Happy New DECADE!

I cannot be happier!

Tis the season of best-of and worst-of lists - but this time they are for the whole decade. A WHOLE DECADE OF LISTS! Nothing could make someone with a short attention span happier. SOOOOO happy!!!

I hope everyone out there has a wonderful New Year! I had a great holiday season and feel so loved as I have never received so many Christmas cards. They cheered me up a great deal and it was nice to know that so many people were thinking of me!

-I call this "love and two bottles of wine"

Reports of Vienna to follow as soon as I stop being lazy!

Merry Christmas

After a last minute decision I took the train to Vienna for Christmas with an old and her family.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas with probably my all time favorite Christmas Song!

Jimmy, Horatio, Chris, Tracy - TAKE IT AWAY!

This Clears Up Everything!

Just when I thought I would alone forever a friend sent me this video with some solid advice for meeting Hungarians.

I hate people who act too - I will fit in here perfectly.

In other news...

You know how we have the famous Who, What, Where, When, Why and How?

You don't know how lucky we are with our simple language...

In Hungarian they have a word for Who, What, Where, When, Why and How and With Who, With What, What is the Reason, Since When, For How Long, How Many, About Who, What kind of Party is it, Which pants, Who's Hair, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc... So many words.

They also like to tell time using a mathematical equation involving subtracting quarters. When I understand the formula I will let you know

Another Fail.

Remember that time I spent 45 minutes copying everyone's addresses from my Mom's address book into my ipod? Good times, good times.

Yesterday I was frustrated with the lack of Facebook on my ipod. So I reset the thing. I RESET an ipod full of addresses...

Needless to say I am currently writing everyone post cards and they won't get to you with your name and Canada written on them. So, please email me your addresses!

Thanks!

Folk Dancing and Failures

Thursday night I was invited to a night club that hosts Hungarian Folk Dance lessons twice a month. It was really cool and hot at the same time. Hot in the sense that there were about 200 people in a room spinning their hearts out and being very sweaty, not like hot in the sexy sense. Hungarian Folk Dancing is not sexy.

The club had one smaller area where they had instructors teaching the more complicated Hungarian partner dances... It looked crazy hard but it was fun to watch.

The bigger area, where we attempted to follow the steps of the person in front of us, had easier dances that I were apparently not "real" Hungarian dances but they were from another region thus much easier. You know what isn't easy? Spinning your partner for four minutes as you go around in a circle together. It was very, very, very tiring but a lot of fun. Out of the four hours that we spent learning dances I understood two. I think I lost my sense of rhythm on a surgery table in Alberta.

I don't think we would have a Canadian equivalent where young adults get together to learn something in a bar. The only time I have seen Canadians participate in any sort of group dance is maybe when The Cha Cha Slide comes on it the bar... Slide to the right... Cha Cha now y'all. We are an embarrassing group of people lacking in culture.

So this week I also failed quite a few times:

• I lit the microwave on fire trying to melt nuttela to dip my apple in (I think it was a sign to just eat an apple without dipping it in chocolaty goodness)
• I called the Hungarian police looking for the internet company and may or may not have asked them why my internet wasn't working.
• I was sent to so many counters at the post office that was the middle of nowhere I cried in public (Krista - your presents were on a shelf behind the first counter the WHOLE time).
• I bought margarine instead of cream cheese.

I successfully got a haircut. Win!

An Episode of Perogies

If you avidly stalk me on Facebook you would already know that I made Perogies for American Thanksgiving here... This was one very, very long day and I documented the entire thing. I was inspired to write this post because I read this AMAZING blog and sometimes she does cooking posts like this and imitation is the best form of flattery.

-In order to start an entire day in the kitchen one must begin with a cup of coffee with Long Lasting Tej.

- Delicious Christmas style oranges and market onions and potatoes...

-Four Eggs

-Fun Fact: You can buy six eggs or you can buy ten... Eggs are not cheaper by the dozen here. They are cheaper by the umm ten I suppose. I bought mine from a cute old lady in the "not for tourists" zone of the market. She thought I wanted apples for a long time... The tourist zone is much easier to shop in.

-We don't seem to have measuring devices in the apartment...

- But I once heard a you could measure one cup in a tea cup... Thank goodness we had tea cups.

-Salt is located in bowls in Hungary and if it is in a shaker it doesn't shake. I don't understand it and its powdery ways.

-This is the strangest peeler I have ever used...

- Here is a very deep pot filled with potatoes - the picture does not give justice to how deep that pot is and how weird that potato on the top is shaped.

- A sub-par mashing device or perhaps an entirely too large whisk.

