The Adventure Ends

This morning at 4:20 am 13 of the students (looking bright and cheery) left the Professor's Guesthouse for the last time to begin the long trip back to the USA or begin new adventures in other parts of Europe.   The other 10 followed a few hours later and by 8:30 am there was only one lonely professor left.   To all of you who have been following the blog thanks for your comments and I hope you've enjoyed following along.  

To the students:  I've really enjoyed getting to know you this last month.   You are a great bunch!  You made it easy for me and I appreciate that.  It seems like you had a pretty good time here in Budapest and learned a bit of number theory as well.   I know you will have lots of stories to tell when you return.   

Looking forward to seeing you all soon back at the hill.

Szia,

Bruce

The Last Days...

We can't believe it's over... already!  It's difficult to believe, but with our final hanging over our heads on Thursday, and then actually taking the final today, it seems like this wonderful month is drawing to a close. 

While it might sound like Thursday and today were solely spent studying for the final, I assure you that was not the case!  Prof. Hanson arranged for us to see the exhibit on Count Szechenyi at the Hungarian National Museum on Thursday morning, which really put a lot of the film we saw earlier on Szechenyi into perspective.  It was also very neat to see some of the artifacts which Szechenyi had or came in contact with during his lifetime.  It made the face on the 5,000 Ft banknote seem more human.  Plus, Prof. Hanson gave us a demonstration of true 19th century Hungarian attire! 





Sevy with Prof. Hanson (in Szechenyi era clothing)



The rest of Thursday afternoon was spent brushing up on theorems, or practicing a particular type of proof, in order to prepare for the Friday ordeal. 

After finishing the final, the packing rush began in earnest!  With a large portion of the group flying out of the airport at 6:30 Saturday morning, it was pretty imperative that packing be finished the night before!  But the surprises weren't finished yet...

Before the final, Prof. Hanson told us we should meet in the breakfast room at 5:25 to go to dinner as a group, and to bring cameras and dress up.  He gave us no more information than that, so speculation was rampant about "What does he have cooked up for us?"  Well, he didn't cook up dinner, but he took us to a wonderful restaurant that also featured the largest operational wine cask in the world... 4.8 meters in diameter!  The dinner that followed was outstanding, and there was traditional Hungarian music and dancing afterwards, with Eric and Sevy being "volunteered" to try out a couple steps.  They did a great job! 

As we now prepare to depart Budapest, probably never to return (excepting Prof. Hanson), there are some mixed feelings running wild.  On one hand, we can't wait to return to the comfort of the States, but on the other, it feels hard to leave.  Budapest feels a lot like home, in the sense that we will always have a special place in my heart Budapest, this group, and all the memories we have shared in this past month.  We hope that you have enjoyed learning of our adventures, and we hope you just might understand that special feeling we all will have about Budapest. 


The wonderful crew! 

Signing off, for the class:

Colin and Chris

I'm Dreaming of a White...Budapest!

       Today we woke up to a reminder of Minnesota as we looked out the window and saw SNOW!  The journey to class in the cold snow however was not so exciting.  Sadly, today was our last math lecture and ironically we learned about Fermat’s last theorem.  A couple of us went to get gyros for lunch at the place close by where we have become regulars and another group didn’t venture far, staying in the caf.  Our afternoon lecture was given by Csaba Szabo (pronounced “Chaba Sabo”) about arithmetic functions, a topic we have just recently learned about.  He talked extremely fast and was both interesting and amusing.  Nobody could understand his handwriting at first until Sevy, whom Csaba thought was called “Seven”, saved us all by asking for clarification.  Also, throughout the lecture, he would throw the chalk at the board and even said he would give up his diploma if he could not resolve our questions.  Luckily, he left with his diploma.  

