Number Theory in Budapest

Professor's Note

2010-01-29T06:12:00.002+01:00

To all of the family and friends who have followed our journey,

By the time you read this, you may already have met your son or daughter at the airport or seen your friends back on campus. It is six a.m. Budapest time and the students are just waking up along the corridor of our guest house. Most of us will leave for the airport in about an hour to travel back to Minneapolis or other destinations.

I wanted to take a minute to thank the students for their terrific work in class, with the program and on the blog. You all did a fantastic job bringing our friends and family along with us on this adventure. I also want to thank you all one more time for a memorable month. I enjoyed the chance to get to know all of you, play cards well past by usual bedtime, do some math, share the Garrett tradition of "pol"ing and explore Hungary.

Safe travels to the group and all of you going off on more European adventures. See you on the Hill!

Best,
Tina

Gellert Baths and Futsall

2010-01-27T00:51:00.003+01:00

This afternoon we took a class trip to the Gellert Baths. Most of us went to the Szechenyi Baths a few weeks ago. Gellert is simply another location of a bath...Szechenyi and Gellert are basically two separate swimming pools in Budapest, except that they have really warm water. Gellert had different pools for guys and girls, and I will spare you the gory details, but let's just say some guys showed more skin and butt-crack than we were ever hoping to see in Budapest.

Tonight some of us also attended a futsall game. Futsall is basically professional indoor soccer, played on a hard court smaller than a normal soccer field, and there are no boards on the sidelines. Since the field is smaller, teams play only 4 on 4 plus a goalie on each side. It's very fast-paced and exciting to watch. Hungary is hosting the European Championships, so we saw a quarterfinal game between Serbia and Portugal. I decided to cheer for Serbia, but they got smoked 5-1. It was great to experience something close to real European soccer.

We got 3rd-row seats a midfield for only $13! There some teenage Hungarian soccer dudes sitting directly in front of us. I couldn't help but notice that almost all of them had mullets! So, if you are a teenager and want to be like cool European teens, get yourself a mullet. Or, if you are not a teen and also want to be cool, get yourself a mullet as well. I have included a video recapping a lot of our experience at the futsall game, including our favorite part: the Euro-trash-hip-hop male dance team.

The Budapest final countdown continues (cue classic song by "Europe"). We only have three more nights here. I feel as though it is nearing time to leave. We have been stuck in this weird middle place between being tourists and being citizens of the city. We're neither, but a little bit of both. It's hard to live like a tourist for a whole month, but I also haven't felt the need to get very settled in because it's such a short trip. Don't get me wrong; I have had a wonderful time here and will never forget the experience. But you know when you feel it's time for something to be done? Others in the class may disagree, but I think it's time to be done in Budapest soon.

Our Last Week in Budapest

2010-01-25T21:32:00.005+01:00

Updates from FREE Weekend: Everyone got back safely and in one piece: the Vienna group returned on three different trains, although all were more or less a hundred Euros poorer; the boys survived in the Czech Republic; both of the international flights, from Amsterdam and Berlin, arrived without delay; and Tina returned from London with Cari whom we were all excited to meet. Although the trips were a great change of pace from our everyday experience, we all felt ready to return to a "normal" life back in Budapest. The best parts about our normal life here are the familiar surroundings, the quasi-familiar sounding language, and the Forint that is much more forgiving than the Euro. We will have a rude and unfortunate awakening when we have to use our own US dollars that we know for certain isn't ours. The Forint somewhat resembles Monopoly play money that we can use in real life but have no real concept of its actual value. Conversion rates are enlightening to a certain degree, but I haven't fully grasped the worth of the currency.

Similar to the change in currency is the change of culture throughout Europe. Whenever we crossed the border to another country we had to learn new cultural norms. This is very hard, especially after we barely know the culture of Budapest. Luckily, some things do stay the same, such as the public transportation systems. It was nice to know how to find our way around another country. Most things don't stay the sam

e. The language is one very obvious difference, along with currency. Trying to sift through your wallet of US dollars, Euros, and Forints for the correct currency is always difficult. Then of course when you are trying to pay people back with whatever currency that you may have is interesting when trying to remember the conversion rates.

As we travel, we appreciate the familiarity of not only what the US has to offer when we return, but the aspects of Hungary that we have adopted as the norm and give us comfort. For example, breakfast will seem incomplete without orange drink, hard boiled eggs, and the assortment of meat.

Many of us will have suitcases filled with Jó Reggelt and Milka bars that have replaced the comfort foods we usually resort to in the US. Even though we are leaving soon, there are the little things about Budapest that we aren't ready to give up just yet.

A Serene Day in Sentendre

2010-01-24T12:14:00.007+01:00

Some of the students who stayed in Hungary continued their set of daytrips on Saturday by catching a train to Szentendre. Szentendre (meaning Saint Andrew in Hungarian) is a town of 23,500 people about 10 miles north of Budapest. This small town is known for its museums, galleries, artists and small shops spread throughout the streets.

Szentendre is a beautiful town built along side the Danube. Despite the cold weather, we decided to take a walk down the bank of the Danube. With the addition of the snow on the ground, this scenic tour was quite stunning. At some places, there were streams running into the Danube that were small enough to feature some frozen wonders.

This trip was definitely worth more than the 530 forinths (less than $3) we each payed to go. It's definitely a good daytrip for those staying in Budapest. Also, who can resist a town whose baseball club is known as the Szentendre Sleepwalkers!

A Profile of the Beautiful City of Pécs

2010-01-23T17:54:00.010+01:00

On friday morning, a group of three of us left on a 9:45 train to Pécs (pronounced "Pay-tch"). Pécs is the fifth largest city of Hungary, located about 130 miles south of Budapest. Pécs was selected to be one of 2010's European Capitals of Culture, along side of Essen (Germany) and Istanbul (Turkey). This honorable designation allows European cities to showcase their cultural significance on an international level. Since Pécs was a class day-trip for last year's interim in Budapest program, a few of us had already been to Pécs and were excited to see the changes being made for this new year.

Once we got off the train and trekked to the center of the city, we immediately began to notice a lot of construction. It seems that a lot of the changes and renovations being put into place for the year as a European Capital of Culture are still going on. Large monuments were taped off and guarded while renovations were made. We could only imagine how beautiful the city is going to look in the snow-free spring and summer.

Despite the associated cold, we welcomed the huge flakes of snow that really set the mood as we hiked up some of the hills to get great views of the city. While Pécs is a fairly large city (about 150,000 people), it had a smaller town feel and appearance.

Where in the World is...

2010-01-23T09:54:00.002+01:00

While nobody knows where Carmen Sandiago is, we thought you would be interested in hearing where all of the Number Theory students (and professor) were going for the free weekend.

The largest group of students (a whopping 9 of them) is taking the weekend to Vienna (Austria), a historically popular choice for the Budapest interim's free weekend. Several students are making the 7 hour ride to Prague (Czech Republic) while a handful are staying in Hungary, making day trips to cities and towns such as Pecs, Szentendre and Tokaj. A few daring people are flying to larger and farther away cities such as Amsterdam, Berlin and London.

