My updates from Budapest!

Goodbye Budapest

2010-05-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-05-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

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.....

2010-04-26T03:15:00.001-07:00

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!

2010-04-12T10:57:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-04-05T00:48:00.000-07:00

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!!

2010-03-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-03-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-03-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

So week five of my Budapest adventure is almost over!

This week was a little less hectic as most, which was good to relax and have time to appreciate everything around me.

Unfortunately for the first half of the week the weather was extremely cold and so it was hard to get out and about in the evenings, and on Thursday morning Kirsty opened the curtains of our bedroom to discover a world of whiteness again! Luckily the snow only lay for two days, but we were not happy!!

Today was lovely as we got a lie in because school was cancelled for the day as Hungary holds a bank holiday every year on the 15th of March to celebrate the countries revolution of 1848-1849. Some of the bridges were closed off and many houses hung the countries flag outside their home in celebration, and so Kathryn bought me a badge to where in order to fit in with the rest of the country!

We took advantage of the day to explore more hidden streets of Budapest and we found a lovely Hungarian restuarant to have our lunch in. My parents are also arriving in the city tonight (which I am really excited about!) and so I forced Kathryn and Kirsty around the city on different trams and undergrounds just to make sure I knew exactly where I was taking mum and dad! It's going to be exciting showing them around the city, knowing what I'm doing and not feeling like a toursit, (hopefully!!) So I will let you know how that goes!

As I said, this week was quite relaxed and so we didn't get up to much in the evenings, however we have persuaded our hardworking flatmates to do one sort of flat activity a week, and so this week we went to play billiards! Most of the guys had never played before, or perhaps just once and so it was crazy that I was teaching them the rules, even though I am absolutely terrible at the game! Again though it showed me just how easy it is for us to try out new things at home, and that the opportunities for entertainment at home are endless compared to within Budapest.

This week we spent a lot of our time in school teaching, which is another reason why we spent our evenings resting! It has been really enjoyable getting to know the children and to feel comfortable in the different classrooms. One thing that I find difficult is that I am not getting the opportunity to teach the first grade class. My teacher feels that it would be too difficult due to the language barrier, but I would love the chance to teach them and so I find this a little frustrating, but hopefully some day I soon I will get to. My favourite class has definately been second grade. The children are very responsive and are extremely enthusiastic about what we teach.

In my fourth grade class this week I told the children that my parents are coming to visit the city and so they came up with lots of different possible activities to do and places to go to, and the childrens enthusiasm during this lesson was rewarding. It's really interesting to see that Hungarians get very excited and proud of their country when they hear that people want to come and visit it.

University this week has also been rewarding for me, as I had a singing lesson on Thursday where I attempted to sing a Hungarian folk song with my teacher which I have been working on, and she told me that my pronunciation was good! As I feel that I am terrible at learning new languages I was really pleased when I was told this!

Personally, I had a really positive week in Budpest, and I feel that I achieved new things. I am very excited to see what new things I will experience this week and also to find out if I will be able to show my parents around the city succesfully and not get lost!!

I shall let you know soon...

2010-03-09T06:34:00.000-08:00

I'm half way through week five of my adventure in Budapest, and I really can't believe how quickly it is going! Culturally I have learnt lots of little things about Hungary this week. As it is Mother's day on Sunday I tried to send a card to my mum, however I couldn't find any as the Hungarians celebrate this day in May. I also discovered that they do not have a Father's day, although they do celebrate 'childrens day!'
On Monday a friend from my flat came into my room and asked if I realised that it was, 'women's day', I said no and then he gave me a flower in celebration of the day! My pink flower certainly made me smile!
Another celebration that I discovered this week is that the Hungarians celebrate their, 'name day.' Every Hungarian name is written on different days on their calender and you celebrate your name day on the day that it is written... some popular Hungarian names such as, Ferenc, Zoltan and Gergely have two or three name days! On Sunday a friend from my flat invited me to the kitchen to eat some chocolate cake with her as it was her name day and her mum had baked her a cake. Unfortunately the name Alison does not get a names day!!

