Culture shock and reminiscence...

Gratitude 51

I am thankful for safe travels home and being home for Christmas. :)

So...I know this is past the weekend, but it's been a jumble around here. (Plus, the internet here is as slower than a snail! I arrived back into the States safe and sound late Friday night (Eastern time) after about 24 hours of travel.

We left the Institute at 5am (Hungary time...11pm Thursday in Eastern time) and Robi took us to the airport. It was harder than I thought to say goodbye. But I knew I'd be back, too. I sat in the Budapest airport for a quite awhile then had a crazy time trying to check...they had different itineraries for me than I had. Then, since the Budapest airport was still on strike, I had to drag all of my luggage to a different terminal to check it in separately. Miraculously, I did not have to pay overload charges on my luggage! (But earlier in the morning, I had to leave unnecessary stuff at the Institute. Oh the joys of packing!)

Waiting in the long, winding line for customs, I met a nice American couple who were teachers in an international school in Budapest. They have been living there for 8 years. The weather in Frankfurt was apparently awful, so we sat on the runway for nearly an hour before taking off. Didn't really bother me...I took a nap...amazing how easily you can fall asleep on a plane in an upright position when you have slept only an hour and a half the night before and had many late study nights previous! I should have missed my connector flight overseas to D.C. becuase we were late arriving, however it was an hour late leaving, too. I didn't have the most comfortable of seats on the long plane ride, but it was alright. It was quite an interesting time, though....I had a Mormon missionary on my right side...haha!...oh boy!...and a cute little German lady on my left. She was so sweet. The conversations with the Mormon boy, though, were...interesting to say the least!

Once in D.C., I found customs to be a ridiculous joke. They pretty much just looked briefly at my passport and let me walk right through. Really? Convenient, yes, but really? You'd think in the nation's capital they'd be the strictest. Guess not! I wanted to be bumped on the earlier flight to Cleveland since I was there in time, so I ran to that gate, but it ended up full. I got some food and camped out at my gate for four hours. It wasn't too bad, though. I made a few phone calls and sorted pictures on my computer. Nem baj. My friend Crystal picked me up in Cleveland, and I stayed at her flat for the night, since I got in so late.

Being in the States felt so weird. I'm still having some trouble adjusting. It's not necessarily bad here (although I know I am not the most pro-America person)...it's just very different between here and there. I knew reverse culture shock would happen, but you can never anticipate what it'll be like. On my flight to Cleveland, I sat next to this nice man, and we chatted about our travels. He had been in Budapest a month prior, and we were discussing the difference in life. I told him I didn't really experience any big "culture shock" going there because I was prepared for it but coming back I didn't know. He put it well when he said, "Yeah, you were prepared to go there...but you weren't prepared for coming back because you didn't know how and how much you would grow, so that is the adjustment that'll be hard." It's true. I've grown so much...more than I could have ever anticipated. It's wonderful but makes adjustment different.

I turned my cell phone on when we landed in D.C. and was kind of confused. Ridiculous, I know, but I haven't had one for four months. I am still forgetting where I put it or leaving it on the counter when we leave. I noticed how much of a nuisance mobile phones can be, but they are convenient for when you need quick contact.

Then, I pulled a twenty dollar bill out of my pocket to pay for a bottle of water and wasn't sure what to do with it. That sounds completely stupid, but I was honestly confused. It was not a 1000 forint note or a bunch of coins, so it was something I really hadn't looked at in four months. I think the kid behind the counter just thought I was completely psycho when it took me a minute to hand it over to him. It is strange having to reprogram your mind of prices and how the money works. I remember how much trouble I had with that when I got to Hungary, not understanding the huge amounts. American money all looks the same. It's not all different colors. Weird.

I am having a really hard time with the not speaking Hungarian or having to think so much to have what I need to say understood. Odd, yes, but I very much enjoyed that challenge and learning the language. When I got into the States, everyone kept giving me weird looks when I answered them...then I realized I was giving them the automatic answers in Hungarian. Oops! It's just become habit, but apparently they don't appreciate that around here. haha!

I finally met my nephew on Saturday night. He's still so little! Nagyon aranyos! So adorable! :) And such a happy baby! My sister and the baby were snowed in here until yesterday. (Yay snow!!! I wish it had snowed in Kecskemét while I was there!!) They are coming over again tonight and spending the night, so they'll be here for Christmas morning! How exciting!

