tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11279461558443608792024-03-13T14:22:31.089-07:00Nicole in HungaryMy exchange blog of my senior year in Hungary; 2011 - 2012Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-76081049020842369982012-07-04T09:48:00.002-07:002012-07-04T09:48:41.488-07:00Leaving Hungary and Being Home!So it's been a week since I left Hungary... I can't believe how fast that's gone by!<br />
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I left my host family's house at about 3 in the morning and then we picked up Jill. Sadly my host family couldn't take me to the airport, so one of the Rotarians did. We got to the airport, checked my bags, then Jill and I had to say a rather quick goodbye. We both cried and hugged it out and it really hit me that I was leaving Hungary. When I got to my gate, I didn't have much time until we would start boarding. I cried a little bit in line to board, then when we started walking onto the plane, I started sobbing. The flight attendants asked if I was okay and helped me find my seat. I ended up sitting next to a really nice girl from Africa who studiets at the university in Debrecen and we talked a little bit at the end of the flight, but I lost her once we started getting off. I found my gate in Amsterdam and had to go through security again and passport control and everyone stared at my blazer. Our plane was an hour late leaving Amsterdam (this sounds way too much like the way my flights went on my way over...) and I was pretty worried considering my layover in Seattle was only an hour and 20 minutes long.<br />
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The flight from Amsterdam to Seattle was about 9 1/2 hours. There were little tv's on the back of the seats though so I watched The Notebook, Project X, and Happy Feet 2 and listened to Fun. I slept for a little bit, took a few walks around the airplane, and ate a lot. Seriously they kept giving us food! When we finally landed I realized that I had about 20 minutes until my plane left and realistically there was no way I would make it. I went through passport control, got my baggage, went through customs, then talked to someone about the next flight to Fresno. Of course, there wasn't another one until 7 hours later. I walked into the main terminal and started freaking out because of culture shock and cried for a little bit... then called my mom, Alissa, and Annika and cried to them a bit too. Eventually I calmed down, got some food, bought a magazine and some cold medicine because I'm STILL sick from Eurotour, and made myself comfortable near my gate. When we finally boarded I slept the entire way to Fresno. I was so tired from being up for so long and all the traveling. When we landed in Fresno, I was so excited and nervous all at the same time. The long walk down the hallway to the lobby was horrible.. I just wanted to see everyone again! And when I finally got down there, my parents, my grandparents, and some of my friends were waiting for me with American flags, a big poster, and a big bucket full of candy. I was so happy they all came and it was one of the happiest moments of my life!<br />
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Since I've been back, I've been keeping busy with hanging out with my friends and driving around. It's just been so nice being home! So far I've had a really easy transitional period... I'm not that sad about Hungary and I am really happy. I think the main reason for that is that in Hungary I only had one friend to hang out with and we didn't really do anything. Now that I'm home, I'm meeting with a bunch of friends and doing a lot of things and it's just good to be in that. I'm sure I'll have a hard time down the road, but for now things are soooo good.Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-28141349647315763562012-06-25T02:33:00.003-07:002012-06-25T02:33:23.881-07:00Eurotour!Okay this is a little late, but in my defense I've been really sick since Eurotour so I've just been relaxing and laying around.<br />
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The first day of Eurotour we went to Prague. We had a guided tour around the city, then had a bit of free time. It was raining sooo hard and none of us were really prepared for it. Annika and I went together during our free time and bought some things, which led us to a liquor store where the shop owner was giving us free samples of different stuff, which was super funny. We also went to souvenir shops and tried to haggle with the people working there but none of them would accept it. That night all of us went to the five story club (biggest in central Europe). We danced and met people from Tennessee and danced. There weren't many people there so some of us left at around midnight. I think the problem was that we were there before midnight, when most people are still getting ready to go out. We went back to the hostel, then Maddy from Australia and I led Alex, Alayna, and Gabby to get some McDonalds. We didn't find one, but instead found a gas station, where Maddy and I shared a lovely chicken nugget sandwich, a Kinder chocolate bar, and a green tea with strawberry. When we got back to the hostel, we found that my room was locked and the only key was inside the room. We banged on the door from about 2 in the morning to 4:30 before we finally gave up and I just slept in Maddy's room.<br />
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The second day we traveled to Cologne, Germany. We got there in the evening and had dinner at the hostel. After dinner, Alayna, Alex and I went to a bar and hung out there for a bit. We were on our way back to the hostel when we passed by one of those guys on the bikes with a little carriage behind them (I don't know how to else to describe this!) and decided to take one. The guy driving us was really fun and gay and so we told him to take us to the coolest gay bar in Cologne. On our way there, some guy started running next to the bike. We told him to get in, and I think he eventually did but I'm not 100% sure. We all went into the gay bar, realized it was a REALLY gay bar, and left. We talked to the guy and it turned out he was a Rotary student in Mexico two years ago! I ended up going with him and his friends to a club and stayed with them for most of the night. On our way back, we ran into Annika and Arthur and a lot of my other friends. We all started hanging out and made our way to McDonalds, where we stayed until about 5 in the morning because Arthur kept making friends in there.<br />
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The third day we went into the touristy part of Cologne and went to the big church they had there. We also went into a souvenir shop and looked around a bit then waited in Starbucks because it started raining. After Cologne we made our way to Amsterdam, where we arrived in the afternoon. We had dinner at the hostel and there was a cat that hung out there!! After dinner we had free time so we walked down to the red light district then broke off into smaller groups. We went back to the hostel pretty early and didn't do too much.<br />
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The fourth day we had a guided tour around Amsterdam in the morning, then a boat tour through the canals. It was really cool getting to see Amsterdam like this! After the boar tour we had some free time, so a group of us went to the I Amsterdam sign and took some pictures. When the free time was over we got on the bus and headed towards Bruges, not Brussels.<br />
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We got to Bruges not Brussels in time for dinner, then as always had free time in the evening. A group of us walked down the street and found a really nice square and took pictures and such. I ended up going back with Jill and Madison because I was really tired. We went to the bar next to the hostel because they had free wifi there, and about an hour later everyone else showed up there too. We hung out at the bar with them for a little, then Jill and I went to bed. The showers at this hostel were the best showers ever! They had a lot of privacy and were really spacious and ah they were great.<br />
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In the morning we left Bruges not Brussels and made the long journey towards London. We stopped after we got out of the tunnel at a sort of small shopping center to get lunch. I got McDonalds (a common theme on Eurotour) and it took me awhile to order because I was so thrown off by everything being in English. I felt a LOT of culture shock being in England because of the way everyone spoke English. When we had free time, we went to King's Cross which was very very close to our hostel and took pictures at the 9 3/4 sign like in Harry Potter. We also tried to walk down to Oxford Street, got very close and distracted, and went back before we even got there. We went back to the hostel and hung out in the hostel bar/club and met some nice Germans.<br />
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The next morning, we had a guided tour around London. We saw all the major touristy parts and went to Buckingham Palace, where we got to see the soldiers practicing for the parade for the Queen's birthday. After our tour we went back to the hostel, where Madison and I were in charge of taking Jill to her surprise Birthday dinner (which in the end, wasn't very surprising at all). We ate some awesome Indian food and Jill got a giant muffin and some small cupcakes. Our waiter there was really cool and it was so weird being able to communicate with the people working there! Later that evening, Jill and I met up with Bence, who is a Hungarian living in London now and he was an exchange student a couple years ago. It was really cool getting to see him again since I hadn't seen him since September! We hung out with him and a couple of his friends, then went back to the hostel.<br />
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That morning, we left London and headed for Paris. The hostel in Paris was horrible... our room was on the fourth floor and there was no elevator, so we had to carry our things up the stairs by ourselves. Alex and Annika and I went to McDonalds to find internet, then Annika went back to the hostel so Alex and I found a Starbucks to sit at. After Starbucks, we went back to the hostel to put Alex's laptop away. Alex and I went back into the city to try and find a bank. When we found the bank, it was still early, so we decided to keep walking around. We ended up stumbling upon the Louvre and took some really cool pictures of it by night. There were some guys selling Eiffel Tower keychains and little figurines and we bought 9 total for less than 10 Euros. We looked at our map and saw that we weren't too far from the Eiffel Tower, so we walked towards there. By the time we reached it, it was around midnight. We got there right when the lights started sparkling and it was beautiful. We took a couple of pictures then took a taxi back to the hostel. That night, we were woken up by the Mexicans asking where Annika and Terry were. It was super hilarious because Alex and I were really asleep and they were saying funny things.<br />
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The second day in Paris was spent on another guided tour, where we went to a lot of touristy areas. We also went to the Eiffel Tower and took more pictures. After the tour, we took the bus to Luxembourg. Once in Luxembourg, we went on a guided tour around the city. Then we went to our hostel which was the bottom of a big hill/mountain/I don't know. At the hostel we didn't do very much except hang out and talk. I got to see videos from graduation going on back at home, which made me really sad but I'm glad I got to see it!<br />
