Check this out
I feel like I started Hungary over again today, in a good way. For whatever reason (or for ten million reasons) the past week was really taxing, but hopefully the worst is over. I still have to register for classes by the end of September (read: in three days) and the professor I asked to help me with that referred me to the other MSc student who either doesn't check his gmail or doesn't want to respond to me, but hopefully that can get sorted out tomorrow.
I went to bed at eleven last night, woke up at nine and decided that I should go for a run on Margaret Island just because it's the first beautiful, sunny day we've had in two weeks. (Exercising for its own sake, like relaxation, is a novelty unknown to me) I successfully ran the entirety of the 5k loop and now I'm back home about to make lunch accompanied by fresh-squeezed orange juice. I hope I'm not turning into one of those obnoxiously healthy people, but I feel great right now. :D
(We don't have a juicer, so I'm just going to disassemble the orange and stab it with a fork.)
I've also started doing bikram yoga three times a week -- it's the one where you heat up the room to 105 degrees. I remember reading about celebrities doing it left, right and center and wondering why you would voluntarily exercise in an overheated room for an hour and a half, but I think I've hopped on the bandwagon. Admittedly there are days when the heat gets to you and everything touching your skin (including your own sweat) is a violation, but mostly it's very calming and meditative. Not only do I leave with a great high, but I've noticed precipitous changes in my body just in the past two weeks. I have muscles! I feel healthy! I might have to keep this up.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Good news
Hey, it turns out I'm not as stupid as I thought I was!
Background story: I was supposed to receive an email from a professor telling me what to read and what problems to do for a meeting on Friday. Instead I heard nothing, sent an email, still heard nothing, and therefore showed up 100% clueless instead of 100% brilliant and prepared. Turns out he was sending things to the ELTE email I didn't even know I had.
We changed our meeting to Tuesday and again I found myself without any emails... I thought I was going crazy (I checked my inbox about a hundred times) but the professor (who is also a tech head?) looked into it and apparently he set up the account wrong! It feels good to have one very small thing figured out.
Also I have an ELTE library card. I checked out my first book today :D
Background story: I was supposed to receive an email from a professor telling me what to read and what problems to do for a meeting on Friday. Instead I heard nothing, sent an email, still heard nothing, and therefore showed up 100% clueless instead of 100% brilliant and prepared. Turns out he was sending things to the ELTE email I didn't even know I had.
We changed our meeting to Tuesday and again I found myself without any emails... I thought I was going crazy (I checked my inbox about a hundred times) but the professor (who is also a tech head?) looked into it and apparently he set up the account wrong! It feels good to have one very small thing figured out.
Also I have an ELTE library card. I checked out my first book today :D
Today was a good day, I think, for battling bureaucracy. Well, no day is really all that great for it, but I was pretty productive.
- 8 to 10, class
- 10 to 11, emotional hour where I thought I almost cried but didn't maybe four or five times. There was a line a mile long in front of the registrar's office; I was too scared and emotional to go in alone; my professor mentor told me she couldn't help; I can't receive email at my ELTE address; I have to go to a professor tomorrow and tell him for the second time in four days that I didn't do any work because I didn't get the email; my math problems are really, really difficult and I can't figure them out; I don't have any students here to ask for help yet; I haven't talked to anyone outside of the country in over a week, I'm really lonely, and I have way too much going on right now to dump on one of the other Fulbrighters, as nice as they are.
- BUT at 11:00 I toughed up, went to the registrar, and got my paperwork sorted out there.
- 11:45 I try and check out a book at ELTE's library using a letter typed up by a professor of mine on Friday stating (I think) that I really was a student and that I will have a card at some point, but I didn't have one right at the moment... Or something like that. This didn't go over very well, and when one of the librarians disappeared and wasn't back in fifteen minutes I decided to leave and try it again later with a real student card.
- 12:00 to 12:30 I ate and felt a little better
- 12:30 to 1:30 I went to ELTE's other office and got a temporary student card. There was a small hiccup when I realized that I hadn't brought the requisite two photos, but I was able to run home, pick them up and hurry back just in time for my number to be called. I'm really part of the univeristy now! This also means I can get onto the student system.
With that out of the way I went around the corner to the Renyi Institute. A quick email to Deszo (head of BSM/member of the Renyi Institute/my landlord two years ago) meant I was able to register for the library (you need to be sponsored). Unfortunately they didn't have either of their two copies of the book I wanted, even though their online catalogue says one of them is in.