The past week has been extremely busy, but the more I go out with Hungarian friends the more I learn about their lifestyle and I am finding this really interesting. Kirsty, Kathryn and I took some boys from our flat bowling on Wednesday, and they were so excited as they had never been! (Even though the building is very close to where we live.) It is at times like this that I realise how much we take the little things for granted at home.
I was very proud of myself on Monday as I was told that there was a swimming pool near to where I live and so I went on a tram to attempt to find it! I am very bad with directions and so I was very excited when I found it in the middle of nowhere! No one spoke English so it was a little difficult trying to get a ticket, locker key and find the changing room but I got there eventually!!

We have been teaching full lessons everyday for the past week and thus are slowly getting into the way of Hungarian teaching. It is very different from back home as we are teaching English as a foreign language, and within these lessons the teacher recommends the use of word games to teach the vocabulary. With the small children 'Simon says' is very popular!
I have also been finding it challenging teaching for 45 minutes on the same lesson, (this is how long each class lasts), but the 15 minute break inbetween each class certainly helps!

I was very disappointed on Sunday when I woke up to discover that the weather had changed from around 13 degress to being around minus 2 and snowing! I had been told that the weather can change rather suddenly here and now I have witnessed it for myself! Although I am hopeful that Spring is coming soon!! So hopefully in my next blog I will be telling you about the warm weather we are recieving!!

2010-03-03T04:11:00.000-08:00

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!!

Week three!

2010-02-23T07:08:00.001-08:00

I haven't written a blog in a while so thought I should update you....
Last week was very busy with university and school. One thing that really stuck out for me at school was on Tuesday morning when we were observing the grade 2 class the children asked the teacher for more homework. They are constantly so enthusiastic to learn and certainly never complain about the eight o'clock start, unlike us! So being in Budapest has certainly opened my eyes to the amount of things I take for granted. (I'm beginning to teach the children next week so I'm excited for that to start.)
We tried to fit in some cultural excursions last week!... and so we grabbed our swimming suits and took a trip to a thermal bath! It was absolutely amazing... and just what we needed after all of our early mornings... although apparently swimming suits are optional over here and so we were a little shocked when we walked into the pool! But the baths are one of Budapest's well known attributes and now we can see why!
We also visited the Merlin theatre in the Pest side of the city.. and we loved it so much that we went back last night to see, 'Stone in his pockets'... a play set in Ireland so it made us feel right at home!
We were beginning to feel a little downhearted at the end of last week as our halls do not have any other international students and so it is very difficult to meet English speaking people.. and to make things worse we got lost on Friday when we tried to find the international building (to enable us to go on the international weekend.) So we went to a nearby cafe to chear ourselves up with some cookies... only to randomly bump into a girl from Georgia, America. She asked me some questions and then we had lunch together. It turned out that she has been in Budapest for one month and was feeling some of the same emotions that we were feeling. She is over here with an organisation called, 'Hope for Hungary' and trying to build up relationships with Hungarians. We invited her to come to church with us last Sunday and so she and her friend came along. We soon knew that we weren't supposed to go on the international weekend as things just seemed to be working out. We went the International Baptist Church of Budapest and were made to feel very welcome. I was really excited as a lady approached us and asked if anyone would like to join the worship team... this is something I am really passionate about and so it excited me a lot to join it. I am really looking forward to see what I can be taught through another culture's style of worship.
So I really am feeling at home in Budapest. We even got three days of this week as it is a ski week at school... so that has made me feel even happier! I visited the main Budapest indoor market today and tried some Hungarian food for lunch, and tonight our flat is holding a fancy dress party.
The past week has been great for me also as I feel like I'm getting to know some of the Hungarian people in my flat well. Last night I was able to have personal conversations with them about how they feel about their country and about their views on religion... it felt great to talk about more than merely how their day went! Their even starting to understand my Northern Irish sarcasm which is very good!!
So I'm excited for my other two days off this week...and I'm hoping to head to Vienna this weekend with Kirsty and Kattie so I'm really excited to see new things there...
Until my next blog....