Now for a bit of reminiscence of my last few days in Hungary...

Tuesday was my Solfege exam. I felt quite well-prepared, but I always get nervous right before anyway. Agi was in there because apparently there is supposed to be a second person in the exams. After the very long exam, Klára spoke with each of us individually, giving us an idea of our grades and giving some commentary. She was very pleased with my progress this semester, but of course, there is much work still to be done. We also discussed some work I can do in preparation for when I return for more studies in a year and a half.

I had a lesson with János in the afternoon as normal. It went quite well. He's a very good teacher for me.

Then, I had my last conducting class. I have made quite a lot of progress in that subject! I said my "Viszlát" to Zoltán, since he would not be in again before I left. He realized I was the only one in the class that would not be returning for the next semester, but I told him not to fret because he'd see me again soon.

Tuesday night was a mad dash to make sure I had all the information I could learned for my General Music Literature exam in the morning...the one I had gotten the hand-out for on Friday, didn't have all the materials or information, the library was closed, and I had to learn it all in four days, while everyone else had till mid-January. Yeah, I kind of freaked, but it actually turned out to be my best exam.

It was Mihály, Zita, and myself, since I was the only one who needed to take it then. Zita was the second person. She was hilarious! She kept telling me, "Nyugi, Samantha!" which means "relax" and cracking jokes the whole time. haha! I ended up having to do everything orally, which meant I didn't get to write about what I knew about the listening examples but had to verbally formulate the words on the spot. Eeek! When Mihály turned his back, Zita whispered, "Don't worry...I'll help if you need it!" haha! Oh, Zita! I was on a roll, though, whipping out information so quick, I don't think Mihály could process it fast enough. haha! However, then he started asking me questions we hadn't even touched upon in class. I had not a clue, so I told him so. He handed me a book and told me to look up something, saying it'd help me out....it had the answers right there on the page! haha! Then, he was asking me the country origins of different words that described styles. Again, we never learned any of this. How was I supposed to know. It went kind of like this:

Mihály's question

Me: Italy...? (figuring that was a somewhat educated guess)

Mihály: No...there are three peninsulas off of Europe, but that is not the one I'm looking for...

Me: umm...

Zita (whispering to me across the table): Spain.

Me: How about Spain?

Mihály: Yes, that's correct.

Gotta love the ridiculousness! Guess it just goes to prove that they were right when they said they would push and pull me as far as they could through the whole semester but would also be there to catch me before I fell. :)

The rest of Wednesday was crazy studying for my three exams on Thursday morning...Hungarian music literature, Folk music, and Methodology. So much information! But I did them all and to the best of my ability. That's all I could do.

In the evening on Wednesday as a short break from studying, we went to Tom and Yolanda's flat for a little Christmas party, where we ate lots of cookies, had a white elephant gift exchange, and sang Christmas carols...in various languages.

For our last Solfege lesson on Thursday, we met only briefly and listened to a Bach Christmas cantata. Nagyon szép! Very lovely! Then, I chatted with Klára about some books she had mentioned I should work out of to keep up with my solfege work.

Before my last chamber lesson, I was trying to finish up my packing and succeeded in smacking my head on my marble window ledge in my room. Nice. Needless to say, I had a nice gooseache and walked into my lesson a half hour later with an ice pack on my head. My singing was not at all the grandest (I imagine my deprivation of sleep had some impact on that!), but I got some great last-minute imput on my Hungarian pieces.

Later in the afternoon, I had my finally lesson with János. :( It was awful, which was upsetting on top of the upset of it being the last lesson with him for now. I told him I would be back soon, and he said, "Why wouldn't you? It's a wonderful place...and Hungary is in the center of the world!" haha! Not sure how true that last statement is, but I have grown rather fond of it, and already miss it greatly.

Many of us went out to dinner Thursday night at a nice little restaurant and were also going to go out later that night but never ended up going. (Thursday nights in Kecskemét are not the most "happening," either.) Instead, we hung out in the kitchen, played some cards, and made apple-cinnamon pancakes at 1am. None of us really slept much that night, but that's okay...that's what the plane rides were for! haha! :)

Boldog Karácsonyt kivánok! :)

(I wish you a merry Christmas!)