Curious Characters

2010-01-21T16:25:00.008+01:00

After three weeks in Hungary, I can comfortably say that I've met a number of animated individuals. Whether or not this has anything to do with Hungarian culture itself is up for grabs, but the cultural differences almost have to contribute.

Exhibit A: for a couple of days in a row this week, a few of us ate lunch at a restaurant called Kadar. Supposedly it serves non-kosher, "traditional" Jewish-Hungarian cuisine, whatever that means. Whatever, it's delicious. Anyway, the menu changes from day to day, the prices are very reasonable, and the man and woman running the eatery are extrememly likable. The man we refer to as "The Doctor" because he wears a large white shirt every day and has a physicianly disposition and low voice. Plus he knows now to come over to our table and translate the menu when we walk in, almost like he's going over charts with illiterate patients. Now, both days we were somehow swindled into buying dessert! The first day the woman simply brought the succulent apple-meringue pastry to the table and, at that point, who's going to say no? The second day The Doctor saw that I'd finished my soup and began describing something delicious with his less-than-perfect English. I thought he was asking me how my meal had been and describing how they made the mushroom soup, so I nodded enthusiastically so that he knew I'd enjoyed my meal. Well, of course, 2 minutes later I had a plate of goodies in front of me again, which the boys along graciously lapped up. To wrap it all up, The Doctor helped me with my coat as we were leaving and said "Szia tomorrow!" I wasn't sure if he was saying "Szia", which is good-bye in Hungarian, or attempting an American "see ya", but either way it was very endearing. Unfortunately, we haven't returned for a third visit yet.

Exhibit B: Today we heard a lecture on a topic we could actually follow: Number Theory! Csaba Szabo was as crazy as his name looks! He gave what I considered to be the most engaging lecture thus far, excitedly slamming the sliding-chalk boards back and forth as he sketched illegible proofs out for us :) Being in the front row was a bit intimidating, as class participation was expected, but worth it. It's hard not to hold back giggles with a guy who asks us to find differences between numbers like "7 to the huge" and "29 to the lot".. The discussion pinnacled with a consideration of "how many trees you can see in the middle of the woods", assuming of course the trees are only located at every integer location like "all NORMAL forests". Turns out you can only see the trees that have coordinates that are relatively prime! Exciting, huh? And the probability that if you choose 2 numbers they're relatively prime? 6/pi squared. It still boggles my mind that we can assign finite numbers to ideas like that. Sorry, non-math followers! Point and case: Hungarians+Chalkboards=Inspiration.

As you can see from this elegant illustration (:

On another note, one of my favorite hobbies these past few weeks has undoubtedly been people- watching. Our commute across town every morning and afternoon carries us through some very energetic, busy crowds--presumably Hungarians on their routine commute to and from work or school. Over the weeks, my top three observations are: Hungarian commuters are polite, affectionate, and very, very stylish.

Polite: Even now that the strikes are over, public trams and subway stations are often very full, with people constantly sitting, standing, exiting, entering, stumbling from jerky stops (or maybe that's just us tourists) on the packed cars. Despite it all, and even with the language barriers, I've noticed that the elderly and handicap are always given a seat, that "excuse me" or "sorry" are frequently muttered, and that both passengers and drivers (usually) wait patiently for everyone to exit and enter the vehicles at each stop. And, in the unthinkable occasion when an Ole finds him or herself a bit turned around and unsure which direction he or she wants to go on a tram, it is plausible that a random Hungarian man or two who speak not a drop of English would patiently spend a solid five minutes pointing and gesturing until the student finally figured out where he or she was. Not that that has ever happened.

Affectionate: French kissing isn't only in France!

Very, Very Stylish: If you are a woman between the ages of 15 and 30 and you are every wondering what you could wear to fit in in Budapest, I guarantee a pair of dark-washed skinny jeans, tall black boots, and a black pea-coat with a cashmere scarf would do the trick! A few of us girls grabbed a quick lunch today then spent the rest of our hour shopping for what else but skinny jeans and boots. Tina warned us before we left that blacks, browns, and greys would be the most common colors on the streets, and she was right about that!

But enough stereotyping. To wrap it up, we are all anxiously looking forward to this weekend! After a week full of math, Tina has graciously given us tomorrow and Saturday off, so we are free to travel the world (okay... Central Europe). We are going in several directions... a group of about nine of us are catching the train to Vienna in the morning, while another group is headed to Prague, and a few daring individuals are catching flights to other exotic destinations. We are all hoping to find decent youth hostels for a reasonable price. The Euro isn't quite as friendly toward an American tourist as the Hungarian Forint, so we're all bracing ourselves for a pricey weekend! I have no doubt it will be well worth it, though... considering we've managed to entertain ourselves in Budapest for three weeks, I'm sure a weekend anywhere will be an absolute blast.

Hurdles in Hungary

2010-01-20T20:12:00.008+01:00

Whenever anybody travels it is likely that they will run into a language barrier. We have definitely found many instances of miscommunications and blunders caused by our lack of Hungarian language expertise. We would like to share a few of these stories with you.

An instance where knowledge of a few more Hungarian vocabulary words could have come in handy was in the pastry shop. I would expect that in a pastry shop they would sell, you know, pastries. Typically the words alma (apple), csokoládé (chocolate), and cukor (sugar) are pretty useful and sufficient to get something deliciously sweet. However, one day I really wanted a jelly pastry. I found the perfect one, and I could see the red jelly peeking out of the edges. When I got back to the hotel, I bit into my pastry to find a hot dog. The red stuff? That was ketchup. What I learned: pastry shops in Hungary sell pizza and hot dog pastries (if you can still call them pastries) mixed in with the sugary ones, so don't buy a mystery pastry unless you are feeling adventurous.

Another oddity that many of us students have noticed is that when we hear a foreign language we immediately want to respond, not with English, but with whatever other foreign language we know. For instance, we who have taken Spanish feel the need to say adios, sí, or no comprendo. It doesn't help when you find Hungarian words spelled the same as a Spanish word but pronounced completely differently. "Este" in Spanish means "this," but in Hungarian it means "evening." So when one of our classmates tried pointing to a food item he wanted to buy saying "este" the vendor could not figure out what the food had to do with that evening.

At times we find that store owners also get frustrated with our Hungarian deficiency. There is a convenience store around the corner from our hotel called the CBA where we frequently stop for snacks. Many shops such as the CBA like costumers to pay with exact change. One student's purchase totaled 310 forints, so she paid with 400 forints which seemed close enough to the total to make a vendor happy. The cashier began angrily chattering at her, but the look of confusion on the student's face made the cashier more frustrated. The student first thought that there was something wrong with the purchase or the amount of money that she tried to pay with. Finally, after lots of hand motions, confusion, and anger the cashier realized the student had no smaller coins to pay with. So the cashier threw her the change and grumpily helped the next person in line.

