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

A Lesson in Hungarian Pessimism

Today was another full day here in Budapest. We began with a return to Number Theory in the morning, learning specifically about Arithmetic Functions. It was nice to have had a little break from class in our trip to Pécs yesterday, but it is really a fascinating subject, so I guess we’re not opposed to learning a little more. In the afternoon we were visited by another guest speaker, András Nagy. As a renowned Hungarian playwright, philosophy scholar and professor (himself having visited St. Olaf) he shared with us a rather in-depth view of more recent Hungarian history and culture. After an informative description of Hungary’s role in the Second World War, and the cultural impacts of the resultant communist oppression and eventual democratic liberation, he then answered some of our questions. These ranged from issues concerning the global recession’s impact on Hungary and its political system to popular Hungarian music and composers. For us, one of the more interesting aspects of András’s presentation was his description of Hungary’s “Middle European” location. This central position is a defining characteristic of Hungary that has led to its tumultuous history of war and oppression as well as its unique identity as a mixture of eastern and western traditions. “Pessimism”, as András described it, seems to have been his country’s reaction to a history filled with numerous defeats and domination by foreign countries. Later on in the evening, a group of us went to a restaurant called Buddha Thai, (where the food was superb) and then back to our rooms to finish homework. It’s been nice to explore the many restaurant options. We’ve enjoyed Chinese, Italian, German, Thai, Mediterranean, and, of course, Hungarian cuisine all right here in Budapest. We are also looking forward to tomorrow after class and the beginning of another free weekend because another group of us is heading to Vienna for a couple days. Life in Budapest, you might say, is pretty neat.

-Mike and Christian

Twofer: Pécs, and Hungarian Hospitality

Pécs's mosque-turned-church, Gázi Kászim pasa

The morning of our group trip to Pécs (“Pay-tch”) was marked for most of us with the sound of our alarm clock going off far too early. Bleary eyed, we were all gathered by seven to catch a train early enough that would take us the 3 hours towards Hungary's Croatian border in time to see the early-closing former mosque of Gázi Kászim pasa. This mosque, now a Catholic church, bears witness to its origins with its unique Islamic architecture, featuring not only a dome structure but also fascinating geometric designs adorning its interior.

"Your love for me is like a padlock: restricting,
and requiring the liberal use of bolt cutters to escape."

Pécs, selected as one of 2010's European Capitals of Culture, sported much more to see than just the mosque, however. Having received remarkably little damage during the world wars, Pécs exhibits its pre-20th century architecture with little of the whitewashing done by Soviet postwar restoration projects. Pécs, then, had a unique style all its own which made exploring it a treat, whether it be to find the ceramics museum showing off a special glazing technique developed in Pécs, or simply to find a nice café or street side pastry stand. One of the surprises we came across while exploring Pécs were the result of a local tradition dictating that newly engaged couples symbolize their love by locking a padlock onto one of various fences throughout the city.

Pécs appears to be the site of the Hungarians'
National Strategic Quaintness Reserves

Perhaps the most fascinating site in Pécs would be the Cella Septichora, an early Christian burial site dating too not long after the conversion of Constantine in the late 4th century AD. Also a UNESCO World Heritage site, this crypt is unique not only for being in excellent condition today but also for representing a blend of early-Christian, Roman, and local burial tradition. As visitors to this necropolis, we not only were permitted to explore the remains of the tombs and the foundations of the buildings that once stood above them, we also got to see the very well preserved wall paintings that originally adorned the tombs, with some of the iconography still being recognizable today. To add a bit of mystery to this equation, archaeologists still aren't completely sure about the history of this burial site: most of the tombs were found inexplicably empty.

Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul. It looks all
Eastern-ey inside. Nifty.

After visiting the crypts, many of us continued on to visit the immediately adjacent cathedral, notable for having a style uniquely different to our eyes from most other cathedrals and from any building exhibiting a Gothic style. While much could be said of the ornate sculpture work on the cathedral doors or of the uniquely Hungarian architecture and art adorning its interior, we hope the reader will forgive us if we instead decide to spend a bit of time praising the wonderful Hungarian hospitality we experienced at Pécs and elsewhere.

A lot has been said over the years about that famous hospitality, but it really should be mentioned again just how well we’ve been treated here. I mean, we must come across as a bunch of loud, obnoxious American tourists whose restaurant orders range from “point to menu and speak English patronizingly slowly and loudly” to “use a few words of woefully broken and mispronounced Hungarian, also patronizingly.” For all the cultural differences we’ve met when eating out––like a more relaxed speed of service, a much quieter restaurant environment, and a whole lot more cigarette smoke than we’re used to––the Hungarians who have served us have been wonderfully welcoming and accommodating. They’ll play along with our language troubles, bring us tap water (which is apparently an American concept), and split the check. At first, we found their service a bit terse, and worried that maybe we were offending or bothering waitstaff. But after some time immersed in Hungarian culture, it became obvious what was really going on.