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In the morning in Luxembourg we had a guided bus tour (I think? Or maybe I'm thinking of the one the day before..) After that, we went to Stuttgart, Germany and went to the Mercedes Benz Museum. It was pretty cool but also kind of boring because I'm really not interested in cars at all. After the museum we headed to Munich. After dinner, Annika, Alex, Bianka, Terry and I went into the city. On our way home it started POURING rain, and luckily we had umbrellas with us. All of our legs and shoes were soaking wet by the time we got home. We put on pajamas and then decided to go down to the hostel club/bar. We were all dancing a lot and no one else was so we grabbed people to dance with us. Annika met two random Finnish boys so we decided to hang out with them and some of their friends and go find a cooler bar. When we got there, they were asking for IDs to make sure everyone was 18 and not everyone had one, so we went back to the hostel. There were people monitoring the hallways to make sure everyone was quiet and we got yelled at quite a few times by them!<br />
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The last morning we had a guided tour around Munich. After that, we had a bit of free time to walk around the city. The bus ride home was very long and quite sad. As soon as we hit the Hungarian border, everyone started crying because we realized we'd all have to say goodbye to each other soon. When we got to Budapest, I said my goodbyes to Alex, Annika, and Terry and it was literally the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. I already miss them so much :(.<br />
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Overall Eurotour was so much fun! I would go again and again if I could. I leave Hungary on Wednesday so I'll probably blog tomorrow with some reflections of my year.Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-64382623470366592482012-05-30T03:51:00.005-07:002012-05-30T03:51:39.251-07:00Less than a month left!First, a quick update on the past couple of weeks.<br />
<br />Last weekend (not the one that just happened, but the one before) was our language competition. I don't know how well I did, but congrats to those who got 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place! We had the opportunity to walk around Sátoraljaújhely where the competition was held, went on the bob, and had a little party (which wasn't a party at all). On the bob I managed to get into an accident which resulted in being taken to the hospital, getting a neck brace, and making a very regretful Australian girl cry upon seeing me. It wasn't that serious, so it's really funny to look back on. And the neck brace made me look really ridiculous.<br />
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This past weekend was some sort of "Szeged Day" festival as well as a wine festival. I walked around with friends and my host family. Sunday night was one of my friend's birthday parties which was a lot of fun. Monday we also had a holiday (I'm not sure why) and I spent most of that trying to reenergize from Sunday night! I also skyped with my mom which was nice, since we haven't skyped in awhile.<br />
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This week is my last week at school, so I've been making an effort to go to all of my classes (like any good exchange student would do). It's so weird that tomorrow will be the last time I'll walk through the halls as a student there and see all my friends and have classes to go to. In retrospect, I wish I would've spent a lot more time in school, but I can't change anything now so there's no point in worrying about it. I wish I had something special to give to my classmates, though, to thank them for opening up to me. Well, in case any of you read this, thank you SO much for everything, from saying hi to me in the halls or asking if I understand what's going on or even just giving me an encouraging smile when the teacher asks who I am. I've loved being part of your class and I'm really going to miss all of you!<br />
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Friday to Saturday will be our district conference at Lake Balaton, then Monday I leave really early for Eurotour! I'm soooo excited to finally go on it, since I've been waiting since September when we first heard where we'd be going! I'm probably going to spend all day Sunday packing and getting everything ready.<br />
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Once I come home from Eurotour, I only have 11 full days until I leave. I can't even imagine what that's going to feel like. I've had a couple of breakdowns that are like half crying/half laughing because I'm dreading leaving but yet I'm so excited. I'm going to try to not let myself think about it during Eurotour, though.<br />
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When I come back to Szeged I just plan on spending a ton of time with my first host family, my friends, and being out of the house as much as possible. I want to make my last days here great!Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-31201784707979682072012-05-15T10:25:00.001-07:002012-05-15T10:25:20.576-07:00Nearing the end...First off, I totally intended to blog about my trip to Poland and it appears I never did that. In short... it was a lot of fun. Auschwitz was horribly depressing but going there was an amazing opportunity. I can't believe a month has gone by since that trip!<br />
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As of today, I have 43 days left. It's really hard to believe but I'm also really excited to go home!<br />
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Mostly I've just been hanging out with my first family (whose dog had puppies!), going to school, and hanging out with people. My last ever Hungarian exam was today and Thursday is the last class. This weekend is the language competition for the exchange students and I'm pretty excited about that. The weekend after next is our district conference, then that Monday I leave for Eurotour! It's all coming so fast and I'm soooo excited (how many times can I say that?)<br />
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Anyway things are good with me and I'll try to blog more often even if it's about boring things.Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-82433523094523121892012-04-12T02:13:00.000-07:002012-04-12T02:13:10.885-07:00It's a strange feelingBeing nearly a week away from having been in Hungary for 8 months is one of the weirdest feelings I think I've ever felt. I look back on my time here and realize there is so much that I've done... so much of it that I've already forgot and so much that I never will. I remember sitting in McDonald's in Budapest after the Venice trip with a few other exchange students saying things like "I can't believe we've already been here for eight weeks!" and "56 days doesn't sound too long but it really is!"<br />
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Knowing that I only have 76 days left here is hard. I am not ready to leave, but in some ways, I am. I am sadly not as good as speaking Hungarian as I thought I would be, but I can understand a lot of it. I don't have a lot of friends, I do spend most of my time at home, and I don't go out every weekend. If you asked me which life I liked better, my California life or my Hungarian life, I wouldn't be able to give you an answer. The only thing consistent in both lives is the fact that I'm in them. Even who I am is completely different depending where I am.<br />
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Looking back on my time here, I can see that I've changed a lot. I'm so much more open to doing things I otherwise had no interest in, I've gained a much larger curiosity about seeing different parts of the world, I've learned a lot about America and the way it's perceived from the outside, as well as a lot about Hungary and the way they view themselves. It's a lot to take in, really. I constantly feel my brain being stretched to understand so much more than I'm used to and at times I want to give up and go back to my easy life.<br />
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Before I came to Hungary, I wrote this:<br />
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I think the hardest thing about all of this is knowing that no matter what, I'll never be at the position I'm at now. I'll never be exactly the way I am now. I'll never have the exact same friends and relationships and feelings. I won't come back from Hungary and feel the way I do now. That kind of scares me.</div>
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Reading it again, it makes me really sad because it's all true. I don't have the same friends as I did when I was in California. The majority of people I considered to be my close friends haven't spoken to me in months. And while it's hard to accept that they have lives outside of me, I have no other options, really. My second host mom would talk to me about my friends from home and ask if it made me sad that I lost contact with so many people. I told her that yes, it broke my heart, but if they really cared about me they'd make an effort, and that there's still a chance that when I come home things will be close to like they were. There are some days when I mourn over the loss of my past life. I just sit in my room, think of all the things I could've done back home, think about my mom and my friends and my cats, and sometimes get angry at myself for leaving it all. And then I look at the things I've done here. I've been to Italy, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, and after this weekend will have been to Slovakia and Poland. I've met amazing people who I can't imagine my life without, I've gained three new wonderful families, and I've had so many opportunities to do things I never thought I would.<br />
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It's weird to think of all the things I've done and know that I was the one who's done them. It seems like the past 8 months have been a dream. I'm scared to leave Hungary, to be honest. Scared to death. If things now seem like a dream, I imagine when I'm home and away from it all it's going to be so much harder to believe it all happened. I can't even imagine what it will be like. I try to just take everything here one day at a time, but it's hard.Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-3033088564127218112012-04-09T03:20:00.002-07:002012-04-09T03:20:47.535-07:00New family and a bit of travelingLast Monday I changed families to my third and final family! It was a really weird feeling knowing that the next time I packed everything up would be when I was leaving Hungary. I also realized I have a lot of pointless things that I've kept that I really could throw away (old papers from my Hungarian lessons, receipts, train tickets, etc) but I want to keep them. Anyway, the move was easier than the last one. It did really hurt to have to leave, but I was able to handle it a lot better. My new family is really nice and I think I'll enjoy living here.<br />
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I just got home yesterday from spending a few days in Croatia with my host family! They have a flat there so we will probably go back two more times. We visited Trieste in Italy one day and walked around there, which was really nice. The weather was pretty cold and cloudy the whole time, so we didn't get to stay by the ocean much. Overall it was a really good trip and I look forward to going back.<br />
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So I'm not really in the mood for blogging but I'll try to write more soon since I haven't written in awhile. I leave for a Rotary weekend in Poland on Friday so I'll try to write before then!Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-27290553202498368432012-03-18T04:45:00.001-07:002012-03-18T04:45:20.858-07:00Skiing in the Austrian AlpsThis past week I was with my Rotary club and the other exchange students in Szeged in a city called Wildschönau in Austria.<br />
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I was in a car with one of the Rotarians and his wife and Matt, the exchange student from Australia, and we left on Saturday morning at around 7:30. We made a lot of stops along the way and got to the hotel at around 4. Jill and I just hung out in the room until it was time for dinner. I was really sick, so I didn't really feel like eating and we ended up just having soup and going to bed. There was only one bed, and I didn't want to cough in Jill's face all night, so I decided to sleep on the couch, which actually really wasn't so bad. Jill read Mockingjay out loud to me and I ended up falling asleep.<br />