Even opening doors in Hungary proves to be a serious challenge; do you push to open the door or pull? We are math students, but somehow a 50/50 probability to get this question right seems to end in 100% failure. We honestly cannot figure out why we all have so much trouble with this simple aspect of life. Occasionally we find the words tolni (push) and húzni (pull) on the doors, but then it is a matter of remembering which Hungarian word means which English word.

While we have learned many key Hungarian phrases, we still find ourselves in funny situations that make great stories. The entire interim trip is a learning experience, and we tend to learn more from our struggles (except we still have not learned how to open the doors on the first attempt).

Rubik’s Cubes!

2010-01-19T23:24:00.009+01:00

Budapest is a city full of many different museums, one of which is the Iparművészeti Múzeum, or the Museum of Applied Arts, which several students visited today on our free afternoon. (The museum is readily recognizable by its green tiled roof and dome as seen in the picture.)
The Budapest museum was the third applied arts museum created in Europe, only after the ones in London and Vienna. It boasts a large collection of artistic furniture, glassware, metalwork, and the second largest collection of Ottoman Turkish rugs! But perhaps the most interesting exhibit in the museum, especially for math students, was the collection of puzzle blocks and games, including the Rubik’s Cube and many other variations on a similar theme. The exhibit even included a giant block puzzle colored to resemble a watermelon that visitors could rearrange and play with!

Already in this blog, we have been introduced to famous mathematicians Paul Erdős and Alfréd Rényi. It is worthwhile to introduce you to a few more famous Hungarians, both connected with the Applied Arts’ puzzle exhibit. The first is Ernő Rubik, the inventor of the Rubik’s Cube, which was prominently showcased in the exhibit. Rubik was born in Budapest and became a designer, architect and university professor. The first prototype of the Rubik’s cube was created in 1974, and first marked under the name of “magic cube” in 1975. It was not until 1980 that the toy was renamed “Rubik’s Cube” after its inventor. Rubik can be seen with his invention in the picture to the left. This year, 2010, the Rubik’s Cube will celebrate its 30^th anniversary! (For more information on the Rubik’s Cube check out www.rubiks.com)

Another important Hungarian connected with the Iparművészeti Múzeum exhibit is Tibor Szentivanyi. All of the colorful brainteaser puzzles on display came from his collection. Szentivanyi was also born in Budapest and studied computer technology at the Budapest University of Technology. He became a well-known computer engineer but it is said his real passion was puzzles and games. He became both an inventor and collector of puzzle games. After the invention of the Rubik’s Cube, Szentivanyi played a key role in marketing the toy worldwide. He even organized the first ever Rubik’s Cube World Championship in 1982, right here in Budapest!

These two influential Hungarians represent another reason why we are studying here in Budapest... not only are we here because of Budapest's strong mathematics history but also we are here for the fun and new experiences! Just as Rubik's Cubes are both mathy and fun - our trip has been full of math, new experiences, and fun!

Several students participated in a Professor's Dinner tonight at an upscale restaurant called Apostolok. After extensive work on renovations of the restaurant that opened in 1902, the Apostolok reopened a couple years ago and still attracts guests with traditional Hungarian dishes. The group of students started out with a cold starter that included the infamous Hungarian goose liver. They then went on to eat main entrees which include plates of tenderloin steak, lamb, salmon, and chicken paprika. The group then headed to a dessert cafe, where they indulged themselves in a plethora of traditional Hungarian sweets.

Notes on Hungarian Culture & History

2010-01-18T23:12:00.020+01:00

While walking around Budapest, we come to notice some common fashion trends, the winter-wear, in particular. Hungarians tend to wear rather bland clothing. Their jackets are either neutral or dark in color; the only time you will see Hungarians wearing bright colors is if they are trucking around in their 1980's style full-body snowsuits. It is always easy for us to find two particular students on our trip; one has a bright yellow jacket while another has a tall, red hat.

There are also obvious by gender differences in dress; men do have different styles than women. I know, weird.

So, college-aged men wear the "swishy" winter jackets that we're used to, jeans, and brown or black shoes. While men older than this wear a leather jacket and a billed hat with furred edges. But by no means do they wear hats that are all made of fur; nothing close to those Russian style hats.

The women's styles split the population into differing age groups. The females that are our age wear skinny jeans tightly tucked underneath their knee-high boots. They either wear baggy hats or beanies, often with a crocheted flower attached and a long pea coat. Not too different is the clothing for middle aged women. Long down coats and a billed hat is the uniform for middle aged women. Their pants are typically not tucked into their boots. Lastly come the women over the age of 65. As if it is a coming of age tradition, these women wear full length fur coats. If they can't afford those, they have hats which are nothing but fur. (As pictured) It seems as if some women save money their entire lives to have enough to purchase a fur coat as such.

These are just simple observations by someone who knows little about fashion. We wish there were more pictures, but it can be rather awkward to just take pictures of strangers. When the opportunity arises, we will take and add more photos. I hope you enjoy what is here.

Now back to the strike. I know, you are all wondering how it's going. Well, don't worry, it's over now. We hopped on the tram to class this morning and smiled the whole way there.

Our cultural event this afternoon lasted much longer than expected today. We had the opportunity to watch and discuss A Hidember (The Bridgeman) with Andras, husband of our language teacher Erika. This Hungarian film (with English subtitles) tells the life story of Count Szechenyi Istvan, a 19th century Hungarian aristocrat. Szechenyi seems to be remembered most for his opposition to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his initiation of the construction of the first official bridge connecting Buda and Pest. The bridge (Lanchid, or the Chain Bridge) was completed in 1849 - almost 30 years before the unification of the two cities. Before its opening, the Danube had to be crossed by boat or an unreliable pontoon bridge, limiting travel between Buda and Pest. Szechenyi however, dreamed of a permanent bridge that would be accessible to all Hungarian people.

The Szechenyi Chain Bridge is still around today, but not in its original form. Stone lion statues were added to the ends of the bridge in 1852. It's rumored that their sculptor was mocked so much for the lions not having tongues that he jumped off the bridge into the Danube in shame.
For the record, the lions do indeed have tongues... they're just not visible while standing in front of the lions and looking up at them. Later on during World War II, the bridge was damaged by the Germans and had to be rebuilt in 1949 in its original form.

A Hidember certainly enlightened us with the significance to names that we see all over Budapest. Szechenyi himself can be found on the otezer (5000) forint bill, has a thermal bath and metro stop with his namesake, and has statues and even a memorial museum in Budapest. It's no wonder he is referred to as the 'greatest Hungarian!'

The film also gave us a little insight into historical figures Kossuth Lajos, Wesselenyi Miklos, and Batthyany Lajos. These three men also have either metro or tram stops (and squares or streets) named after them... it seems that Hungarians have a consistent way of commemorating their political heroes! We certainly can now recognize the meaning behind the names we see everywhere, adding a whole new depth to the city. At the very least, it was interesting to learn so much about transportation on the day that the trams finally returned to us!

Plans for our free weekend coming up are forming, as a large group went to dinner tonight to plan their upcoming excursion to Vienna. Destinations being considered by other students are Croatia, London, and Amsterdam, with a few students opting to remain in Budapest and continue to explore all that this city has to offer.