Saying Viszontlatásra to Magyaroszag...

Gratitude 50

Hungarians make me smile! I love them! And I am so grateful for the opportunity to spend this semester abroad.

Today was my last lesson with János. :( A last chamber music lesson. A last Hungarian lesson. And three gigantic exams began the day. (Needless to say, sleep has been minimal this week! Yesterday I had a large exam, too.)

A few short hours from now, I shall be heading to Budapest to begin my crazy trek home in time for Christmas. I am excited to go home and see family...and my puppy Rafiki! hehe! But the "good-byes" are always far harder than you ever can anticipate. I've grown rather found of this place...Hungary...the Institute. I feel like its another place I can call "home" now. And why is it that when things all begin to click it is time for transition again? (I can only imagine what "culture shock" returning to the States will be like after four months abroad.)

This time over here has been AMAZING!! The music has changed for me...in such an incredible way. It has become something far more special; it means more than ever to me. I am so blessed to have had these wonderful experiences. :) And made incredible friendships that I hope will last a lifetime over. I am already looking forward to my return in the not-so-distant future.

I shall post some tidbits from my last few days here and tales from my certain to be crazy travel experiences...as they always are!...sometime over the weekend. :)

Gratitude 49

I am thankful for laughter in the midst of stress. :) Life is amazing like that.

Putting faces to some names...

I ought to be studying for my exams, but I thought I'd grab a few moments away and post a few pictures from last evening. However, I can only ever post five pictures to a post...I need to find a way that I can post more...I hate choosing!

I've been throwing names all over my posts and didn't always have faces to add to them, so here are a few. I have so many people to thank for all I've learned, accomplished, studied, discovered, etc., here. I have grown so much, and owe a million "Köszönöm szépens" to those people. :) Their guidance, support, encouragement, incredible teaching, and constructive critiques when I needed to be told things like, "This is how it is, and this is how it needs to be..." or "No, Samantha, that was wrong. Még egyszer. (Do it again.)" have been wonderful, priceless gifts.

Sun Xing from China and I...she's been teaching me Chinese...but I can only say "Good morning," "Good," and "Yes"...I think it's more difficult than Hungarian!

Clare from Iroszag (Ireland) and I
(Our Hungarian teacher Agi in the background)

The infamous Orsolya and I...this woman has actually gotten me to practice piano and enjoy playing! It's a miracle! haha!

Clare, Zoltán, and Asia from Poland

(Katrin...this is how I imagine a "musical" Martin...you know...the one you don't have to trick into going to an opera! haha!...he doesn't look like him, but his mannerisms and speech remind me very much of Martin. haha!)

And, of course, the infamous János...such an odd but brilliant fellow! haha!

So yesterday, as I've already said, was great. The concert went well and was fun, as was our little celebration following. The kitchen was crazy this weekend with everyone preparing yummy food and desserts. Lots of excitement and craziness ensued the Institute yet again! haha! It was all worth it, though. :)

Gratitude 48

I am thankful for an amazing night and wonderful Christmas concert. Kind of on Cloud 9 right now. Nagyon boldog vagyok. I am very happy. It went very well. A csitari, despite the awful rehearsal, was brilliant. Nagyon jó! :) Pictures and a few stories to come... Oh! and I heard a new snail joke tonight! haha! Amazing!

(And everyone loved "Gram's cookies"...)

Gratitude 46...and a lot of catching up...

I am thankful for snail jokes. ;)

Wow! I am so far behind on posts. I must apologize. It seems that as things become shorter, more and more work appears. I shall do my best to remember what's happened...plus, this blog also acts as a sort of "travel journal" of my time abroad (because, unfortunately, my memory is far from perfect and cannot remember everything I'd like it to!).

Tomorrow evening is the annual Christmas concert/party. :) How exciting! I will be singing Kodály's setting of A csitari hegyek alatt, a Hungarian folk melody. Beautiful piece! Nagyon szép! It makes me ask every time, "This is a folk song?! Really? Are you sure? Biztos?" (Plus, Kodály had to insert several high A-flats in it...obviously intentionally arranged for soprano...)

