More soon.

This week has found folks shoveling their sidewalks once again. We had more snow, and the snow from the big snowstorm almost two weeks ago hasn’t gone anywhere, either. In fact, I’m grateful for the new snow, because it paints a fresh soft coat of white on everything, hiding the old snow which has just turned slushy and dirty on the roads and sidewalks.  More snow is falling as I type these very words.

Many people tell me this much snow and cold is atypical of Hungary at this time of year, while others tell me that February is often quite snowy. Everyone says something different about it. My best guess would be that February typically brings several smaller snows that melt away after a couple of days. The extreme cold temperatures we had a week or two ago are definitely atypical. At this point, I am quite used to pulling on many layers of clothing before venturing out my front door. Seattle’s mild winters definitely don’t require donning long underwear every day for two months straight, and neither did the winters I grew up with in North Carolina. Between my snowy start to the year in Scandinavia and the cold and snowy weather we’ve had here in Hungary, this is the wintriest winter I’ve ever had!

For now, I’m content to watch the flakes fall from the warmth and comfort of my apartment, though I’ll be venturing out in it later. My friend Scarlett teaches English at a local high school, and their annual seniors’ “ball” is happening this evening. Scarlett invited me along as her guest, so I guess I’m going to see the closest equivalent to a prom that Hungary has tonight. It should be interesting…

The snow makes everything look quite romantic, but then when you look at the signs or the names of the building, you’re met with decidedly unromantic words, like szemklinika, or “eye clinic.” It’s a funny contrast.

It’s a snowy start-of-semester for me today. While my CETP colleagues have been back at work for a month, the universities hold exam periods during the month of January, so today is officially the first day of the new semester. You may have heard about the freeze enveloping much of Europe this past week – and Hungary has not escaped unscathed. We’ve had well below freezing temperatures here in Debrecen, and we received around eight or nine inches of snow over the weekend. It had stopped snowing by late Saturday night, but looking out my window just now, I can see that it’s started up again. It would seem that winter has finally arrived in eastern Hungary…

The first few weeks of the semester are going to be chaotic and stressful, as usual, but at least this time around I have a better idea of what’s going on. That doesn’t mean I totally know what’s going on, though. Case in point: no one showed up to my eight o’clock class this morning. Those of you who’ve been following along since the beginning will remember my scheduling nightmare last semester. This time around the head of my department sat down with the secretary and the two of them drew up a timetable that works (in theory, at least) with my students’ schedules. I am absolutely overwhelmed with gratitude – this sort of experience, where Hungarian friends or colleagues go above and beyond to do something really nice for us foreigners, is one I’ve had several times in Hungary, and it is one of the things I am most grateful for as I make my way through the day-to-day of navigating life here. The hospitality and care can be pretty remarkable.

At any rate, to get back to my 8:00 AM class, the lack of students in the room could be due to any number of possibilities:

• No one wanted to come so early and everyone’s going to show up for the two o’clock lesson instead (however, it is entirely possible that no one will show up for the two o’clock lesson, either)
• There was a miscommunication and my students don’t know when the class meets
• There was a miscommunication and my students don’t know where the class meets
• There was a miscommunication and someone forgot to tell me something important
• No one wanted to venture out in the freezing snow and so they ditched the first day of class

In this country, none of these would be remotely surprising. We’ll see what happens with my afternoon classes.

I was out and about a fair bit on Saturday and I got quite a few pictures of Debrecen in the snow. It’s really quite beautiful; the soft blanket of white completely transforms this city, so that even the old Communist cement-block apartment buildings (like mine) manage to look quite charming. I’ll be sharing those photos this week – I took far too many to stuff them all into a single post, so I’ll break them up a little. Here’s the first few.

Good company always helps, and I was visiting my friends Franny and Jon, fellow CETP teachers, who I haven’t seen since orientation in August. They’ve been in Hungary a few years already, and it’s always nice to have other expat friends with more local knowledge than you’ve got. In addition to teaching part time, Franny is a part time student at the Kodály Institute, housed in an old monastery in the city center (if Kodály sounds familiar, you’ve probably heard of the Kodály Method of musical pedagogy – same Kodály!).

The center of Kecskemét is absolutely charming. Even in the dead of winter, it’s quite pretty, and fairly large compared to some of the town centers I’ve seen.

Városháza, or city hall

An old synagogue-turned-House of Science and Technics

Kecskemét’s Nagytemplom

Saturday night we stayed in and cooked up some dinner, and I used a pasta machine for the first time in my life. Franny’s Norwegian friend and Kodály classmate Maria joined us for dinner, and she brought cakes from Vincent! You will hear more about Vincent in a little bit.

Before dinner, we sampled some paprikás házipálinka given to Franny and Jon by some of their students. I was curious, since various fruits seem to be the preferred flavor of most pálinka, but I actually quite liked it. Usually when I take issue with a pálinka it’s the sweetness, not the strength, that really gets to me, but the paprika gave this one a little bit of a spicy bite that I actually enjoyed.

The night was full of conversation, and after dinner we pulled out a pack of Hungarian playing cards – mostly just to take a look at them, since neither Maria nor I had seen them before, and because none of us knows how to play any of the games. I think they’re really beautiful. They’re also a point of bruised pride for Hungarians, according to Franny, because many of them aren’t actually made in Hungary anymore (this pack was made in Poland).

On Sunday I had a chance to wander around on my own for a bit before I met up with Franny for some tea and cake.

Kecskemét has a zero-kilometer point in the town center, ringed with the names of cities in Hungary and abroad with arrows pointing in the direction of the cities. I spotted a familiar name!

