CIE: Study Abroad Blog

Final Hungary Reflection

I'll be honest, I don't think Hungary is a top travel destination for most people; however, I would strongly recommend it for your next jaunt. The country is filled with historical sites and culture, and it is very inexpensive there since our currency is stronger than theirs right now. Who doesn't like a bang for their buck?

(However, I could be wrong about Hungary. It actually could be a top travel destination
for many people. While on the plane, I said that Northwest Airlines doesn't exist anymore because I haven't flown on it in years; however, Zack quickly corrected me and told me that it was, in fact, still in operation - I disagree) 

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Hungary. It was a great learning experience to be able to interact with Hungarian students and learn their way of life in a very short time period. Due to this trip, I have built new relationships with Hungarian and Nazareth students - students who I have never seen before! They were all foreign to me! They were all great students, and I was able to share many laughs and comments with them. 

As a graduating senior, I am now facing the reality of graduating: finding a job. The job search is an exciting and stressful time as you try to find that perfect position for yourself. Prior to leaving for Hungary, my plan was to suspend the job search during this trip and not do anything that could possibly relate to it until after I returned. I wanted to totally block this from my mind, so it wouldn't interfere with my enjoyment of the trip. However, when I returned to Budapest for the second time, I did a few new job searches at the local McDonald's (I wasn't actually applying to McDonald's), and it was back on my mind creating a new distraction to prevent me from enjoying myself on this trip. Did I miss an opportunity? Is anyone following up with my application (I don't have a fancy smartphone to be able to take international calls)? Should I apply now to this position? 

My point is that if you go on a vacation and are able to be free from the realities of home, don't let them distract you from enjoying yourself. Next time, I will totally block these from my mind and create a mental block. I know I will find the right position for me. It just takes time and requires patience. I'm not going to find it in a week or two, but it could take up to six months or a year.

Also, I would like recognize how accomodating some professors at Nazareth are for students making up missed work due to academic trips. I have the privilege to have some of them, and it is reassuring to know that they understand the realities of these expeditions. 

Bon voyage,

Max

PS: Attached is a picture of me with a depressed Kodak sign in Budapest, Hungary, to show our Rochester connection to the country!

 

A truly unique experience!

    Wow. What an experience we had on this trip! I have traveled a good amount in my life, including to Europe three times, but I have never felt so completely immersed in a culture before.  So many elements of this trip made it not only educational about American Studies, but also organically educational about the Hungarian culture.  One of the most exciting components of this trip for me was the home stays.  My host spoke very fluent English, although his parents did not.  He had to translate everything we said. Regardless, the entire family was exceedingly welcoming and excited to have me in their home.  Their hospitality made my visit that much more enjoyable! Going into the Home stay I was excited, but also nervous.  Being isolated from not only my family and friends back home, but also from the rest of my group, I thought this was going to be a difficult and disagreeable experience.  Yet, although my first night their was a little lonely, as I became closer with my host the experience became mush more enjoyable.  It was fun and interesting getting to know a real Hungarian family and see how they live.  His father builds planes and his mother is an artist.  She makes beautiful detailed porcelain objects.  I even got to see one she was working on at the time being.  They also had two houses, which I found interesting. They had a town house, close to my host student's school and the father's work, and also a Lake house near Lake Balaton.  I was able to see both during my stay!

Just some of her work. I love this plate!

    Another unique component for this trip was the food!  During my stay I was able to eat what a typical Hungarian family would eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (which is surprisingly more than a typical American family!).  They were not shy with their portions and making sure I was well fed throughout every day! Even when I was not staying with my host family, the entire trip was filled with wonderful and distinctive food.  We were lucky enough to have knowledgeable teachers and friends who could take us or tell us where to go to get the best Hungarian meals.  One of my favorite classic Hungarian dishes was their Goulash soup, which is much different than one would expect in America.  

Another soup I surprised myself by liking, a cheese and leek soup! It was delicious! 

