Csak egy kicsit beszele't magyarul.

"I only speak a little Hungarian." I might be saying that for a while yet. For those of you who don't know, I actually don't start math classes at BSM until early February, and the reason I'm here so early is that I'm taking an intensive 2-week-long Hungarian course at the Babilon Language School in downtown Budapest (along with about 80% of the BSM students). It began yesterday…and it really is pretty intensive, as we're in class from 9-4:30 every day (with some breaks) learning Magyar.

The best thing about the language program is that I've been able to meet some other BSM students. We are split into classes of about 10 students each, and I've gotten to know some people in my class really well. My main buddies are my two roommates Jim and Spencer, and Mudd friend/virtual roommate Ivan--as far as I can see, we're the tightest "clique" among the students so far--kinda weird, for me. Since we're already used to finding food and hanging out together, we've been using our apartment as a gathering place for others who are looking for something to do after class. I've made good friends with Kira of Hawaii/Linfield and Dan of Missouri/Truman State, among others.

As for the classes…it's nice to actually study a language for fun/practical use rather than for grades, and the Hungarian language really is fascinating. On the surface, the language is very difficult, because it's not even an Indo-European language (thus, English is closer to Russian and Hindi than Hungarian) and so every word (unless it's a "modern" one) is unfamiliar. However, it's really easy to pronounce Hungarian, because each letter is always pronounced the same way. On the other hand, there are lots of sounds to learn (there are 14 vowels, when you include different accentuations). In any case, I'm glad to be pretty comfortable using words like köszönöm (thank you), bocs (sorry…sounds like "botch"), and sajt (cheese…sounds like "shite"…).

Life outside classes has been great. We've been going out to eat usually once a day, which is affordable because you can get a large meal in Budapest for $3-5 if you stay away from the most expensive restaurants. For our other meals, we've been doing light cooking, by which I mean simple things like pasta, sandwiches, or stir-fry. So far nothing has gone disastrously wrong. We've gotten into the habit of drinking a glass or two of red wine over our dinners…all of you know that I've always been a non-drinker, but I've decided to be a bit more adventurous this semester, and have some wine now and again. You can't argue with the price…many Hungarian wines are available for 300-600 forints ($1.50-$3) per bottle…and Hungarians in general drink a lot of wine--literally on every block there is a small shop that sells only a wide variety of wines and beers, a wide variety of raw meats, milk and snack food, and maybe some fruits and vegetables.

So yes, a little bit about the Hungarian people. Today at the language school we attended a short introductory lecture on Hungarian history and culture. I found the guy's description of the Hungarian identity pretty funny, and true to what I've seen so far: Hungarians are a mix of 5 distinct personalities…
1) Meditteranean - wine-drinking, lazy procrastinators
2) Germanic - hard-working and industrious
3) Gypsy - wild and independent
4) Slovakian - sentimentalist
5) Byzantine/Turkish - wiley and corruptible
In fact, Hungarians (identified by the language they speak) are one of (if not the) most heterogeneous ethnicities in the world. Hungary's position at the center of Europe has also provided the nation with a vibrant history, by which I mean Hungary has been abused by the outside world for its entire existence. I won't go into details, but I encourage everyone to read more about Hungarian history! One more thing about Hungarians: there are so many good looking women here! Guys, take note…

Egészségedre! (Cheers)



Jim in downtown Budapest


Ivan, with the Budapest Történeti Museum in background


Kira, Ivan, Dan, Matt, and Jim outside the Babilon Language School


Looking across the Danube to Gellért hill


Jim, Ivan, Kira, and me at the Danube