A bit of background: Hungary sits at a crossroads for Asia and Europe, and for hundreds of years up until about 20 years ago, found itself being “liberated” by, among others, Turks, Austrians, and Soviets, who never really felt the need to leave after the end of a campaign. Hungary also lies at the bottom of the Carpathian Basin, which can sort of trap in fog and smog, and leave the cities below looking a bit gray and gloomy. The combined result of all this is a bit of national pessimism, which is readily obvious with a stroll through the National Gallery’s halls of beautiful but dark paintings, each seeming to focus on a new invading army, or a brave group of heroes defending their position as long as they can, but with the same ending.

Digressions aside, what does this have to do with service, again? I’m glad you asked! This pessimism seems to come through in a very, very dry, subtle sense of humor. A few nights ago at a wonderful Scottish pub, one of our party of ten asked––immediately after we all placed our orders––if we could get split checks for the evening. The waiter looked a bit distraught, then simply replied, “No.” If we hadn’t been looking for the faintest wry smile he cracked, we might have assumed him to be rude and curt. Similarly, one of our group didn’t realize the waiter had snuck in to take orders on the other side of the table while he was joking around about what extravagant order he might place: “I’m gonna get the champagne inside the hot chocolate, and then all of that on top of a cake, and...”, he rattled off. When the waiter got round the table to take his order, he put on one of the best deadpans I have ever seen and simply said, “Well I already know what you’re having.” 

For what is certainly a very different service industry culture, it might be easy to feel a bit lost in the pessimism, pragmatism, and occasional (very) dry wit. But looking beyond that and opening ourselves up to the new experience, we’ve come to enjoy the relaxed dining pace, down-to-earth service, and, of course, breakfast meats.


-Thomas & Tommy

Buda Buda Buda....

We started another day with another session of number theory. After the usual session of proofs we spent the afternoon watching a documentary about Paul Erdos, a famous Hungarian mathematician. He was involved in more mathematics papers than any other person in history. As is usually the case with geniuses he was quite the character who thought of life as a game between himself and SF, the supreme fascist. What does this mean? Nobody really knows except for Erdos.

After the film some of us took the metro to the Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church. This trip offered a great opportunity to take some pictures of the city on one of the few sunny days we've experienced here in Budapest. Built around 1900, the seven towers of the Fishermen's

Bastion represent the seven different Magyar tribes that settled the Budapest area, know as the Carpathian Basin. Matthias Church stands directly behind the Fishermen's Bastion and dates all the way back to 1015. The intricate spire and pattern tile roof were quite an impressive sight.

Tonight some of us went out to Ruben's, a restaurant we discovered on our way to watch the documentary this afternoon. The food was quite delicious and had "inexplicably low prices" according to our guide magazine called Time Out. Ruben's lived up to its reputation offering dishes that ranged from the traditional Hungarian Goulash soup to roasted rabbit with dumplings. Hopefully it will be an early night seeing as we have to leave the hotel at the crack of dawn to visit a town in southern Hungary called Pecs. Merry BDPT everyone, Egeszsegedre!

Love AJ and Bri-Bri

First day of class after a a free weekend; this Monday was definitely a bit of a slap in the face to remind us we actually have things to learn and lecture to attend. We all had somewhat adventurous weekends in our own ways and needed a day of rest in between the weekend and Monday. But we should be so fortunate. Instead, the usual running crew, which is about 5-7 of us in our own pairs, were all up and out by 7:30 am to get our daily run in.

Math lecture in the morning was the same as usual but in the afternoon we had a guest lecture by Mik Laczkovich about Egyptian Mathematics. We learned their notation and particularly focused on their representation of fractions. After the lecture, the majority of the class took a random trip to a place we knew practically nothing about called "Chocolate World." Well, despite the store being closed when we arrived, it was basically over-priced chocolate packed into a candy shop. As always though, everything is worth checking out because you never until you try it.

One thing that most of us would agree we are ready to have changed is the attitude of the waiters in restaurants. It is true that it is technically not in their job descriptions to smile and be friendly, but there is a noticeable difference with most wait staff (not all) towards our tables as opposed to non-tourists. They just don't seem too keen to serve people who aren't exactly accustomed to their dinner etiquette or the language. We try our best to be as polite as possible, but even the English speakers aren't that keen on serving us. I guess we're getting a little homesick for good 'ol fashion aMurhican wait style where the customer is always right.

Well it is getting late for the 6:45 run in the morning so I will sign off saying we miss America, it wins the contest any day for beauty and style.

Jo et.

