Classes

• Political Economy of Global Energy
  Actually, one of my most interesting classes so far. We hear about foreign oil and gas all the time in the news, but there are not too many of us who actually know what's going on. This class has been very good at putting concrete figures on a complicated energy economy. Energy security, oil cartels, NOCs, resource mercantilism--oil politics 101.
  
• Human Rights & Biopolitics
  In the beginning, I thought I was going to like this class best because it combines several areas of interest for me: science, law, policy, and ethics. It has since shaped up to be what I expected, but somehow less interesting and intensive as any similar class from Cornell.
  
• Space and Science: Power, Networks, and the Circulation of Knowledge in the 16th-19th Centuries
  This class is right up my alley (my small, obscure intellectual corner that is the history, sociology, and philosophy of science). So far it has been underwhelming; maybe I'm spoiled because I have taken so many other classes with similar themes. But it is increasingly interesting to hear about European knowledge production in, well, Europe.
  
• European Governance
  Coming here I knew I wanted to take a class about the European Union. This is a fun class about the structure, history, and politics of the EU. It's taught by Péter Balázs, a Hungarian diplomat who had been a EU commissioner. Lecturers are often punctuated with personal anecdotes, which has been both refreshing and fascinating.
  
• An Introduction to Central Europe: History, Culture, and Politics
  "Central Europe" is an area that is both exotic and familiar; it has also been an area many of us don't know much about. Most of my follow students at the Central European University are from surrounding countries; they have grown up with the conflicts and the communist legacy. This class definitely helps to fill in the gaps. What is "Central Europe"? And what does its future hold?
  
• Beginner Hungarian
  Hands down, Hungarian is one of the most difficult languages in the world. Although lacking in general practical use, I do want to learn some Hungarian so that I could get around in Budapest. It's good to be able to order a coffee at a cafe without having to gesture at the menu; or to be able to answer simple questions instead of staring blankly at the people who just spoke to you; or to be able to shop at a grocery store and actually buy the right thing. (It took us 10 minutes to find butter at a supermarket and when we got home, we found out that it wasn't really butter!) I'm sure there will be many future posts with me ranting about how crazy Hungarian is.
  

3 and a Half Weeks in Budapest

I've been in Budapest for just over 3 weeks and I already feel like I've been here for a year. It's strange to feel at home in a city where I stick out like a sore thumb and where I am constantly surrounded by a language I don't understand (and would probably never really understand). Yet, at the same time, I am getting to know the in's and out's of this city better than any other place I've ever lived.

The great thing about living abroad is meeting new people. Tuesday night, we met a group of French students from Paris, who are currently on exchange in Slovenia, visiting Budapest. Wednesday night, we talked to someone from Latvia and a British coach surfer who became overjoyed when he discovered that we all speak fluent English. (If you haven't noticed, I've been going out a lot on weekdays.)

Hungarian Metro

Coat Check

In Hungary, you are expected to check your coat everywhere you go. There are two coat checks in the university building itself. You can check your coats at bars, clubs, libraries, the opera house, the skating rink, etc. etc. Most of the time, you are expected to a pay a small fee, between 100-200HUF.

It is definitely a different culture. Back home, it seems that we only check coats at museums or really fancy resturantes. Here, even a smoky, beer stained bar will expect you to use their coat check.

A Resident

I am officially a resident of Budapest (for the next 3 months). We moved into our flat close to Saint Stephen's Basilica earlier last week. It's a beautiful area. Our flat is part of an old palace, with 12 foot ceilings and double doors.

Things are happening so fast here. There is so much to tell that I don't have the time to write it all down!

Solving Climate Change: One Dryer at a Time

Of all the flats we saw in Budapest, and we saw many, many, none of them have a dryer. All the flats came equipped with washers. But, according to an American owner, in Europe it is hard to convince people to use dryers. Instead, people choose to line dry their washings. It is standard to use a drying rack.

Imagine if 95% of the people in the U.S. stopped using their dryers and decided to line dry. The amount of energy we'd save would be obscene.

How to Sign a Lease in Hungary

We found a flat! It's in an amazing area of town. In District V Belváros, which is the inner city, downtown area. It is the absolute center of Pest. And it is literally 2 minutes from the University and even closer to the major Metro stop.

On Thursday, my roommate and I went to sign the contract. They require us to put down the 1st half of the safety deposit in cash--which was very annoying, since as study abroad students, our only source of readily available Hungarian Forints are from ATM machines, which have a set value of how much you can take out on a daily basis.

Everything is dealt with in cash in Budapest--except for in tourist areas and major shopping centers. They take Visa, Mastercard. American Express (which I have) is limited. We will be paying our rent completely in cash. Most places, however, only accept cash. As someone who usually never carry cash and rely on cards, I find it particularly interesting to suddenly find myself with a bulging wallet of three different currencies.