 

    It was very interesting to see their take on things which we feel familiar with.  Even something as small as the differences in Goulash soup can be eye-opening.  I believe that with American accommodations, American food, and American language being prominent in a variety of places, organic cultural experiences such as this are hard to come to.  I feel as though many Americans, me included, would opt to take the simple and familiar path while traveling in a foreign country.  However, I have come to see that stepping out of one's comfort zone and trying new things can change one's entire trip and experience (and for the better!).  I feel so lucky to have been a part of this group and hope to share everything I have taken from this experience to others!

Walking between Parliament and the river on our last night!

 

-Elizabeth Myers

 

 

Grass.

Needless to say I'm back from my trip abroad. It was gorgeous, fascinating and admittedly... educational. The way the rolling hills stretched the land was rivetting to the human eye. In this far off distance one could decipher the outlines of foothills to mountains of greater proportion. Yet, this basinous landscape had so much to offer and this was apparent as I witnessed the mighty Danube for my first time. This river, that was once like an artery,  to the extent that it connected so much of Europe many years ago as a neccesity. Yet, even after the advent of industry and technology this body of water continues to thrive and serve both Buda and Pest.The culture of this great city is vivid and pragmatic. The milky green statues who were situated in the center of Bupapest told the country's history while metaphorically alluding to far more greater truths. The seven horseman who gaurded the nations crown and staff were symbols to the first tribes of Hunary. But more impressively, the two twelve foot chariots spun a tale. A tale wherethe Hungarians readily welcomed peace, yet their vigilance and fierce pride would lead them to War, when necessary.

The cuisine in Hungary was interesting. First, I can say that I have never ingested so much sodium in my life. The bacon enriched meals were of course welcomed but all the meals seems to have an extra kick of salt to them. Regardless, I got to try some great Goulash for the first time in my life, and my host family was especially concerned about my hunger (a feeling I never experienced in hungary...ironically enough) My favorite meal was by far my vice, a dessert. The traditional Hungarian spongecake. Those chocolate covered, cream laden, whipped delacacies found the right spot in my stomach and was it ever good.

Yet, no matter how good that was what I think will stay with me the most is the memories I have developed of Hungary. Every interaction I had with the people was memorable as I look back and apreciate the connections I developed in my short time in Vezprem. When I came back I saw the stain of grass on the bottom of my jeans that I wore to Lake Balaton. For a moment I stopped and thought "should I wash these?" Then without hesitation I threw them in the washer and realized the impressions of Hungary I have are much deeper than grass. But it's stange, I never though I'd miss grass.

Zack

Back in America.....

I am sad to say that we have returned from our trip to Hungary.  I would have loved to stay for another couple of weeks, but the ten days we did get were fantastic!

Our last two days were fun and interesting.  On Friday we were able to visit a synagogue.  It was fascinating to find out so much about its history.  For example, women weren't able to sit on the main floor of the synagogue; they had to sit in the balconies.  We were also able to look at some archives which included documents, books, pictures, etc.  In addition, there was a burial ground in the back of the synagogue that we were able to explore.  The following is a picture of the inside of the synagogue.

Saturday was one of my favorite days.  We spent all morning at the market, which is a very crowded, but exciting, place.  There were three floors.  The basement contained fish, the first floor contained a variety of different foods, and the second floor contained souveniers.  I think all of us spent a lot of money that morning!  For lunch we went to an Irish Pub because it was St. Patrick's Day.  We also saw a "parade" of people dressed in green walking down the streets of Budapest.  They created a very fun atmosphere.

Last but not least, we were able to take a cruise down the Danube Saturday evening. I think this was my favorite activity of the week.  The following is a picture of Parliament which I took while cruising down the river.

Well that pretty much sums up the last couple of days of our trip.  I can say that this has easily been one of the best experiences of my life.  I was able to meet so many new people and try many new things including goose liver and pigs brain.  I hope I will be able to visit Hungary again....hopefully sooner rather than later.

Rebecca

 

A List Of My Favorite Things...

20 hours back home and it's hard to believe all that I was able to experience in the last 10 days in Hungary. To begin with, I cannot thank Dr. Campbell, Mrs. Glazer, and Professor Ruffer enough for the experience they allowed me to partake in! 

