Monday, September 17, 2007

Pictures and Explanations!


So this is my host mom. She basically rocks because she knows exactly how much freedom to give me. A week ago, we made some chocolate chip cookies and they were a success to say the least. Everyone went crazy and she would not stop telling everyone how good they were. We get along really well and I love my room. This picture was taken on the first night.

There are a couple of things that are different. For example, I cannot leave anything plugged in or there is a chance the apartment will burn down. I also am not allowed to do any dishes. I tried to do them for a week but my host mom kept telling me, "You are not in the United States anymore and I do the dishes."
This is my view outside my room. Yes, my room has a terrace. I love to go out at night and sit in the white chair. I can hear all the people speak in Hungarian and it is the most beautiful sound.


This is the university which I walk past every single day on the way to school to catch the villamos. Every once in a while, I run. It depends on how much of a hurry I am in and whether I can hear the villamos coming. Inside is magnificent. It looks like a palace.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Tóth Árpad Gimnazium

My new school in Hungary is called TÁG and I am in 11th grade. Today is my fourth day at the school. The very first day was definitely different from what I had ever experienced. The whole school stood outside and before classes started, the other exchange students and I had to give a speech in front of everyone (1200 kids) in Hungarian. Trust me, it was not easy. The sun was just rising and of course, shining in our eyes.

After our speeches, we were rushed off to different classes. My class has a focus on math and history which is an interesting combination. I understand math and all the students were shocked when I did an example on the board. History is a little more challenging but the teacher gives me a sheet of paper each class to write an essay in English. She feels bad because I have nothing to do. I also take other courses like art history, music history, Italian, English, biology, physics, Hungarian literature, computer studies and PE. I am not brave enough to try PE yet because I don't trust their exercises that they do. They are much more jerky and in my opinion do more harm than good.

My favorite subject is English because I am the center of attention and am constantly correcting the teacher (two things I tend to do.) I feel a little bad for the teacher because she is so young that the students do not respect her and think that I should be teaching the class.
One thing that I find interesting in this class is that they learn English with a heavy British accent. When we were listening to tapes, I could barely tell what the people were saying. It could have been Scottish for all I know.

I eat lunch at 2:00 pm at school. It is so much better than school lunches in the US although I miss MPH lunches a lot. We do not have options for what to eat, but what we have is chicken and rice or potatoes. Its not bad, but compared to what my mom makes, its inferior. For example, yesterday, I had peach soup. I kid you not. It was the consistancy of syrup and had an opaque gray color with little pieces of peach floating on top. It didnt taste bad though.

Today, I have the Rotary orientation until Sunday which I am super excited for because I get to meet the other exchange students who are mostly from Brazil, Mexico, and the US. I should probably go now so viszlát!