After that I paid for my student card at the post office (instead of needlessly putting it off for days and days), bought a planner (like everything else so far, this was approximately ten times more difficult than you would think it would be), and went into our local district office to try and explain to the woman there that my landlady thought she had found a problem with an official document I need for my residence permit. To figure out this last hiccup I had to call my landlady and have her talk to the woman behind the desk, but apparently there was no problem after all! Great.
So now I've managed to do everything today except make food and do my homework. Suprising what gets put off until last...
- 8 to 10, class
- 10 to 11, emotional hour where I thought I almost cried but didn't maybe four or five times. There was a line a mile long in front of the registrar's office; I was too scared and emotional to go in alone; my professor mentor told me she couldn't help; I can't receive email at my ELTE address; I have to go to a professor tomorrow and tell him for the second time in four days that I didn't do any work because I didn't get the email; my math problems are really, really difficult and I can't figure them out; I don't have any students here to ask for help yet; I haven't talked to anyone outside of the country in over a week, I'm really lonely, and I have way too much going on right now to dump on one of the other Fulbrighters, as nice as they are.
- BUT at 11:00 I toughed up, went to the registrar, and got my paperwork sorted out there.
- 11:45 I try and check out a book at ELTE's library using a letter typed up by a professor of mine on Friday stating (I think) that I really was a student and that I will have a card at some point, but I didn't have one right at the moment... Or something like that. This didn't go over very well, and when one of the librarians disappeared and wasn't back in fifteen minutes I decided to leave and try it again later with a real student card.
- 12:00 to 12:30 I ate and felt a little better
- 12:30 to 1:30 I went to ELTE's other office and got a temporary student card. There was a small hiccup when I realized that I hadn't brought the requisite two photos, but I was able to run home, pick them up and hurry back just in time for my number to be called. I'm really part of the univeristy now! This also means I can get onto the student system.
With that out of the way I went around the corner to the Renyi Institute. A quick email to Deszo (head of BSM/member of the Renyi Institute/my landlord two years ago) meant I was able to register for the library (you need to be sponsored). Unfortunately they didn't have either of their two copies of the book I wanted, even though their online catalogue says one of them is in.
After that I paid for my student card at the post office (instead of needlessly putting it off for days and days), bought a planner (like everything else so far, this was approximately ten times more difficult than you would think it would be), and went into our local district office to try and explain to the woman there that my landlady thought she had found a problem with an official document I need for my residence permit. To figure out this last hiccup I had to call my landlady and have her talk to the woman behind the desk, but apparently there was no problem after all! Great.
So now I've managed to do everything today except make food and do my homework. Suprising what gets put off until last...
Thursday, September 18, 2008
In Hungary, or at least in Budapest, all protesters are required to get a protesting permit from the government. I'm now on the US Embassy's mailing list, so I get emails detailing protests like the following:
" The three events planned for September 20 are:
(1) Hungarian Charta
This group will march from Clark Adam Square (Buda side circle at the end of the Chain Bridge) to Kossuth Square (Parliament). The rally's purpose is to voice concern over increased discrimination, racism, and violence against the community. Participants in this event will include PM Gyurcsány, Speaker of Parliament Szili, and Budapest Mayor Demszky. Up to 10,000 persons are expected to participate. The event begins at Clark Adam Square at 1400 hours - the march to Kossuth Square begins at 1500 hours - the event in Kossuth Square until 1730 hours.
(2) Roma Community
The National Roma Authority is organizing a march from the Olympic park (in Pest just south of the Margit Bridge) to Kossuth Square (Parliament) to protest anti-Roma incidents committed by far right extremist organizations. Up to 5,000 persons are expected to participate. The event will begin at 1300 hours at the Olympic Park - the march to Kossuth Square begins at 1600 hours - events in Kossuth Square until 1800 hours.
(3) Jobbik, Youth of 64 Counties, Hungarian National Committee 2006, and the Hungarian Self Defense Movement
These groups will protest the Hungarian Government and conduct a tribute to "victims of communism and Roma crimes." This event will be led by several persons who have organized prior anti-government demonstrations that have turned violent. Up to 1,500 persons are expected to participate. This event will begin at Heroes' Square at 1400 hours - the march to Szabadság Square begins at 1700 hours - events in Szabadság Square until 2100 hours."