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The next morning, we ate breakfast at 7:30. Us, Matt, and Raymond were the first ones down there to eat. The breakfast was really good... Every day I ate bread or croissants with nutella on them, eggs, and fruit. After breakfast, we met the Rotarians in the ski room to put on our boots and get our skis to take them up the lift. If you've never walked in ski boots before... let me just tell you that it is the most painful and difficult thing to ever do for the first time. The lifts were really cool but also pretty scary.. when they left from the place where you get on, it felt like the start of a ride at Disneyland or something. We got to the middle station and started our ski "lesson" which was really two of the Rotarians telling us what to do. My first time going down the mountain I didn't know what I was doing at all, and ended up going down REALLY quickly and falling at the bottom. The good thing about snow is that it really doesn't hurt to fall in it. Jill and Matt fell a lot too, but Raymond was amazing at skiing within the first hour. By the end of the day, he was skiing down from the top of the mountain with the Rotarians!<br />
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We met with everyone for lunch, where we had pommes frites (french fries). We ended up eating fries for lunch every day, even though we could've had something different! We skied a little bit more after lunch, and then headed back to the hotel. I'm really sad because I don't remember what we did on each specific day... So I guess I'll just write in general now :/.<br />
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Well, most days after skiing we would either go to the sauna that the hotel had, or Jill and I would take naps or just lay in bed and listen to music. The dinners every night were amazing, and I forgot what it was like to eat an actual meal in the evening, since here it's always just sandwiches for dinner. I had spaghetti, tortellini, some other things, and most importantly: STEAK!!! When they brought it out, I wasn't sure if it was going to be like real steak or just some kind of meat that looked like it... so when I tasted it, I almost cried because I was so happy. I haven't had steak at all in Hungary!<br />
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Starting Wednesday night, we would play poker in the lobby with our club president's son, and sometimes one of the Rotarian's daughter and niece. These nights were definitely my favorite! I didn't know how to play poker before, but I think I did pretty well. We didn't play for money or anything though. After poker, we would hang out in mine and Jill's room and listen to music and drink juice.<br />
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On the third day, my leg felt really bruised from the boot, so I was unable to walk in it and couldn't ski. I just sat at the middle station and watched Jill go down. We played cards and made snowmen though, so it was still pretty fun. Also we all got really nice sunburns! Oh also, the Rotarians gave us all nicknames... Raymond's was "Ching chong chung" or "Indian," Matt's was "Kangaroo" or "Koala," Jill's was "Miss Florida" or "Sitting Bull," and mine was "Miss California" or "Snowflake."<br />
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On the fifth day of skiing, the Rotarians helped Jill and I go down from the very top to the middle station. It was really hard and tiring, but we did it!! I was really proud of myself afterwards. On the last day, I didn't feel like skiing, so I just sat around at the top of the mountain. Matt didn't ski for a bit so we talked and played cards, and for the record I'm much better than him at the Australian version of speed!<br />
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Basically, this past week was amazing and I miss it so much already. I would do anything to go back! I miss the really good food and just being able to lay around and not do anything. And now it's so lonely because I don't have to share a room with anyone and ahh I just miss it!<br />
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<br />Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-67063383620109233652012-03-03T02:31:00.005-08:002012-03-03T02:31:50.928-08:00REALLY Brief February Recap & Some March PlansThe last time I posted, I was feeling kinda down about everything. Regardless, February was actually a really great month!<br />
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I've started Hungarian lessons again and it's so great to be back in the classroom and learning more. We're finally starting to learn the future tense, which I know a little about already. There are a lot more people in our class this semester than there were last semester, which makes it a lot more fun.<br />
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Terry came and stayed with me last weekend. We went out with Olga and had a really good time. It was so fun having one of my best friends here around! Hopefully I can get Alex and Annika to come visit as well.<br />
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I think March is going to be a really good month. Next weekend the exchange students in Szeged and I leave for a week of skiing in the Austrian Alps. I'm a little nervous since I've never skied before, but I think it will be a great trip! The weekend after, Jill and I will go stay with Gabby in Szombathely. We'll also get to hang out with Tawny and Kristof, who was in California last year. This month will probably go by REALLY fast!<br />
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Andddd that's all for now. Just wanted to give a quick update :)!Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-78902101381398744292012-02-10T13:12:00.000-08:002012-02-10T13:12:42.353-08:00Honestly,Stupidly, I just tortured myself for a bit by looking at pictures of my friends from home. In albums with clever quotes about it being the last year of high school, or simply the word, "Senior!," I can't help but feel insanely left out.<div>
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Coming into this, I was well aware of the fact that I would at some point feel like this. I tried to prepare myself for the way that all my friends would keep on living. And why wouldn't they? It's not as if they're living their lives just because I'm gone or doing anything they wouldn't be doing if I was still there. It's so hard to put this into words right now and I feel like I'm sounding crazy, but just bear with me.</div>
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Even though I'm living in a foreign country this year, even though I'm living in EUROPE this year, even though I've been to four new countries so far and will go to more, even though I've met the most amazing people I've ever known, even though I am learning a new language, even though I'm immersed in a new culture, even though I'm having an amazing time... I wonder what things would've been like had I just stayed home. I look at pictures from cheer and from forensics and read this year's newspapers and it actually hurts me to know that I'm not there and I'm not participating. </div>
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For anyone who doesn't know, my life in the US this year would've been really awesome. I would've been on varsity cheer again, I'd be debating, and I'd be the editor of the school newspaper. I'd have a job and my car and my family and my cats. I'd be surrounded by familiar faces and foods and English. </div>
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But this is seriously the perfect example of idealizing (...is this the right word?) home. I know I would've had arguments with my friends. I know I'd complain about being too busy. I know I'd be sick of having to do so much homework. I know I'd be tired of writing articles for a newspaper that is way too under-appreciated. I'd be bored at times. I'd get frustrated with the immaturity of the people I was around. I'd miss my best friend Alissa and my other senior friends from last year. I'd have bad days where all I wanted was to get away -- which is exactly what I have here.</div>
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My life in Hungary isn't perfect. I feel stressed about the fact that I don't speak only Hungarian all day and I do spend too much time on the computer. I feel guilty about not hanging out with my host family all day. I feel worthless at school when all I do is sit in English classes and am not invited to participate by the teacher or the class, and I actually don't learn anything. I feel like I don't know what to do with my time here, and waste it by watching Gossip Girl or reading Kindle books. </div>
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With all of this said, I don't regret coming here. I know my life here is a million times more interesting than my life in America was. Sure, it's not perfect, but at home it wasn't perfect either. It's really hard to keep that little fact in mind. When I think about home, I don't think about the bad things that I am happy to be away from... I think about the good things that I'd do anything to get back. And it's funny, because one day I'm going to feel exactly like this, but in reverse. I'll be dying to get my time in Hungary back and idealize it as well.</div>
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So, while I feel like this is entirely random and scattered and maybe a little too honest, I hope some day an exchange student who feels the same can read it and know that they aren't the only ones who've felt like this. It's so hard being here. It's a challenge almost every day. In the end, though, I know it'll be worth it. I don't think there will ever be a day in my life that I regret coming here. I'm going to try to make the rest of the time here as amazing as possible, since I only have about 19 weeks left.</div>Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-34362609024881033222012-02-05T07:35:00.000-08:002012-02-05T07:35:29.251-08:00Weekend in Budapest! (with pictures)I just got home (like literally two hours ago) from spending the weekend in Budapest! I was only supposed to spend Friday night there and come home on Saturday evening, but the snow was so bad both in Budapest and Szeged that it was safer for me to wait until today.<br />
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Friday after school, Olga and I took the train together. On the way there, we ate "peanut confections" (Mexican candy) and played Go Fish. Once we got to Budapest, we met with her friend Carlo and I saw Alex and Terry! A few minutes later, Annika showed up as well and we all went to McDonalds (without Olga and Carlo) to meet with the others. There were about ten of us and we spent the night talking and listening to music. I spent the night at Alex's house<br />
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Saturday morning Alex and I went with her host dad to our Rotary meeting thing. A few of the other exchange students weren't there due to the snow. All of us gave our country presentations and they were really entertaining to watch. After that, the future outbounds were told which district they're going to. Unfortunately, no one is going to my district next year. However, a girl from Szeged is going to the other district in California that Rotary sends to! I'm really excited for her to find out and can't wait to tell her everything about California! After all the Rotary things, Alex and Annika and I went back to Alex's house. We ate some lunch and then laid in Alex's bed watching YouTube videos and showing each other friends from home on Facebook. Annika and I left Alex's at around 10 and went to her house.<br />
