After the first two days of orientation, life just got even busier! The first week here was spent doing all types of orientation details such as applying for a resident visa, lectures on cultural differences, and scavenger hunts around the city. Applying for a visa was an experience that I never want to have again. All twenty-seven students in my program trekked to to immigration office at eight o'clock in the morning. This was a task in itself: twenty-seven jet-lagged twenty and twenty-one year olds do not want to be awake at eight am, and especially do not want to attempt to figure out public transportation. We spent all morning at the immigration office, dealing with people that did not speak fluent English, and hoping that we had all of the right documents with us. The last person finished filling out his documents right as the office closed for lunch, and then we attended our lectures and learning seminars.
I actually enjoyed the lectures on the differences between the American and Hungarian ways of life. There is definitely a different mindset that comes with living in a post-communist country that has experienced so much political turmoil. Also, these lectures have been useful at other times in my stay. For example, we discussed how Americans in general like to be organized and use great managerial skills. The same definitely does not apply in Hungary. It is very rare for professors to hand out syllabi's. Another example is one that took me by surprise. When I went to mass at St. Stephen's, communion was chaotic. There were no ushers to let people out row by row, but instead, when the priest walked down, the entire church just stood up and shuffled into makeshift lines. I was completely stunned, and that has probably been the biggest culture shock that I've experienced so far.
On Saturday and Sunday, our program directors arranged a scavenger hunt for the group. We were divided into groups of five or six, and had to visit different locations in the city. This was a lot of fun, but was a lot of walking. I didn't realize how much walking we'd done until I looked at a map the next day. There was even more walking that evening because we went to the Cango Bal which is a festival celebrating traditional Hungarian dance and music. We all slept well that night! Here are some pictures from cooking in the dorm kitchen and the scavenger hunt!
Reading "Survival Hungarian"
The National Opera House
The National Musuem
St. Stephen's
Baths - Unfortunately there are more old men in Spedos than I'd ever care to see again.
The US Embassy
Walking across Liberty Bridge to Buda
At the Fisherman's Basin in Buda overlooking Pest
Parliament from across the river.
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