P.S. A Slovakian snowman.

Good Thing We Don't Have To Drive

2010-01-18T00:40:00.010+01:00

Upon our arrival to Budapest back in the first week of January, we experienced our first taste of Hungarian driving as our bus driver managed to quickly navigate the streets of Budapest, confidently squeezing the bus in between cars and onto narrow streets. This more aggressive style of driving continued to come to our attention as we rode the tram (or walked) to and from school. Sometimes it almost seems that drivers here speed up when they see a pedestrian crossing the street in front of them!

The traffic signs in Hungary differ from their American counter-parts, which has brought both confusion and amusement as we try to guess what some of the signs mean. We can only assume that foreigners traveling in America experience a similar situation.

One especially-noteworthy difference with traffic signals is that of the traffic light. While the colors and order are the same as American traffic lights, the traffic lights in Hungary display the yellow light not only to signal a period of yielding before the light turns red, but also to show that a red light will be turning green soon. This is demonstrated by lighting up both the red light and yellow light at the same time for a few seconds before turning green.

While walking around Budapest, it is hard not to notice a lot of graffiti on the ground, walls, traffic signs or anywhere it can fit. Unfortunately, this sometimes includes some graffiti on otherwise pretty statues and buildings, despite the efforts of the “I love Budapest” (Szeretem Budapestet) initiative. This program is a volunteer program that was put into place in recent years to remove graffiti from public buildings. (To read more about efforts on removing graffiti in Budapest, read an interesting interview at the Budapest Times website)

While some people view all graffiti as purely a form of vandalism, a lot of the graffiti in Budapest is done especially delicately to form a beautiful peace of art. These pieces of art add a lot of character to Budapest.

A few more of the confusing/humorous street signs.

A Chuck Palahniuk (author of some noteable works such as Fight Club) quote on the path to the freedom statue.

A graffiti potpourri on Gellert Hill

Hungarian Food, a Day at the Zoo (and no connection between the two!)

2010-01-17T20:39:00.017+01:00

Eating in Hungary has been quite a new, and for the most part delicious, experience. Probably Hungary's most famous specialty is its ubiquitous paprika, which comes in various degrees of spiciness, including edes (sweet) and csipos (hot!). One of our classmates had an... educational experience with paprika paste at our class luncheon Saturday at St. Jupat, a good Hungarian eatery with enormous portions, reasonable prices, and lots of free csapviz (tap water). (Quite a few restaurants do not serve tap water, even though it is safe to drink; instead they sell small bottles of water.) In keeping with St. Jupat's large servings, they brought a full gravy boat of spicy paprika paste to a table where several students had soup. One of them added a significant proportion of the paste to his soup, in search of some spice. Boy, did he get it, and then some! On the whole, it was a nice meal, and many of the guys 'pol'ed food from women who could not finish their helpings. (At right is roasted turkey breast with a dill and corn cream sauce, served with seasoned rice, potato croquettes, and lightly pickled cabbage -- yum!)

Mat has been an invaluable resource in suggesting some hot spots in Budapest, including pastry shops. Ben's personal favorite is Ruszwurm, a cukraszda nestled in the quaint cobblestoned streets of Castle Hill, less than a block from St Matyas Church. Its tortes, cakes, and other sweets, are works of art for both the eyes and tastebuds to enjoy. Perhaps Ruszwurm is best known for its kremes, 2.5 inches of smooth, light, slightly sweet custard, embraced by upper and lower flaky, buttery pastry.

Ruszwurm's hazi csokolade tejszinhabbal (hot chocolate with whipped cream) is the best hot chocolate Ben has tasted in his life. It is like drinking a 70 % Cacao dark chocolate bar, with whipped cream -- the real deal: slightly sweet, thick and wholesome; not the thin white stuff that comes out of a can or plastic coolwhip from an equally plastic tub. As the whipped cream melts into the piping hot chocolate, a beautiful marriage is formed, as a chocolate tide streaked with ivory rises within the mug, threatening to spill over the sides if one does not soon begin to sip.

Other Hungarian gustatory traditions are less familiar to us Americans. The second Professor's dinner at the chic Bock Bistro on Andrassi Ut, offered a nice sampling of Hungarian specialties foreign to the American palate. For an appetizer, the group ordered a meat and cheese platter, which included 2 goat cheeses native to Hungary, paprika infused salami, and duck breast stuffed with goose liver. With the bread that accompanied the meal, instead of butter -- much to one of our classmates' dismay -- lard laced with bacon bits was served as a lubricant for the toothsome bread. While some shunned the lard, others quite enjoyed its pork flavor, given that it was spread thinly enough on the bread!

The main course included such dishes/side dishes as veal stew, eel, and crostini smothered in caramelized onions and... pig's ear! This latter component consisted of small squares of a thin, brittle white substance (cartilage?), sandwiched between one or two light brown, translucent layers of fat. The idea of eating pig's ear was harder to get over than the flavor, which was quite inoffensive and generally of pork. It is certainly safe to say that the Hungarians are much more thorough in their use of the entire animal than Americans (see photo of pig parts at the central market).

As with most American delicacies, Hungary has its own counterpart. A striking example comes to mind - the potato chip. Yes, the fried, salty snack which provides the perfect crunch to accompany almost any meal. In Hungary, we don't find a standard potato chip, rather to find what we would call "Original", we would purchase the Chio brand of chip "+20% salt."

In addition to other standard American varieties of the potato chip like cheese, sour cream and onion, and barbeque, the shelves of Hungarian stores are the home to two distinct flavors: paprika and bacon.

The paprika flavor is not at all that surprising when it can be found at almost every corner here in Budapest. In America, many use ketchup to add a little flavor to fries, hamburgers, and to some, almost anything. However, in Hungary, people find that adding paprika gives their meal exactly the right flavor. The paprika chips provide a sweet and mild flavor to coat the taste buds while showing an important attribute of Hungarian culture.

Bacon on the other hand is quite common in the United States. However, we find that Hungarians prefer a slightly different type of bacon. While many Americans choose their bacon with a higher percentage of meat, Hungarians choose bacon with a very high percentage of fat. It
is not uncommon when walking through the market to find slabs of bacon that appear to be 100% fat. These values cross over into their chip selection as well. After tasting this flavor new to us, we did find that there was a slight smoky taste; however we felt that the chips lacked the meaty taste we correlate with bacon. We suppose the Chio brand aims towards the fattier bacon that Hungarians are used to. By no means was this flavor unappealing (in fact I may buy another bag soon!) but it is simply unusual to our Americanized taste buds.

A last note on food: tonight, several members of the class went to Aranybarany, an upscale Hungarian restaurant with live gypsy music! Here is a video excerpt of a mellow tune. Enjoy!

While here in Budapest, students have tried to find some more diverse ways to entertain themselves. On a free afternoon, a group of students traveled to the Budapest Zoo to get their "animal fix" -- besides the pigeons that reside here in the city. Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my! -- Oh yes!