After class, our group dispersed to do some last minute souvenir shopping or to do some final exploring of Budapest as our time here winds down.  For dinner, a group of ventured to Heroes Square, quite a ways away in the snow, to Paprika for some huge portions of delicious Hungarian cuisine, ranging from the traditional Gulyas to the Paprika House Special for two that included a variety of meat, potatoes, and vegetables.  Our waitress mistook us for Germans at first, saying Danke to us repeatedly instead of thank you.  Most of the class spent the evening starting to study for the final on Friday instead of doing the usual exploring.  Too bad our final isn’t a Budapest scavenger hunt, or something like that.  We don’t want to leave this city so soon, either to travel elsewhere in Europe or travel back home to the states, but we already paid our second semester tuition, so have no alternative.  

Back to studying, Sziastok!

-Christine and Steph

Meats, Math, Museum, and More :)

With a cup of banana yogurt in hand, our final Tuesday in Budapest began. In the morning we had a Number theory lecture where we learned RSA algorithms which are coding methods that are virtually impossible to break--pretty neat! For lunch a few of us headed over to the Hus Bolt (Meat Shop) where we indulged in sausage and chicken standing at the counter. There were other options such as livers, gizzards, etc...they eat it ALL over here. We'll call it an experience, ending with fruits and breads from the nearby market to settle our tummies. Following lunch we had the privilege of hearing a probability lecture from Balint Toth, a professor at the Technical University of Budapest. Probability is a subject that many of us are not familiar with, so we listened intently and walked away with a new appreciation for probability and the field of statistics. 

After the lecture a group of us went to the House of Terror which is a museum/monument for the victims of the Nazi invasion and Communist dictatorship in Hungary. The museum building was the Hungarian Nazi headquarters in 1944, and also housed other communist terror organizations until 1956. One of the more moving parts of the museum was the cellar where hundreds of people were tortured, and video accounts of survivors added a whole other dimension to this tragic reality. The museum shone new light on a piece of Hungarian history that we had never been exposed to before. Even though this museum was not a scheduled class trip, a majority of us made our way to the museum to learn about the victims of terrorist dictatorships and their effect on Hungary. 

On a lighter note, we find it important to mention our favorite Hungarian pancake house. Open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the sweet or salty pancakes make perfect afternoon snacks. And by pancakes we actually mean crepes. We recommend the Nutella and banana pancake or the Pudding Platter! This place is one thing we'll miss for sure, so we'll have to eat our fill before Saturday. 

One last observation: EVERYONE has a dog, and NO ONE cleans up after their dog. We want to look up at the beautiful architecture, but most of the time we are watching our step to avoid the puppy land mines. The dogs are always a topic of conversation (much like the squirrels on campus) especially since the dogs here are chubby and furry. We will not miss the plethora of canines. 

Forever BDPT and BDPT Forever,

Hannah and Julia

A Not-So-Little Piece of History

The Hungarian Parliament building from across the Danube.

Well, it’s officially our last week in Budapest.  Time flies when you’re having fun!  It truly has been a great experience and we’ve done so much since we’ve been here.   We can certainly call Budapest our “home away from home”.  Even though we have seen so much and have been gearing up for our final, we still have a couple things to check off of our list of sights to see.  On our first day here, our tour guide took us past the Hungarian Parliament building.  Its massive size and beautiful exterior left us wanting to see more.  After three weeks, we finally got a chance to tour it today!

The Upper House of Parliament.

The Hungarian Parliament is the third largest parliament building in the world; only Romania and Argentina boast bigger buildings.  Walking into the building was somewhat intimidating, as we had to go through security measures very similar to that at an airport.  They were incredibly thorough in their inspection, as Professor Hanson learned after being searched a few times.  After passing our security test, we were led to the main entrance of the building, where our guide brought our attention to a scale model of parliament.  Apparently, some Hungarian family has way too much time on their hands, as they built it from over 100,000 match sticks.  Following that, we climbed 96 stairs to the dome.  Those 96 steps symbolize the year 896, in which Hungary first became a nation.  The dome boasted a beautiful display of architecture and design, but the central focus was a small case in the center of the room.  On the other side of the glass were the three crown jewels of Hungary and the Holy Crown.  The crown was first worn by St. Stephen, the first Christian king of Hungary, whose reign began in the year 1000.  It is amazing to see that after 1000 years the crown is still in one piece, though it took a lot to keep it that way.  During WWII, the crown was smuggled out of Hungary and hidden in Fort Knox, USA in an attempt to keep this important piece of history away from the Nazis.  At the end of the war, it was returned to Hungary, and finally took its place in parliament in the year 2000, on the 1000-year anniversary of the crowning of St. Stephen.  Our tour ended in the Upper House of parliament.  This chamber is no longer used in politics, but rather it is rented out for private events.  How much does it cost to rent a chamber in parliament?  Only $6,000 per hour!  Needless to say, we won’t be holding class there anytime soon!  We were also intrigued to learn that not only is the Hungarian Parliament the third largest in the world, but its marble pillars and gold adornments make it the most expensive parliament building ever built!  Today, it is worth enough to build an entire city!  