Today, I baked cookies...Gram's recipe...butter balls (aka snowball cookies)...for the party tomorrow. They turned out superb! Yay! It was crazy trying to find what I needed this morning. Oy! Baking in another country! However...note to self for future events...butter balls are the cookie to make when trying to bake somewhere where they don't typically have marshmallows or peanut butter! They're perfect

Okay...blasting back to the past...waaayy back... (This is an extremely long post, so happy reading! haha!)

Not too much sticks out to me since my last real post. Wednesday morning (Dec. 3rd), Marika was in my room cleaning, and I walked in with my cup of tea ready to set to work for the day. She speaks only Hungarian, so whenever we talk, it's Samantha-make-up-some-Hungarian time. haha! She is so cute, though! I love her! So nice! She came over to my computer, which has a picture of my nephew on the desktop and pointed saying, "Ah! Nagyon szép! Nagyon aranyos!" And then something, which I made out that she was asking if he was mine! I replied, "NEM! NEM! NEM! NEM! Csak 21 éves! Nem most!! 10 év!" ("NO! I'm only 21! Not now! [Another] 10 years!") She laughed, and I grabbed my dictionary looking up the word for sister! haha!

On Thursday, Dec. 4th, I snuck off to Budapest with Christa, Jong-sup, Clare, and Asia to see Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte at the Palace of the Arts. Amazing building! Incredible voices! Phenomenal orchestra! They went specifically to see Iván Fischer, the conductor...he's one of the best from what they tell me. I went for the voices. I was so tired, so it was a fight to stay awake, but the music was absolutely fantastic! So glad I went. Was a little upset that I had to be pulled from my voice lesson before we were through because of the traffic to Budapest. I ended up as the last lesson of the day, and János would have given me probably an hour, which I could have greatly used, so I was frustrated. But, oh well. That's life I suppose.

Last Saturday (Dec. 6th), I made Christmas cookies with Top and Sun Xing...Gram's infamous cut-out cookies. Such fun! Sun Xing had never baked before! I couldn't believe it! But apparently, ovens are not very common in China...only stove tops. Interesting. She was so cute!

It was a crazy adventure...and not much real work got done that day...oops! haha! When we were nearly done, we called Gram on Skype. Asia and Sun Xing talked to her, and we showed her our makings. It was funny. I said at one point when I was having difficulties conquering the icing, "Gram, come help...this is a big mess!" And she said, "Okay, I'll be right there." For some reason, Sun Xing thought that was the funniest thing. And the two of them just so excited about talking to my Gram. haha!

The whole weekend was a wonderful Kecskeméti hétvege, though. Quiet and relaxing. I really do like this lovely little town. :) It might not have as much "excitement" as Budapest, but it has such wonderful charm.

(Gratitude 47...I love the bells that ring every hour...even though they begin at the crack of dawn and interupt solfege lesson...I find them absolutely charming...I shall miss them...although I can sing the Kecskeméti tune in solfa now!...I had to learn it for my Hungarian Music Literature exam coming up this Thursday.)

Monday (Dec. 8th), we observed to fourth grade at the Iskola for the last time. Our final observation this coming Monday will be a peak into the seventh grade.

Tuesday had a little extra excitement. I had been asked to sing the Kodály piece (above mentioned) for some invited guests in the concert hall. I didn't really know who or what the whole thing was for, but it was fun. I found out later from Lászlo, the director of the Institute, that it was mostly cultural "leaders" of Kecskemét...I guess he wants to organize events with them and get everyone more involved in life in and out of the Institute and around Kecskemét. Go him! :) I was so honored to be asked to sing...and to sing a Kodály piece in Kodály's "place" I guess you could say...the place created in honor of him based on his musical foundational ideas and in his hometown. It puts a whole new perspective on the music when you are where it began. It becomes sometime very special and real. How incredible! So many times in these past months have I felt, both here in Hungary and in my travels during this time, an overwhelming feeling of "walking on musical history". It's just awe-inspiring. It's like I said before I left the states, I am going back where it all began...that in itself is a precious gem that impacts your own musical experience in no other way possible. :)

