All things considered, it was a looooong trip. Did most of my sleeping in the TO-Dusseldorf leg (where I was seated next to the cutest little old lady from Montenegro who spoke no English whatsoever, but seemed determined to converse with me), and some in the Vancouver-TO one. Dusseldorf was a blur for the most part. All I remember was landing, getting thru passport check, and getting on the bus that took us to what looked like an alarmingly small plane.
I had a pretty great send-off; thanks for the most part to Ai. and N (who surprised me at home), and Ad. and T (who surprised me at the airport). And 3 plane rides, 2 bus rides, 3 train rides, and some 19 hours later (all this with a 30-kilo bag!!!!), I finally arrived in what will be my home for the next months to come:
My first impressions of Hungary are mixed, I think. On the one hand, everyone I've met so far seems very nice. (They also seem to all have aspirations which include leaving Hungary, which I found interesting.) On the other hand, my "otherness" (oh, Sociology) seems so much more intense here. People stop and stare (not in a hostile manner or anything, more like frank curiosity), more so when I ventured out of the university and into the city. Hardly anyone speaks English, and I feel absolutely rude when I have to resort to gestures, broken Hungarian, and beseeching English to communicate with others. For the most part, I've been dependent on my roommate and the LC in terms of getting around.
I haven't been doing much, since the professor I'm supposed to be working for is apparently hard to track down. So it's been pretty chill, I guess. I don't like all this idle time though. I was supposed to be in the same dorm as the other Gödöllő trainees, but since I arrived 10 days late, the university gave my room away. I had plans of going out with them last night, but my planned 2-hr. nap succumbed to the exigencies of jet lag and general exhaustion and turned into a 17-hr. sleep-fest. My bad.
Spent this morning waiting for word about a meeting with aforementioned professor, then my roommate showed me around the city for a bit (pictures forthcoming).
Anyway, I've been in front of my computer long enough (sadly, my only means of Hungarian communication is e-mail), and the surprisingly-halcyon fall afternoon awaits! (The weather's supposed to turn at the end of the month, I've been told.)
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