-I made cheese and potato and onion, leek, dill and potato... A lot of the dill ones met a certain fate as you will see later.

- Dough recipe number one... Dough recipe number two was much more successful. Or it could have been that by the time I got to the second batch of dough the filling was finally cold and thus the whole process was easier.

-When rolling dough you need a rolling device... I had a wine bottle, half full... Thank goodness the cork didn't come out while making these.

-Look at me go! You must be so proud right now... Mom, Chris Popek, Brittney - I can see your tears of pride!!!

-This was Round 42. Rounds 1-41 were ummm interesting. There would have been at least 16 occasions had my Mom been in the kitchen where she would have told me to just leave already she will do it herself... That being said had Krista been there too she wouldn't have been allowed to fold more than one perogi.

-What the hell was I thinking.

- When I went to the BVS Orientation we had to cook in food groups. One of the recurring issues that we had working as a group was that I like to try every utensil in the kitchen at least once until I find the best one. The same goes for bowls.

- I then had to take two metros to the location of the dinner... Some of the perogies were lost in the long vogage.

- Boiled and tossed in butter and onion...

- Some of the fantastic WSCFers from various countries after our delicious dinner...

- Left-overs swimming in butter... Oh, did I mention they were served with fresh sour cream from the stand in the market where you can bring your own bottles to and they will fill with fresh milk? Well they were... and that sour cream was unbelievable.

-I was so proud of myself.

Homesick-ish and Learning Hungarian

It has been a long time since I have posted. I hope this isn't a trend I mean it wasn't like I was posting because I am having SOOOO MUCH FUN here... It was actually because I am just crazy busy. Some fun - Some not so much.

The novelty of Budapest has worn off slightly and I am frustrated with how different things are here. Everything takes a lot of thought and it makes me tired. Here is a short list of things that are different here: Light switches, toilets, toilet paper, toilet paper holders, door knobs, locks, fridges, stoves, food, places where you buy the food, busses, trains, the way you write the date, the way you write the time, the currency, the language, the way you have to kiss someone when you say hi and bye, the couples that make out in front of you everywhere, the constant rain, the construction sites that you are allowed to walk through, the power outlets, the coffee, the milk, the constant need for slippers regardless who's house you are in, the heating systems, the hot water tanks, the lack of recycling, the margarine, the lack of sliced bread, the lack of black pepper, the small stores, etc, etc etc...

That all being said I still have to pinch myself sometimes when I find really neat things here... They have the best homemade yogurt in the markets, delicious pasteries, rice pudding, really great chocolate, bizarre bars and lounges, unbelievably beautiful bridges and buildings, cheap beer, hot wine, interesting jewelry, cheap shoes everywhere, an interesting music scene, hot chocolate that is just a bowl of melted chocolate, huge leaves on the streets, etc, etc, etc...

Today I had my first Hungarian lesson and it is an unbelievably difficult language to pronounce and there are all kinds of vowels. But my teacher is super nice and the tea shop we were in is my new favorite place in Budapest. Behind a curtain, in a normal looking cafe, though a large area full of pillows to hang out on, through a small tunnel, up a short stair case in a mirrored hallway, along a two-by-four and up a rope ladder and onto a balcony is where we sat. Our tea came through a hole in the wall. I love Budapest!

Ampleman

Well I am back in Budapest after a weekend away in Berlin... Twenty four hours were spent in a train and I have to say they were really quite enjoyable actually. Traveling by train is about 45000 times better than flying, also I get to say that I was in Prague, Bratislava and Dresden this weekend! Coming back to Bp made me realize that this is not my home so tonight I escaped to Coffeeheaven to spend an obnoxious amount of money on a "chai" latte (or what they think a Chai latte is) and a muffin...

-It is probably the closest thing to Second Cup or Starbucks that I can get.

I left on Thursday morning at 5:30am with, a bag full of pastery, a roll of peach scented toilet paper (more on that another day) and some sort of Hungarian public transit cold/flu that is going around. I slept until Bratislava but the rest of the day I was wide awake and pretty miserable. The Czech Republic and Germany were really beautiful - I am sure you can google some pictures for yourselves as I didn't take any. The highlight of the trip there was definitely eating in a restaurant car - Very Exciting! We passed a field of blooming canola (weird) and I stepped on a dog...

-I am a sick monster... Bleghhhhhhhh!

Friday was spent planning a conference with our amazing volunteers that will be in Berlin in April. The conference is called "Religion, Ethics and Politics - God and the Use of Power" - Oh, and can I just say again that it is in Berlin? It is in Berlin! Power and Politics in Berlin! And to think I almost stayed home to be a licensing analyst...