 To talk about everything that I experienced would take forever, so I am going to sum up some of my personal highlights. 

Same But Different:

I may be wrong, but I think that often times when people travel, especially out of the country, it is the differences that are noticed most often. The conversations tend to circle around about how pretty the architecture is compared to where we came from, the food, the views, the history, etc. It is not very often that the similarities are discussed — understandably as it is a different and new place. But I personally love to step back and examine how similar we all really are. If you look at the little things...people working their jobs, hanging out, going about their everyday work...we are all so similar. It is nice to see that and to catch a glimpse of the everyday life of the people that live there. This was no different in Hungary. While I loved seeing all the things that were so different from the US, I also loved seeing how similar we all are. Whether it was a man sweeping out the entrance to his store.....

....or a teen just playing around on his bike...

 or even my host mother reminding me of my own by laughing at my sense of humor (even through the english to hungarian translation), showing pictures she was proud of like my mom would, getting excited about a visitor coming to stay. I loved catching those moments throughout my trip.

 

Three Exhibits Perfect For Three Different People:

Our last day in Budapest we had some free time to explore and go where we wanted. Mrs. Glazer took me and Ashley to the 2 museums back at Heroes Square. One was more traditional and the other contemporary. The museums appeared to be made just for our group of three—while we all enjoyed every exhibit we saw, there were specific parts that fit each of us perfectly. The Museum of Fine Arts was perfect for Mrs. Glazer filled with paintings from Carvaggio, Bruegel, El Greco, and Velazquez.

The 'Art Hall' (the contemporary art museum) had thwo exhibitions going on. The one by Marina Abramovic was entitled "Eight Lessons on Emptiness with a Happy End". This exhibit focused on violence as portrayed in media and it's affects on children. This exhibition made up of both videos, pictures, as well as the artists drafts and storyboards seemed to really connect with Ashley's interests:

The second exhibition in the 'Art Hall' was by an artist named Bernar Venet. It was a collection of his work over time, from his work with tar on cardboard, to sculpture out of steel, to paintings done in acrylic. Because of my background in graphic design, this one really pulled me in.

This exhibition proves what Mrs. Glazer has taught us all along in the Art Ed program: artists have to be smart...there's so much more to art than just painting...and Venet proves it with his use of math and equations:

I loved his use of text throughout the majority of his pieces! It amazed me that these were all done with paint — the craftsmanship on them was amazing.

 

A New Favorite Artist To Add To The List:

On Friday we got the wonderful opportunity to visit the Great Synagogue in Budapest...the largest synagogue in Europe. I took a class in my undergrad at Syracuse called 'Jewish Art & Architecure' and we learned a good amount about this synagogue. It was great to see it in person—we even got a special private tour into the archives of the synagogue! But, probably the best part of it was the sculpture that was located in the memorial park area:

This weeping willow sculpture is entitled 'Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs', by the artist Imre Varga. This was not the first sculpture we had seen by Varga, we had seen at least 3-4 outher ones...but this sculpture was very different in both look and feel. The sculpture represents the over 400,000 Jewish Hungarians who died in the Holocaust.

The leaves on the tree have names engraved into them...those names are that of an individual person or a family of the over 400,000 Hungarians lost in the Holocaust

There was something about this sculpture that was both eerie and yet very beautiful. I was so happy I got to learn about it and see it in person! 

 

Our Last Minute Day Trip:

I was lucky enough to be asked by a professor named Zoli, and Mrs. Glazer to take a trip to another university in Hungary about 1.5 hours away from the University of Pannonia to see some actual classes in session! On our way I learned a lot about the state of education and education certification from Zoli.

When we first arrived we got to sit in on an art education class to see what they were learning about and how they were taught there. This art education class was for general education teachers (some of which have an art education focus). The interactive atmosphere of this class reminded me of the classes at Nazareth. The teacher was engaging (even though it was in Hungarian he still had my attention), fun, interactive, and included a lot of student participation.

