Travel Stop: Hungary Part 1, Budapest

On our walking tour we learned that Attila the Hun came to this area in the 5th Century. Hungarians are not Huns, but perhaps that's where they get their name, Hungary. Hungarians were traditionally pagan until 1000AD when St Stephan became the first king and the area was introduced to Christianity. It's important to know that Budapest is made up of the Buda side and the Pest side, split by the river. We will start on the Pest side.


To the left there is St Stephan's Basilica. It is the largest in Budapest. The largest in Hungary is in Esztergom, which I will show you later. It had three different architects while it was being built, so actually there are three different architectural styles; neoclassical, romantic, and baroque.

It says, "I am the way, the truth and the light." When St. Stephan died they chopped off his right arm and sent the parts to different churches. Part of it is in Vienna, part in Lamberg, Ukraine, part in Australia, in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and here in Budapest they have his fist.

As we continued walking, we came across this man. It is a general belief that if you rub a statue it will bring you good luck. As you can see on this man's belly, it's a different color. The idea is if you rub his belly you will find the best meal in town. I forget what we ate that night, but I'm pretty sure it was delicious.

Speaking of statues, here is another one. This statue is called Little Princess. It looks like a boy, but apparently the sculptor didn't have any female models. It was the first non-communist statue in Budapest, and therefore gets its special nature from that. On this statue if you rub her knees, it'll bring you good luck. I felt a little weird doing that, so here is someone else. Wonder if his wish came true...

And another statue. This woman is Lady Liberty. She was erected when the Russians "liberated" Budapest. After the fall of communism, the people of Budapest wanted to keep her. So they put a big, white sheet over her and covered her with fake blood to clean her of her communist sins. True story. 

On our first night we did a pub crawl. Budapest has some bars know as ruin bars. They're bars built in old run down buildings or schools and the design on the inside is pretty sweet. Our tour guide said if you see a place that looks abandoned, it's probably a ruin pub.

Holler.

Moving on. This is a picture of the royal palace, known as Buda Palace. (on the Buda side) It's hard to explain or show how massive these buildings really are. It was first completed in 1265. It's part of a World Heritage Site.

Mulled wine and pastries!

Naturally I'm eating and drinking.

We made our way across the Chain Bridge to the Buda side. This picture is taken from the Buda Castle. The lights at night in Budapest are a thing to see. Apparently, it cost the taxpayers millions of dollars to have all these lights installed, but it was worth it. 

Up in Buda around the Buda Castle we saw this building. It has the original bullet holes from WWII. They're in the process of restoring it now. 

Next we have the Matthias Church. When the Turks took over Hungary it was turned into a mosque and the tower was used as a minaret. Originally it was built in Romanesque style in 1015 but then was restored in the 14th Century in the Gothic style seen now.

In the picture to the right you can see the colorful tiles that are used. You can see these tiles on St Stephen's church in Vienna and in Mexico. These tiles are manufactured in Hungary.

We also saw the Parliament. It is absolutely beautiful. My picture doesn't really do it justice. It is the largest building in Hungary and is in the Gothic Revival style. Inside you can find the crown jewels.

Inside the Parliament. I jacked these photos because we weren't able to take the tour. But this gives you an idea.

That dog is having the ride of his life.

Having a Rolls is hard work.

Budapest has a cat cafe. Cats roam free and you can drink tea and pet them. Kind of a cool idea.

While we were walking around we came across this little demonstration. Apparently this is an ultraconservative church, basically Neo Nazis, who were revealing a statue of a man they consider a hero of Hungary. He was around during WWII. Naturally, the Jews who were protesting did not agree he was a hero. Here's the link to the news story if you are interested.  http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/03/21297246-hungarian-far-right-sparks-protests-as-it-commemorates-nazi-collaborator?lite

Ronald Reagan statue because why not.

The last thing I'll leave you with here is a Hungarian dessert wine. There is so much to see in Budapest it's really hard to capture it all here. There's a communist history and a Jewish one. There are many more buildings to see and museums. If you're lucky enough to visit the city you will see them too. So cheers!