We went out with our committee to look at some of the popular sights including the holocaust memorial which wasn't finished when Krista and I were there in 2004. It is really impressive and makes you very claustrophobic, overwhelmed and makes you want to play hide and go seek. The stones get very, very tall even though it doesn't look like it because the paths are cut into the ground. I realize that doesn't make much sense - you really have to go see it.

-I accidently jumped in front of strangers and scared them because I thought it was someone I knew... This is a very creepy place to hang out at night.

-Look at me in front of a famous Berlin structure!

Afterwards, we went for a couple drinks at the cutest little cafe in the world. I had some sort of beer with a green syrup in it. The locals we were with couldn't explain what it was because they the plant's name in German translated to something ridiculous like Ground Forest Wolf. I later figured out it was woodruff syrup which was even less helpful but delicious none the less.

-Green flavoured beer conquers Hungarian Transit System Cold.

We spent the whole evening playing Werewolf which was great considering the BVSers still haven't figured out how to make it into an online game. Just before leaving the cafe we discovered that behind a tiny door in the basement, where the bathrooms were, was a club. It was the most bizarre thing ever... It did, however, explain why large groups of people kept disappearing into the bathroom together and never came back upstairs.

The next day the three of us from the office explored the city. We spent most of the time wandering through a market full of Soviet memorobilia, homemade crafts and hats, and antique silverware, drinking coffee in various cafes, and running across the entire city for size 39, purple birkenstocks. I saw three birkenstock stores and coveted almost every shoe there. We saw many important buildings which can be seen in the pictures but we didn't make it to the places where the wall is left. I will have to go when I am back in April. It was a great day that was finished with our committee in a small Italian restaurant. On the subway home a drunk teenager asked me if I wanted a Schuupie of his beer. I didn't.

-How did we walk this far without a cappuccino?

-In front of the Ampleman store

-The picture of the fantastic graffitti that we took moments after almost taking a picture of a woman peeing in a bush (completely by accident).

The train ride home on Sunday was spent in the restaurant car drinking fantas and coffee and working on conference paper work. It was really quite lovely.

The Night Bus and Other Adventures.

The other night I found myself on the bus quite late at night. The night service is actually pretty good - the bus runs every 10-20 minutes and the routes I use are all still running. However, the clientele at 1am is very different from the clientele at 1pm. Every night bus has a transit employee, or two, at each door and they are really strict about people paying for the service. This isn't the case as much during the day. Their presence is a bit overwhelming because they are all in hilarious, florescent yellow vests and when the bus has six doors they look a bit silly.

So, I was sitting near the front of the bus and I saw in the reflection of the window that everyone was turning around and laughing at someone. I turned around and in the middle of the giant bus is a girl vomiting on herself. I turned back to the front and laughed out loud to myself. Silly, young girls... Did the story end here? Did I make it home in a timely manner?

No!

Mr. Transit man comes up and tells the bus driver what is going on. (These details from now on are just what I assumed what was going on... I can't be entirely sure what they were saying). Anyways, the bus driver pulls over at the next stop (a kinda sketchy place) and comes out of his bus driver cage and starts FAAAREEEAKING out. He is all sorts of angry, yelling and his tone is very sarcastic. I don't know who all the yelling was directed to but people slowly start getting off the bus. It is very rare that many people get off at this stop at all so I assume something different must be going on here. Some of the staff are just rolling their eyes and the bus driver is making phone calls on his bus phone. Eventually, the employees kick everyone off and I follow... Like I know what is going on.

Pukey McUpchuck is already on the street revealing the contents of her stomach to the sidewalk and her friend is buying some water for her. Meanwhile, a few people are yelling (some more than others) at the staff and the bus driver. Nothing is getting out of hand but it doesn't seem like we are going to be let back on the bus anytime soon. I hear the word taxi a couple of times and realize that yes, we are NOT getting back on the bus. The two who caused this all to happen start walking home and good thing they did because 30 people were about to become much, much more bitter. Moments later, the bus driver shuts off the lights and takes off... HE TAKES OFF!

Did I mention the 30 people on that bus? HE TOOK OFF! It was like 2am!

Needless to say we all had to wait for the next bus. Word of advice: Never vomit on transit in Budapest.

The other day I was called out into the hallway to talk to the two ladies that live in the building with us. I have talked to them probably 6 times over the last three weeks. Every time I make it very clear that I have no clue what they are trying to tell me. One time I even called my roommate and made them talk to her and then she translated for us. However, this time I go into the hallway and they start yakking away and I realize they've brought in an electrician because the power hadn't been working in the hallway for the last few days. I figured out what was going on and went back into my apartment. My roommate came home a little while later and they ran out to talk to her and they were apparently very shocked that I "really didn't understand Hungarian did I?" Really? What was your first clue?

