Goodbye Budapest

Goodbye Budapest....

So classes are finished and university is complete... all that is left to do is to have some fun with the friends we have made along the journey.

Our friends in our flat hosted a leaving party for Kirsty, Kattie and I on our last night in the flat. We were really excited and it showed us how much they enjoyed having us with them as most students never stay up in the hostel at the weekend, (just like stranmillis!) So we said our goodbyes and had some cake which our friend made us. At the end of the night they gave us each a present and we headed to bed so sleep in our room in flat four for the very last time!

Sunday was our last day in Hungary and it was really difficult. We went to church at the international Baptist for the last time. This was really hard as it was here that I first felt at home in Budapest. The people had really cared for us and I made a lot of life- long friends, and so to go knowing I would not be back (at least for a very long time) was hard. After the service I hugged a lot of people and got lots of life advice from older friends! My pastor took me aside and prayed for my journey through life after my experience in Budapest...this put me to tears as I left for the last time!

On Sunday afternoon I was cooked dinner by friends in the flat and we spent our last few hours together. Kirsty, Kattie and I went to collect our luggage and lock up our room for the last time. We shared a few tears and then turned around to see a guard of honour to see us off!! The people in our flat had all stood outside their room and were standing waiting to say a final goodbye to us. By this stage we were all sobbing! Two of our friends, Ferenc and Reni, offered to take us to the train station and help us with our luggage. The train station was about an hour away and so this was very sweet of them to take us. I had become very close to Ferenc and Reni throughout my stay and so when we arrived at the station staying goodbye to them was awful!

So after a busy weekend and a lot of crying we got onto our overnight train to head to Warsaw, Poland.....

My Hungarian adventure was over, but it certainly was the best experience of my life and a decision which I would never take back. I met some very special people, and discovered things about myself which I would never had found out if not taken part in the Erasmus programme. I certainly would encourage more people to consider the opportunity.

All I have to do now is look forward to the next time I can visit Budapest! But for now I am heading for a new adventure around Europe before heading home to Northern Ireland.... so Warsaw, Prague and Paris, here I come!

Cultural:
My last week week in Budpest really brought everything together and was a great way of ending my time in Hungary. A tutor (Jayne Moore) came out to see how the education system in Hungary works, and so we spent most of our free time telling Jayne about the things that we had learnt and also a bit about the background of Budpest. It was good to be able to talk about our experiences with someone and to introduce her to the different part of the world that is Hungary!
We took Jayne to the Naitonal Opera House while she visited us and it was our first time inside. I was glad to be able to see an in it as music is a huge part in many Hungarian's lives.
Also during Jayne's visit we visited a Kodaly school of music along with our music teacher at the Hungarian university. It was very interesting to observe different lessons in this school. The music ability among such young learners was incredible to see, and certainly put us to shame!

Professional:
The last week at university was certainly an experience. Kirsty, Kattie and I had spent the 12 weeks preparing 2 songs to perform to a Hungarian audience, and last week the time came for the performance! One of the songs was a Hungarian folk song, and so it took a lot of preparation and help from our Hungarian flatmates to prepare the correct pronunciation. We sang these songs infront of fellow students and their response of great. They all were deeply touched that we had spent time learning their language, and even our singing teacher, (who had always been very strict with us) was impressed. I was also very touched as the performance was on my birthday, and when we finished our songs the hall exploded into singing 'happy birthday' to me in Hungarian!
In our last 'teaching English as a foriegn language' class the girls had organised a surprise birthday party for me and had baked a traditional hungarian birthday cake. This was a brilliant way of ending my time at the university. They asked us to sing the Hungarian song which we had prepared at the end of the lesson and when we finished our teacher in the class was in tears as she was so moved by it. We were very shocked at this, as we didn't think we had sang the song particularly well, but we soon realised that students coming from a Western country and singing to them in their own language meant a great deal.