Within the first few exhibits, the students came across quite a sight -- a dancing elephant! Yes, that is right, the elephant was swaying its trunk while moving its body side to side pasting smiles on the group. We then remembered that the Budapest Circus is located next door to the zoo. Are the elephants working double time? Maybe...

The group also soon discovered that the zoo is less strict than the zoos in America. They found less distance placed between the animals and the visitors themselves. They found the giraffes in their indoor shelter from the cold with only a set of bars separating these magestic animals from their observers. A group of Hungarian visitors simply walked up, held out some food, and the giraffes gladly accepted the snack from the giving hands.

But that is not all! Though the group thought the bars holding the giraffes in formed minimal security for the large animals, they found an even more shocking discovery. Some animals were running free (within animal houses, of course!). The prime example - sloths! Yes, in a small primate house, the group found a pair of two-toed sloths climbing across the walking path. Not only did the sloths reach out to our fellow students, but a daring student reached back. Yes, Greg made some great new friends at the zoo.

Overall great trip? No doubt!

Is that the 47?!

2010-01-16T21:29:00.009+01:00

Closing in on a week of the transit workers strike, we are getting pretty good at navigating the city on foot. Most of complaining related to the lack of transit has subsided. Yet today we witnessed one lone number 47 tram which is was the preferred method of transportation to school.

We didn't have class today and used the majority of the day to navigate ourselve around the city. However, our whole group went on a tour of the Parliament Building together and had lunch together, which proved to be a memorable experience. Since we have been here, we have found that a lot of Hungarians are pround and informative about the history of Hungary. It seems like every significant building, like the Parilament Building, has some history that dates back to the 19th century, but WWII and the Cold War played significant parts in it as well. For example, the crown jewels that we saw were stolen during the Cold War and returned to Hungary by the US in the 1980s. Also, we saw some famous works of art that were created (and preserved) due to the wars.

Some of the members in the group experienced the night life of Budapest and went to the A38, a jazz/dance club on the Buda side of the city. It was a great night that was filled with great food, good music, lots of twenty-something year olds, and a lot of dancing. This club was mentioned in several magazines as "hot spots" to hit while in Budapest, so we were happy to be able to experience that part of the city life.

With midterms over with and only two weeks left of the trip, we are hoping to gain the most out of this experience, even with the transportion mishaps.

Food, Midterm, and BKV

2010-01-15T22:44:00.005+01:00

As students at St. Olaf, most of us are used to a demographic that some may consider lacking. And while this is hardly the case, it is obvious student body on the hill is less diverse than peoples elsewhere.

One great aspect of traveling abroad is the diverse cultures one gets to experience. The Hungarian lifestyle alone differs greatly from that of an average St. Olaf student. Every restaurant we step into seems to be empty regardless of the hour; determining what time, if ever, Hungarians choose to eat out is proving to be quite challenging. Large cities and urban areas are often areas of cultural diversity, and Budapest is just that. Budapest’s large urban population offers glimpses into many different cultures. Segregation of nationalities and cultures may occur within the city, but a mere metro ride can transfer one from area to area.

In actuality, the lack of ethnic diversity in Budapest may rival that at St. Olaf as over 90% of the population is Hungarian. However, one may be lead to guess otherwise whilst strolling the streets of the city. This evening some enjoyed a delicious Indian dinner, while others opted for Italian. Lunch options included gyros or Chinese. It’s safe to say nobody is dining on Hungarian goulash and paprika every meal. If nothing else, Budapest provides an abundance of options for its visitors and residents. Or, to use our Hungarian teacher’s favorite English word, a plethora of restaurants and activities are available, representing the various cultures present in Budapest.

Today was also test day for many, as the Number Theory midterm is due by 9:00am tomorrow morning. The afternoon was free, but students were largely busy enough proving theorems and crunching numbers in an effort to complete the exam. Both fortunately and unfortunately, this test was of the “take-home” variety, meaning that there were few limits on time or memorization requirements, but everyone had to find a way to complete the test on their own time. For many the exam competed with visits to the opera and last night’s professor’s dinner, and so this afternoon was the time to complete it. On the other hand, some were finished or nearly finished already and spent the afternoon polishing off the last few questions or improving their proofs.

On another subject, the public transport strike continued today with no end in sight. For those interested in knowing more about the situation, here is a synopsis. The trams, subways, and busses in Budapest are all collectively run by a company called Budapesti Közlekedési Zrt, abbreviated BKV for its previous name Budapesti Közlekedési Vállalat. BKV’s network of vehicles and systems was largely constructed during the communist era, and as such designed without much regard for their economic viability. Since the fall of communism, BKV has suffered continual budget shortfalls due to lack of funding and state-mandated low ticket prices. It has mostly survived by selling off buildings and property for retail or residential development in order to cover its operation costs.

This past year, BKV ran into particularly bad financial trouble. In order to cover their losses, they are seeking to cut two elements of workers’ pay. First, they want to cut benefits back. Workers and unions claim that a revised benefit plan will cost each worker approximately $80 per month. In addition, during the holiday season around Christmas, BKV has usually given its workers a gift of “Turkey Money”—a sizable bonus for the month. The company wants to end this practice. Several of the trade unions that work for BKV do not like this new deal that BKV is offering them, and so are on strike.

It probably doesn’t help matters that BKV is currently constructing a fourth subway line that has gone long past its original completion date. Knowing what these kinds of projects are like, it’s probably run over budget as well. In any case, attempts to finish this project add complexity if not more financial problems to the table. If only it had been finished on time, this strike would not be nearly so bad for the students either, as the Metro 4’s planned stops include Szent Gellért Tér, about a block from our residence, and Keleti Pályaudvar, the railway station right near our school, and the subway unions are not striking.

Strike Three...What does that mean?

2010-01-15T00:06:00.007+01:00

The transit strike reached its third day today, with no end in sight. It could go on for weeks, or it could be done by this weekend. There is no way to know. Thus, we traveled along the path on foot once taken by tram in order to get to class. It really isn't so bad; it takes about 45 minutes to walk to the classroom building, and the exercise is welcome since we do not have access to the Tostrud athletic facility right now.

In the morning Tina lectured on the intricacies of modular arithmetic, and the ability to simplify some of the more frightening and larger numbers involved in math. In the afternoon we had a crazy probability lecture from a Hungarian math professor. It wasn't quite as good as Tina's morning lecture, but then again, we couldn't totally follow the afternoon lecture so maybe it was good and we missed it. In the afternoon the lecturer gave a very brief and wide-reaching introduction into probability theory. He got really excited, spending nearly 20 minutes proving a formula that we believe is very important in the realm of probability. We say "we believe" it is important because that's what the lecturer said, and judging by his excitement we'll take him for his word.