Other than that, my weekend has been filled with touring the castle, a couple of malls, the parliament, an english bookstore, an english speaking presbyterian church, and curling up in bed all afternoon because I think I am sick. I will try to post more pictures and more interesting stories before I head to Berlin on Thursday!

A Chair Full of Bowlies

One of my favorite snacks growing up was home-made, canned cherries so, I was delighted to find in the canned fruit section that cherries seemed to be a Hungarian specialty. It was was one the few fruit in glass and had a whole shelf dedicated to various brands. I assumed that they must all be fantastic and picked up the biggest cheapest jar I could get my hands on. "Winny" is the generic brand, I think (I could be completely wrong), in one of the grocery stores. Their pasta is really quite sub-par... and well so are the Cherries - or should I say their Magozott Meggybefott Cukrozott?

No, I shouldn't because I can't even figure out how to get the right symbol over the O so I probably can't pronounce it.

-I can find the ´, the ¨, the ˆ, and even the ø... But those dashes are beyond me.

Side-note: Google translates that to Stoned Sour Cherry Purée. There is nothing puréed about this some-what delicious dessert. Sour? Yeah, kinda. Cherry? Most definitely. Stoned? No, but I bet the juice would be fantastic with a little vodka and ice (Hi Grandma!). Purée? Not in the slightest.

Anyways, even sub-par canned cherries are better than no canned cherries at all.

Ahhh Consignment Shopping

I had Tuesday off of work so I finally had a chance to walk around, take some pictures and get a bit of shopping done in the daylight, when everything is open. Note the new pictures on the right.

People keep saying that the clothing here is expensive and well, it is. If you are going to the malls and all the real stores it costs the same as in Canada. My bus route to work passes by all sorts of consignment stores and thrift shops. I am not entirely sure which the particular store I went to was but they are all over the city. They have a British flag on their sign and are called Angol or Anglo or something like that, which means English - I think... This language is wild. On some days there are huge line-ups of people waiting for the store to open so I was pretty excited to finally get to see what is on the inside.

IT WAS AWESOME.

Everything was under 2000Ft (OOOOOooooo a new currency for most of you... You now have the same joy as I do converting everything you see into CAD). I am pretty sure that everything there was new, hooray for me! I also figured out why there were line-ups are particular stores. I think on certain days you can buy clothes by the kilo - Again, AWESOME. There were racks, upon racks, upon racks, upon racks of clothes. You name it, it was there.

I know what you are thinking...

Were there fur vests?

YES - A whole corner dedicated to them! Which is saying a lot because this was in no way a large store.

I found some shirts that I am very excited to wear but I was so overwhelmed with the place I forgot that I was there because I wanted some sweaters... Another day I guess.

Budapest, as far as I can tell, is full of shoe stores. I love it! Shoes almost always fit and my self-esteem is in no way harmed when I have to ask for a larger size. There are the most beautiful boots everywhere but they are pretty expensive... But wait! there are knock-offs EVERYWHERE! They aren't nearly as nice but they are under 5000Ft.

Other than that, my next goal in this lovely city is to find a toaster. I don't think I can survive another week without toast.

Oh! I almost forgot, I have had some blatant requests for weather reports in Budapest and I can imagine if he knew how to email my Dad (Hi DAD!!! I bet the weather network has world weather reports a couple times a day - I hope Budapest makes the cut!) would also want to know what the weather was like. This is a topic in which I find zero interest, but since I love most of you...

It has been cold and gloomy here... Sometimes cold and sunny... Today, it was cold and rainy. By cold I mean between 0 and 7 degrees. Sometimes it is cold enough for mittens, other days in the middle of the afternoon I want to take off my scarf. Also, it is dark here by 5 pm. There is no snow. There are some leaves but they look really pathetic.

One Week and Three Days

Thus concludes my first week living abroad... So far, so good!

This week at work was very, very busy so it went by really quite quickly. We had an online meeting with our fantastic and hilarious regional committee. It was great fun – and because it was at night I got to sleep in and come to work late the next day. While preparing to be audited we showed each other our best handstands and ate A LOT of chocolate. This tops working for the government where the only excitement was the Nut-Man coming to visit twice a month.