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At Annika's house, she Skyped with her family in Colorado for a bit. After, we made ourselves some sandwiches and hot chocolate and I called my dad and talked to him. When we were done eating, we went to her room and decided to watch the movie Holes. The whole time we were talking about how great of a movie it is and how much we love it. We started falling asleep so we decided to finish watching it after we slept. When we woke up, we did in fact finish watching Holes.<br />
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Our journey to the train station was quite an eventful one. It started off with us having to run uphill in the snow so we could catch the bus. After, we got on the tram and there was a giant but friendly dog on it as well. We got to the metro station with about 15 minutes until my train left. The first metro came pretty quickly, and when we got off we ran to where the next metro would come. When we got there, we saw that there was 5 minutes until the next, and 3 minutes until the train left. However, we still continued to the train station so I could get my ticket and catch a later train. Raymond was on the train and said that it still hadn't left yet, and when we got there we saw that the train was delayed 15 minutes! We couldn't believe how lucky I was, since the next train wasn't for another 4 hours. So, I took the train with Raymond and am now back in Szeged!<br />
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<br />Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-31081163470039135812012-01-31T03:13:00.000-08:002012-01-31T03:13:51.736-08:00Settling in and normal life...I've now been with my new host family for a couple weeks and I have to say it's going really well! They are so much different from my last family, and it's not in a good way or a bad way. They just live totally different lifestyles. I'm so glad I've had the opportunity to see how each live... it's really opened my eyes to the entire culture of Hungary and Hungarians. There were things that I thought were typical of all Hungarians, but it turns out it was only my first family that did that or my friend's families. So, as hard and heartbreaking as it was to leave my first, I'm grateful for the way I've learned more. I even went back to visit the old family, and it felt just like coming home.<br />
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Yesterday I received my flight information for my return to Fresno! I will leave Budapest on June 27th at 6:20 a.m. (this is the only part I don't like about it), then have a 2 hour layover in Amsterdam, then a 2 hour layover in Seattle, and then I'll be in Fresno at 3:30 p.m.! So besides having to leave Szeged at about 2 or 3 in the morning in order to get to Budapest on time, I'm really happy with the schedule. I am so looking forward to spending the afternoon/evening with my friends and families, driving around, eating tons of food that I've missed, and just taking it all in.<br />
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Despite this, I know it's going to be extremely hard to get back into life in America. I don't know why, but I've been thinking about it a lot lately. To be honest, I'm terrified. Just moving to another part of the city tore me in half, even with the promise of being able to go back whenever I wanted, and I can't imagine what it will be like when I'm gone for good. I'm so attached to everyone here and my life here. It will be impossible to step on that plane.<br />
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Okay, enough depressing stuff... My Hungarian lessons start up again in two weeks or so. I'm so excited to get back to learning! I watch a lot of Gossip Girl with Hungarian subtitles and that has taught me so much. My host family also speaks so much Hungarian to me. I still don't know how to say a lot of things though... like I have no idea how to talk about the past. Besides that, I'm starting to get over my fear of speaking. Not completely, but I'm not as shy as I was. I do this really stupid thing of planning exactly what I want to say before I say it, and then when I get the chance to say it, I just say it in English because I'm afraid it's wrong. Oh well.<br />
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Today my host mom took me to a kozmetika place where we got facials. It was sooo relaxing... I fell asleep about 5 times. The whole thing lasted 3 hours. On Thursday I'm getting my first hair cut in Hungary!! I'm also dying my hair. I really can't wait for that, since I haven't done anything with my hair in forever. Hopefully it turns out okay... I've heard way too many haircut on exchange horror stories.<br />
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This weekend is another Rotary meeting thing, but it's only a day long. We all have to give group country presentations. I'm going to Budapest on Friday night to stay with my favorite person, Alex, and I'm sooooo excited to see her and spend the night with her! I'll come back to Szeged on Saturday night.<br />
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Oh also, I found out I was accepted to the school of education at University of Portland! So, if I decide to go there, I will be learning to be a teacher :D. I'm so happy about it, but still waiting to hear back from NYU, which is my first choice.<br />
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Alright that's it for now!Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-58997352577113597052012-01-16T08:15:00.000-08:002012-01-16T08:15:01.252-08:00New family<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last night I left my first family and am now in my second family's house. I'm just going to paste what I said in my monthly update, since I don't feel like typing the story out again.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last night I moved into my new family's house. Yesterday was a very very sad day. While I was finishing packing up, my youngest host sister, Dori came in and helped. We were both crying a little bit but tried to just keep the conversation light. When I had about an hour left at their house, I gave them all small American flags and thank you cards. Everyone was in my room and we all started crying (excluding my host dad, who was working downstairs on a big presentation he has today). When my host dad came up, he said that it's not goodbye, just see you soon. We moved all my things downstairs (I have acquired SO many things in the past 5 months, it's crazy!!) and then sat around and talked. When I noticed the table was only set for four, I really started crying again. My host mom told my sister to quickly put a placemat where I usually sit and said it will always be my spot! My new host parents were an hour late picking me up, so we were able to spend a little bit more time together, which was nice. They ended up staying for an hour talking to my other sister, Anna, about what high school she will go to next year, since my new host mom is a teacher at the school she wants to go to. I sat with Dori in the kitchen because she couldn't go out with everyone else without crying, and to be honest neither could I. We talked and tried to distract ourselves, but anytime there was a pause we lost any progress we had made. Leaving the house was the hardest thing I've ever done, much harder than leaving my American family. I cried in the car on the way to the new families house, cried when I met my host sisters, cried when I was alone to unpack, cried during dinner, and cried all night. My new host mom really understands how hard it must be, and has comforted me every time. It will take some time adjusting to this new house and family and right now it's really hard. The new family is really sweet, though, so it will help a lot.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Nothing else to say :/.</span>Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-14434051638448427512011-12-31T05:37:00.000-08:002011-12-31T05:37:34.690-08:00Christmas and some other stuff.Happy New Year's Eve!!!<br />
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With my host family, we celebrated Christmas on the evening of the 24th. During the day we didn't do much, but before dinner we all got dressed up in fancy clothes. After dinner, we all gathered around the Christmas tree and opened presents. I got some really nice gifts from my family, including a wonderful picture album with pictures both me and my host family have taken of my year. When I opened it and saw what it was, I instantly started crying. It's the sweetest gift I've ever received and I really appreciate it. I've already looked through it about a hundred times!<br />
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On Christmas Day, we started our journey to Gyula, where my host parent's parents live. We visited my host mom's parents first, and then my host dad's parents. We ate a lot of really good food and it was nice getting to visit with them. My host parents came back to Szeged on Tuesday, and my sisters and I stayed in Gyula with my host dad's parents. I was really sick most of the week, so we didn't do much. Basically the highlights of my week were walking to Tesco and Spar, hanging out with cats, playing a really cool Hungarian online game, and feeding ducks. It was a really nice week, but it's also good to be home.<br />
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When I got home, I had a package waiting for me from my friend Loveneet! Inside were more Oreos, Ranch, my Scrabble Day shirt, three copies of this year's school newspaper, and really nice letters from her and my other friend Rebeca. I love it all, and am so glad she thought of me :)!<br />
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I also am officially finished with college applications, and only need my school back home to send my transcripts to two more schools. It's such a relief to have that stress out of the way, but I still have to look into scholarship information. Tomorrow will probably be spent working on the FAFSA... exciting stuff, folks.<br />
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Tonight we're going over to my counselor's house and spending the evening with his family. They're hosting Raymond, so we'll get to spend some time together! It should be a fun night.<br />
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I'm really excited for 2012. I get to spend 6 more amazing months here, I finally turn 18, I will be reunited with my friends and family, and I will start university somewhere in the fall. So far in 2011, I've had the wonderful opportunity to live in another country, visit 3 others, and meet my favorite people in the world. I'm really happy with what this past year has brought me, but I'm looking forward to a new one as well.<br />
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I hope everyone has a great (AND SAFE!!!) night!Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-59715593169164978112011-12-23T12:54:00.000-08:002011-12-23T12:54:06.689-08:00Vienna trip, snow, and Christmas!Two weeks ago was our exchange student trip to Győr and Vienna... (I really can't believe that was two weeks ago.. it feels like it literally just happened). We spent the night in Győr on Friday night, went to Vienna on Saturday, and then went back to Győr on Sunday night.<br />
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On Friday, the group of exchange students met in Budapest. Jill, Raymond, the exchangers from Kecskemét, and I got there about an hour before we all had to meet, leaving us plenty of time to get Starbucks, McDonalds, and catch up with our friends. The first person we met up with was my favorite person in the world: Alex from Michigan. We embraced in an incredibly awkward hug and started chattering away about life in our cities. We met up with my other favorite person, Madison from Ohio, at McDonalds. As promised, Madi bought me Starbucks, and not as promised, bought me McDonalds. I think it's obvious why she's one of my favorites (...joking!). Once everyone got there, we got on the bus. Madi and I sat by each other, though we didn't stay in our seats for long. We talked with the others in the back, including Alex and another one of my favorites, Annika from Colorado (but she's Finnish, everyone, don't forget that). We arrived after a couple short hours to our youth hostel in Győr and were told who we were rooming with. When my name preceded Alex's, I ran to her and we embraced in another awkward hug which involved me hitting my face on her shoulder. We spent about an hour relaxing in the hostel, had dinner, and then went into the city to walk around the Christmas markets. We ended up having a REALLY good time and went to bed really late.<br />
