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!
As of today, I have 43 days left. It's really hard to believe but I'm also really excited to go home!
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?)
Anyway things are good with me and I'll try to blog more often even if it's about boring things.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
It's a strange feeling
Being 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!"
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.
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.
Before I came to Hungary, I wrote this:
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.
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.
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.
Before I came to Hungary, I wrote this:
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.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.
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.
Monday, April 9, 2012
New family and a bit of traveling
Last 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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Skiing in the Austrian Alps
This past week I was with my Rotary club and the other exchange students in Szeged in a city called Wildschönau in Austria.
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.
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!
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 :/.
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!
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.
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."
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!
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!
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.
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!
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 :/.
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!
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.
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."
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!
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!
Saturday, March 3, 2012
REALLY Brief February Recap & Some March Plans
The last time I posted, I was feeling kinda down about everything. Regardless, February was actually a really great month!
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.
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.
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!
Andddd that's all for now. Just wanted to give a quick update :)!
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.
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.
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!
Andddd that's all for now. Just wanted to give a quick update :)!
Friday, February 10, 2012
Honestly,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Weekend 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.
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
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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.
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!
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