Personal:
School this week was great. The children had lots of tests to complete and the teachers were able to tell me that the results of the sections which I had taught were great. This was very encouraging to hear as I was just about to leave the school.
On my last day of school my second grade class presented me with chocolate and a card. We played lots of typical party games from Northern Ireland and the children really loved taking part in this.
In my fourth grade class Kirsty, Kathryn and I were presented with a booklet each, made up of pictures and things written by the children which they knew meant a lot to us. One thing which will stay in my mind for a very long time was when I went to leave the classroom for the last time and a girl grabbed my hand and whispered whilst crying, 'please never forget us out here when you go home.' This moved me and made me realise yet again just how different life is in Hungary from in Northern Ireland.

So school and university is over and the erasmus experience is coming to a close..... it is now time to say our goodbyes to some very special people.....

Cultural
It has been a while!
The past two weeks feel like they have been centred around the volcano eruption and checking the ryanair website to see if more flights are being cancelled! Kirsty had a friend (Leanne) staying with her, originally for 3 days, however due to the ash she stayed in our bedroom with us for 11 days! I was supposed to have a friend over but her flight was cancelled. Luckily however my sister's flight was not cancelled and I got to spend last weekend showing her around Budapest.
Two things which stand out in my mind which I tried this week, which are very new to me, are sushi and Budapest's best spa baths! I went with my sister on Sunday to an 'all you can eat' restaurant where I tried lots of raw fish for the first time in my life. I know this perhaps isn't a typical hungarian thing to do! But I don't think I would ever have had the nerve to try it in a local restaurant in Belfast!
The spa baths which I took my sister to were recommended by all of my Hungarian friends. It was certainly an experience! There were over 30 baths and an outdoor heated swimming pool. It was cold and rainy outside and to be in a bikini outside in the water was a very bizarre feeling, but so relaxing! There were also men beside us in the water playing chess and others, seemingly just coming after a hard days work to relax in the thermal baths with a book of suduko! It was definately a memorable experience!
Kathryn and I also took Leanne and my sister and some friends from our flat to climb the citadell by night. This is one of my favourite sites in Budapest and so it meant a lot to get to show my sister it's beautiful view. I also went with my sister on the Budapest bus tour. I had previously went on this at the start of my trip, but I think it meant a lot more to me this time as I could place everything into a context, and everything wasn't abstract, as the sites had memories for me now.

Personal
The past two weeks have been a bit of a rollercoaster emotionally. I was so disappointed that my friend didn't get to come, but wanted to remain positive and hopeful that my sister would get to come! Also when Leanne's flight was cancelled it was hard to know what to do, there were no parents there to help!! It was this day, when we all went to the airport to see what her options were, that I realised my own strength and independence. We were told that she would have to stay in the country for another 3 weeks, or get the bus to London which would have left there and then! The airport was crowded with people shouting at the airport staff and so it was certainly a day where my skills of patience were developed!
When my sister left yesterday she told me of how shocked she was that I was able to get around Budapest successfully by public transport, and of how much she thought I had changed within three months. She was shocked by my independence, (which I had very little of before I came to Budapest!)

Professional
I'm now into my last week of teaching.
Over the past 12 weeks I have certainly been learning a lot of how Hungary's education system works and also about the musical background of the country. I feel very relaxed with my classes and more and more confident in teaching them everyday.
A new teacher at the school asked for one of the 3 Irish girls to come and help out in her class, as well as our normal timetable, and so I volunteered. I prepared lessons for her classes and it was so encouraging to watch her take notes on my lesson and say that she actually wanted to use the ideas. This teacher is taking a course at our university on the English language and so she was asking for my help with her assessment lesson. I was really encouraged when she later told me what her planned lesson was and it contained different parts of the lesson which I had used with her pupils.

I am now into my last week of studies in Budapest, Hungary! I can't believe it1s all coming to an end!

Week 10 has begun!

Cultural:

This weekend Kirsty, Kathryn and I stayed at a friend's house about an hour outside of Budapest. It was lovely to get a break from the city life and enjoy the countryside! We were treated to lots of Hungarian food, which all tasted great. We also enjoyed some Hungarian boardgames with the family and walked around the countryside... good times!