After this, Zoli took to the room next door to meet the Master Printmaker at the school. In his 80s, this artist was generous enough to allow us to look around his studio and all of his work. His press was amazing (150 years old), and his work was beautiful.

Then we met with head of the special education department at the University. This was perhaps the most interesting and eye-opening experience of this day trip. We talked a lot about the status of special education in schools and university degrees. There were parts that were difficult to hear at first...the terms they use, the way the talk about students and people with special needs, WHO is actually classified as special needs, etc. It brought to light how far our country has come.

Mrs. Glazer and I had already talked about how Hungary (what we had seen of it at least) was not very friendly for people that had physical disabilities. Things we take for granted every day were not available for those that may need them: curb cuts (where the curb is cut into for access with a wheelchair), handicap accessible parking, handicap buttons to open the doors, buses with lifts...ELEVATORS (I learned from my host family that there is a rule that unless there is over 5 floors there are not elevators put into buildings). That can give you an idea of where the schools and goverment are in terms of services for people with disabilities.

While this was very hard to listen to, I was able to take a step back and see how much progress they were making in the school system in the little time that they have had control of their schooling since the end of communism. So I can only hope that it will continue to improve.

 

Well, that is all from me I guess — like I said, I could go on forever but I'll let others fill you in. 

-Kalie

University Visit

I am absolutely amazed by the beauty of Hungary. This experience has been life changing in so many ways. We only have one more day, I really wish I could stay forever! I am going to talk about a day trip that we took on Tuesday, one of the most memorable parts of the trip so far. When we were in Veszprem I had the opportunity to go to for a day trip to a town about an hour away. Myself, Kalie, and Mrs. Glazer got to go a university where they train teachers.

It was so interested to be able to compare what we experienced with what I am learning at Naz. In Hungary, there is no art education! Teachers are taught how to teach art in the classroom, but there is no separate class for students to go to learn art. The first stop at the school was sitting in a classroom where students were learning how to teach puppetry using folk tales. In Veszprem students seemed much quieter and calm, not really engaging with professors. In this class, students were laughing, joking, and engaging in conversation with the professor. At Naz we are not taught lessons that will be directly taught to students. It seemed that the teachers would have little choice in what they teach, which is much different than in the US. Next we got to see a master printmaking whose work was amazing. We found out later that he is not hired by the college, but he does his work there.

Our next stop was the head of the special education department. This made me really how different the schools in Hungary view special educaiton. At this point in time students with special needs are not integrated into the school or classroom. This is much different than the US because we are pushing for inclusion into schools AND classrooms for the majority of the day. The dean also mentioned that the Roma population, a minority that is highly is discriminated against, are treated very unfairly in schools. Sometimes Roma children are placed with students that have developmental disabilities. The dean was talking about moving towards a better system for education, but even the language she used was in a way reinforcing stereotypes that she was fighting against. This was difficult for me to hear.

Next we met the dean of the entire college. We were treated extremely well. They gave us gifts, and then bought us lunch. They have a labratory type kitchen where hospitality students cook meals for the college. We have the pleasure of being accompanied by a man named Zoli, who previously worked the the university in Veszprem, and will soon work at the university we were visiting. Throughout the trip we were able to hear a many of Zoli's opinions and world view. He is an educator fighting for social justice in education, and a teacher who seeks to empower and liberate his students. I highly respect him, and I learned a lot from speaking with him. He is one of the most passionate people I have met, and meeting him made this trip very worthwhile.

Ashley

are we in Budapest?

After a long and hysterical bus ride we arrived in Budapest and prepared for our second to last day here. It was one of the greatest with amazing views. We went to both sides of the city, Budda and then Pest. We got some great views of Parliament and then walked around the castle district. It was so incredible up there being able to overlook the city. We also learned about the church and its roof. The roof was made out of differently painted terrra cotta tiles which were beautiful. Of everywhere we went this was my favorite. They had so many people playing random instruments and they had a lot of talent.

