Cultural
So another week in Budapest!... The sun has finally arrived and the weather is beautiful. Now the parliament buildings look even more stunning and the Danube river reflects the sun making the city look incredible. We had a ski week from school last week and so we travelled to Vienna by train. We went to see an opera 'Carmen' in the opera house on the Friday night, which was in German. It is very different from back home as most people arrived in formal suits and dresses, and so we looked very out of place in our casual clothes! However the performance was amazing. On the Saturday I visited St. Stephens's cathedral, the anchor clock and the Palace buildings; which were all within thirty minutes of the city centre. I left Vienna with a warm feeling towards the city. Everyone is so friendly.. when we arrived in Vienna a random lady took us on the underground and showed us exactly where to go, which saved us so much time, she told us to have a lovely time and that we were, 'most welcome in Vienna!'

Personal
I have really enjoyed getting to know people on a deeper level this week. Last night I talked to some people in my flat about the communist system to understand more about it, and when you understand where the people here have come from it makes a huge difference to how you see things around you. Kirsty, Kattie and I went for coffee with a friend from church last night and she told us that Budapest is only 1 percent Christian, which shocked me a lot, and due to my faith, had a huge impact on me.

Professional
In my 'Teaching English as a foreign language' class this week at university our teacher taught the class some songs to use in schools. None of the other students in the class are music specialists, however I learnt so many songs from them that will certainly be able to be used within a primary school back home.
Within my music classes, school and singing lessons people regular ask if I could teach the children simple Irish folk songs, which has made me aware that in Northern Ireland we don't use very many within our Primary schools, perhaps because our folk songs aren't simple enough to learn, however it made me think about our heritage, and so I will be teaching the children 'cockles and muscles' next week!!