Travel Stop: Hungary, Introduction

Budapest, Hungary

When I think of Budapest, this is what I see. I see Budapest in black and white. I never pictured it as the colorful, vibrant city that it is today, probably because I had never been there before. Call it ignorance, call it naivete, call it a romanticism of WWII or the communist era.














When we were leaving the airport the first things I saw were a giant Tesco sign and an accompanying outlet with H&M and the bright shining golden arches of a McDonald's. One of Taylor Swift's I hate men songs was on the radio and as I hummed along, it was quite obvious the western world was not lost in the east.















As we got closer to the city, the typical soviet block housing began appearing along the side of the road. All I could think was, ah. There we are. I miss the feel of the east. Probably because the first time I fell in love with Europe was in East Berlin and got a a little 'Ostaligie' fever. For those who don't know, Ostalgie is a combination of Ost, or east, in German, and Nostalgie, or nostalgia. Trust me, if you go to east Berlin you will find nothing but souvenir shops filled with model DDR things. The old hammer and sickle sign and even Trabis, or Trabants, the old cars of the communist age, are considered cool.

Whether it's because in 23 or so years, some people haven't been able to let go, one of our guides in Hungary made it very clear, that communism was nothing to be nostalgic about. 

I won't go too much into the history, but I love how our guide described it. She basically said Hungary has been very unlucky in the sides its been on in the last few wars. When Austria and Hungary split in 1918, suddenly 5 million Hungarians were 'lost' in the split. Hitler said he would help. Well, he didn't, or couldn't, if you will.  After the Second World War, Russia said they would help, but then, "forgot to leave for 45 years." However, in order to appease the Hungarians, they were allowed to wear blue jeans and drink Coca Cola. Whenever they would travel, people would recognize them as Hungarian right away, because they were the only ones allowed these privileges. Blue jeans and Coke. Staples in my life.

Anyways, let's get to it, but first:

Egeszsegedre! (That means cheers)  

Things my students say: He said, she said.

We were discussing basic interview questions in class and then did a little role play after to check the language.

Me: Do you communicate well?
Student: (smiles broadly) I'm a man.
Me: So, I'll take that as a no?
Student: Well, OK, at my job, yes. In my personal life, ask my wife. Probably no.

He gets it.

Awkward Situations: Is breakfast included?

Eros- the God of love. Also known as Cupid. Believed by many to be the son of Aphrodite. "He smites maids' breasts with unknown heat, and bids the very gods to leave heaven and dwell on earth in borrowed forms." --Senceca, Phaedra





Schwarzarbeit- Literally translated it means "black work" as in under the table and off the books. It's what we see illegal immigrants doing.




You might be asking yourself, what do these two things have in common? Well you've come to the right place. And if you're wondering, no, it doesn't involve prostitution. Well, at least not me being a prostitute, just an unsuspecting madame. Something I never really assumed I'd be doing in my life.

In class the other day we were talking about interviews and resumes and I feel in some ways if someone ever asked me if I've ever been part of a start up business, then well, technically, I could probably say yes.

When I first moved to Saarbrücken, I had an apartment set up. I arrived August 4th and could move in on the 6th, so I decided to stay in a hotel for two days. I didn't have that much money, so I stayed in the cheapest hotel I could find at the time. It wasn't super shady, just a small hotel near the train station and I was only going to be there for 2 days.

When I arrived on the first day, I got a message from the people who's apartment I was moving into and they said, "Sorry! Our old roommate decided to stay so......"

....so basically, I didn't have a place to stay. At first, I thought, oh my God, I'm homeless, but I didn't dwell on it too long and immediately started the search for another apartment. The guy who ran the hotel was actually the son of the owner and he was probably in his 20s. I was explaining my dilemma, and he said, well if you want, I want to learn English. So how about you teach me English for two hours every day and I'll let you stay here for free. I figured, um OK.

Sloth! Rocky Road.

Staying there for a week and talking to the owner I also got to know some of the people who worked there. The people who worked there were, bless their hearts, special. One of the ladies who worked in the kitchen I can only describe as a 400lb chain smoking version of Sloth from The Goonies. Let's just say there's a reason she stayed in the kitchen. There was the guy who fixed broken stuff around the hotel, the maid, and another man. To this day I'm still not sure what his job was. The only person who didn't creep me out was the young Romanian girl who served the breakfast.