Sevy and David

It's Wien Fun

Friday was the day of the midterm, but more importantly, it was the day that many of us would be setting out on our weekend trip to Vienna. The midterm began at 10:30, and under two hours later everyone had handed it in and those of us leaving were headed to Keleti Palyaudvar (West Trainstation in Hungarian). Some of us rushed through lunch hoping to catch the 2 o’clock train. Except no 2 o’clock train existed so we were left waiting til 3. A few mangy chess boards- caked with grime and laid out with greasy pieces- sat around the station, and since Hungary is known for chess, a couple of us assumed the games were just set out for all comers and went over to play. But as we approached, a pair of old men swooped in and challenged us to a game. To my surprise, the one I was playing pulled 300 forint from his pocket and laid it next to the board. I paused before realizing that the $1.50 charge (read, wager) for a bit of entertainment was worth it. I placed my money next to his, knowing full well that it wouldn’t be returning to my pocket. I wasn’t disappointed. The game lasted longer than I expected-- perhaps he decided not to worry about playing the foreigner-- but within a few turns my soldiers began dying at an increasing rate. We finished and gathered on the train to Vienna.

Compared to Budapest, Vienna seems to glow. Clean streets, fancy buildings of varying heights, glowing signs, smiling people. It felt western, and initially everyone seemed relieved to be leaving eastern Europe for a more familiar setting. The Pension Shermin sat on the second floor of an apartment complex with a gated entry. Posters of 1950's American actors covered the walls, and the rooms had high ceilings and brass chandeliers, but were clearly smaller than the ones we have in Budapest. After the trip, everyone was starving, and our guide (a student from the Vienna interim trip) convinced us to check out a German restaurant a few blocks from the hotel. Everyone had either Spaetzle (German noodles) or Schnitzel (meat, pounded out and breaded) for dinner. After eating, we walked into the center of Vienna by Stephansdom Cathedral, a giant gothic structure with an enormous bell tower. The surrounding neighborhood still wore its Christmas lights which glittered off of the gold and marble statues everywhere. After the walk, we stopped for gelato then returned to the hotel and crashed for the night.

Saturday was a whirlwind of adventure and at the end of the day all our feet felt it. We started our morning early, eating a delicious continental breakfast that was a little more accommodating than the one we are used to in Budapest. It was mostly the same except for the addition of nutella, which took the sting out of getting up early. After breakfast we trekked to the Naschtmart (an open air market that takes up over a block) and since it was Saturday morning we were graced by the addition of the weekly flea market. The Naschtmart contained delicacies of all kinds and for lunch a small group of us sought out the best cheeses, meats, breads and fruits.

In addition to the market we saw St. Steven’s Cathedral and climbed the more than 300 steps it takes to reach the top of the south tower. The view was absolutely breathtaking, as was the walk. The Cathedral was magnificent inside but unfortunately we could not take the tour of the catacombs because there just was not enough time for everything.
After that we trekked over to the Museum of Natural History. To describe this experience alone would take another twelve or so paragraphs but don’t fear, I will only summarize. We saw some of the most expensive jewels in the world, a block of platinum the size of my fist, and possibly most impressively, the Venus de Willendorf. It was an unforgettable experience and if given the choice, I would go back there in an instant. After leaving the Museum we went to the Treasury. There we saw beautiful crowns dating back even to the 1000s AD. We wound down the evening with some fine Italian dining and some absolutely wonderful gelato. Then it was time to go back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

We awoke Sunday morning greeted by more sun than you could shake a stick at, and spring-like temperatures to boot. The day was kicked off with a visit to the Art History Museum, which contained vast collections of Titian, Brueghel, Van Dyck, Van Eck, Caravaggio, Perugino, Raphael, Rubens, and even ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian art. The remnants of the group that trekked to Vienna broke up even further at this point. The group I was in ventured to the Schloss Schönbrunn, the vast summer home of the Hapsburgs that has been coined as the Versailles of Vienna.

If the giant palace itself wasn’t enough (it was), the grounds behind were outrageously extravagant. Grand gardens led up to an imposing fountain of Poseidon and his sea-nymphs. Behind this was a large hill, upon which rested a viewing house that has been retrofitted as a café. After gazing out across Vienna and celebrating the 55-degree weather, we ventured into the palace, only to be greeted by more opulence, with rooms decorated with anything from rare rosewoods to Chinese enamel etchings to ornate frescoes and candelabras. Our time in Vienna was capped off with more gelato, and by 6pm, we were on our way home. Looking back, Vienna was great, with more sun and slightly less cigarette odor, but you could also blow through a stack of 10-euro bills like they were tissue paper. Though our time in Vienna was amazing, it’s great to be back in the land of $3 meals and number theory.



Jo éjszakát!
-Chris S., Eric, Seth

You Know the old saying...