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Saturday morning we started the day off with breakfast from McDonalds. Everyone was really tired, so the bus trip to Vienna was pretty clam. We had about 5 1/2 hours to walk around the city. I spent the day with Alex, Annika, and a girl named Lowlo from South Africa (there are currently 5 South Africans in Hungary on a short term exchange program). We were starving and looked for a place to eat before deciding on Burger King, since Lowlo had never had it before. It was super cheap and super delicious! After, we had a glorious reunion with Forever 21. I've never been happier in my life to walk into a store before. We did a little bit of shopping before deciding we should actually see some of Vienna. We walked around singing Adele songs really loudly, as well as sanasa-ing. On the bus ride home, Madi and I slept a little bit. We went to a hotel where the Győr Rotary has meetings and had dinner. After dinner, we went back to the hostel for a bit, and then to an international party being held for charity. More fun times like on Friday night. I really like Brazilians.<br />
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Sunday morning was another McDonalds morning. We said goodbye to the Győr kids and then got on the bus. Annika, Alex, and I sat together and had way too much fun. My phone background is now a picture of Alex and Annika, Annika's is one of me and Alex, and Alex's is one of me and Annika. We're really cute. We spent a few hours in Budapest before taking the train home. I was really exhausted and slept the whole way home. The next morning I was able to stay home from school (but went to my Hungarian lesson), and by the evening I was really sick. I ended up not going to school at all that week and laid in bed trying to get over a bad cold.<br />
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Last Monday I had my final exam for my Hungarian lessons. I ended up getting an 86% on it, which I'm really proud of considering I was so tired and not really all there. Because I was sick, I had to miss some pretty important events, such as saying goodbye to two of my friends from my Hungarian lessons, my Rotary Christmas party, and saying goodbye to a Hungarian friend who will spend a year in England. I'm still upset I missed these things, but I guess it was good that stayed home and tried to get better.<br />
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It snowed in Szeged for the first time this week! By the evening it was snowing a lot, so Dori and I went outside and played in it. We made a very small snowman and had a bit of a snowball fight.<br />
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It snowed again a couple days ago, but not very much. It should be snowing tomorrow and Sunday for Christmas!!<br />
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Hungarians celebrate Christmas on the 24th, 25th, and 26th. The 24th is spent opening presents and decorating the tree, while the 25th and 26th are spent visiting family members and eating huge meals. So, that makes today Christmas Eve! I told my host family that back home, we always have Chinese food on Christmas Eve, and my host mom made some today so that it would feel like I was home. It was so sweet and thoughtful. Also, yesterday we decorated gingerbread cookies and today we made tiramisu.<br />
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On Sunday we will leave to visit my host parent's families in Gyula. We will stay there until Tuesday. My best friend Olga's birthday is on the 29th, and then New Year's Eve is a couple days later! I'm really excited and will hopefully be able to do something fun.<br />
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I hope everyone has a very good Christmas!!Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-64230056819943813422011-11-25T03:59:00.001-08:002011-11-25T04:16:54.387-08:00ThanksgivingFor Thanksgiving yesterday, I had the amazing opportunity to spend the day with Americans! On my flight here, I met a family of missionaries from the US who lived in Estonia and then moved to Hungary last summer. They live in a city called Érd, which is about 30 minutes by train outside of Budapest. They invited me and any of my exchange student friends to come to their house for Thanksgiving and spend the day with them and some of their American friends!<br />
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Jill, Alex (from Michigan), Terry (from Pennsylvania), and I all took the train together from Budapest to Érd. When we got to the family's house, it was just like being at home. It truly felt like we were in America and it was such a strange feeling. Hearing their children say "mom" and just being with a real family made me really really miss mine and just being comfortable. But anyway, we drank hot apple cider (which was soooo good) and all talked about our experiences in Hungary while dinner was being prepared. We ate at around 2 and had turkey, green bean casserole, some kind of corn casserole, rolls, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and sweet potato casserole and it was all delicious. I haven't had turkey at all since I've been here and I forgot how much I love it!<br />
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After dinner (which was actually more like lunch), we went into the basement and all the kids played Apples to Apples. We also went around and talked about our most embarrassing moments. It was really cool just hanging out with other Americans who aren't exchange students, because for once the conversation wasn't about host families or learning the language! Also, it was crazy not having the pressure to speak Hungarian. I never really noticed how much it stressed me out until I didn't have to worry about it. It was just super nice not feeling guilty about speaking English or not understanding what someone was saying. I definitely miss that feeling already.<br />
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The boys started playing Xbox, so the four of us went upstairs and had pie and talked to the mom. We talked about what living in Hungary is like, complained about our problems, and discussed what it feels like to be so far away from home. It was pretty emotional, but really nice to get to just talk about it to someone on the outside. Sadly, we didn't get to talk much because we all had to start heading for home. We all really enjoyed the day though and were so grateful for the opportunity to have a day of just relaxing and not stressing about the day to day exchange stuff.<br />
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So, obviously I've been thinking a lot about how much exchange has been affecting me. I mean, really, I don't even notice it, but I'm constantly stressed about learning the language or whether I'm spending enough time with the family or not. It's not that it's a bad thing, but it's just hard to get used to. It's hard to feel normal. I think this will get easier with time though. For now, I'm going to try to just relax and take everything one day at a time and not put so much pressure on myself!Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-52654193549629102802011-11-05T08:47:00.000-07:002011-11-05T08:47:02.177-07:00Colleen and Bailey's visit!Yesterday and today Colleen and Bailey were here! They're doing a year of university in France this year and were in Prague, Slovakia, and Budapest this week, so they took the train down to Szeged to see me :D.<div>
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I picked them up from the train station at 10:15 yesterday morning. My host dad met us at the train station to take their bags and then we walked around the city for a bit. I showed them my school, the university where I take my Hungarian lessons, and we ate some delicious pogácsa. We walked down to the Tisza River and sat along the edge and talked for a bit. My host dad then took us to my house to eat lunch with my family. We had a traditional Hungarian meal which was chicken with paprika and these little potato dumpling things that are hard to explain. </div>
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After lunch, we went back into the city to walk around a bit more. We walked to the mall and looked around for a bit. When we left the mall, we met with Armando and continued to walk around. When we were walking, we saw an accident between a car and a tram, where luckily no one was hurt or anything. We went into the Votive Church in Dóm square, ate Chinese food for dinner, and ended our night in a really cool bar. We played air hockey and talked and it was just super fun. We got home at around 9 p.m. and then went to my room and talked and looked at my pictures until about midnight. </div>
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This morning we woke up around 8 and ate breakfast before going to the train station. They needed to change their money from Euros but the station didn't have a place to exchange money. We ended up walking all the way to the center of the city to an ATM and then all the way back. There was a man asking if someone spoke English so I volunteered to help him. He was very strange and wearing a yarmulke and a bright orange safety vest with Hebrew on it and a Star of David. When I was done helping him, he thanked me by kissing my hand and saying, "God bless you." So, I walked Colleen and Bailey to their train and we said goodbye. I didn't cry like I expected to, but I'm very sad they aren't around! It was SO good to see them and talk about old times and be around people that know me!</div>Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-74301591776935131862011-11-03T05:55:00.000-07:002011-11-03T05:55:51.545-07:00Shopping attemptsFor the past week or so I've been on a determined search for a winter coat, boots, gloves, a scarf, and a hat. Right now the weather is unseasonably warm... it's only in the high fifties and low sixties. Next week it will drop dramatically and right now I'm not sure if I'm excited anymore or not. Anyway...<br />
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Yesterday Jill and I went to pick up our Rotary allowance's and then went to Árkád. We went to a store called "dm" which is like Walgreens kind of... or part of Target. We both needed to restock on shower supplies and such since we haven't bought any since we got here. It was probably the most at home I've felt since I got here... except the prices were in Forint and we couldn't read any of the labels. Still, there's something really comforting about shopping for toiletries and I'm not sure why. After that we looked around for coats and ran into Anna and her friends. Anna left them and came with us and pretty much lead the way for us. The only thing I ended up buying was a book called The Budapest Protocol that I'm super excited to read. In the end we spent about 4 unsuccessful hours at the mall.<br />
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Today my host mom and Dori and Jill and I went shopping. We went to this really sketchy outdoor market that looked similar to the ones in China and even had Asian people speaking in Hungarian! So we wandered around that for a bit and I made Dori hold my hand because I was afraid she'd get kidnapped or something. I'm not being dramatic.. the place was creepy. Then we went to a small mall and looked around there. Everything that's cute is expensive and not warm, and everything that's cheap and warm is really ugly and puffy. I will honestly be surprised if I find something that is cheap, warm, and I like.<br />