Some typical Hungarian dishes!!

Nicki's family

Personal:

As lovely as it was staying with Nicki at the weekend, it almost felt like being at home because of the lovely green countryside, and the fact that her mum treated us all like her children! It was the first time that I began to miss home! However as we only have a few weeks left I'm realising the need to make the most of every day!

Professional:

This week was definately a little less exciting as others as I had to complete an assignment for my music class and so I spent a lot of time preparing for that, however I handed it all in today, so it's nice to have it finished! This week I was also asked to mark a girls English dissertation! That was interesting! I spent 3 hours in the library with her on Wednesday. I never realised how complicated the English language was until now!

The days in school are becoming very normal and part of my daily routine. I love that I feel very comfortable in the school now and know more about the children.

The holidays are here!!


Cultural:

This week started off well with a trip to the zoo on Tuesday afternoon. The weather was great and so this made for a great day out. Budapest zoo certainly has more to offer than Belfast zoo! One thing that made me sad when walking around the zoo was though, that in the farmyard section there was a bull placed in a tiny shed where it had no room to move, and it was tied up. As I live on a farm, I think this affected me even more. However apart from that it was lovely to see all the giraffes, elephants, polar bears etc!


On Wednesday night I went to the weekly Bible study. I was having dinner with some of the men before it started and we began talking about Ireland. A man asked me lots of questions about the country, and I simply said that I didn't know as much about Southern Ireland as I live in Northern Ireland. He actually laughed at me and made fun of the fact that it was such a small country and yet I didn't know about it. When I tried to explain that it was actually two countries he didn't believe me! (He is from America!) I was shocked when he went on to try and tell me about my own country! This made me realise how little we all know about where other people live in the world!



On Thursday night I climbed Gellert Hill with some people from my flat. It was amazing to finally see the city by night, which is the recommended thing to do for any tourist in Budapest. The view was incredible!


















On Friday morning Kirsty, Kathryn and I went off to Margaret Island, (which is situated in between Buda and Pest.) When we arrived we hired a 'maxi' bike and cycled around the island. It was good to finally see the island after two months of travelling past it.



















On Saturday morning we set off to Slovakia for the day! This was really exciting as I really didn't know what to expect of Bratislava. When we were on the train we heard some familiar accents and discovered that there was a guy from Ballymena on the seat infront of us! So we talked to these people on the way... very random!

When we arrived in Bratislava we discovered why we were recommended to do it in one day! It took us twenty minutees to walk into the city centre and from there we feel that we conquered the city by foot in about two hours. I was proud of myself that we got around the city (even though it is very small) without using a map! We walked up to the top of the castle and saw a great view of the city. We also saw Micheal's gate and walked around some of the pretty coloured buildings, which had been painted different colours after communism ended in their country. We finished off the day by eating some Slovakian food! I'm still not entirely sure what the meat was that I ate, but it tasted amazing!





















On Sunday I had possibly the nicest day of my trip so far. My pastor from church invited all of the international students from the church to his families home for Easter Sunday lunch. The house was stunning and the food was absolutely amazing! It was great to spend some proper time with people from church and relax with them. I had a great chat with the ministers wife and she gave me some great life tips!



Personal:

On Wednesday afternoon Kirsty, Kathryn and I met Caitlin and went for pancakes. It was good to catch up with her and just relax for the afternoon. knowing that I didn't have to get up early for school the next day as Easter break had begun.
I had a lovely relaxing day on Thursday. Kattie and I got up for a run, which was a great start to the day. A girl in my flat had told me about a pretty park by the Danube river which is really close to where I live and so we attempted to find it. Thursday was a very warm day and so it was beautiful to run in. When we found the park it took my breath away, and so later in the afternoon I took my blanket and went back and read a book in the sunshine.... the perfect way to start my Easter break!




