Who says mathematicians don't exercise?

Here are the numbers:

14 trade unions on transportation strike

46 minutes and 1 second of walking to class

42 legs producing lactic acid

3 days to work on the midterm.. starting tomorrow already!?

Infinitely many prime numbers

2 hours left of "Mastering the Hungarian Language" Class

And, as always, 20 bubbly mathematicians (+1 nutty professor)

1 math assignment...

Still no Book proofs :]

Once the news was out that morning classes were cancelled and we didn’t have any commitments until 1pm, everyone took different approaches to filling the unexpected free-time. While several of us went to the Post Office (“Posta”) and the market for some souvenir shopping, others stayed back and caught up on much-needed sleep or homework. The streets were noticeably more crowded with people determined to commute despite the strike, either by car or on foot. The city was buzzing with energy and movement (or lack thereof, in the case of the traffic jams) at the cost of convenience and efficiency!

We are all anxious to hear further news on the strike, though so far all the newspapers have told us is that it will continue for an “Indefinite” period of time. While it was exciting for a few hours today, I think we are all going to bed in hopes of waking up to fully-functioning tram system in the morning. Our language teacher, Erika, is also feeling the effects of the strike and (assuming she can make it to school tomorrow!) we hope to hear her perspective and insight on everything tomorrow.

Turns out mathematicians can exercise more than just powers of reasoning!

More information on the transportation strike in Hungary can be found here:

http://blogs.wsj.com/new-europe/2010/01/12/budapest-public-transport-company-strike-drives-cab-turnovers/

http://bbjonline.hu/?col=1002&id=51322

http://www.budapesttimes.hu/content/view/13743/219/

As a side update, the 5 of us who took the 6:00 train to Vienna on Sunday were able to witness a different, and admittedly cleaner, face of Europe! We were surrounded on all sides by beautiful architecture and arts, toured Emperor Franz Ferdinand's palace and the National Treasury, and were able to partake in one of Vienna's fondest past times: eating weiner schnitzel. Being typical tourists, the trip was a pell mell rush around the city with lots of eyebrow-scrunching, map-studying and fond memories. Here are a few pictures from our excursion (a video documentary is in the making..):