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Shopping in Hungary is not exactly the same as shopping in the States. For the carts you have to put in 100 Ft (about forty cents) for them to work and then you can use them. You get the money back once you're done with the cart, so I don't see why you have to pay in the first place. We also went to these stores that kind of remind me of a really small Walmart, and people there are crazy. Everyone was really determined to get to what they needed really quickly... even if that meant running into someone to make them move. I would be totally fine if I never went to another one of those stores.<br />
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So, besides all the shopping, I've been on a break from school all week! During the weekend my host family and I were in the mountains and we came home on Monday. We didn't do anything for Halloween, but Anna and I put make up on to look like cats and then sat in my room and took pictures. Tuesday I helped Dori and my host dad rake leaves (which was in vain since now there are more leaves than there were originally) and then we played outside for a bit. Yesterday and today were filled with shopping, but I think I'm going to go into the city after I clean my room. And tomorrow Colleen and Bailey are visiting me!! I'm so so so excited and I'm literally counting down the hours until they get here! They will leave Saturday morning and then Saturday night I have a Rotary party. Sunday my host dad's family is coming to celebrate my host mom's birthday (which was last week). The next few days will be really fun and I'm super excited.<br />
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Blah blah random ending about how I write too much and I'll post when something happens... I'm so creative okay bye.Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-82197626063736234982011-10-23T12:36:00.000-07:002011-10-23T12:36:14.478-07:00Trips trips tripsLast weekend I went to Western Hungary and Venice with all the other exchange students. We spent most of the time on the bus, but it was still a lot of fun. Venice is a beautiful city with amazing food! Jill, Alex, and Annika and I walked around together, and ran into the others a couple of times. We asked people walking by where the best pizza place in Venice was and even had a bite of a random guy's pizza! Eventually we found one that was AMAZING and very cheap. We wanted to go back there for dinner, but we found a different place and had pasta. We also had gelato which tasted the same as it does in Hungary, so that was rather anticlimactic. It was really good to see everyone again!<br />
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I got home today from my club's trip to Pécs... which actually ended up being a trip to everywhere but the actual city of Pécs. We visited a lot of churches and historical sites which were pretty interesting. Unfortunately we didn't get to meet up with the exchange students there, which we were all really looking forward to. Our next big meeting with everyone is in December, and I already can't wait.<br />
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Besides all the trips, school is still school. My Hungarian is coming along slowly and I have a midterm exam for my language class this week. I really want to do well so I plan on studying a lot! The weather here is pretty cold... it's in the 50s most days. It's going to start getting much colder soon, I'm so excited. I think next week is my autumn break from school and I have no idea what I'm going to do. Hmmm okay that's all for now! Next weekend I'm going on yet another trip with my host family and we're going to the mountains. Should be fun!Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-45517715674266486182011-10-02T02:12:00.000-07:002011-10-02T02:13:16.782-07:00Assorted thoughts and suchRight now it's Sunday morning and I've been in Hungary for 6 weeks exactly. I wonder if I'll ever stop counting how long I've been here.<br />
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So, the last time I posted I mentioned not having a social life. That's changed! Last week, Zizi and I went into the city after school and had an amazing dessert which I forgot the name of and some ice cream, and then we sat by the river and talked. Yesterday, Jill and I went over to our friend Lilla's house and played ping pong and ate probably the best dinner I've ever had in my entire life. People in school will say hi to me and I have at least one friend in every class. I really have started to love school here, as boring as it can be sometimes.<br />
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One of the problems I'm facing is that I have literally nothing to do. After school I come home, eat lunch, do homework for my Hungarian lesson, and then sit around or talk to my host sisters. It's really frustrating because I want to do things, but I have no idea what to do or what I even can do. Everyone here studies a lot and I only have Hungarian to study for (which I do, but not for hours a day). I think this will change soon, though. For any potential outbounds reading this, exchange isn't always endless hours of fun and hanging out with friends... or at least, it isn't in the beginning.<br />
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I still haven't been very homesick. I've started to miss my friends a lot more though. I talked to Maddy on the phone last night for about an hour and it was so good speaking in English and hearing a familiar voice. I've been skyping quite a bit recently with different people and it makes me feel a lot better. There's nothing more comforting than seeing Alissa make weird faces at me or video chatting with Mareya and cracking up over nothing. I miss them.<br />
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Yesterday I was going through things on my computer and read something I wrote five days before I left. In it, I said thi<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">s: </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I think the hardest thing about all of this is knowing that no matter what, I'll never be at the position I'm at now. I'll never be exactly the way I am now. I'll never have the exact same friends and relationships and feelings. I won't come back from Hungary and feel the way I do now. That kind of scares me.</span></blockquote>
Reading it again, it really freaked me out, because I realized I still feel that way and it's actually happening now. There are friends I haven't spoken to since I've got here, and people I hardly talked to at home that I talk to pretty often. I think a part of me will always miss who I was before I came here, since already I've changed a lot. But I also think I'm changing for the better.<br />
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On a more positive note, I have a lot of exciting weekends up ahead of me! Next weekend I'm going on a Rotary trip to Western Hungary (Lake Balaton, Tihany, Szombathely) and then on to Venice, Italy! We're taking a bus overnight to get there... the only part I'm not excited about. I can't wait to see some of the inbounds again though and to go to ITALY! The weekend after, my Rotary club is taking us to Pécs. I'm not sure why we're going, but I'm so excited. The weekend after that, my host family is taking me somewhere. I love having things to look forward to, and by the time all of that's finished, it will almost be November. Crazy.<br />
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I'm not sure why this post is so negative... I'm definitely happy here! I'm happy as I write this. But I guess I don't want people to think my life here is perfect and fantastic. I don't wake up everyday and think "Oh my god I live in Hungary I'm so COOL!!" There are times when I look around and acknowledge that I'm here and it's actually really humbling. Nothing puts a person in check like being in a country so old and full of history.Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-36144681085477351412011-09-21T12:10:00.000-07:002011-09-21T13:02:36.017-07:00Life's too short babe, and time is flyin'To put it simply: I can't believe I've been in Hungary for a month.<br />
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Looking back on the past month, it's both very clear and all a blur. I think back to my first days here and how confused I was and really do see some progress. I am much more comfortable with my family, with school, with people my age, and with where I am. </div>
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The language:</div>
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Thanks to my Hungarian lessons, I'm learning a lot of new things about the language. I have broken the habit of saying "thank you" and "sorry" as an impulse and instead feel the need to say "köszi" or "bocsánat."I can pick out parts of sentences that I understand and sometimes even fill in the blanks/get the gist of what's being said. Sometimes I hear a word that has a familiar word ending like "-ban" or "-ok" and I can recognize that it means something is in something or someone is doing something, as the suffixes represent. It is hard to not fall back on English, but I think I shouldn't be so hard on myself. Learning a language is hard, especially if that language is Hungarian. Sure, I look and sound silly saying words like "gyertyán" and "gyönyörű,"but I have learned to be less embarrassed about making mistakes. I've definitely made up my mind though... I will continue to learn Hungarian even after I've left Hungary. I want to actually know this language inside and out (or as close to as possible). </div>
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The culture:</div>
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Surprisingly, I haven't had any major culture shock. I've been reading up on it though to see if maybe I have and I just don't realize it. For now, I think I'm in a honeymoon stage. Everything is very exciting and I am almost constantly happy. But, I've read that after some time has passed, the things that I once considered awesome differences will soon become annoying and get old. I'm hoping this won't happen, but I do see some of it. I'm not going to lie -- there are things about the Hungarian culture that I dislike and would change if I had any say in things like that, but I don't dwell on them. There are definitely many more positives than negatives. I'm getting used to things like riding the bus, wearing slippers around the house, eating a big lunch and a small dinner, and walking everywhere. Things are different, but they feel less different than they did three weeks ago. I'm starting to feel normal.</div>
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School, family, social life:</div>
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I think I've written enough about school on here, so I'll keep this short. I will never understand why my classmates wear high heels or (un?)intentionally sit according to gender or spend 4+ hours a night studying for a test, but these are things I oddly love about school here. It's so different from what I'm used to, but I've grown to really appreciate the strange things. My host family is still as kind as they were the first night. I've gotten quite attached to them and honestly never want to leave them. My social life is... nearly nonexistent. I have made friends in school, but have yet to do anything outside of school with them, which I'm okay with. I spend most of my time with Jill and Sami and Raymond, but I don't think it's negatively effecting me at all. I feel like I talk to someone new everyday, so I'm definitely making Hungarian friends. The language barrier is hard to overcome, but I'm confident that in a few months I'll be able to start making deeper connections and actually do things after school.</div>