Anyway, it went brilliantly! It was a little unnerving at first to be singing in Hungarian to a bunch of Hungarians, but it was fine. I enjoyed myself. Because the event was scheduled in the afternoon very near my voice lesson time, János and I felt it best I try and switch lessons with someone, so it would not be interfered with. However, much to my dismay, the only time I could switch with someone was at 10am! UGH! But it was fine. And I am glad I saw him before the performance. That made me the first lesson of the day, though, and when I arrived at the room, he was not there yet. I thought at first that perhaps I had the wrong room. He came after a couple of minutes to find me doodling a mind game on the chalkboard he'd taught me the previous week. He didn't know I was going to be there instead of the girl who normally has the lesson, and I think I confused him. I said, "Surprise! :P You get to begin your day with me! Aren't you excited?! haha!" And of course, his first question is, " Have you sang already today?" (Even at 4:30pm he asks me this...) I said, "Eh...kicsit..." (A little...I hate singing in the morning!) He made me sing something and gave me this face like "A little?!" It is a very rare occasion for me to walk into my lesson having not sang or began warming up, but I still didn't feel warmed up. I was just afraid he was going to make me sing the stratispheric Mozart!

János joke of the day: "Relax your tongue...like a dead snail!" hahaha! (except it's far better when he then impersonates the dead snail!)

Conducting in the late afternoon went well, too. (Sorry...Tuesday was quite a big day!) We began 3/4 meter conducting, and I was up first. I think I'm finally getting the hang of this conducting thing! haha! Zoltán told an amazing cheesy tree joke, too. Love it!

After class and a bit of dinner, I decided to go out for a short walk and pick up a few things from the store. On my way out, I ran into János and Zita. Before I even got out a "Jó estét", János came up beside me and said, "So...how was?!" in reference to the performance earlier in the day. I said, "Nagyon jó! Very good!" He was pleased to hear so and congratulated me. :) (Before my performance, I was sitting on a window ledge outside the concert hall, and he walked by, reminding me of "the point" and then started doing Tai Chi...crazy man!) I left them saying, "Sétalni megyek", which means, "I am going for a walk." It had been such a great day that I was in an incredible mood.

My walk was splendid! Such a lovely night! To get the store, I had to walk through the Christmas markets. At one of the vendors, I found this lovely necklace, which I ended up purchasing. Then, as I beneath the glittering lights along the way, I heard Bing Crosby's White Christmas begin to play through the square. It was such an amazing moment! (Gratitude 48) Perhaps, it was just the mood I was in, but everything just held this beautiful magic.

Of course, my incredible mood had a bit of a slump later that evening when I found out that Chadwick will be out of town on the scheduled date of my recital! :( I was very upset! However, we shall worry about that when I return to Capital in a few weeks. For now, it's not important to worry about.

Wednesday, Lászlo thanked us for performing the previous day. How nice of him! He gave us a Kodály CD (of course it'd be Kodály! haha!) that is actually performed by Roland, János, and some other lady who used to teach here. Crazy. It was cool, though. Lászlo's really nice, but I shall never forget our first encounter during my entrance exams! Jaj! We had a bit of a battle about how to use solfa for sight-singing. haha! It is very humorous looking back, but in the moment, it was kind of traumatic. haha!

My piano lessons with Orsolya are never dull! Always craziness ensues! I love her, though! She always has the most random analogies, too! Love it! haha! I get so tense when I play piano, though...I just don't trust my fingers to hit the correct keys. However, I am sooo much better at piano than I was when I got here! It's amazing what actually practicing piano can do! haha! I have never practiced piano so much in my entire life! It's good, though. I need to make big strides in my piano. It's very important.

Thursday was an up-and-down day. It didn't start out so grand beginning with folk music. I am really worried about that exam... Solfege went pretty well. It was our last real class. For some reason, I was excellent at picking pitches from the tuning fork...that doesn't always happen so much. Not complaining, though. However, I don't know how well that'll happen in the exam on Tuesday! And for once, I am not really worried about a solfege exam. I feel fine. Not nervous. I've already played/sang most everything for Klára already, so it'll be fine. I think it helps, too, being comfortable with your teacher. She's been a great help. Need to concentrate on my sight-singing and memorized melodies a little more, though. This "inner hearing" thing...yeah...still having trouble grasping that concept, ridiculously enough.

In Methodology, I had to teach a song by rote, which I think will be very helpful when I am teaching a studio. That went well...although she still believes I want to be a classroom teacher....umm...nem!

Chamber music with Roland went quite well. He always manages to say something to upset or irritate me, but this Thursday not so much. It was very productive and mostly positive and constructive criticism.