There are tons of amazing sights to see in Hungary, and we feel so lucky to have seen so much of their history.  We hope to see more of it before we leave on Saturday!  Szia!

~ Jordan and Lauren.

Weekend Wanderings

This weekend was our second free weekend in Budapest. While a few ventured to Vienna, most of the group remained here in Budapest to explore the sights and culture of the city.

On Saturday, a large group of us went to Castle Hill, which houses Buda Castle, Matthias Church, and the Fisherman’s Bastion. Matthias Church was very cool despite the large amount of construction going on both outside and inside the church. The interior had hand-painted ceilings and walls, and on one wall we saw the grave of St. Imre, who was the son of King St. Istvan (of St. Istvan’s Basilica we previously visited). Then we proceeded across the square to Fisherman’s Bastion, a kind of fortress built along the hillside with views overlooking the river, Parliament, and the Chain Bridge, especially on a gorgeous day like yesterday, when we actually saw the sun!

After lunch, we went to Buda Castle, which houses the National Gallery we visited last week, the Budapest History Museum, and the National Library.  Those of us who went to the History Museum were thrilled to discover that we chanced upon Free Admission Day, so we explored all levels to our hearts’ content. The basement was easily our favorite part: Buda Castle was built over the old medieval palace, and we were captivated by the old ruins. We also visited the National Library. Admission was free for an interesting exhibit on Italy – we’re not quite sure what it was really about, as the exhibit was in Italian with Hungarian information sheets. But the pictures were very pretty. Then, as it seemed pointless to visit the National Library without seeing any books, we (illegally?) visited a couple other floors on our way down. Seeing the books that one of Hungary’s beloved Széchenyis donated to the National Library in 1802 was definitely worth the surreptitious sneaking away from the security guard on level 6.

Our final stop on Castle Hill was the labyrinths. After some interesting and slightly spooky statues, as well as some fake ancient cave paintings (accompanied by ominous music), we arrived at a fountain of wine, where visitors were told that the wine was not for consumption. Soon afterwards, we happened upon a sneaker footprint, with a sign stating that this find informed archeologists of a new species: Homo consumerous. Apparently many future archeologists will be convinced that Homo consumerous had to come before Homo sapiens, as the society of the Homo consumerous required (requires) only a fraction of the Homo sapiens’ brainpower for functionality. The gods of the Homo consumerous also included an eight-foot Coca Cola bottle and birth control pills.

Saturday evening involved wandering up the Raday Utca, a street full of restaurants, until we found a good place for dinner. Some people had an adventurous night, while others stayed in.

On Sunday, most everyone had a very relaxing day, involving sleeping in, reading, journaling, hanging out at a nearby coffeehouse, spending hours on math homework, and, for the most part, it was a very enjoyable day and the perfect close to the weekend. We are looking forward with mixed feelings to our last week in Budapest.

Szia!

Kallie and Emma

Odds and Ends

Our second to last Friday in Budapest is also the kick-off to our second free weekend. Tonight, some of us are going to see Cosi fan tutte at the Hungarian State Opera House. One of the statistics that Andras Nagy threw at us yesterday was that ticket sales suggest that around half of all Hungarians are going to some sort of live performance (theater, opera, concert) at least once a year. The Opera House, too, is known for being a really pretty building, designed by the same architect that designed several other famous buildings in Budapest. Those of us not attending the opera either left for Vienna this afternoon or went out to dinner as a sort of “leftovers” group (we, not the food, were the leftovers).