The day dragged on with what seemed to be the extended ballet version of Shakespear's "Romeo and Juliet." A majority of our class attended a re-interpretation of Shakepear's classic play at the Hungarian Opera House. It is a beautiful building, but we definitely got the "nose-bleed seats" if there are any in an Opera House. That was totally okay with us. The show lasted more than three hours. Believe us, we tried to stay engaged and awake for the whole show. Some of us did better than others. Regardless, we can now all say that we went to a ballet show at the Hungarian Opera House. Is that high-brow or what? If nothing else, seeing the interior of the beautiful building was more than worth the $4.50 admission fee.

Strike: Day Two - The Saga Continues...

2010-01-13T21:48:00.004+01:00

On normal days, when all forms of transportation are running smoothly, getting from one point to another is easy. When you don't have to worry about a new route, you can stop and look around at the people you are traveling with. Among them are teens, business men and women, old Hungarian women in fur coats and hats, and the crazies. Do not be fooled. They may appear harmless until they start rambling to you in Hungarian. One's best bet is to pretend like you don't know they are talking to you. And if that doesn't work, just say nem.
As the strike continued through this morning, we were forced to find alternative methods of getting to class. Tardiness is not an option as long as we have two legs and a map. While some of us chose to walk all the way to the metro, others braved the crowds that swarmed the only remaining trams that were still running (they, fortunately, were members of a different and cooperative union). However, half of Budapest also decided to take advantage of this transportation. So, as a result, the number six tram was FULL. Shoulder to shoulder, packed like sardines into a can. If you were fortunate enough, you didn't have your face in another Hungarian man's armpit. (Such was the unfortunate situation of Brittany.) The tram was so packed, handrails and holds were limited and useless since there wasn't any actual space to fall into. But we did come to realize how music travels around the globe by one Hungarian's phone blasting "Bad Romance," by Lady GaGa as their ringtone.
As music travels around from country to country, so does dance. A few of us went to a local performance art center to see Frenak Pal Tarsulat: Boys, a concert about perceptions of the male body. The content ranged from aggression to irony, from power plays to insecurity. While a wonderful performance, the end applause was an experience all on its own. Not only do Hungarians clap for a much longer period of time, but they clap in UNISON. Every applause will start and immediately fall into a rhythm. Needless to say, it's a little unnerving when you don't know whether or not to clap on the beat. You go with it anyway.

Who says mathematicians don't exercise?

2010-01-12T21:20:00.012+01:00

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..):

Sun, strudels, and ... snouts?

2010-01-11T21:06:00.023+01:00

Today began with an irregular sight: blue skies!!! From then on we knew it would be a good day because sunny, clear weather is hard to come by in Budapest. We started our day with language class in the morning. We learned navigation vocabulary and tested our skill by guiding other students around the classroom. Now we can ask for directions when we get lost, which does happen (we know from experience). We always manage to find our way by stumbling through conversations in less than perfect Hungarian. In those conversations we use a lot of hand gestures, which helps to make our Hungarian understandable. But now we have new knowledge that will help us use less hand gestures and more speech, hurray!
After language class, we made our way to the Strudel House. Lucky for us a lot of Hiungarian culture focuses on food (really good food if you skip the brains and liver). Get ready to be hungary (pun definitely intended)! The menu was a strudel-filled three-course meal, surprisingly not just desert strudel. First there was delicious chicken filled strudel with a paprika sauce followed by strudel filled with mashed potatoes served with duck. To top it all off, we had two dessert strudels; one had cottage cheese and lemon, and the other was filled with apple and cinnomon. Finom!
In typical European fashion the meal had a slow pace (cutting down on our Number Theory time, sad). In between courses, we saw a somewhat cheesy, but all the more entertaining, film about the history of Hungarian strudel. Something we should all know about strudel is that "strudel is a conquerer like Alexander the Great, and it has reigned longer." The film explained the secret behind the dough: the all important gluten. The dough must be stretched to cover a table top about 1 meter by 1.5 meters (we are in Europe so you must suffer the metric system too); the high gluten content in the flour makes the dough stretchy. Stretching the dough is one thing, but it must be stretched AND thin (thin enough to read a piece of paper underneath). This takes practice and is harder than it looks, as we soon found out.

One of the chefs demonstrated stretching the dough. He magically flipped the dough in the air and pulled it over the whole table without a single tiny hole. We then had our chance to try. Our first attempt became more of a donut shape, so we had a second try. Professor Garrett found her second calling (or a new summer job) as she demonstrated her skills at flipping the dough. Our second try ended in success, with only a few tiny holes.

From the Strudel House, our guide Carolyn (who set up the Strudel House adventure, Thank you!) took us to the market. The market is a three story building filled with vendors of souvenirs, prepared food, fruit, meats, and almost anything you could think of. Carolyn gave us a guided tour of the market, explaining some Hungarian specialty foods, common ingredients, and some oddities of the food culture. We found pig snouts, duck livers, barrels of sauerkraut, and tons of paprika. The market is unlike anything we have seen in the US.

We ended the day with a little Number Theory and the typical homework and supper. Overall the day was exciting and filled with new experiences. Of course any day with 4 different kinds of strudel is a good day!

Museums and Speedos and Vienna! Oh My!

2010-01-10T21:12:00.006+01:00

Sunday – our first day free of any class obligations meant that many got the chance to play tourist for the day. Different groups split off and visited different sites. One group visited the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts (Szépművészeti Múzeum) which was hosting a special Italian Renaissance exhibit, “Botticelli to Titian: Masterpieces of Two Centuries of Italian Art”. The exhibit presented paintings from many well know artists such as Botticelli, Raphael, Leonardo de Vinci, Titian and many others. The temporary exhibit housed one of the largest collections of Renaissance art ever created outside of Italy. Paintings were brought in from museums around the globe: Paris, New York, London, Rome, Milan, Venice, Dresden… to name a few. After visiting the exhibit it was also worth visiting the permanent art collection. The artwork in the permanent collection contains works by many well-known European artists. Much of the Hungarian art is not housed here, but instead is inside the Hungarian National Gallery (Magyar Nemzeti Galéria) on Castle Hill. The building that houses the Art Museum is as much a piece of art as anything else, with painted ceilings, decorative columns, and tiled floors. Other groups visited the Szechenyi Baths. Budapest is the city of spas and is known for its baths heated by thermal springs. At Szechenyi you can even play chess in the baths on floating chessboards! It makes the perfect outing on a cold overcast day! According to Erika our language teacher, the baths have special healing powers! This has unfortunately proven not true as several of us who went to the spas still cannot breath through our noses. However, the baths were relaxing! One had a spiral shape and had benches with jets! The one problem with this is you had to hold on so as not to get swept away. We all enjoyed all of the different pools and the sights! The steam made it impossible to see the other side of the pool! This was not too disappointing considering it meant that we missed some of the sure to be shocking Speedos that the Europeans were rocking. After the baths we were completely drained. Matt led us to a crepe restaurant. We all had several! I think it is safe to say Nutella is a gift from the gods! Our more adventurous companions woke up at 4 this morning, and headed to Vienna! They are not back yet so we have not heard about that trip yet! Sunday was definitely a busy day and I have to say it was nice to sleep until 11!