Early to bed and early to rise makes an Ole healthy, wealthy, and wise… Unless class is being held 20 feet from that Ole’s bedroom door at 10:30 am, in which case early rising is unnecessary. Class in the breakfast room is always a treat. If attention manages to escape oneself, the 8th-story views of the Danube are certain to cater to the whims of the imagination. The endless supply of tea in the breakfast room provides an alternative solution to the problem of concentration. It’s not that number theory isn’t interesting, quite the contrary actually, it’s just that every time we have class in the breakfast room there seems to be an extra-exciting event that directly follows – and today was no exception.
Today we trekked up to Hungary’s National Gallery. The gallery is housed in the former royal palace, which was originally built in the 15th century but was destroyed multiple times by the various invading armies, like the Turks and the Austrians. Its present incarnation was built after World War II. Our tour guide showed us several interesting paintings from the 19th century that were commissioned by Hungarian noblemen, most notably Count Szechenyi (pronounced Say-Cheney). The object of these paintings, which were all enormous and meant for public viewing, was to create a sense of community in the Hungarian people. They did this by pictorially describing the history of Hungary, which was important for two reasons: One, it gave all Hungarians the knowledge of their history, which until that point consisted primarily of legends and ghost stories. More importantly, it created a theme for all Hungarians to understand, namely that Hungary had been invaded and its people subjected to unmentionable cruelty, but through it all they survived and threw off their oppressors. This theme was important to Szechenyi and his compatriots, who were organizing a revolution against the Habsburg monarchy.
After the tour, we were given the freedom to roam the gallery and enjoy the views of Buda from the grounds of the palace. While photos inside the gallery were restricted, we definitely made up for it outside, and despite the cloudy weather (I’m sensing a theme here…) we still took some wonderful photos!
After the gallery we all dispersed to quickly grab dinner and make final arrangements for the much-anticipated weekend in Vienna before hurrying back to the dorm for some last minute cramming. Tomorrow we will cross our fingers and jump into a 2-hour test worth 30% of our final grade; but on the eve of such a seemingly daunting exam, doors are open, music is playing, and tensions are light. Must be the crystal clean Budapest air that’s calming our nerves. Anyhow, wish us luck tomorrow, and safe travels to Vienna.

Auf Wiedersehen!
Chris Gustafson, Colin Huffer

A Trip into Hungary's Past

Finally, a day where we could see blue sky (at least in the afternoon but we’ll take what we can get). This morning we had a double math session involving 2 extremely long proofs, however in the afternoon we watched a historical feature film about the Count István Széchenyi and his contributions to Hungary. He is actually regarded by most Hungarians to be “the Greatest Hungarian”. He was initially an accomplished military captain in the Hapsburg empire but soon removed himself from the military to help bridge the gap between the Hungarian aristocracy and the common people. His greatest aspiration was to build a bridge that would connect eastern and western Hungary over the Danube between the cities of Pest and Buda. The movie also goes into his personal life, including his passionate love for a woman named Cresence, whom he finally married after her first husband passed away. It also gave us an insight to the count’s borderline insanity and how it affected his personal life, career and dealings with the Hungarian revolutionaries. The chain bridge that he helped construct still stands today, and the famous Hungarian baths, which some of us visited last weekend, are named after him.

After the afternoon session, the majority of the class returned to the hotel to finish up the homework and start studying for the exam looming in the near future (the midterm on Friday). A couple of us went to For Sale Etterem (Restaurant) for dinner for some HUGE portions and a fun environment where you can eat complimentary peanuts and then throw the shells on the ground! We ate so many that we we full before the dinner even came. A different group decided to “divide and conquer” their dinner. They split up into small groups, each getting a different part of dinner, including many pizzas from the nearby Pizza Boy pizzeria (where we are quickly becoming regulars), drinks and desserts from the AWESOME Hungarian crepe restaurant (conveniently open 24 hours). They proceeded to have a pizza party in one of the rooms with all the food and taught Steph how to play the card game Hearts.

We are looking forward to the upcoming free weekend, in which some of us will be traveling to Vienna, Stockholm or just exploring the city of Budapest without the burden of homework!

Köszönöm szepan for reading!
-Steph and Christine

Another day, another forint

Just another manic Tuesday. The first day of the Hungarian week, which we now know is "kedd," started off with our last day of Hungarian lessons. Erica, our teacher, cleared the air about some assumptions we had made. We thought it was custom to pay on one bill at a restaurant, but actually separate checks are available upon request at the start of the meal. Furthermore, we had all heard that it was impolite to order tap water when eating out, so we have all have been up the wazoo in forints for bottled water. We learned today that restaurants need to make a profit, and the way they can do that is by charging high drink prices. So, tap water is frowned upon but still available--we just have to be brave and order it! Also, we all have been into a CBA (like Walgreens) at one point or another on this trip and noticed that the cashiers are rude and don't smile. In reality, though, it literally is NOT in their job description to smile, so they aren't being rude--they are just doing their job.

