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!
Monday, 26 April 2010
Monday, 12 April 2010
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.
Monday, 5 April 2010
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!!
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!!
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