Museum of Fine Arts

Lady with Ermine - Leonardo da Vinci

Millennium Monument (Across from the Art Museum)

Math in Sight

2010-01-09T21:04:00.039+01:00

Our first Saturday in Budapest was filled with exploration of new places and sights (not to mention a glimpse of the sun)! Our class schedule was altered today so that we could do some sightseeing in the afternoon. We normally have language class in the morning, but it was replaced with number theory so that we would be done with class by lunch time. After class, the entire group headed to Heroes' Square to see Vajdahunyad Castle and the Anonymous Statue. The Castle itself has incredible architecture like most buildings in Budapest. However, the beauty of the castle is contrasted by the statue of a mysterious hooded figure: Anonymous. The sculpture dates back one hundred years and is supposed to represent a chronicler of King Bela in the 12th or 13th century. Unfortunately, several kings named Bela reigned during that time, so the true identity of the chronicler is unknown. If you can tell from the picture, the end of Anonymous' pen is shiny. It has been rubbed clean because touching the end of Anonymous' pen is supposed to give luck to students before their exams. It seems we may want to return to the statue right before our midterm next week...

The statue of Anonymous has an additional historical significance to us as math students because Paul Erdos, famous Hungarian mathematician, used to meet there to discuss advanced problems with fellow mathematicians.

After Heroes' Square, the group stopped for a quick lunch before heading up to Castle Hill on the Buda side of the Danube. It started to rain on our way there, but no precipitation could stop us from visiting the Royal Palace (Buda Castle), National Gallery, Fisherman's Bastion, and St. Matthias Church. The view from the Fisherman's Bastion on the top of the hill is outstanding. It looks out over the Danube and all of its bridges, Parliament, and the Basilica. St. Matthias Church, nearby, is currently undergoing some restoration, but we were still able to see most of its Gothic architecture and intricate tiled roof. On the other end of the hill is the colossal Royal Palace. It houses the National Gallery featuring art from the Medieval and Renaissance periods through the 20th century. The trip to Castle Hill was nothing short of a success!

View from the top of Castle Hill

Fishermen's Bastion

St. Matthias Church

Buda Castle

At the foot of the hill is a mathematical landmark: the Zero Kilometer Stone. This sculpture serves as the beginning point from which all Hungarian highways are measured. It may not be a tribute to mathematics more than a useful tool for organizing transportation, but perhaps it prompts the question from some friends and family members of why exactly we are studying mathematics here in Budapest?

Turning to the "Hungarian Mathematicians" category on Wikipedia may yield some answers. Here lie 90 Wikipedia pages with information on Hungarian Mathematicians. Many of these names do contain the daunting vowels and consonant combinations, but once getting past these obstacles, one will see the great feats of the people. Yesterday, they had discussed Paul Erdös. As famous as he is, Erdös is only one of the many successful Hungarian mathematicians. Other members of the list include Alfréd Rényi and Miklos Laczkovich. We visited the Rényi Institute yesterday for our talk. Any ideas who the institute is named after? Yes, it is Alfréd Rényi. When searching on mathworld.com, “Rényi” appears in the name of three different titles. This is a quite impressive number, seeing as no titles yet contain “Mckenzie” or “West.” Miklos Laczkovich is in the same boat as I, he has no MathWorld titles named after himself. However, several theorems and definitions reference his name for being an important part of their solutions or progress. Laczkovich is a professor at the University College London and is a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He is one of the most, if not the most, famous Hungarian mathematicians alive today, and he will be speaking to our class later this month. Aren’t we lucky? Budapest is home to a multitude of famous mathematicians, and studying in this environment allows us to encounter some of these people. We have four to five remaining guest lecturers giving a mathematical talk this month, and are very lucky to experience such. (Erdos is on the left, Renyi on the right)

Winter in Budapest

2010-01-08T22:53:00.019+01:00

With each day, living in Hungary brings both more familiarity and more new discoveries. After another great language class this morning with Erika, interacting with Hungarians in their native tongue becomes more comfortable and not unsatisfying, even if dialogues are limited to a few words in Hungarian before we are resigned to asking "nem beszelek magyarul; beszel angolul?" ("I don't speak Hungarian; do you speak English?").

This afternoon, we traveled to the Renyi Institute, housed in a beautiful building in central Pest (the side of the city east of the Danube). There, Miklos Dezso, a professor of math and member of the Renyi Institute, lectured on some combinatorics researched by Paul Erdos, one of Hungary's most famous mathematicians and the most prolific mathematician of all time! After the professor's interactive talk, we watched a documentary film about the peripatetic Erdos. Our visit to Renyi gave us some first-hand experience and appreciation for why Hungary is one of the world's centers of mathematics.

After our departure from Renyi, we split up, using the metro, trams, and our own two legs to go our separate ways. The public transporation in Budapest is incredible -- the multiple networks of trams, buses, and metros makes getting around the city very easy, although not without its hazards: the numbering and schedules of the various modes of transit can be complicated for strangers to the city, making it potentially challenging to explore new destinations -- especially when some of the bus workers are on strike, and the buses deviate from their already enigmatic routes!

As St. Olaf students, we are more than used to the Minnesotan winter weather - aka SNOW! The past few days in Budapest have proven few differences as the forecast allowed for an accumulation of this frozen precipitation.

For many of us, Budapest is our first urban experience in the winter, especially when comparing the city to the quaint town of Northfield. Snow pummeling from high rooftops was one of our first issues. Don't worry, all students have been safe from the falling snow piles, except for minor close encounters. We have also discovered the way in which slush collects on the streets. This is only problematic when standing too close to the curbs and frantic drivers hit the slush just right. Wet!

We have also learned that during the winter months, the city of Budapest covers the majority of their statues in protective coverings. This is done to preserve the statues from the harsh effects of the cold, snow, and ice. Although this made it difficult to see some of the statues, others had a clear covering so we were still able to see the statues. Phew!

As the ground continued to get covered by snow, we began to notice snowmen popping up around the city. However, these snowmen were not characteristic of the snowmen we find in America. These features added a lot of character that is missing in their American counter-parts. In addition to the traditional buttons, eyes, mouths and stick arms, many of these snowmen had features such as crowns and badges. We found it especially interesting that some of these snowmen had arms and noses made out of snow and actual eye sockets carved to put their button eyes in. Overall, we think that Hungarian snowmen are a lot cooler and more creative than American snowmen.

Although most of us spent our holiday season in the United States, we have been able to enjoy a few days of Christmas decorations here in Budapest. Many of the main city squares and streets, including those of our daily trek to and from school, are lined with Christmas lights and decorations.

Additionally, many shopping centers have Christmas trees of various sizes. One of the most spectacular displays was that which was staged outside of the Basilica, consisting of some pine trees surrounding four plastic flames that we saw during our day-tour. Unfortunately, when we returned to see these flames at night, this decoration had been removed. Furthermore, we have

seen a surge of Christmas trees being thrown out onto curbs. It seems that the time for Christmas decorations in Budapest is coming to an end.

