Well, its been two weeks since my last update! A lot has happened in these past two weeks. I'll try to at least summarize what I have been up lately.
Last weekend we went to the town of Szeged. Szeged is a town in southern Hungary. The trip was organized by the BSM program, so they bought train tickets and reserved a hostel for us. The intention of the trip was to attend a math seminar at the University of Szeged.
As soon as we got off the train in Szeged we were met by a couple university students who led us to where the seminar was to take place. After the seminar they showed us to our hostel and got us checked in. Then it was up to us to explore. Szeged turned out to be a fairly small town with not too much in it. It did have a really cool cathedral with a clock that chimed every 15 minutes. There was also a really cool fountain in part of the city, as well as some cool looking building buildings and a nice city park. Since the city was not that big we ended up walking through the entire city that Friday night after the seminar.
Then the next morning we walked through the town again and got to see everything in daylight. We also got to walk into the cathedral. Then after lunch we walked down to the River Tisza which runs through the city. We went across the bridge and walked along the river side for a while. There was a trail through the woods that we walked on. Once we decided to turn around we found a path going away from the river that led out of the woods. It turns out the the area was only wooded on a small strip near the river. As soon as we left the woods we were able to looks around and see farmland and hills off in the distance. We could even make out building of what appeared to be a nearby town. It really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. It was quite an amazing feeling. After that we hiked back, had dinner and took an evening train back to Budapest. It was very nice to see a part of Hungary that isn't the big bustling city of Budapest.
This last week was the final week for us to try out classes. This Thursday we had officially register for classes. This wasn't an easy choice because are so many really cool classes that I want to take, but I don't want to have too hard of a schedule that I can't handle. I finally settled on taking 3 math classes and auditing a fourth, as well as taking a Hungarian Language class. The math classes I will be taking this semester are: Intro to Number Theory, Complex Functions and Galois Theory, and auditing a course on Advanced Abstract Algebra. I'm pretty excited about these classes, it looks like I will learn a lot of really cool math these semester.
The other big event that has happened in the two weeks is that this past Wednesday night I went to go see the opera. We were able to get $2 student tickets, which was an amazing deal. It was really cool to see an opera in the Hungarian National Opera House here in Budapest. It was quite an elegant opera house. We saw The Marriage of Figaro which was really cool. It was a bit hard to follow everything that was going on. I couldn't really understand much of either the Italian songs or the Hungarian subtitles that appeared on a screen above the stage. It also didn't help that I could only see about half of the stage. Even so we got to see and hear a world class opera, which was quite a spectacular event.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
First Week of Classes
This week was the first week of classes for me. The week began at 8:15am on Monday morning with an orientation meeting about classes. Then at 10:00 classes began. The way the classes are set up is rather different than what I'm used to. The schedule is set up so that each math class that is supposed to meet 4 hours a week has two two hour meetings during the week. All the non math classes meet three hours once a week. The other different thing is how we choose the classes we take. The first three weeks of the semester we can sit in on as many classes as we want, and only after the third week do we actually have to register for what classes to take. Since I am a very indecisive person this helps me not have to choose what classes I need to take for another couple of weeks.
All the classes were really interesting. There is such a wide variety of math classes I can take here, which is very exciting. Most of the classes here are classes that I wouldn't be able to take at Calvin, which presents me with a very cool opportunity. The only problem with that is that I want to take all the classes. Since this is specifically a math program most of the students here are extremely good math students, some of the top math students in the country. That means the classes here are quite difficult. There some intro classes that aren't as hard, but its still much more intense than I could imagine any math classes at Calvin. Sitting in these classes is a bit intimidating because I do not feel like one of the top students in the country, and thus I would consider myself to be one of the slower students here. It is still an exciting thought that I'm here. Since I will be taking these really challenging math classes, it means that I will learn an amazing amount of material. Though since the classes are so challenging, it means that I probably should limit how many classes I take. This will likely be academically my hardest semester of college.
This week I sat in on 7 different classes for 27 hours this week. Additionally one other class I want to take was canceled for this week. It's going to be a hard choice trying to choose what classes to take, right now I want to take them all!
Other highlights of the week included visiting the Renyi Institute of Mathematics here in Budapest on Thursday afternoon to watch a movie. The Movie was about Paul Erdős, probably the most famous Hungarian Mathematician ever. In his career he authored almost 1500 mathematics papers. It was very interesting to watch the movie that told the personal story of this Hungarian Mathematics legend.
This last Wednesday Greg and I went to eat dinner at a Chinese restaurant near our house. It was a really good place, and very local. A place where no tourist would go. No one at the restaurant spoke English. While eating Greg and I were talking to eachother when a random man asked us in perfect English where we learned to speak English so well. It turns out that he was actually from Chicago and has two houses, once in Budapest and one in Chicago. That was a very interesting encounter.
All the classes were really interesting. There is such a wide variety of math classes I can take here, which is very exciting. Most of the classes here are classes that I wouldn't be able to take at Calvin, which presents me with a very cool opportunity. The only problem with that is that I want to take all the classes. Since this is specifically a math program most of the students here are extremely good math students, some of the top math students in the country. That means the classes here are quite difficult. There some intro classes that aren't as hard, but its still much more intense than I could imagine any math classes at Calvin. Sitting in these classes is a bit intimidating because I do not feel like one of the top students in the country, and thus I would consider myself to be one of the slower students here. It is still an exciting thought that I'm here. Since I will be taking these really challenging math classes, it means that I will learn an amazing amount of material. Though since the classes are so challenging, it means that I probably should limit how many classes I take. This will likely be academically my hardest semester of college.