Today we had two sessions of class, and we know that you would all be fascinated by full coverage of every mathematical minute, but unfortunately that's not what we have in mind. It occurred to us that there are a lot of small things about Budapest that we've commented on to each other, but have never made it to the blog, so we thought we might mention some of these things to you.

First of all, we've said next to nothing about our school. We have class at McDaniel College, which is in the Jewish district on the Pest side and where the St. Olaf Budapest Semester in Mathematics is also hosted.

The Holocaust Memorial in front of our school.

The building our class is in used to be a Jewish school when it was first built. Then, during WWII, it was a safe house for Jews who were waiting on visas that they had been promised by other countries. Now it belongs to McDaniel College. McDaniel College is actually an American school, with its main branch in Westminster, Maryland. Erika, our language teacher, said that the Budapest branch draws a lot of students from Hungary but also nearby countries, because students spend two years in Budapest and then two years in the US, and then graduate with an American degree.

The main fashion trends we've noticed are a strict adherence to neutrals in outerwear – occasionally with a bright scarf, but more often than not, scarves, hats, and gloves are neutral too. Also, we've noticed that it seems to be a trend for women, around 30 and up, to dye their hair red. True red, the kind that almost looks purple-y when it's on someone's head.

You may have gathered that our hotel is on the top floor of a dorm building. Each room has a little kitchen area, a bathroom, the main room, and up on a loft, the beds. For the most part, we've been the only group in the hotel, so we leave our doors open a lot. We also rely a lot on the breakfast room, which is very nice with white linens and lots of little tables. Breakfast every morning is provided by the hotel, a true continental breakfast.

The prevalence of smoking is something that has been alluded to before. It's hard to say if really more people smoke or if it's just that we're in a city, so there are just more people. Nevertheless, we do see a lot of smoking. Building codes are different, too. Restaurants have smoking sections right next to non-smoking sections (something our generation only vaguely remembers from when we were pretty little), and smoking is allowed in a fair number of places.

Walking around the city, there are a lot of squares. That sounds funny to say, but it's very true. Also, most squares and streets are named after famous Hungarians or people who otherwise influenced Hungary. Overall, I'd say that we can identify some people, but definitely not most. It's helpful, though, when you go to the museums. If you saw the same name on street sign, whatever you're looking at is probably important.

ABC's, CBA's, and any other combination of those letters indicates a little grocery/convenience store, and they are everywhere. They have mostly groceries, so don't quite think Walgreens or anything like that, but they usually have a deli counter and at least one full aisle of beverages in addition to normal staples.

Gyros seem to be the quick meal option in Budapest, the same way you might just grab a burger in the states. Other quick food stops tend to be Chinese food (Hungarians butcher it just as much as Americans), bakeries, and then fast food chains we are used to. I will admit, some of the group has been to McDonald's in a time crunch. The most amusing part was the head to toe uniform, including McDonald's jeans where the back pocket stitching was golden arches.

Meat is everywhere here. In restaurants, yes, but even moreso in grocery stores and marketplaces. There is a lot of raw meat available, sometimes even directly from the butcher. You definitely won't find a meat section in a store where a slab of meat is sold on a styrofoam tray wrapped in cellophane here.

We hear a lot of American music here. Everything from oldies to current popular songs can be heard in restaurants, walking by stores, and on the radio. Somebody asked Andras Nagy about it yesterday, and he said that Hungarian popular music lost ground during the communist era, because rock was suspicious, and it's not up to par yet. Apparently, a lot of radio stations are required to play Hungarian music 40% of the time to try to counteract the too readily available imported music.

One final thought – the metro escalators. It no longer phases us, but the escalators down into and up out of the metro are much steeper than any escalators we've encountered before. New to them, you really feel like you're going deep down into the bowels of the earth, and it's almost dizzying.

The next blog post will be Sunday, to fill you all in about our free weekend. Don't let the skipped Saturday worry you; we'll be having too much fun to write!

Kelsey and Emily