- First, I like that rallies (1) and (2), while seemingly sharing the same aims, are occurring separately. Note the government's involvement in the first one rather than the second.
- One of the other Fulbrighters is doing his project on Roma inclusion. Am I the only one who thinks it's funny to suggest he join rally (2) for research purposes?
- Finally, I hope that rallies (2) and (3) don't accidentally run into each other. But they would probably both want to beat up rally (1).
(3) Just goes to illustrate the absurdity of far-right organizations -- lumping together "Communist" and "Roma"? The Roma are a very sensitive issue here, in a way that's hard for an American to understand. I'm trying to find a way of mentally phrasing the issue so as to make it moderately comparable to minority issues in the states, but that might be a lost cause [for example, try to imagine a protest specifically targeting a minority group. It happens, but this overtly? And in not un-mainstream politics?]. It's interesting that my friend the English teacher has noted the reverse in Hungarian students; that is, they are pretty shocked about slavery etc., but when you bring up the Roma the kids can't see any similarities.
" The three events planned for September 20 are:
(1) Hungarian Charta
This group will march from Clark Adam Square (Buda side circle at the end of the Chain Bridge) to Kossuth Square (Parliament). The rally's purpose is to voice concern over increased discrimination, racism, and violence against the community. Participants in this event will include PM Gyurcsány, Speaker of Parliament Szili, and Budapest Mayor Demszky. Up to 10,000 persons are expected to participate. The event begins at Clark Adam Square at 1400 hours - the march to Kossuth Square begins at 1500 hours - the event in Kossuth Square until 1730 hours.
(2) Roma Community
The National Roma Authority is organizing a march from the Olympic park (in Pest just south of the Margit Bridge) to Kossuth Square (Parliament) to protest anti-Roma incidents committed by far right extremist organizations. Up to 5,000 persons are expected to participate. The event will begin at 1300 hours at the Olympic Park - the march to Kossuth Square begins at 1600 hours - events in Kossuth Square until 1800 hours.
(3) Jobbik, Youth of 64 Counties, Hungarian National Committee 2006, and the Hungarian Self Defense Movement
These groups will protest the Hungarian Government and conduct a tribute to "victims of communism and Roma crimes." This event will be led by several persons who have organized prior anti-government demonstrations that have turned violent. Up to 1,500 persons are expected to participate. This event will begin at Heroes' Square at 1400 hours - the march to Szabadság Square begins at 1700 hours - events in Szabadság Square until 2100 hours."
- First, I like that rallies (1) and (2), while seemingly sharing the same aims, are occurring separately. Note the government's involvement in the first one rather than the second.
- One of the other Fulbrighters is doing his project on Roma inclusion. Am I the only one who thinks it's funny to suggest he join rally (2) for research purposes?
- Finally, I hope that rallies (2) and (3) don't accidentally run into each other. But they would probably both want to beat up rally (1).
(3) Just goes to illustrate the absurdity of far-right organizations -- lumping together "Communist" and "Roma"? The Roma are a very sensitive issue here, in a way that's hard for an American to understand. I'm trying to find a way of mentally phrasing the issue so as to make it moderately comparable to minority issues in the states, but that might be a lost cause [for example, try to imagine a protest specifically targeting a minority group. It happens, but this overtly? And in not un-mainstream politics?]. It's interesting that my friend the English teacher has noted the reverse in Hungarian students; that is, they are pretty shocked about slavery etc., but when you bring up the Roma the kids can't see any similarities.
Illegalis!
After perusing M's blog (http://auraticoutmoded.wordpress.com/) I feel a bit remiss about my absence in the blogsphere, but I shall do my best to remedy that in the future.
What is new? My classes are *almost* sorted out. For one reading course I am missing a textbook and a regular time to meet; for the other I have both but I lack any assignments, despite the fact that I'm supposed to go in and meet with the professor tomorrow at ten. [After setting the time I realized that I should have as few Friday classes as possible -- Fulbright takes us out once a month on Fridays -- so I might try and get that moved so as to skip as few classes as possible] I have another class (taught by a German woman doing her CS postdoc. Her virtual native fluency is refreshing) without a time set... It might also be Friday, unfortunately. She wanted to start this week but I haven't heard from her yet.
Getting back into the work grove is challenging, by which I mean I have yet to do it. I tried on Monday to lock myself in my office (literally) and read over some notes. I did -- which isn't to say that I understood them much better -- and I also napped on my floor, which made the place seem more like home. Maybe I should get a garish orange carpet, too.