Professional:

On Monday at school we were given our assignment dealine and so now I have to get to work on that! It's so scary to think that I'm coming near to the end of the trip!

Teaching at school this week was good, and I got some positive feedback which was encouraging to hear. My second grade class had completed the test of the topic which Kirsty and I had taught them and the teacher had marked them and told us that their results showed that we had taught the topic well! So that's always good to hear!

Now I'm entering week nine of my trip! I'm excited to see what new things I can learn and take in about Hungary before my time is up!!

The summer is here! The weather in Budapest has been amazing this week, and today we even had our first afternoon of sunbathing, (well.. half an hour!)



Cultural

This week was full of random adventures experiencing new and wonderful things in Hungary! On Wednesday Klari took Kathryn, Kirsty and I to the fine arts museum. I have never been to an art gallery and so it was really good to try something new! The entire area around the museum is beautiful, (hereo's square) and the architecture of the museum was incredible to look at.


On Wednesday we went to a Bible study that our church holds. We had tea with everyone there and then had the study after. I am really appreciating learning from new people and listening to opinions of people from around the world.

On Friday evening the school that I teach in put on a concert at a nearby theatre. We were asked to watch it and so we went along. I wasn't very excted about going as I was so tired, however when it began I soon grew to enjoy it a lot. There was a huge range of performances, from choirs to solo gymnasts. What struck me most was that the teachers were so proud of their pupils, whether their performance was great or not. The pupils were encouraged to all take part, and the show was so laid back. The emphasis wasn't on putting on the best performance ever, but about having fun and letting everyone take part.

On Saturday Kirsty, Kathryn and I took a trip to Szentendre village, which is about 45 minutes outside of Budapest. Friends from church had recommended seeing it so we went. When I first stepped off the train I wondered why I had come as I thought the surroundings looked very basic, however we walked about 500 metres into the village square and my opinion soon changed. The village has beautiful cobbled streets and is full of traditional Hungarian souvenir shops. I had some Hungarian goulash soup for lunch along with apple struddle, which was the 'tourists menu!' After walking around the village we took a walk along the danube river and I had my first ice cream of the year!

The day ended lovely as when I arrived back at halls a Hungarian flatmate asked Kirsty, Kathryn and I to stay with her the weekend 10th-11th April. So I am really excited to spend time in a typical Hungrian home and watch how they live from day to day.

Church on Sunday was lovely as every week there are new international people and so there are always new faces to see and to talk to. This week I met a girl from Holland called Marie-Ann who is studying in Budapest for one semester. I also met Linda who is from California, and after church we went to a local market that is held outside on the main street in Budapest during the Spring festival season, which is on at the miunte.

On Sunday night I went to a concert in a local chapel, which I was invited to by my music teacher at university as she was singing in the performance. It was great to hear her choir as they are quite well known. I was very impressed with their performance, even though it was so busy that I had to stand for the entire concert!

Personal
At the beginning of the week I struggled with the thought that I was no longer experiencing new things and that I was spending a lot of time in my flat, however this feeling only lasted a couple of days and then things got back to normal. It was so lovely to be asked to stay with one of my Hungarian friends for the weekend, and also at church on Sunday all of the international students were invited to have Easter Sunday lunch with the minister and his family. These small things reminded me once again of the lovely people I have met since coming to Budapest!

Professional
School this week was really challenging as my teacher was off for two days and so I taught some classes alone. It was so rewarding to teach the first grade class especially as I was told it may be too hard, however it was my favourite class of the day. I was worried that the language barrier would be a problem, as there would be no Hungarian teacher in the room to translate, however it went absolutely fine and the children seemed to really enjoy the lesson, (I even spoke some Hungarian when the children got confused!)

This week has probably been one of the most challenging emotionally since I have come to Budapest, however I am constantly leearning new things, not only about the surroundings around me, but also about myself. So I am very excited to see what the next week has in store for me!

Cultural:

Week six is over! It really is starting to scare me how quickly my time in Budapest is going.