We also went to the Jewish Archives by the Synagogue. We saw how little space they use for so many things. They have to actually wheel out sections of shelves and wheel them back like an accordian. We saw old documents, pins, maps, poems, and so much more. We walked a lot and got to experoence the "easy train"! Everything was so beautiful. We saw many more wonderful sights like the hero square and the opera house at night too.

Today is going to be just as exciting! Shopping in the market and a tour of the Danub river on boat! Cannot wait!

-Morgan

A Day in the Sun

Yesterday was wonderful! It was our first day of complete sun and very warm weather.  We started off the day going to a Jewish Temple and archives. Not only was the temple breath taking, but the archives were very interesting.  One of my favorite pieces was an original map of the layout of the temple.  Then we had a beautiful delicious lunch together in the sun, which may have been one of my favorite meals.  Then we met AnnaMaria and got a tour of hero square, the castle district, and the rest of budapest! She was so knowledgeable and fun.  The view from castle square was amazing. This part of the city is across the river Balaton and is called Buda, while the other is called Pest.  Here we even got to shoot bow and arrows at a renaissance archery corner in the castle district! We all had a blast.  I think this may have been one of my favorite day because I feel like we are all creating wonderful friendships.  I am so grateful that everyone is getting along so well and making this experience even more enjoyable!  I cannot wait to go shopping and explore the city more with everyone today! 

Liz

Max's Critique

Our trip to Hungary has been a fantastic academic and cultural experience. So far, we have traveled to Budapest, Veszprem, and Pecs, and now, we have just returned to Budapest again to visit a synagogue, castle, opera house, and a coffee house, so Scott Campbell can get a coffee. In addition, this part of the trip marks a significant milestone as Scott is finally letting Zach and I take possession of the keys to the apartment. 

Academically, it was exciting to listen to and present on various topics for the America Week Conference. Also, it is fascinating to analyze the differences in presentations and presenting styles between the Americans and Hungarians. The topics covered a broad range, however they all contributed to the overall signifance of the conference and interaction between the two cultures. We were also treated to a community theater rendition of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? It was an over-the-top interpretation. I plan to view the 1960s movie of this play when I return so I can compare the two. 

I am so thankful to the University of Pannonia and its students for hosting us and showing us a great time. In order to show my gratitude to my host family, I gave them a framed picture of Rochester, while in return, they insisted that I take home some famous Hungarian wine. It is delicious!

Yesterday, we visited Pecs, which was voted Europe's cultural capital in 2010. It is a beautiful city that was bustling with people since it was a Hungarian holiday on Thursday. The highlight of this part of the trip was visiting a champagne factory that went deep into the ground with sprawling catacombs. In addition, we visited a beautiful mosque and church. 

Overall, this has been an invigorating trip with the Nazareth students and faculty, Scott Campbell, Tracie Glazer, and Rochelle Ruffer. It has been a pleasure to travel with them; I will miss them when this trip concludes. 

Cheers, Max

The Beauty of Pécs

Today was by far one of the most exhilarating days of my entire life. It started with having to say goodbye to my host, Aniko.While at the University of Pannonia, she made me feel like i was right at home even though I was all the way across the ocean. She was a fabulous cook and very knowledgeable about the history and city of Veszprem. Aniko even gave me a private tour of the city that allowed her to share all of this knowledge with me.

Our trip then led us to the beautiful city of Pecs. We were blessed with beautiful sunshine and warm weather to walk the historic streets. Since today was one of Hungary's national holidays, the streets were filled with residents of the city. We were able to observe how the Hungarians remember a special part of their past and how they carry on with their daily lives.

On a tour of Pecs, we entered the most beautiful Catholic Church. I was blown away by its hand painted walls, its cathedral ceiling, and the simplistic pews.

The organ in the back of the church was the largest in the city and was actually a product of Pecs. Our tour guide surprised us with the singing of Dona Nobis, which completely took my breath away and made me able to realize the magnitude of this building.

I fell in love with Pecs at that very moment and became quite emotional. I cannot fully explain everything I was feeling at that moment. I think it is only something that you have to experience for yourself. I hope that I get to feel that again.

Maybe tomorrow, Budapest is a beautiful city after all.

Katie