Today was our first day without homework. YES! We used this extra time to explore the city, hitting the ATM's along the way, before heading out to the shopping districts. Dinner followed at Dzsungel Etterem (Jungle Cafe), a restaurant recommended by fellow students.

Lately, we have become more comfortable with our surroundings. We now attempt to order dishes in Hungarian, hop on a tram to explore different districts within the city, and walk with a sense of direction to our destinations with more confidence. This familiarity also gives us more options for evening activities. The walks along the bridges, especially at night (safely, in a big group with our body guards)are absolutely amazing and cannot be justified by pictures (so, we will refrain from putting any pictures up for you to see...sorry). There are many options for jazz clubs, cafes, and of course, desserts and pastries. The city really is lit up at night, and we are excited to dive deeper into the city of Budapest and the Hungarian culture.

Jó estét! (Goodnight)

Julia and Hannah

Happy Monday!

No, really, in Budapest, Monday is still considered part of the weekend! Don’t worry, we kept ourselves busy. We started the day off with a tour of the Budapest Central Market. Though we had braved the overwhelming market before, we still hadn’t gotten a complete feel for the huge, three-floor building. We met our tour guides on the main level, where we got to see some of Hungary’s traditional meats and vegetables, like pig brains and horse sausages…yum! We took a quick detour through the upper floor, which consisted of grab-n-go restaurants and tourist shops, before heading to the lower level, where we were greeted with the smiling faces of hundreds of carp in the fish market. Amidst the many interesting Hungarian foods, our tour guide recommended trying duck at least once, as it is a very common Hungarian meal. Little did we know, he was gearing us up for lunch later that day!

From the market, we hopped on a familiar tram and made our way to the Strudel House, or Elsȍ Pesti Rétesház. Don’t worry we’re still working on our pronunciation too. Strudel is an authentic Hungarian dish, made of paper thin pastry dough and an assortment of fillings, from apple to beef stew. We were able to watch a demonstration of the delicate process of strudel making, in which a tiny piece of dough is stretched to fit over an entire table. The chef made it look easy, but we didn’t have as much luck. While you could read the menu through his piece of stretched dough, ours looked more like a piece of Swiss cheese! Even with our failed attempt, we enjoyed what we thought was one of the best meals yet!

With such a great beginning to our day, we could top it off with nothing other than a few hours of math and more exploration of the city. :) And so, our second week in Budapest seems to be off to a good start!

- Jordan and Lauren

Corollary - Video of strudel making

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CKhQJrFWmU

Show that Sunday is a day of rest... for some

We assume it is Sunday. Note that Sunday is a day of rest. One exception: Oles in Budapest. Since it is indeed Sunday, many students headed out (too early) to check out mass at the famous St. Istvan’s Basilica (Budapest’s well-known Catholic basilica, supposedly housing the right hand of St. Istvan). If we had found out that the 9 am mass we were going to attend was cancelled, we would have slept until 10 am like most of the others in our group. So we wandered around Budapest on our way back to our living quarters only to find to our delight that class had not begun! Thus, we did not miss any class, as desired.

We piled into our temporary, make-shift classroom with our phenomenal pseudo-whiteboard. We braved proofs by contradiction, tackled the meaning of radicals and dominated a proof involving primes (which of course we all understood). Class ended with a delightful worksheet challenging our minds to the best of our abilities.

Now on to the best part… the Szchenyi Baths.

One word: hihetetlen (Hungarian for incredible – believed to be pronounced he-heh-teht-lehn).

The majority of our 24-member group took advantage of this opportunity to attempt to be a true Hungarian during our free afternoon. We traversed on the trams, mastered the metro, and foraged for food for lunch to reach our destination. It was awesome. We spent approximately 2.0571 hours enjoying the various amenities. Traditionally, a person starts off in the very hot steam pool (approximately 40 degrees Celsius) to relax. Then said person progresses to the cold pool (approximately 16-18 degrees Celsius), followed by the warm pool (approximately 27-30 degrees Celsius) which included a “spinny whirlpool thing.” Several of us braved the 80-100 degrees Celsius saunas which were definitely worth it. Trust us, after a long, exciting, high-energy week involving everything from lack of sleep to dietary changes to the theory of numbers to surviving the Hungarian language, we found this a perfect respite.

And of course, after our afternoon of complete relaxation, we ended our night (and the end of our first week!) with a bit of (trying) math homework.