On Friday, we returned to the management agency to sign the lease. With our second half of the safety deposit, the common cost, and first month's rent. Thankfully, they were kind enough to keep the lease bilingual. But the lease signing requires the presence of a witness. At first the management agency (which is ran out of a converted apartment in a residential building, apparently very common in Hungary) insisted that one of her colleagues be the witness, but we managed to get the director of the study abroad program to come instead. Just in case.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to move in until Monday.

In Hungary, they change the lock every time a new resident moves in. They also hate short term renters. Which means that a 4-month lease is as short as it can be from 90% of the rental agencies. But with the slow global economy, Hungary was hit particularly hard (they ever quite recovered from their Communist economic past to begin with), these days renters will rent anything.

Flat prices are up for negotiation, especially in struggling new developments which stands empty for months on end. If you know the right agent to take you to the right people. It's a city run on money--the lack of it, the excess of it, the pursuit of it.

(It also appears that most houses are owned by "Westerners" not native Hungarians. The apartment building we are renting is owned by an Irishman, managed by a Hungarian rental agency. It is the case with most buildings we saw. The building would be owned by an American, or an Australian, or a Brit, but runned by small Hungarian agencies.)

Pictures of Budapest

Apartment Hunting in Budapest

Excuse me. I meant "flats." I think everyone here becomes immensely confused when all the American study abroad kids say "apartment." Ever since my first night here on Monday, all of us has been trying to find a place to live that is closer to the university and therefore also near downtown Budapest, where it would be more convenient and more fun.

The dorms are good, only too far away from everything. It requires a 35 minute commute on a bus and then the metro. My first day using public transportation in Budapest was a little nerve wracking (thankfully a friend took me in). Everything was in Hungarian; all the stops have unpronounceable names; people moving all around you. The stations seemed like sprawling underground labyrinths to me.

Trying to find a flat in the city is one of the best ways to explore the city. I'm getting my bearings a little. Budapest is busy and alive. I love being brought around the city and given a little peek into people's lives.

Many older buildings were built almost 100 years ago. They use to be palaces, back when Budapest had been the capital to an important empire. The doors leading into these old-world buildings are always hidden between shop windows and underneath graffiti. If you didn't know they were there, you would walk right past them without giving them a second look.

But as soon as you walk in, you are greeted by high vaulted ceilings and courtyards, often with a garden. These flats in old converted palaces have high ceilings and double doors; they look like they have been taken straight from the turn of the 20th century: like echoes of old-world splendor and wealth. Dusty iron wrought gates and railings, dilapidated chandeliers, cracked spiral marble staircases. The building itself is truly a vision of the old-world falling into, giving away to the demands of the modern world.

The interiors of these flats, however, are bright, clean, and decidedly new-world: flat screen televisions, internet connections, antique mahogany furniture juxtaposed against IKEA creations. (This is the first thing I learned about Budapest: it is a place truly caught between worlds, the old and new, the East and West, development and stagnation.)

My current roommate in the dorm and I are going to live together again. (This is another thing to know about Budapest: it's always easier to find a 2-bedroom apartment than a 3- or 4-bedroom.) I think we might have found the perfect place but I don't want to jinx it!

Arrival

I'm in Budapest!!

My flight was delayed in Amsterdam but otherwise, it was a good trip. So far, Europe seems really lax about visas and such. I got a stamp for Amsterdam! And I can't wait to go back. Schiphol Airport was absolutely crazy. Every announcement was repeated in at least 3 different languages. There were people from everywhere.

While I waited for my flight, I got snacks from Starbucks. The girl behind the counter laughed as I struggled to make out €4.75 with the coins I had just exchanged for. "First time using the Euro?" she asked. I nodded, embarrassed. I'm still such a tourist.

While the Dutch are good at being multi-lingual, Hungarians are not so much. Only the airport has been multi-lingual, while everything else is in Hungarian only. It's weird being so cut off from the outside world. You don't really realize how much you depend on understanding signs and writing until you don't understand it at all.

As I finally made my way to the Central European University this morning, we were stopped several times by people offering tours of the city. They simply come up to us speaking English. We stick out of the crowds as foriegners. I hope towards the end of the trip, I will finally blend in.

Things I'm Packing

Pre-Departure III

I am leaving Sunday night, arriving in Ferihegy International Airport in Budapest on Monday afternoon. I've been checking and rechecking my itinerary. I have a 3 hour layover in Amsterdam which I wish were longer! I definitely will have to make a point to return sometime over the next couple of months.

Eastern Europe is at once familiar and exotic. I've been talking to my friends back home about being abroad. A part of me feels that it's a bad decision academically, in the short term, to go away for one of the most important semesters of college. I also know that, in the long run, it will be something positive. But I still have regrets and reservations.

I've been listening to a lot of 3OH!3 as I pack (thanks a lot, Allie). It almost makes me guilty, but I can't stop playing this entire ridiculous album on repeat. It's kind of insanely infectious!

Happy belated New Years!