Something that immediately catches the eye unaccustomed

to Budapest is the architecture -- not only its distinctively European style, but the stark contrast between the condition of the structures. A number of the facades are quite dark, sometimes nearly black, from the city's historically polluting coal burning, while other buildings -- often in close proximity to the dirty ones -- are beautifully pristine, cleaned and restored exemplars of the finest European Secessionist and Art Nouveau architecture.

To close, we present a tip/tidbit of cultural education for any aspiring travelers to the lovely city of Budapest: if you find yourself dining in a restaurant that doesn't serve czaptiz (tap water), you have to choose between carbonated and non-carbonated bottled water. However, do not be surprised when the Hungarians do not refer to carbonated and non-carbonated water as such, but rather as "with or without gas."

Our GCD is 1

2010-01-07T23:23:00.008+01:00

Here is the view from outside our window at the Professor's Guest House that we are staying at.

Although a lot of native Hungarians may not envy Americans, they seem to be interested in American culture as evident by many American influences here. This afternoon, while at a local Italian restaurant for lunch, a local man approached me and started inquiring about my religion. Approximately 70% of Hungarians are Catholic, so I assumed he was hoping to find some commonality between us. I explained that I was Baptist and highlighted some similarities and differences between that and Catholicism. He only knew a little bit of English, but he seemed to understand everything that I was saying because I used a lot of hand gestures when explaining things like baptism, prayer, ect. At the end of the conversation, he said kӧszӧnӧm which means thank you in Hungarian. I responded with the same.

The language barrier issue here is getting better after just two days of language class. We know how to say small phrases like asking how much something costs, getting a waiter’s attention, saying that we don’t speak Hungarian, and greetings. Today, we also learned Hungarian numbers and reviewed the alphabet. Now it is a little less awkward going to restaurants, plus we found that many people know enough English for us to be able to sufficiently communicate. Transportation seems to be gettting easier and easier as the days go on. Not only do we know how to get to and from class easily, but we are starting to identify “hot spots” around the city to go shop, eat, and sightsee. In class today, our Hungarian teacher, Erika, gave us directions to several locations around the city that she suggested, like the thermal spas, ice rink, and places to see concerts. We are looking forward to learning more about the culture and seeing more of what Budapest has to offer.

Class in budapest is not all that different from a traditional class on campus in that it involves a commute that rivals that of a Hill-Kitt resident. Yet the tight knit aspect of the group allows for additional freedom in the classroom. Comments and questions normally reserved for whispers in the back row and office hours pop up in class. Today one of our fellow students, after a discussion of GCD or the greatest common divisor, stated that next time any of us decide to break up with our significant other we can say that it is because "our GCD is 1." This is just a geeky math way of saying that we have nothing in common.

First Full Day of Classes & Exploration

2010-01-06T23:21:00.006+01:00

Day 3 in Budapest came with a welcome relief, the jet lag everyone was experiencing was finally beginning to wear off. After another tasty breakfast at the President’s Guest House, everybody was on their own to trek through the snow and arrive on time to language class. The sidewalks and streets were a slushy mess, but everybody was in their seat by 10.00 for the first of Erika’s language class. Speaking the alphabet proved a daunting task, four variations of “o” and strange consonant combinations such as sz, zs, and cs will take much getting used to. Many of the sounds are not really used much or at all in English.

The lunch break between language class and math class was the first time many students got to explore Budapest without the help of a guide familiar with the Budapest public transportation. Gyros, Chinese food, and bananas are just a few of the wide variety of Hungarian delicacies students decided to enjoy. Going out into Budapest and exploring was not too hard, but finding the way back to the classroom proved interesting. Several groups encountered confusion trying to navigate the streets and read public transportation signs.

At night the people of Budapest like to light up their buildings and monuments. One group saw several of the more impressive ones on the way to dinner, passing the basilica and parliament buildings.

While the basilica is not open at night, it’s impressive exterior is well-illuminated.

The dome atop Budapest’s parliament building lit up at night.

In addition to being well-lit, the basilica is host to bells that toll upon the hour. This is not your usual bell-tolling, either. At seven o’clock the bells rang not merely seven times, but went on continuously for what seemed like five minutes. The people of Budapest certainly take steps to make their city presentable and exciting in night as well as day.

The Adventure Begins

2010-01-06T00:22:00.008+01:00

Day 1: Departure
It might not need to be said, but the past few days have certainly been a whirlwind. We all met at the airport yesterday around 4:45pm. Our flight left right on time, and we didn't experience any huge hiccups. The overnight flight to Amsterdam was long, but was mostly relatively smooth. Professor Garrett had some excitement, as she was sitting next to a woman who vomited multiple times on the plane. The captain also had to call in paramedics to meet us at the Amsterdam airport because someone on the flight had a "medical emergency." It appears calling the paramedics was an overreaction, but who doesn't want to see European paramedics in their fluorescent-colored outfits?

There was a quick layover in Amsterdam before we headed on our flight to Budapest. Many of us were exhausted by that time and slept on the plane to Budapest, as well as on the bus ride from the airport to our hotel. Our classmate Kenzie's luggage didn't arrive at the Budapest airport when we went there to pick it up, but it was delivered to our hotel this morning. After getting settled in last evening, we went out for our first meal and had (drum roll please...) pizza! So much for an immediate cultural immersion. After dinner most everyone was beyond exhausted, so it appears most of us crashed around 9 or 10pm Budapest time. Here's some math for you: In reality it took us about 14 hours to get from Minneapolis to Budapest, but with the time change it all lasted 21 hours. We essentially got a 31-hour day somewhere amidst the chaos. And after it all we collapsed into our pillows, preparing for the month of adventure ahead of us.

Day 2 (or 3 possibly): Today started with breakfast at the Professor's Guest House (where we are staying). Breakfast consisted of meats, cheeses, granola, yogurt, and various breads amongst other things. Then it was off to the school building for the first time (for many of us). There we met our tour guide who quickly started into a Hungarian history lesson on foot with visual tools to help (otherwise known as a walking tour). We began to gain a bearing in the city center, roughly the time we began to freeze. Although the temperature is only -3 C (roughly 25 F), 3 and a half hours with minimal walking tends to make one a touch chilly. All in all the group has gained a grasp for both public transportation (trams, buses and underground) as well as significant landmarks in the city. The tour ended in the largest market in town, where we were first introduced to Hungarian cuisine, the langos (a form of savory funnel cake topped with anything from garlic and cheese to plain to any combination of meats, cheeses, ketchup, and vegetables). After a brief exploration of the market it was back to school and our first math lesson began. A brief introduction and homework assigned, it was back to the hotel for us (and for many a nap and warm covers still attempting to regain feeling after the tour). Dinner was in groups, a few went off exploring on their own while many others opted to split up with Tina and Mat to attempt another foray into Hungarian cuisine. Tina's group finished off a meal of goulash with a trip to a world famous chocolatier's, an excellent choice. Then it was back home to finish our homework and get in a good nights sleep before language class begins tomorrow morning with math tomorrow afternoon.

Below are some pictures taken from the tour and dinner