So despite the people there being a bit creepy, at least according to my white, middle class, rather sheltered upbringing, after about a week I finally found another place to live and decided to move into it ASAP.

Story of my life.

It was around this time I was supposed to start my training for my job. The training was supposed to take place in Stuttgart for two weeks and as soon as it was done I could start working and earning money in September. I moved my stuff into my new place and went to meet with my supervisor who informed me that apparently the training was full and I'd have to wait until the training in mid September, therefore, technically, I wouldn't start working and earning money until October. So now I had a month to do nothing but spend money...financially, I had not counted on that.

Well, I had maintained contact with the owner of the hotel and was still giving him English lessons. I mentioned my predicament. He said that the girl who served breakfast was going on vacation for two weeks and he needed help. If I wanted, he would let me serve the breakfast and work the front desk and he'd pay me. Not a lot, but something. I figured why not, it'd be an adventure, and frankly didn't have much of a choice.

The next week I started. Serving the breakfast was fine. I just had to boil some eggs, set out some meat, make coffee and tea. Easy stuff. What I was afraid of was working the front desk. I had no idea what I was doing and didn't have much guidance, but I consider myself to be a quick learner and got the hang of it after about a day. Again, it was a small hotel, with obviously questionable business practices, but whatever.

One night in the middle of the first week, when I was working the front desk, a man came in with a woman. He wanted a room. I said no problem. Then I asked if he would like breakfast in the morning. He looked at me funny and was like, "Um no. We'll only be here a few hours". I looked at the woman. She smiled and shrugged. Honestly, remember I was sheltered, it took me a second to figure out the meaning behind it. Are they just there to take a nap? Suddenly, one of the other guys who repaired things around the hotel appeared rather quickly and greeted the man and offered him drinks. The man declined and I gave them their key.

The man who worked there told me it was possible others would come and just charge them full price for the room and offer them beverages. Make a note of the rooms so the sheets could be changed right away.

OH.

Sure enough, as the week on, usually in the mid afternoons, men would come with women. One afternoon this man showed up with two women.  He asked for a room. I asked if he wanted a double or single. His reply, "Doesn't matter as long as it has a desk."

I said, "Alrighty. All rooms have a desk. They aren't very stable though..."

After those two weeks were over I didn't really have contact with the hotel anymore. I would like to mention there were also many regular people who stayed at the hotel. Usually, people on bike tours and older couples stayed there. But interestingly, or maybe fittingly, since last year, it is no longer a hotel, but a bright neon light flashing Eros Center.

So, in some ways I can say my first job in Saarbrücken was working at an underground brothel. Check that one off the list.

Things my students say: Two are better than one.

In the lesson we were discussing different types of appliances and devices and also practicing relative clauses with 'that' or 'which'. The object was to think of an appliance or device and describe it without telling the group what it is, then people would guess. For example, it's an appliance that keeps your food cold. Answer: Fridge. Or refrigerator.

Student: I have one in my living room and my bedroom. It's a device that turns someone on.
Me:....giggle, giggle. Alright.
2nd Student: In your living room and bedroom?
Student: Yes. I have two. *big smile. A device that turns something on.
Me: Oh. Turns something on, or turns someone on?
Student: Mmm...turns something on.

No one guessed it. It was a remote control. When she first said it turns someone on and that she had two of them, I thought, well, you go girl.No shame.

Things my students say: You have something socialist on your face...no, the other side.

My student and I were chatting today about names. Unlike in America, in Germany, there are rules. You can't just name your child anything and hope they aren't permanently scarred by it. I mean, somebody named their child Hashtag. Seriously. #crazybabynames. In Germany the name has to be approved by the Standesamt, and basically, the name has to meet two criteria. 1) It has to reflect the sex of the child. No, Sam, is that short for Samantha? 2) It can't endanger the "well-being" of the child. Essentially, the Germans like to protect their children against hippie parents.

Anyways, my student originally hails from Italy and when we were talking about crazy names he said, or what I heard was, "My aunt had a communist face."

Needless to say, after that I sort of tuned out.