Apart from school, I spent three hours yesterday doing part I of becoming a legal resident. It was pretty typical bureaucracy, appropriately complicated by the fact that in the entire office maybe two people spoke English. To me this would seem counter-intuitive for an office set up specifically to deal with foreigners, but who am I to judge? I thought the woman pushing my papers was going to cut me when she looked in my passport. Regulations were changed in January, so I didn't have to get a multiple re-entry visa, and apparently my passport wasn't stamped very well in the airport, so they couldn't find any record of my entry into the country. My documents were man-handled and there was a lot of sighing and angry Hungarian (I caught the word "illegális"), but in the end they just had me sign an affidavit. I laughed to myself thinking that I was probably the most benign illegal alien ever ("I just want to study and inject money into your economy!").
When I told my professor about this later he got very upset and found a PhD student to go back with me next week for round two.
A funny thing I've noticed about some Hungarians (namely this professor) is that their emails come across as very terse and formal, but this is by no means a reflection of their demeanor in person. I talked to Judit (Hungarian now ex-girlfriend of another Fulbrighter. She goes to ELTE as well, so we've been hanging out. She's super sweet!) about it and she said, "Yes. I read emails from Americans and they are like love letters! So long and detailed."
Other than that, my Hungarian as a whole is making little progress, but my store of dirty words grows greater every day. I also learned how to say "What is the difference between __ and __." The word for difference is különbség, and "ség" is not to be confused with "segg," which sounds pretty similar to an American but means ass. Some day when I'm feeling punchy I'll intentionally mispronounce the question just to get a rise.
Last night in Szimpla I was hanging out with some Hungarians and we started talking to this Irish vet student.
Irish guy: You speak really good English!
Me: Thanks! I'm American.
What is new? My classes are *almost* sorted out. For one reading course I am missing a textbook and a regular time to meet; for the other I have both but I lack any assignments, despite the fact that I'm supposed to go in and meet with the professor tomorrow at ten. [After setting the time I realized that I should have as few Friday classes as possible -- Fulbright takes us out once a month on Fridays -- so I might try and get that moved so as to skip as few classes as possible] I have another class (taught by a German woman doing her CS postdoc. Her virtual native fluency is refreshing) without a time set... It might also be Friday, unfortunately. She wanted to start this week but I haven't heard from her yet.
Getting back into the work grove is challenging, by which I mean I have yet to do it. I tried on Monday to lock myself in my office (literally) and read over some notes. I did -- which isn't to say that I understood them much better -- and I also napped on my floor, which made the place seem more like home. Maybe I should get a garish orange carpet, too.
Apart from school, I spent three hours yesterday doing part I of becoming a legal resident. It was pretty typical bureaucracy, appropriately complicated by the fact that in the entire office maybe two people spoke English. To me this would seem counter-intuitive for an office set up specifically to deal with foreigners, but who am I to judge? I thought the woman pushing my papers was going to cut me when she looked in my passport. Regulations were changed in January, so I didn't have to get a multiple re-entry visa, and apparently my passport wasn't stamped very well in the airport, so they couldn't find any record of my entry into the country. My documents were man-handled and there was a lot of sighing and angry Hungarian (I caught the word "illegális"), but in the end they just had me sign an affidavit. I laughed to myself thinking that I was probably the most benign illegal alien ever ("I just want to study and inject money into your economy!").
When I told my professor about this later he got very upset and found a PhD student to go back with me next week for round two.
A funny thing I've noticed about some Hungarians (namely this professor) is that their emails come across as very terse and formal, but this is by no means a reflection of their demeanor in person. I talked to Judit (Hungarian now ex-girlfriend of another Fulbrighter. She goes to ELTE as well, so we've been hanging out. She's super sweet!) about it and she said, "Yes. I read emails from Americans and they are like love letters! So long and detailed."
Other than that, my Hungarian as a whole is making little progress, but my store of dirty words grows greater every day. I also learned how to say "What is the difference between __ and __." The word for difference is különbség, and "ség" is not to be confused with "segg," which sounds pretty similar to an American but means ass. Some day when I'm feeling punchy I'll intentionally mispronounce the question just to get a rise.
Last night in Szimpla I was hanging out with some Hungarians and we started talking to this Irish vet student.