2010-02-18T07:44:00.000-08:00

So I thought I would put up a photo of the tram... just to let you see what we spend most of our time travelling on! The public transport system here is great... so your never standing around waiting for too long!!

Our mentors took us out for the day on saturday... so this is a photo taken from the castle which overlooks all of Budapest.

You can't come to Budapest and not experience the dried paprika!

A guy from our flat brought us up some this week that his grandmother had spend a year drying.. which was lovely of him.. although I did have to drink a lot of water after the experience!!

European counries at this time of year often celebrate the 'carneval' season.. and this is a photo of parents of the children coming into the classroom, surprising them, and singing a famous Hungarian song!

On Sunday we were feeling a little low as we had tried to

find a church to visit but got lost! So we went exploring to find something i

nteresting! When we walked up the steps of the underground this was what I saw....suddenly we knew that Hungary was where we wanted to be... as it holds many hidden treasures!....The parliament building is just one of them.

2010-02-14T06:21:00.000-08:00

So it's been a week since I last blogged... what a busy week!
We had university on Monday and thursday.. and school on tuesday, wednesday and Friday... getting up at 6 oclock everyday! The school we are in is great. The children's English at the age of 6 is incredible.. and very humbling as they are teaching us Hungarian! The teachers have been great at making us feel part of the team at the school and hopefully this week we will get to teach some lessons as so far we have just been observing. It is interesting to see how differently the children over here learn.. and the enthusiasm we can see in the childrens eyes as they are being taught is so encouraging to watch.
As for university... we are taking a pottery class and have started to make vases... I am not the most creative person and so this is certainly a challenge! We are also learning some Hungarian songs and are taking piano and singing lessons.
Outside of school and university things are going super... I have truely fallen in love with the sights around the Gellert Hill and across the Danube river. When the city lights are on at night Budapest looks stunning. Our mentor Klari took us sightseeing yesterday throughout the city and we went to the 'House of terror' where we learnt about the history of communism in the country. It was really beneficial for us as now we have a better idea of what situation the people of Hungary have moved away from.
So the first 10 days are over and I really feel like Kirsty, Kathryn and I have settled in well. We have made friends with the Hungarians in our flat and they are now teaching us lots of new Hungarian phrases. This has helped to give me confidence and now when I walk down the streets of Budapest I no longer feel like such a tourist!!
So tomorrow is the beginning of our second week of university... I will let you know what new things we experience this week!

2010-02-07T08:04:00.000-08:00

So we're only finishing off day three but I feel like I have achieved a lot! Today we travelled a lot using the trams and I feel like I am getting to grips with how it all works! Our accommodation is located in Buda, along with our university, but today we travelled by tram and the underground to get across the Danube river, into Pest. The first thing that we saw when we got out of the underground was amazing architecture all around us, with the parliament buildings straight infront of us. They are absolutely beautiful, especially in the snow!

As for the lanuage, I ordered my first drink in Hungarian in a restaurant yesterday... and it arrived successfully!

Tomorrow morning we begin class at eight o'clock in the morning so an early night is certainly needed! I'll keep you updated as to how university goes and if we find our way okay!

2010-02-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

So after all of the waiting we have finally arrived and our first day is nearly over! Everything so far has ran smoothly which has helped to keep us all calm. We have met many lovely, helpful people who have helped us arrive and feel at home in our halls of residence. We met with our mentor today and collected our Budapest student cards and collected our timetable for the next 3 months!

After only one day I feel like I have achieved a lot. We are beginning to get familiar with the transport system, which is a lot different from back home! We are mainly using the tramline where trams come every 2 minutes!

We have been trying to use as much Hungarian as we know when ordering food and talking to people, although it is slightly embaressing as my pronunciation is terrible!

I am very excited to find out what the next few days have in store for us!!

2010-01-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

Only 10 days till Kirsty, Kathryn and I leave for Budapest, Hungary! All the packing has begun and lists of things still needed to be completed before I go are lying everywhere! But as the nerves appear.... the excitment is building up. The opportunity to experience another culture and way of life is just around the corner!