-"Perfect Grammar" Emma & "Too Perfect for Grammar" Kallie

Saturday in Szentendre

Saturdays are traditionally days to unwind, relax, and enjoy the weekend. The following is a standard day on the hill:

8:30 AM, St. Olaf: Students can be found fast asleep in their dorms.
9:30 AM, St. Olaf: Some students begin to rise and get ready for a relaxing day on the hill.
11:30 AM, St. Olaf: Most students are up and about. Many can be found walking through the sidewalk slush to Buntrock for food.
1:30 PM, St. Olaf: Students are enjoying a nice break from classes and can unwind for the day.

In Hungary things are a bit different.

8:30 AM, Professor's House: Students are up getting ready for the day.
9:45 AM, Professor's House: Students pile into the breakfast room for class.
11:30 AM, Professor's House: Students finish up with group work and make their way back to their rooms to get ready for a trip to Szentendre.
1:30 PM, Szentendre: Students climb off the train at the Szentendre station to go site seeing.

After a morning of class, we were all excited to take the train out to the picturesque Szentendre. Szentendre is a quaint town between ten and fifteen miles north of Budapest, along the Danube. It's a popular tourist destination due partly to its museums, shops, and reputation as an artists' colony, but also largely as a result of its winding cobblestone streets and general visual appeal. After a quick bite to eat, we all went to the Margit Kovacs Museum to check out the work of Hungary's best-known ceramic artist. Her work ranged from painted bowls and tiny scenes to figures that were maybe a meter tall and murals painted on tiles. She worked consistently for about fifty years, through both World Wars, and her signature, KM (Hungarian surnames come before given names), was apparent on each piece, although it was often creatively woven into the design. After the museum, we walked around the town, checking out the shops and museums along the way. The marzipan museum seemed to be a hit with many; Princess Diana, dinosaurs, and Disney characters were some of the few marzipan creations in the museum that caught our eyes. Many of these works of art took at least 20 hours to create, while the larger life-size creations took a few days and weighed a large amount.

We've been making the most of our late afternoons and evenings, but tomorrow afternoon is our first extended free block of time in daylight, so you can look forward to hearing about our adventures soon!

Friday in Budapest

Today we saw some sun for the first time! The first few days here in Budapest were quite cold and dreary, although nothing like Minnesota. But today the temperature reached into the 40s, the fog lifted, and the sun peeked through the clouds. The weather should be similar, with a little rain, for the next few days so we are excited for that. I know I wasn’t really prepared for 20 degree weather for the whole month.

One of our newest discoveries is the bakeries selling delicious pastries for about 200 forints (1 USD) in the entrances and exits of the subway system. It’s often the first thing you smell as you go down the escalators, which have big fans (which we decided are probably there to keep the warm air down in the subway and the cold air up near the surface) wafting it up at you. It was becoming very hard to resist, so now chocolate croissants and pastries filled with raisins and cream cheese are becoming our mid-afternoon snack.

We are starting to get into a routine here, with class in the morning and afternoon, separated by a lunch break. Exploring parts of the city follows class until we have to return to our hotel to do homework before going to dinner and further exploring the city. Today was one of our last Hungarian lessons. Today we mostly worked on numbers and directions. I think I’m starting to get the pronunciation down, which we spent a large part of the first few days doing. Hungarian has lots of different sounds that English doesn’t really have, but it’s a very phonetic language, so once you get the sounds down, reading it becomes relatively easy. Understanding what you’re reading is a different story. The grammar is very difficult. Prepositions and other modifiers are tacked on to words as suffixes to indicate meaning so you get really long words that would really represent multiple words in English. An extreme example is legeslegmegszentségtelenítetthetetlenebbjeitekként, which means “like those of you that are the very least possible to get desecrated”.

In math today we learned about mathematical induction, which basically is a way to prove properties concerning all the positive integers: 1,2,3,4,... In an induction proof we use an assumption about a positive integer n to prove something about n+1. Because we’ve had such an awesome time the first few days here in Budapest, using Math Induction we know that the n+1 days (the rest of the trip) will also be awesome!

-Mike and Christian

Food and a Bit of Culture

I can't speak for everyone else on the trip, but when traveling far away, I tend to notice things I miss from home right away. I feel something of a void in myself, and the only good way to ease the culture shock and enjoy myself is to find something wonderful and uniquely local to fill that void. Fortunately, Budapest has enabled us to literally fill that void, by stuffing ourselves full of phenomenal food. Hungary is known for its generous portions, and rich, heavy, meaty cuisine. The Hungarian Forint is also among the weaker currencies in Europe, meaning prices are low. The upshot of all this is that, should we choose, we can eat like kings.

In fact, it was a rather meager breakfast the first morning in our hotel that snapped me out of any culture shock funk I might have been in. Though I had heard of them before, I could not possibly understand just how magical breakfast meats truly are. I'm not talking about bacon and sausage; no, we're talking a gorgeous spread of cold cuts, and even cheese. Why America lags so far behind "lowly" Central/Eastern Europe in its development of Breakfast Meat Technology, I can't say I understand. But I'm going to enjoy it while I'm here.