This week was certainly a week to test my knowledge of Budapest as my parents came to visit me and I wanted to take them to all the great sights of the city. It was the first time that I was relying fully on my own knowledge and not relying on others, and so I was very proud of myself that I didn't get lost and that my parents got to see everything that I wanted them to!!

On Tuesday morning I met mum and dad after I finished school and I took them to a lovely street full of typical Hungarian restaurants and cafes. (I attempted to use some of my Hungarian phrases when ordering food, which impressed dad!) I had already told mum and dad to take the bus tour in the morning and so they had an idea of what sights there were, and so after lunch I took the underground to the house of terror to let them gain an understanding of the history of communism within Hungary. One thing that struck dad was that Hungary has lost about 2/3's of its orginal size throughout the difficult times for the country, and also the fact that people of only 30 years old can vividly remember the days of communism within their country.

After visiting the house of terror I took mum and dad to the market where we walked around and looked at some of the typical hungarian tourist merchandise, and then we picked up Kirsty and Kathryn and went for some dinner in the 'octagon' area, which is full of European restaurants, and at night time the area is beautiful with the street lamps and cobbled ground.

(The photo to the left is of the indoor market)

Then on Wednesday I met mum and dad after school again and I took them for some Hungarian 'goulash' in the local indoor market, and then we went on a boat trip along the Danube river. These were both new things for me to experience so it was a great day for us all. I was surprised on the boat trip by the huge size of Margaret Island which is in the middle of the Danube and splits it in half. It holds a hotel and mini water park and even has an outdoor cinema (which I am very excited about going to when it gets hot!)

(The photo to the left is of the end of Margaret Island)

On Wednesday night we walked around St.Stephen's Basilica and went into a wine bar with background jazz music which was a lovely way to finish off the day.

Mum also booked me into a room in the Gellert hotel, which made my week! (The gellert is the main hotel in Budapest and is included in all of the tourist books.)

(The photo below is of the Gellert hotel)

So I woke up on Thursday morning and had a full hot breakfast as well as lots of fruit and yoghurt. This was

certainly luxury compared to what I have been getting used to over the last 6 weeks! After breakfast I went with mum and dad to the gellert thermal baths which are within the hotel complex.

On Thursday afternoon I took my parents around the city to show them the school that I teach in and also showed them my university.

So the three days that I had with my parents were very busy! It was so great to see them and it also felt good to realise that I actually do know my way around the city and was able to tell mum and dad things about it.

This week I also celebrated St.Patrick's day with some international girls who were staying in our flat this week. It was great to spend time with 4 other girls who are all from different countries around the world. We went out to an area called, 'Deac Ferenc' where the faculty of art held an event with a band playing balkan music. I had never heard anything like it before. It was amazing to listen to.

Personal:

Another highlight of my week was that Spring has finally arrived! The Hungarians in my flat told me that it comes suddenly, and this is certainly true, as on Tuesday morning I woke up to snow, and on Thursday morning it was 18 degress! Everything looks so different in the sun and people around the city are happier!

In our spare time this week we met up with Klari, (our hungarian mentor) and our friend Kaitlyn from America. We brought them along to watch the Ireland six nations match on Saturday in an Irish pub, along with some of our other American friends. Although Ireland lost against Scotland it was so good to eat some Irish food!

(The Irish girls are ready to support Ireland in the photo below!)

Professional:

This week I was able to teach the first grade English class at school. I was really pleased to get the chance to teach in this class as I knew it would be the most challenging. It was the first time in my experience of teaching that I felt I was teaching English from the very beginning. I am enjoying teaching the children the alphabet as I am witnessing the very first stages in learning the English language. It has been challenging also as the children's English vocabulary is very limited and so I am learning to mime what I want the children to do, thus my acting skills are improving a lot!!

In my forth grade English lesson my teacher said that she was enjoying watching my style of teaching and that she is learning from the Irish style. This was really encouraging to hear, and to know that I am moving forward in my teaching skills.

Thus it has been a really positive week in Budapest...