Other than work, my life has been devoted to finding a bed (or I should say my roommate’s life was devoted to this work). She was fantastic, not only did she find me a FREE bed, but she also arranged to have a moving truck pick it up and deliver it to me. This part wasn’t for free but it was totally worth it… With my new, clean Ikea duvet and pillows I am finally comfortable. We are also engaged in an ongoing saga that is our washing machine. I managed to buy laundry soap that makes sense – Hooray! I also figured out the machine and did one load. I was pretty ambitious and decided to attempt another load. This was unsuccessful. The door is closed but the machine thinks the door isn’t locked to so it won’t start. ARG! Nothing we try will fix it… Our landlord is going to ‘try’ to find the receipt for the brand new machine - he told us to set it to "P" and let it reset itself. However, we can only set it to numbers 1-14 so that isn't going to work. Thanks Mr. Helpful.

Yesterday, I met with people I had met on the internet… Hi Mom! Yes – that sounds dangerous doesn’t it? Anyways, they write a blog in English on events in the city. They also write reviews and stuff as well. Anyways, they were looking for contributors so I wrote to them. We met in a FANTASTIC bar for coffee… It became a trend here in the last couple of years that bar owners would set up an illegal bar in a derelict old apartment building that were sitting empty in the summer. All the apartments here have a court yard in the centre. So these bars were huge, with outdoor patios and small side rooms. They became really successful and eventually some of them were able to buy the buildings and set up full time. This particular place has a retractable roof for the winter. It was huge and full of random, eclectic furniture - I loved it! Anyways, I learned all about the blog and secrets about Budapest and the ex-pat community (10% of the city’s population is ex-pats). I am going to start meeting with the group once a week and help to post the week's events. It should be a good time. They invited out for Halloween and so I got to experience Budapest's nightlife - it was smokey.

Highlight of the week: I met Tinky Winky’s wife. Yes, I met the controversial, purple Teletubby’s spouse!

My first few days!

So it turns out that outside my window isn't bird suburbia at all but mistletoe. Some of the other things I have learned in the last two days are:

• The bus is extremely packed at 5pm... I read an English magazine over someone's shoulder today.
• Ikea is under 20 minutes from my house and EXACTLY the same as back home. I bought a $3 pillow and a $15 duvet cover.
• A delicious, fresh sandwich made just down the street from my office is 4 Canadian dollars... A Gyros is even less.
• Our washer drains onto our floor - Hooray for the bonding moment for my roommate and I as we cleaned up a HUGE puddle of water.
• In banks you take a number and wait to be called... This wait can be mere seconds or an hour.
• People say "See Ya" to say both hello and good bye. This of course is just what I hear and say back... I doubt this is how it is spelt.
• The ketchup here is delicious... I can't say the same about the mayonnaise.
• I live above a place where non-profit groups have office space. There is a choir that meets there, a ski (or ice-skating) club and last but not least an association for people who... wait for it... Oh this is sooo good... TRAIN CARRIER PIGEONS! Can you believe it? CARRIER PIGEONS!!

That is about all I have for you now. Oh! I have a cell phone (pictured) and if you were to call me it would be free (for me - not for you) and I would hear the best ringtone in the world (Chris K - I give you two guesses as to the song it plays). Anyways it was with me this morning on my way to work...

- I taught myself how to bluetooth pictures to my phone (Photobooth with Highschool friends made the cut).

-The court yard.

- The very skinny second story balcony leads to our office.

Apartment

I have FINALLY unpacked. I have been really lazy since I got here and I still haven't figured out what time it is. The other night I was up until 4 am and then proceeded to sleep in until 3 pm the next day. THREE PM! WHO DOES THAT? Anyways, this morning I forced myself to get up at 9 am... I was so proud of myself when I did roll out of bed. However, my ipod had changed with day-light savings time so I had actually slept in until 10. Just when I thought I had it all figured out Europe has to go ahead and fall back. That means, I think, for the time being I am only 7 hours ahead of Alberta but only until you kids fall back as well. I might be wrong though, because instead of learning time zones in grade eight we were doing a hockey pool. By "we" I mean the boys and our teacher were doing a hockey pool and us teen angsty girls were being sent to the principals office.

So I have now officially unpack completely and rearranged my 1960s bedroom. Here are pictures of my new place:

-My bed, my coffee table and my sweet sweet lamp.

- Could quite possibly be the best plug-in in the entire WORLD.

-The other side of the room... Oh what are those on the little cupboard???

- Well that is my new friend... Trent... He is pretty talented.

-And that... Well, that is his completely nude friend.... she is just doing her hair.

- It was finally sunny (I of course am inside being lame) so it was hard to take a picture of my desk.

-My excellent vase.

-The view of the tree outside my window reminiscent of "The Birds".

-The bath/sink/laundry room... Not to be confused with the toilet room.

- Could that be any cuter?

-I feel like I am on cribs. So here are the contents of the fridge....

-The kitchen.

-And finally the kitchen light... How I love this apartment!