Moving beyond our hotel's offerings, our group has found our options to be quite wonderful––especially once we stopped rejecting relatively nice restaurants as "too pricy" for menu prices between 1300 and 2000 Forints (which, had we bothered to do our conversions correctly, we would have seen to be in the range of $7 to 10 US). Thus far, I've had some surprisingly good Italian food with the group, as well as a solid beef stew at a relatively nice bistro, and a wonderful evening tonight at a Scottish(!) pub with "the Edinburger." (And, yes, I am excited to be able to start stories with "I was at this Scottish pub in Budapest…") For the past two days (because once just wasn't enough) a few of us have stopped in for lunch at a small gyro shack run by a few gruff but friendly men of unknown Arabic, and probably Mediterranean, descent; with traditional rotisserie meat and a healthy serving of a fantastic paprika sauce. All this came in at under $3 US and, for an extra dollar or two, you can get a bottle of Fanta, which seems to be markedly more delicious here in Budapest. We also tried a quick Hungarian specialty for lunch at Budapest's famous Great Market Hall. "Lángos," sometimes known to English speakers under the far less appealing name "fried bread," is topped with sour cream, cheese, and a choice of any number of other ingredients ranging from cucumbers to salami to feta cheese. Though eating it probably took a few days off the end of my life, my only regret is that I got so many toppings that I couldn't really enjoy the underlying bread base––which also was phenomenal.

Besides the matter of cuisine, we've noticed a few other interesting aspects of Hungarian culture and society. For example, their interplay with American culture especially is intriguing. Wandering about Budapest, one can easily come across a number of people wearing Yankees hats and other apparel for US sports teams, as well as stores selling US sports team clothing- all despite that baseball and American football aren't particularly popular in Hungary. On top of that, one can come across a fair number of restaurants and cafés drawing upon US states for their themes- often making associations we normally wouldn't (California and Coffee, for example). So far, it would seem that the Hungarian perception of America roughly takes the US to be composed entirely of California, Texas (or cowboys in general), and New York. Popping in to any of these shops and restaurants to see the Hungarian vision of the United States tends to be good fun, especially when their vision of the States ends up being just a little off.

-Thomas and Tommy

Amerikai Vagyunk

The second full day here in Budapest has nearly come to a close and we’ve already learned a lot in our present home country. The day began with our first language lesson, and none of us could have guessed that there is thirty different ways to pronounce nearly every vowel in the Budapestian language. Once our heads truly hurt after over two hours of language lessons, we once again got down to the subject of math, what we all came here for. A few definitions and a few theories later, we were already done with class…as they say time flies when you’re doing math!

In our exploration of the city after dinner the true excitement began. A few of us decided to ride one of the trams as far as it would go and discovered that it ended at another train station, not too amazing. Coming off the tram however, we did see a creepy man taking a picture of us from off in the distance. The only logical conclusion as to why he was taking a picture of us that we could come too is that he thought AJ Rodd was a movie star from America being followed by his groupies. Our adventures continued on the way back to the hotel when we found one of the famous European Tesco stores (similar to a small Target store). After being followed for a while by what seemed to be a female security guard, our fellow classmate Lauren decided to take a picture of Colin holding a package of Mexicorn…bad mistake. What is Mexicorn you ask? No one knows, but we thought it had a funny name so we wanted a picture. Unfortunately security lady scolds Lauren, and after Lauren sheepishly tries to delete the picture she is aloud to keep it. Therefore we leave you today with the moral of our story, even though we don’t know exactly why, don’t ever take a picture of a boy named Colin holding Mexicorn in a Tesco in Budapest, because it may be illegal. Szia!

First Day Thoughts

Seeing as it was our first full day in the great city of Budapest, it was fitting that we took a walking tour of the city. It was owsome (awesome). We had an unofficial tour guide by a self-proclaimed "good citizen," which, we agreed, was just as good if not better. We started at the international college, McDaniel College, on the Pest side of the Danube and walked/bussed/trammed/metro-ed our way around Pest. The ease of public transportation was astounding and each type of transportation meshed perfectly with bus and tram stops, which were directly near the metro exits. The architecture throughout the entire city is extremely characteristic of Budapest. Most buildings are a minimum of four stories and very square, straight, and relatively flat. However, ornate and detailed statues are more than commonplace atop archways, windows, and rooftops. It was a peculiar mix of monotonous structure and detailed craftsmanship. Not to belittle the city, however, there were many distinct and unique buildings, such as Parliament, the Hungarian Science Academy, and more.