Immediately, I pictured Stalin. Was his aunt short with a hairy mustache? I hear that can happen in Eastern countries.Was her face a particular shade of red? Was she super plain, no makeup, greasy, missing teeth? Did she have a face that said, I farm on a commune? I pictured Tzeitel from Fiddler on the Roof. Was his Italian aunt really a Russian Jew? Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match...

Auntie Maria?

I was at a loss trying to envision what a 'communist face' was. Had I listened more closely, I would have realized he had said a "communist PHASE" and named her Italian born son Ivan.

Upon further reflection of this incident, I realized, obviously, I'm very American, and as so, I had obviously formed strong opinions on what communism literally looks like. It would be like asking Germans what freedom looks like and they say, David Hasselhoff!

But it brings up an interesting thought. In your opinion, if you heard the expression, 'communist face', what doyou envision?

Things my students say: Shark week

Me: What animal are you afraid of?
Student: I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I'd piss on you in a shark tank.
Me: Uh...excuse me?
Student: ...I'd piss on him?
Me: *pointing at the student next to him. Him?
Student: Me?
Me: Myself.
Student: I'd piss on myself.
Me: Still awkward. Without the 'on.'
Student: I'd piss myself.
Me: There ya go. Where did you even learn that expression?

All I know is that's a whole lot of urine.

Awkward Situations: Got it bad, got it bad, got it bad.

Occasionally, I get asked out by students.  It can be flattering, and I get it; got it bad for teacher, live out the fantasy. That in itself is not that awkward. I do appreciate men who go for it, especially German men, because I've heard German women can be quite mean in their rejections. However, sometimes I do wish students would wait until AFTER the course is over. Now, before I get to how this turned awkward, let me give you an intro into this story.

I had this one student, early 20s, who stared at me a lot and would always hang around after class, chat me up, etc. I don't know about you reading this, but sometimes you just know. I'm not saying that every person likes me, but sometimes, you can just sense it. And I was right. (I like to consider myself a good reader of body language.)

On a Monday, my student brought me cake because he thought I'd like it. In retrospect I realize I was being wooed with lemon cake. But, then, he hung around after class, as usual, to help me carry some things upstairs. He goes, "What are you doing tomorrow night? Would you like to go to the Oktoberfest with me? I'd really like to go with you."

Now, of course, maybe he was being nice (later it was confirmed it was in fact an ask out) but I was like oh, thanks, but no thanks.

No big deal.

Then came Tuesday.

As part of a warm-up, I had an envelope of random questions they could pull out and ask each other. 'If you had a million dollars and had to spend it all in one day, what would you do?' 'What animal are you afraid of?' Those kinds of questions.

Well, someone pulls out, 'Describe an embarrassing moment.' We all laugh. I say, 'No worries. I've had plenty.'  And they were about to find out.

My student, bless his heart, goes, 'I asked my teacher out and she said no.'

My heart kind of stopped a second. It wouldn't have been a big deal if I hadn't been encouraging them all to ask follow up questions for more details. The students were kind of like, ohhhhh.

One student asked, which teacher?

My student turned and made eye contact with me. All I could think was, don't you dare...

He smiles and gestures at me. 'My English teacher'.

All heads turned to me. I closed my eyes for a second. After a moment of silent swearing, all
I could do was shrug, clear my throat, avoid eye contact,  and say, 'See. As I said, I've had plenty.'

Awkward Situations: Blood, sweat, and tears, but mostly blood.

As a teacher you work with a lot of paper, and as such the risk of minor yet horrendously painful injuries such as paper cuts can often occur...without you knowing it.

One test day I had to photo copy the tests for my students. It was about a group of six people and they were pretty nice. I was running late that afternoon, so I quickly photo copied the tests, stapled them, and ran upstairs.

They were taking their tests, quietly, when suddenly a student looks up and me and holds his test up. In his very French accents he goes, "Uh, is this blood?" and points to the page. I look, and sure enough, there was a giant blood smear across that page. I quickly thought, where did that come from? I looked down and saw I had paper cut my pointer finger unknowingly and there was dried blood around it. There was also a little blood on my shirt and pants as well. Awkward.

I said, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. Let me copy you a new test." He just shrugged and goes, "No problem. I don't mind blood." Considering the French Revolution I suppose I can imagine a little blood never scared a Frenchman.