This week I sat in on 7 different classes for 27 hours this week. Additionally one other class I want to take was canceled for this week. It's going to be a hard choice trying to choose what classes to take, right now I want to take them all!
Other highlights of the week included visiting the Renyi Institute of Mathematics here in Budapest on Thursday afternoon to watch a movie. The Movie was about Paul Erdős, probably the most famous Hungarian Mathematician ever. In his career he authored almost 1500 mathematics papers. It was very interesting to watch the movie that told the personal story of this Hungarian Mathematics legend.
This last Wednesday Greg and I went to eat dinner at a Chinese restaurant near our house. It was a really good place, and very local. A place where no tourist would go. No one at the restaurant spoke English. While eating Greg and I were talking to eachother when a random man asked us in perfect English where we learned to speak English so well. It turns out that he was actually from Chicago and has two houses, once in Budapest and one in Chicago. That was a very interesting encounter.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Free time
Tuesday was the last day of Language class. As soon as the language class was finished I headed to the college to meet people to take a cruise on the Danube River. Everyone who will be taking classes in the building we will be in was there. I guess there is an international college that uses the same building for classes. The cruise was really cool, we got to see most of the riverfront on the entire city. Budapest truly is a beautiful city. We passed by the really cool looking parliament building a couple times, went under the chain bridge, passed by the Buda Castle and everything else that is visible from the river. That was certainly quite an experience.
Tuesday was also Greg's first day in Budapest. It was good to see him again. Now I have a roommate and do not have to live alone. I really enjoy that. There is someone else in this house that I can communicate with.
On Wednesday we went to the immigration office to apply for residency permits. It was a lot less stressful than I thought it would be, but it did still take a considerable amount of time. The process went pretty smoothly for me without any problems which was good. The really interesting thing was that while we were over there I met the students from the Calvin Hungary semester. They were doing the exact same thing we were doing. It was fun meeting up with other Calvin students. After the immigration office we went out to eat lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Budapest. We found a nice small local place where no one spoke any English. They had pretty good for pretty cheap prices. The other interesting thing about the place was that after we ordered our food they served the food out on a plate and then put it in a microwave to heat it up! An interesting experience. The rest of the day was filled with wandering through the city.
On Thursday Greg and I went up to the Castle District in Budapest. We got some sweet views of the city and got to see some really old buildings. It was a really interesting place to walk around.
Friday we went to St. Stephen's Basilica. That was quite the building I must say. The ceilings were enormously tall, and there was a lot of stain glass windows and other very fancy decorations. We also got to go to a room in the back and saw a box that actually contained St. Steven's right hand. I didn't get a good enough view to be able to say I saw much. Then that afternoon we went to Hero's square and then walked all around a large and beautiful city park in the area. Then that evening we went back to St. Stephen's Basilica for a professional organ concert. It was a beautiful concert. The spectacular venue combined with the amazing skill that the organist had made it quite an unforgettable concert.
Then on Saturday we went to the National Museum and learned a lot about Hungary's history and saw many artifacts. After that we found a festival on the south side of town and stopped by there for a little while. That was also a very interesting cultural experience.
Tuesday was also Greg's first day in Budapest. It was good to see him again. Now I have a roommate and do not have to live alone. I really enjoy that. There is someone else in this house that I can communicate with.
On Wednesday we went to the immigration office to apply for residency permits. It was a lot less stressful than I thought it would be, but it did still take a considerable amount of time. The process went pretty smoothly for me without any problems which was good. The really interesting thing was that while we were over there I met the students from the Calvin Hungary semester. They were doing the exact same thing we were doing. It was fun meeting up with other Calvin students. After the immigration office we went out to eat lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Budapest. We found a nice small local place where no one spoke any English. They had pretty good for pretty cheap prices. The other interesting thing about the place was that after we ordered our food they served the food out on a plate and then put it in a microwave to heat it up! An interesting experience. The rest of the day was filled with wandering through the city.
On Thursday Greg and I went up to the Castle District in Budapest. We got some sweet views of the city and got to see some really old buildings. It was a really interesting place to walk around.
Friday we went to St. Stephen's Basilica. That was quite the building I must say. The ceilings were enormously tall, and there was a lot of stain glass windows and other very fancy decorations. We also got to go to a room in the back and saw a box that actually contained St. Steven's right hand. I didn't get a good enough view to be able to say I saw much. Then that afternoon we went to Hero's square and then walked all around a large and beautiful city park in the area. Then that evening we went back to St. Stephen's Basilica for a professional organ concert. It was a beautiful concert. The spectacular venue combined with the amazing skill that the organist had made it quite an unforgettable concert.
Then on Saturday we went to the National Museum and learned a lot about Hungary's history and saw many artifacts. After that we found a festival on the south side of town and stopped by there for a little while. That was also a very interesting cultural experience.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)