Irish guy: You speak really good English!
Me: Thanks! I'm American.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Things I saw while walking around
1. "Tattoo de Sade," a tattoo parlour decorated with screaming vampires.
2. A head shop complete with a book in the window entitled "The Cannibible Collective," appropriately decorated with little marajuana leaves.
3. A rockabilly store! With sweet clothes that are too small for me!
2. A head shop complete with a book in the window entitled "The Cannibible Collective," appropriately decorated with little marajuana leaves.
3. A rockabilly store! With sweet clothes that are too small for me!
Week 2.5
After the end of my first week of classes I've decided that this might actually be the most difficult "year off" I could have possibly concocted, perhaps short of pulling a John Petkun and joining the marines. I guess I could have hit my head against a brick wall for nine months, but that probably wouldn't have merited government sponsorship.
While ELTE's website eagerly boasts of the dozens of English-language programs availible to foreign students (BSc's! MSc's! PhD's!), in practice I am one of the first two students to ever try this out, at least in the math department. (The other is Baldur, a comically awkward fellow approximately my age from Iceland) My classes this semester were chosen from the ten courses listed as being taught in English(1). Since half were thrown out because I lacked the appropriate background, course selection itself was mercifully easy. Additionally, I'll be doing quite a bit of learning on my own.
I have to introduce myelf to each of the professors and explain that yes, I am one of the problematic foreign students (egy külföldi diák) and yes, I don't speak enough Hungarian to follow a lecture. Fortunately the other guy is in two of my classes, so it's not always just my fault that everyone else is forced to follow a topic in a second (third? fourth?) language.
On the bright side, everyone I've talked to so far has been helpful, and most have been fairly enthusiastic. As I mentioned earlier, as a native speaker of English I am a rare and exotic commodity. One of my professors (who I've definitely heard of before, although I don't know when) came up to Baldur and me after class and asked us how we thought things went and how we ended up at ELTE. He listened to Baldur's explaination and then said to me, "You must have been BSM. The only way someone from Penn-syl-vania comes to ELTE is from BSM." Another professor, who initially helped me out in the fall, talked to me in her office for a while to figure out classes, see how things were going and so forth. As I getting ready to go she said, "And if you have any other problems, you should come to me. How old are you? Twenty-one? Right between my children. If you have any personal problems, you should come to me."
One of the perks of being a proper student is that the two of us get an office! The math building itself is a bit grim, and I would rather not spend a zillion hours here, but it will be really great to have a quiet place to sit down and work. It even has a computer, hence the current post.
In other news, for three glorious days we had wired internet in the flat, although everything got screwed up when we tried to install the wireless and now we're back to square one. I think I might call my dad tomorrow to see if he can get things sorted out. I haven't cried about it, though, or any other part of settling in, so I think I'm doing pretty well.
1. To be fair to ELTE, this is partly because I didn't actually tell them I was coming until May or June, and then it was unclear whether or not I would actually register as a student...
While ELTE's website eagerly boasts of the dozens of English-language programs availible to foreign students (BSc's! MSc's! PhD's!), in practice I am one of the first two students to ever try this out, at least in the math department. (The other is Baldur, a comically awkward fellow approximately my age from Iceland) My classes this semester were chosen from the ten courses listed as being taught in English(1). Since half were thrown out because I lacked the appropriate background, course selection itself was mercifully easy. Additionally, I'll be doing quite a bit of learning on my own.
I have to introduce myelf to each of the professors and explain that yes, I am one of the problematic foreign students (egy külföldi diák) and yes, I don't speak enough Hungarian to follow a lecture. Fortunately the other guy is in two of my classes, so it's not always just my fault that everyone else is forced to follow a topic in a second (third? fourth?) language.
On the bright side, everyone I've talked to so far has been helpful, and most have been fairly enthusiastic. As I mentioned earlier, as a native speaker of English I am a rare and exotic commodity. One of my professors (who I've definitely heard of before, although I don't know when) came up to Baldur and me after class and asked us how we thought things went and how we ended up at ELTE. He listened to Baldur's explaination and then said to me, "You must have been BSM. The only way someone from Penn-syl-vania comes to ELTE is from BSM." Another professor, who initially helped me out in the fall, talked to me in her office for a while to figure out classes, see how things were going and so forth. As I getting ready to go she said, "And if you have any other problems, you should come to me. How old are you? Twenty-one? Right between my children. If you have any personal problems, you should come to me."