This is the Trianon memorial in Kecskemét. The Treaty of Trianon was (and arguably continues to be) a big deal for Hungary and Hungarians, and it’s still a point of bruised pride for many of them. After World War I, Hungary lost much of its territory in the Treaty of Trianon. About two thirds of its territory, in fact. The plateau from which the poles rise is in the shape of Hungary today. All the other levels of stone that you see are the pieces that were lost in the treaty. It’s a pretty moving visual representation, and it gives you a good idea of the scope of this territory loss.

And this? This is the library at the Kodály Institute. I love how weird this building is.

Kecskemét also houses the Hungarian Museum of Photography (another converted old synagogue), which I did not get a chance to see as it was closed. I’ll have to make a trip back for it.

Franny and I began to feel a little chilly and wind-burned, so we made our way to Vincent. Should you ever find yourself in Kecskemét, Hungary, I highly recommend a stop there. It’s a cozy little coffee house and the pastry case is truly delectable. It was a welcome respite on this winter’s day.

It was a lovely visit, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to come see Kecskemét again (hopefully when the weather’s warmed up a bit!).

My friend Christina recently wrapped up a year as an exchange student at the University of Debrecen. Packing up to head back home to Germany, she invited me to come along to Budapest last weekend to celebrate her last night in Hungary. I’m usually a budget traveler, staying with friends and couchsurfing whenever possible, but I must admit it was nice to splurge for a night with a dear friend. We stayed at the Sofitel, in a room with a view of the Danube, the Chain Bridge (as seen above), and the most wonderful hotel breakfast buffet I have ever been privy to. I’m pretty sure I ate three breakfasts’ worth of food. We took the train from Debrecen Friday morning to spend the day in the city and on Saturday at 11:00 I bid Christina goodbye at Keleti Station. Afterward I made my way to Nyugati Station via the metro to hop on a train to Kecskemét, but I will save that for another post.

Walking the streets of Budapest with Christina, I was struck by the realization on this trip that I’ve now visited Budapest more than any other European city. It makes sense, all things considered, but I don’t think that I ever would have guessed that Budapest would be at the top of that list before I decided to come teach in Hungary. I finally feel like I’m starting to get to know it fairly well, with a pretty good mental map and a feel for the city itself. I like that feeling of building a relationship with a place. I’m grateful I’ll have opportunities to go back and see more before I pack my bags and leave Hungary this summer, too. This whole experience makes me feel that way quite often. Grateful.

I will miss Christina dearly but perhaps I’ll have a chance to go visit her in Germany in the next few months! In the meantime, we’ll remember Budapest.

Snowy train ride from Debrecen to Budapest

Sofitel Széchenyi tér

view from the room, day and night

Next time, I’ll tell you about my trip to Kesckemét to visit my friends and fellow CETP teachers Franny and Jon.

This trip to Oslo was even better than the last. I was there for a whole week this time, just after the new year, and I found that I was less shy about speaking Norwegian and the words came easier to me. Copenhagen was a bit of a warm-up, admittedly – I spoke a lot of Norwegian with my friend Marius, as he is Norwegian, but I was still impressed with how much easier it was to use the language than it had been just seven or eight weeks before. It gave me great hope for the progress I can make with that language in the coming months.

My Hungarian is another story, but that’s one I’ll tell another day. . .

The snow began to fall on my second full day in the city, and it continued to snow for much of my time there. Snow day #1 coincided with my first trip to Frognerparken to see Vigelandsparken, famous for its many, many statues. Camilla told me she and her friends come picnic in this park in the summer, and I imagine during much of winter it’s not much to look at, but it was really beautiful in the snow. We met a charming old man who was down in the city to visit his daughter and her sons. He apologized for his supposedly poor English (his English was fine), and then followed up with an explanation that he’d been speaking more German and French lately! I couldn’t resist swapping a few words in French with him. I hope I can be like him at that age, still speaking several languages and exploring snowy parks on my own.

By this point I have fallen completely in love with Oslo but my desire to explore Norway beyond the city limits is ever growing.

Meanwhile, back home…

I’m not exactly a news junkie, and my news intake fell to a standstill during my travels in the last month. While I checked my email once a day, I didn’t spend any time with a computer, television, or newspaper in front of me. This meant I was completely oblivious to the new constitution that went into effect in Hungary on January 1st, 2012. This also meant I missed the first few weeks of conflict and discordance in response to the new constitution.

Now, politics is decidedly not my arena and I can’t say I’ve paid much attention to the Hungarian government and what it does in the five months I’ve been a legal resident of this country (keeping up with the frustrating situation in my home country of the US has kept me plenty busy). I can say that if I were a Hungarian voter in 2010, I probably wouldn’t have voted for Viktor Orban, the current prime minister. And while economics is not my arena either, I’ve definitely noticed the steady decline in the value of our currency, the forint, in the months since my arrival as well. If I remember correctly, when I arrived in Budapest in late August last year, there were about 185 forints to the US dollar. The exchange rate is now 230 forints to the dollar. That’s no small difference, and it’s only getting worse.

Add to that Hungary’s rocky political history and my general expectation that anything could happen in this country, and I can’t say I’m shocked that the new constitution is raising questions about legality and fairness and the EU is considering taking legal action. Within Hungary itself, my impression is that plenty of people aren’t happy with the current government, but a surprising number of people still support this regime and its decisions, even in the middle of this conflict between Hungary and the European Union.

I intend to read up on all of this as much as I can, and I will share what seems worth sharing on this blog. If there is one thing I’ve learned in my time in Hungary so far, it’s that the character of this country is incredibly complex, with many layers, and I think the same could be said for this issue. I’ll report back once I’ve managed to peel away a few more of the layers.

You can’t say we don’t live in interesting times . . .