After the tour, we had our first Number Theory class (darn, forget we had to take class here to). The main thing we learned today is that Professor Hanson likes to make minor mistakes during class, but he is doing it INTENTIONALLY to ensure we are on the ball with our education. After class, a few of us took the metro to a (hopefully) more technological shopping part of town to find a few electronics we needed. We decided to stop and have dinner in The Grill House. We all tried something Hungarian and thoroughly enjoyed it. After an awkward question/answer in English about restaurant etiquette, we were on our way back to the Guest House. Sitting here doing homework and blogging reminds us all that this is not merely an awesome adventure and cultural experience, but also school and we can't fully relax into vacation mode.

-Sevy & David

Arriving in Budapest

      The members of Number Theory in Budapest convened for the first time yesterday afternoon in the Minneapolis airport. It should be noted that yesterday is used in a particular fluid sense that is created by jumping forward seven time zones in the course of one very long night. In truth, this long night might not have been as terribly long as we expected. Security and boarding in Minneapolis went well, and everyone found themselves on a plane for Asterdam by 7:00 yesterday night. Two other Olaf abroad groups travelled on the same plane- bound for the Hague and the Balkans. Nothing exciting happened on the flight- both a blessing and a curse, I suppose. All-in-all, movies were watched, books read, restless naps taken, and generally terrifying airplane food consumed. Although the sun rose while we were still over the Atlantic, an sea of clouds covered the sea of water, and continued with us as we passed over Scotland and England. The clouds broke just as we made for our dissent, and one of the first true images of Europe on our trip was an ocean studded with wind turbines just off the Dutch coast

     Then we arrived at the Amsterdam airport. Before we could go to our gate and await the airplane that would take us to Budapest, we had to go through customs. Customs turned out to be an enjoyable experience. The officers were nice and left no other mark than the stamp in our passports signifying our arrival in Budapest. In the airport we had a two hour layover which, due to airplane delays, became a two and a half hour layover. Many people passed the time playing cards or walking around the airport enjoying the shops.

     The plane that took us to Budapest was much smaller than the one taking us to Amsterdam but it was so comfortable. The chairs had plenty of leg room and the the seats were thick soft cushions. It was almost sad that the flight only lasted one hour and forty minutes... almost.

      

     At long last, we finally arrived in Budapest. One of the first things
that struck us was the language. I don't know if it was the six to
seven syllable words, the superfluous umlauts, or the strange
combinations of vowels, but one thought kept bouncing around our
heads: this Hungarian language thing is going to be cake. We piled
into a surprisingly comfortable tour bus that was waiting for us just
outside the airport, and noted how similar the weather and terrain
were to Minnesota's: snow covered the ground, it was moderately chilly
(okay, so it wasn't that bad at all; a balmy 0 degrees Celsius), and
the ground was pretty darn flat. As the bus cruised into the city, we
were greeted by the familiar sights of McDonalds, KFC, and even Hertz
rent-a-car. Despite the often raunchy and in your face billboard
advertising that is less common in the US, there was still an eerie
resemblance to the old steel towns of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and western
New York. Fortunately, the uplifting and inspiring architecture from
the communist era that was neither drab nor intimidating helped to
fend off the sleepiness caused by the sun setting at around 4:30pm.

When we arrived at our home for the next month, the Professors' Guest
House on the Buda side of the Danube, we experienced the smallest
elevator ever created, which was so small that it only had one button.
We found our rooms on the top (8th) floor. You know that smell of
roses, or that crisp, clean linen scent we've all come to know and
love and expect from our American Hoteliers? We know that smell, too,
and that was exactly what didn't greet us upon entering our rooms. All
joking aside, though, the rooms filled the role of quaint, cozy,
Central European lodging.

For dinner that night, we ventured out and saw a bit of Budapest, and
ended up eating at an Italian restaurant, finding some familiar menu
items, namely pizza.

 The portions were pretty generous, especially for
the roughly 5 USD we paid for them. Afterward, exhausted, most of
walked back, and those who wanted to brave the cold and drowsiness to
explore the city ended up returning after only a jiff, anyway.
Speaking of exhaustion, we've been up for 27 straight hours (at least
those of us who can't sleep on planes), so that's a wrap for this
first blog post from Budapest. More to come, stay tuned.

Waiting to go

It's Saturday night and we are all excitedly awaiting the grand adventure that lies ahead of us.  We will meet at the airport in less than 24 hours and then fly to Amsterdam and on to Budapest.   There are 24 of us in all, 23 students and a professor going over to Budapest to study number theory during the month of January.   We will be staying at the Professor's Guest House on the Buda side of the Danube and taking classes in Pest on the other side of the river.  We welcome you to follow along on our adventure as we explore the sights and sounds of Budapest and learn about the Hungarian culture.