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Every day I spend here is wonderful, but also challenging. There are times when I wish I could stand up and yell at everyone to just speak in English so I can finally understand for once. I definitely long for the days where I can talk to anyone very quickly and with metaphors and sophisticated language and not have to worry if they had any idea what I just said or not. It's a frustrating thing, not being able to speak. Sure, I CAN speak, and I do speak to people, but it's not the same. I'm constantly editing what I really want to say in order to make it make sense to someone who hardly knows English. I've actually zoned out during class and tuned back in expecting to hear English, and was in shock when I heard Hungarian. There are days when I want to quit and just go home because it's too hard. I would never do that, though. I want nothing more than to be exactly where I am.</div>
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I'm so glad I'm where I am. I can't imagine what my life would be like if I had stayed in Fresno. I don't even want to think about it, because I know I wouldn't be happy. I am happy here. Boldog vagyok. </div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">Don't stop this train</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;">Don't for a minute change the place you're in</span></span></i></div>
Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-67743783801579881732011-09-19T06:51:00.000-07:002011-09-19T06:51:15.145-07:00More things about school...So today at school I found out that I actually have a schedule now. At first I was really happy about it, and then I realized how horrible of a situation it is. Here's what my day looks like now:<br />
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Monday:<br />
Spanish<br />
English<br />
PE<br />
Homeroom type class<br />
Hungarian lessons at the university<br />
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Tuesday:<br />
Swimming<br />
Swimming<br />
English<br />
Spanish<br />
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Wednesday: </div>
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Swimming</div>
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Swimming</div>
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English</div>
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English</div>
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Thursday:</div>
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English</div>
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English</div>
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PE</div>
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Friday:</div>
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English</div>
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English</div>
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English</div>
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English</div>
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Spanish</div>
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So, since Jill and I decided it's pointless for us to go to PE or swimming, I basically only have English and Spanish classes. This would be nice, if I wasn't already used to my former schedule and I hadn't already started making friends. Also, once I get a grasp on Hungarian I won't even be able to use it at school, since the only classes I take will be taught in English or Spanish. Not so happy about it anymore, but we'll see how that goes.</div>
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I also started noting differences between American schools and Hungarian schools. Some of my observations...</div>
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<li>When the teacher enters the room, everyone stands up until they tell them they can sit down</li>
<li>There appears to be no dress code</li>
<li>The teachers only lecture with minimal class participation</li>
<li>We don't have a lunch break... just a 20 minute break in the middle of the day</li>
<li>There are virtually no teacher/student friendships... everything is very formal</li>
<li>There aren't any counselors to help the students... not quite sure who does</li>
<li>In the mornings, there aren't any announcements</li>
<li>The bell is actually a really nice short piano piece. I kind of love it.</li>
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Although Hungarian school is really easy for me since I don't do much, I think I like American schools much better. I miss almost everything about Edison and regret how much I wanted out of there! I'm just glad I finished all of my classes before coming here so I don't have to worry about grades or credits or anything.</div>
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Totally not related to school, but I figure I should write about it. Last Friday night, Jill and I had a sleepover at my house! We made chocolate chip cookies and my host family absolutely loved them. Even though Jill and I were both sick, we still had a lot of fun :).</div>
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Now I'm going to read or take a nap or watch t.v. online or something. I'm so bored after school... I need a life! </div>
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<br />Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-91635376209089069442011-09-12T08:41:00.000-07:002011-09-12T08:41:07.791-07:00Debrecen - First orientation!On Friday I left Szeged with Sami, Jill, Raymond, and Nori to head to Debrecen for our first inbound orientation. We took a few trains there and finally reached the city in the evening after traveling all day. Some Rotex students greeted us and after we waited for a few more students, we walked to the school where we'd be having dinner. We got there much later than any of the others, so we spent hardly anytime at the school. We all got a Rotary Hungary t-shirt and pin though, so that was pretty cool!<br />
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After we left the school, we went to the place where we'd be staying. I'm not incredibly sure what to call it, but I think it was a hostel. Regardless, it was a pretty interesting place. I shared a room with Madison from Ohio and one of the Brazilian girls, which was pretty nice considering some rooms had 8 people in them. Debrecen was freezing compared to Szeged, and Madison and I shared a bed because of it.<br />
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On Saturday, we ate breakfast in a restaurant near the hostel at around 8 am... way too early for a Saturday. We took a bus back to the school we were at the day before and listed to a lot of presentations on the rules of the program. A lot of it was things I heard before I came, but I think it was necessary to go over them again. We also learned about all of the trips we will be able to go on through out the year! In October we go to Venice, in December we go to Vienna, in April we go to Poland, and we have a Eurotour in both May and June - 26 days apart!<br />
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We had breaks in between the presentations and used our time wisely by trading pins. After that, we ate lunch. Our desert was a palacsinta (which they call pancakes, but they're really crepes) and I couldn't cut mine... so Kyle cut it for me hahaha. After lunch, we took tons of pictures outside of the school and then got on a bus to go to the city center. We went into this huge mall and had time to walk around, so Madison and I went into different stores. We found Jillian and also found an apple store! We went to Burger King after and sat with a bunch of other girls and talked about everything from homesickness to what our host families are like.<br />
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After the mall, we got on the bus and went to a building in Debrecen, and I'm still not sure what it was exactly. We walked inside though and took more group pictures. We got back on the bus and went back to the hostel. For dinner, we had a very strange soup and then birthday cake because it was someone's birthday. They threw a "disco" for all of us in a type of garage by the hostel. None of my friends wanted to go, so we all went to mine and Madison's room and hung out.<br />
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We stayed up pretty late on Saturday night putting make up on Kyle, playing cards, reading funny things from my Hungarian phrasebook, and talking about anything and everything. It was definitely one of the best nights I've had here in Hungary!<br />
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On Sunday, we woke up early again and had breakfast. We had to be at the train station by 9 so everyone could leave and go back to their cities. About half of us were all on the same train out of Debrecen. It was super crazy... Kyle fell asleep and it was hilarious and everyone was walking around and talking really loudly. Those of us from Szeged got off before most everyone else and we said our goodbyes. The train back to Szeged was pretty lonely and sad. I hate leaving orientations like this. It was always sad back home, but here it was just so much worse for some reason. When I got home I was incredibly homesick and just sad. I wanted nothing more than to go back to Debrecen to be with everyone again!<br />
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So, I definitely had a good weekend. I can't wait to see all the inbounds again!Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-5283999762184237782011-09-06T07:42:00.000-07:002011-09-08T05:54:41.788-07:00Schooool...Yesterday was my first day of school!<br />
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My schedule is:<br />
Monday -<br />
Spanish<br />
Physics<br />
Gym<br />
Some homeroom type class<br />
History<br />
Chemistry<br />
Chemistry<br />
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Tuesday -<br />
Biology<br />
Biology<br />
Spanish<br />
Hungarian<br />
Hungarian<br />
Biology<br />
Another class but no one is really sure of what subject it is<br />
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Wednesday -<br />
Physics<br />
Math<br />
English<br />
Chemistry<br />
Singing<br />
Spanish<br />
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Thursday -<br />
Gym<br />
Art<br />
Math<br />
English<br />
History<br />
Hungarian<br />
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Friday - <br />
History<br />
Biology<br />
Math<br />
Chemistry<br />
Hungarian<br />
English<br />
Spanish<br />
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It's all really confusing and I follow around a girl who was on exchange in Connecticut last year. She's really helpful! School starts at 7:30 everyday and ends at 1:55 everyday except Wednesday and Thursday, when we end at 1:00.<br />
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Having so much science is kind of horrible.. I really wish I had more English classes. Also, the Hungarian classes are just what everyone else takes, so it's not helping me learn the language. It's kind of like English lessons at home where we don't learn English, just do a lot of reading and writing.<br />
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Mondays - Wednesdays from 12-2 and Thursdays from 8-10 I will have Hungarian lessons at the University of Szeged. This is where I'll actually learn Hungarian with the other exchange students and other foreigners living in Hungary. I'm very excited for this!<br />
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Today at school I made new friends! A really nice girl named Petra introduced herself to me. She speaks English REALLY well and we chatted with her friends for a bit. I spoke in Hungarian a little bit with them and they kept saying "aww!" after everything. I had to stand up and introduce myself to my Hungarian class (in English.. easy!) Also, I could understand some of what was going on in Spanish! I haven't taken it for a year though so I've forgotten a lot. It's nice to at least have somewhat an idea of what we're doing, though.<br />
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On Thursday, we have a Rotary meeting or something in SERBIA! So I will be going there :D! I'm so excited... it will be my second European country I visit. Then, on Friday, there is a big orientation with all of the exchange students in Hungary in a city called Debrecen. We will spend the weekend there and I'm not sure what we're going to do. I am so excited to meet everyone and see a new city!