One of the perks of being a proper student is that the two of us get an office! The math building itself is a bit grim, and I would rather not spend a zillion hours here, but it will be really great to have a quiet place to sit down and work. It even has a computer, hence the current post.
In other news, for three glorious days we had wired internet in the flat, although everything got screwed up when we tried to install the wireless and now we're back to square one. I think I might call my dad tomorrow to see if he can get things sorted out. I haven't cried about it, though, or any other part of settling in, so I think I'm doing pretty well.
1. To be fair to ELTE, this is partly because I didn't actually tell them I was coming until May or June, and then it was unclear whether or not I would actually register as a student...
Monday, September 8, 2008
Classes, day one
My first class of the year was eight a.m. this morning. It seemed off to a rocky start when I spoke to the professor in English and his response was to look shocked and bug out his eyes, but after that things were better. The thing about this purported English-language program I'm in is that some classes are listed as being taught in English, but apparently what ends up happening is that for lack of any English-speakers they are generally taught in Hungarian. I'm hesitant to have an entire course taught in English for my benefit (or, semi-hesitant, considering the university advertises my degree and I am paying tuition), but the professor today was very kind and assured me that it would be good for the students. The material itself was all stuff I'd encountered before, although that will last probably until Friday. The other students in the course are in a very rigid program, and therefore have similar backgrounds, so I have a bit of catch-up to do.
It's funny, and this isn't true of everyone I've met, but being a native English speaker seems to give me in the eyes of some voodoo powers. (Very similar to telling artists that you study math, actually). It's strange to be a feared authority in a subject just in virtue of my upbringing.
My professor from this morning is writing an English-language graph theory text. He's going to send it to me for my benefit and I offered to edit it. That would be a cool experience! Maybe I could get listed in the credits.
The disadvantage of being the token English-speaker is that I stick out like a sore thumb and therefore feel even more of a need than I might usually to prove that I'm intellectually up to snuff. Combine this with being female and it adds up to no fucking around for me, I think.
It's funny, and this isn't true of everyone I've met, but being a native English speaker seems to give me in the eyes of some voodoo powers. (Very similar to telling artists that you study math, actually). It's strange to be a feared authority in a subject just in virtue of my upbringing.
My professor from this morning is writing an English-language graph theory text. He's going to send it to me for my benefit and I offered to edit it. That would be a cool experience! Maybe I could get listed in the credits.
The disadvantage of being the token English-speaker is that I stick out like a sore thumb and therefore feel even more of a need than I might usually to prove that I'm intellectually up to snuff. Combine this with being female and it adds up to no fucking around for me, I think.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Hurredly, from an internet cafe
Lacking internet in my flat (like everything these days, it's a long story), I started writing this post from the Castro Bistro... I'm now in an expensive (albeit conveniently 24-hour) internet cafe, so this might be fast.
The last four days were eaten up by Fulbright orientation, in a good way. They packed out time with sightseeing, lectures, and extravagent three-course (and booze-soaked) meals, so I certainly could have done worse things with my days. Most of the lectures were pretty interesting (history and current politics, for example) and others not so much (e.g. economics and US-Hungary cultural differences). Meeting the other Fulbrighters were great -- there are some really interesting projects here! I'm also forced to explain my project on a regular basis which is challenging, not least of all because I haven't really thought about it since October. The comission thought it was a good idea, though, so I shouldn't second-guess myself when it seems to come out wrong.
Unfortunately, likely as a result of my not sleeping very much, I think I'm coming down with something. Hopefully I can take it easy tonight and sleep it off.
Classes start Monday! Yikes.
The last four days were eaten up by Fulbright orientation, in a good way. They packed out time with sightseeing, lectures, and extravagent three-course (and booze-soaked) meals, so I certainly could have done worse things with my days. Most of the lectures were pretty interesting (history and current politics, for example) and others not so much (e.g. economics and US-Hungary cultural differences). Meeting the other Fulbrighters were great -- there are some really interesting projects here! I'm also forced to explain my project on a regular basis which is challenging, not least of all because I haven't really thought about it since October. The comission thought it was a good idea, though, so I shouldn't second-guess myself when it seems to come out wrong.
Unfortunately, likely as a result of my not sleeping very much, I think I'm coming down with something. Hopefully I can take it easy tonight and sleep it off.
Classes start Monday! Yikes.
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