that I have an American roommate in order to still have a connection. I feel like even when I do get homesick the fact that I have her will help not to mention she’s a blast and loves to adventure. I believe between the two of them I will be able to not be so timid and I will enjoy more of this trip. One thing that could change though is the internet….the internet here was created just to torture me with the false sense of security and feeling of being connected. In other words the internet wifi connection and I are going to have a serious talk about being stable.

The food….let me just make an ode to the food here…well maybe not,  but I definitely appreciate how fresh and less processed it is. There is a huge market close to my dorm where you can buy anything and I love it!

The Market!

I bought a loaf of bread that was still warm and this was at Tesco! It is the simple things in life for this girl. Speaking of simple things the sunsets here are incredible. The buildings are incredible and so far the history I have learned is intense. There is so much in this country, on this continent that I want to see and experience and I have it right in front of me.

So I will explore, I will live, I will enjoy this gift that has been given to me. I need to stop and not just smell the roses but look past them and see everything else.

And as promised to my roommate Petra, I have included my lesson for the day. All rights of the lesson are that of Petra’s.

There are some cultural differences for sure though. The first one which I just learnt tonight was that of where Santa Claus lives and the terrifying Krampus! So I have been lied to…we all have been lied to. Santa does not in fact live in the North Pole he lives in Finland. Sure enough there is a Christmas town, reindeer farm, and Santa’s house including the main man himself in Rovaniemi, Finland. Who would have known?! I guess Europe was just trying to hide the fact that they indeed house the true Santa! Now for Krampus. I don’t know if you remember or not but as a child I was told if I misbehaved I would be put on the naughty list and be given coal. And of course there were those times where family members would play (funny now but not then) jokes on us kids giving us small bags of coal colored/shaped gum in our stockings. Coal was heartbreaking! You would ask yourself what did I do?! Or maybe you would wonder and then realize maybe you shouldn’t have smacked the heck out of your sibling and then repent before Santa had a chance to give you coal. Well not in Europe my friends. I don’t know if they hold on to the idea of coal or stockings for that matter but they sure as heck have Krampus. Now you may be asking yourselves who is Krampus? Krampus is an Alpine beast that goes on Christmas Eve collecting the children on the naughty list, stuffing them into his basket, takes them to Hell and frightens the day lights out of them in order to set them on the right path for the following year. I now thank the days of coal…I would have literally pissed my pants if Krampus came alongside Santa (which in some tales is what happens…) and Santa said “Nope, no presents for you but a nice night in Hell will straighten you up!” Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. However, now a days it is common for people to dress up like Santa and Krampus to enjoy the holidays and it has become less of a terrifying thing. Sorry to say, I am 22 and I would still be terrified. I will have to update you all on my experiences this Christmas.

Just to give you a visual…you’re welcome.

And so it begins...

Sorry for the delay! I haven't had internet for the past few days but now I am up and going!

New York was by far one of my most favorite birthdays. And I was definitely that girl who pulled out her camera every chance I could and there was no shame as to looking like a typical tourist to the dismay of Tyler. It is hard to say what my favorite part was though. Central park was huuge and the street performers and street vendors were every where. The empire state building view was gorgeous and I didn't want to leave. It  truly was the perfect view of the city. And I never believed the rat myth in NY but they weren't lying when it came to rats ...they are huge and when I say huge they could probably eat a small pet dog, which seems to be the preferred pet in the city. To each their own I guess. M&M world though, that chocolate wall of heaven and every color...*sigh* things of dreams I tell you. Imagine every color of regular M&M, Peanut M&M and flavors I never knew they had M&M. It was all there. Any merchandise or collectibles of every M&M character were there. It was so much to take in and if there hadn't been so many people and being so tired from walking all across NYC I would have ran like a child, well, like a child in a candy store. Of course this was in time square which was literally the brightest part of the city. And we saw it all. The ads, the strange people, the show girls that are painted, and yes I am glad to say we got the full NY experience...we saw the naked cowboy O_o...not really naked thank god. What I was shocked by though was the size of New York state and how beautiful the country side of it is. It was amazing. All of it, amazing.

Leaving was by far the hardest thing to do. You always try to tell yourself that you are always stronger, that you won't cry but in the end (at least for me) I told my self who cares if someone sees me crying. This is a big event in my life. I am leaving everyone I love behind to go off on an adventure and I have the right to be a little nervous, a little scared. It was like the first day of kindergarten all over again...will the kids like me? What about my teacher? What will I learn? Will I learn? Will I fit in? What if I want a purple glue stick and they say no? I don't have my mommy to back me up. I am on my own and for the first time in my life I don't have someone to care for. I am a care taker it is what I do. I care for others and watch over them. Even in school I was called "mom" among my friends and now I didn't have that. And so my adventure begins with me not knowing who I really want to be and what is expected of me. Even with my uneasiness it felt good.

Now for planes...I had never been on one before and I had no idea to what to expect. Everything is crowded your feet and knees barely away from hitting the person on your side and the seat in front of you. Children are crying and in my case no one was speaking English. Thank goodness is was French and I could comprehend most of what was being said. When you take off though it's like a roller coaster. You expect the plane to go all the way up and come straight down but it didn't. It kept going and going and the air pockets made the plane shake and I was sure to god the thing would fall. I had to prepare my self for every situation. Once we got far enough for my nerve to calm I looked out and it was breathtaking. We were in clouds! I had dreamt for so long as a child to live and play in the clouds and imagined a whole other world above us. And my friends, it truly did look like another world. Surrounding me were fluffy cotton like mountains, sky blue lakes and rivers, and I looked hard enough there were cities with towers that kept on going until I couldn't see anymore. Again, breathtaking. When it came to seeing the sun set and rise I literally cried because it was so beautiful and awing. Below me, when I could see them, were cities, man made cities and they seemed like such peons compared to the cloud cities that I saw. I was reminded of how small not only I was in the world but humanity is. As for food, I was surprised. I expected peanuts and water or something around that nature. Not only did I get three full meals between my two flights but I had a choice as to what I wanted for dinner. I also had over 50 movie choices and like a child I watched animated films. But eh, I am an addict when it comes to dream works movies.

Let's just say Budapest is beautiful, the food is great, and contrary to what I was told...not too many speak or are willing to speak English. That's ok though because it gives me a challenge and a goal. The first day was definitely rough between me getting off the plane and not knowing where to go, getting bombarded by taxi drivers for rides, and asking where to go and even having police officers not able to speak to me. Not to mention the fact that my laptop bag literally broke apart and my laptop came crashing through on to Budapest airport pavement....heart stopping/wrenching/crushing moment. I had to ask myself "Is this really what I got myself into? No language, no friends, and possibly no laptop. I had to remind myself though that life likes to throw those lemons at you and you have to keep going; making lemonade along the way. But I do miss waking up next to the person I love and having my cats and their morning routine. I miss seeing my family and I miss seeing and hearing English at times because I feel like an outsider which I am. But that is part of the experience, I have to learn to become somewhat a part of the culture.

And so with this I will be strong, I will be determined, and I will have fun. Right now I am finding out about myself which is much needed. And I may  not like some things that I find out but the best thing about being human is the ability to grow.