I will write more after the weekend in Debrecen! Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-57931434013788580822011-08-29T14:12:00.000-07:002011-08-29T14:13:44.426-07:00Weekend at Lake Balaton!*Just a warning, English is sounding really weird right now, so please excuse any horrible grammar*<br />
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On Friday morning, we left to spend the weekend at the lake (also called the "Hungarian Sea"). We stayed at the Telekom Hotel, which is basically a T-mobile hotel. The hotel is in Balatonkenese, which is in the upper right hand corner:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r7A_kjilFZg/Tlvu1cujegI/AAAAAAAAAGk/yve_hFGcFMM/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-08-29%2Bat%2B9.54.11%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="168" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r7A_kjilFZg/Tlvu1cujegI/AAAAAAAAAGk/yve_hFGcFMM/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-08-29%2Bat%2B9.54.11%2BPM.png" /></a></div><br />
The drive took about three hours, and we went to a small camp site before going to our hotel. My host dad's parents have a trailer there and I'm not sure if they live there or if it's just for the summer. Anyway, there were a lot of people swimming and just lounging around. The bathing suit styles are... interesting. The guys wear cute little speedos regardless of age or size and the girls wear basically what we wear, but the bottoms are shaped differently. Needless to say, it took some getting used to. <br />
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After I was introduced to my "host grandparents," we all went swimming in the lake! The water was actually really nice and pretty warm. From where we were, we could see the cities along the coast. It was probably one of the most breathtaking sights I've ever seen. We had lunch from a little booth on the camp site, and I got a hamburger. I'm not quite sure what the meat actually was, and I'm not sure I want to know. It was pretty good though. We swam a little bit more after lunch, and then left the camp site to go to our hotel. <br />
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The hotel was right on the lake and huge! It had tennis courts, docks, a mini golf course, a playground, a wellness center, and a conference center with a small bowling alley in it. Our room was on the second floor, and we had two rooms that connected to each other. On Friday night, we ate dinner at the hotel and then went to the room. I don't really remember the rest of the day, but I don't think we did anything exciting.<br />
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Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel. After, we all went to the wellness center. The wellness center had multiple saunas, a swimming pool, and a jacuzzi. Anna, Dori and I swam for a bit, and then went in a vapor sauna with my host parents. Then, we all decided to do the Finnish sauna! For those of you that don't know, Finnish sauna involves sitting in a normal sauna first, and then immediately after you get out, getting into freezing cold water. It sounds horrible but it's amazing. I definitely recommend it! <br />
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In the late afternoon, we played a round of mini golf. The course was so much harder than any one I've played on before. It was only 12 holes and I had 70 strokes... definitely not indicative of my mini golfing skills. After dinner, we went bowling with some of Dani's coworkers that were also at the hotel. There were only two lanes, but it was just like bowling at home. When we went outside to walk back to our room, it was raining a bit! <br />
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The rain continued all night and Sunday was quite windy and cold. We went back to the wellness center for a bit in the morning, and then in the afternoon went back to the camp site. We all went on an adventure to Tihany (see map)! Along the way, we stopped at the "Balatoni Bob." It's just a random, small amusement park in the hills and the main attraction is a bobsled type track! We only went on once, but it was so fun. As we were driving to Tihany, we were all really quiet in the car and listened to Adele. The combination of the music and the view just made me appreciate where I was and what I was doing. If visiting Tihany to look out over the Balaton isn't on your list of things to see before you die, you seriously need to revise your list.<br />
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When we got to Tihany, we went to the top of a hill where a really famous church was. From the top you could see almost all of the lake and beyond it. The view was seriously breathtaking and I loved it. I didn't have my camera, but my host mom took pictures and I'll get them soon. Anyway, we walked around the little shops for a bit and then headed back to the hotel. Anna and I watched Titanic in Hungarian!!! We also had a little pillow fight. Over this weekend, I've gotten so much closer to the whole family and I love it. Anna and Dori and I act like real sisters :). <br />
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Monday morning was still a bit windy but not as cold as Sunday. After breakfast, Dani, Dori, and I each went on a little canoe/kayak type thing and paddled around the lake. It was probably one of the best moments of my entire life... I can't even describe how amazing the view was and how peaceful it was! After, Dori and I went swimming for a bit but it was pretty cold. We checked out and then went to the camp site again to see my host grandparents before heading back home. I taught Anna how to play speed and how to shuffle cards and do the bridge after. I won every game of speed, but I think with practice she'll easily beat me. After we left the camp site, we headed for home. We stopped along the way, so we didn't get home until about 7.<br />
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Once we got home, I uploaded pictures and then we had dinner. After, Anna and I sat in her room and looked around on Facebook and at some of my pictures from before I came to Hungary. It's 11 PM now so I'm about to go to sleep, but I've had a really amazing weekend! I'm so glad I'm here and everyday I love it more and more :).Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127946155844360879.post-91466000683222705242011-08-23T22:01:00.000-07:002011-08-23T22:01:31.903-07:00Jó reggelt!So, it's really early on Wednesday morning, and I just woke up for no reason.<br />
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Things are pretty normal around here.. I haven't done much since Sunday. On Sunday, we walked around Budapest and through a little crafts fair set up on the outside of one of the castles (I think). We got some kind of bread and gelato and they were both sooo good. The drive home was really nice. We stopped for lunch in Kecskemet, which is halfway between Budapest and Szeged. We all had bean goulash and it was also really good. <br />
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Hmm.. what else... more swimming yesterday. I'm going to get so tan, I'm so excited. Also, my sisters sat in my room with me and Dori and I practiced Hungarian/English while Anna looked through my yearbook. We talked a little bit and used a dictionary to help us. Then Anita came up and I gave them their gifts and we looked through some of my pictures that I brought with me. It was really nice to share things about home with them and I really feel like we're a family :).<br />
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In the evening, we had dinner together. Dani and I talked a bit about politics and other things about America and Fresno. I love having these talks.. he's a very good listener! Both of my parents are getting better and better with their English, and I correct their mistakes. They also help me with my pronunciation of Hungarian words. Also, we all sat down to watch Leap Year together, in English with Hungarian subtitles. I fell asleep about 10 minutes in, and Anita woke me and asked if I wanted to go to bed, and I did. So I slept from 10 to 6, and I'm about to sleep more.<br />
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Overall, things are really good here. I'm very happy... boldog vagyok :). This weekend we're going to the Balaton from Friday to Monday and staying in a hotel. I can't wait! I start school on Wednesday, but it will be nice to be busy. I'll probably miss these days though, so I'm going to enjoy them!<br />
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Sziastok! <br />
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Nicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03648536491600803711noreply@blogger.com1