My lesson with János...AMAZING!!! Although nagyon faradt (very tired), I was quite peppy. I somehow found some energy in me. I am not exactly sure how it happened, but I was making BIG sounds! It was so cool! I understood and knew the difference between "before" and "after". It was incredible! (However, yesterday it wasn't entirely there, and today...not at all...very upsetting and frustrating!) He made some alien reference about an octopus coming out of an eggshell and suctioning to my face or something. I don't really have any idea what he was talking about. I guess it was some movie. But I did what he was asking somehow. I just need to figure out how to do it without him "holding my hand", guiding me step by step and reminding me every ten seconds. That's the real dilemma. It'll get there, though.

Thursday night, a few of us decided to go to the cinema to get away for a bit. It was fun, but the movie we saw was absolutely terrible! Such a wonderful image it portrayed of the States! Not!

Friday (yesterday), was just an "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-good, Very Bad Day" type of day. It began with General Music Literature, where I received the paper on the exam...which I take on this coming Wednesday! (Everyone else takes it when they return in January.) Yeah...I was not a very happy camper. Like four days to prepare? ha! And I found out at about a quarter past noon that I did not even have all the information or materials for this exam. I ran downstairs mumbling a few curse words to find out how long the library was open...and of course it closed at noon for the day! I guess that tipped me over the edge, and I just burst into tears in the middle of the hall. I found Asia later, and she luckily had the materials I needed. However, I was still extremely upset. I still have no idea how I'm going to pull all of this off. Then, I got an email that just made me angry and more upset. Thankfully, I didn't have to conduct in conducting class because I wasn't ready. But then in the evening, we had rehearsal for the Sunday concert. Ugh! That was terrible! I was so upset with my performance. Oh, how I hope the theory of "bad rehearsal, good performance" holds true for Sunday evening. Roland didn't say anything to me, but I know how dreadful it was. It was just so off, and I know that piece so much better than that. But Friday is over! And we're on to a new day!

Well, I guess that's pretty much life right now. Quite a long, rambling post, but it was much overdue. I'll get some pictures of the concert and party tomorrow and hopefully post them Monday. I leave Hungary on Friday! So soon! :( I shall return in the near future, though. Budapest airport on strike right now for some reason. Wondering if it'll be over by Friday... I'll be home for Christmas, though. :) I hope it snows here before I leave!!!

Gratitude 45

I am thankful for quiet weekends in Kecskemét and Christmas cookie baking! :)


Unfortunately, the internet here is in a state of chaos, so for now, this will have to do. Perhaps later tonight or tomorrow, I can fix this up with some photos and a proper update. It's been quite an eventful few days...well eventful for everyday life anyway! :)

Yay Christmas Season!!! :)

Gratitude 44

I am thankful for the beauty of Christmas time. The lights, the snow (except that's missing in Hungary right now), the jolly cheer, hearing holiday tunes as you walk down the street, all the festivities, the sweet smells of peppermint, cookies, gingerbread, and cinnamon, etc. I love it! :)

(Also, I've been here since the end of August with my camera and just now discovered Sunday night that I can play around with the pictures...edit, change color, add words/borders, etc. Go figure! haha! But hey, the color change in this photo actually makes it look like there is snow in Budapest...but there sadly is not.)

Continuing on...

Saturday was a glorious day in Budapest...despite the rain. Such a brilliant city! It was Wendy, Clare, her sister Mary, Hilary, Casey, and I that went. When we got off the train, we sang Christmas carols in the train station. haha! Yes, we are crazy, but it was great fun...and we made some people smile!

We went ice skating in the park by Heroes Square! Such fun! Cold but fantastic. I have always wanted to go to NYC in winter and skate in Rockefeller Center, but skating in a park in Budapest, Hungary with a castle behind you and a grand monument in front of you...yeah, that's pretty sweet. :) Wendy had never been ice skating before! Crazy I thought! But then again, she is from "down under" where it definitely doesn't get very cold.

Afterwards, we hopped on the Metro and found our way to the Christmas markets. How exciting! Just as Dr. Mathias said, they are awesome! So many things and pretty decorations and yummy food. We got a mug of hot mulled wine to warm us in the cold and wandered around the markets looking at all the vendors. It was definitely a great experience to see and so glad we went.

In the evening, Wendy, Hilary, and I returned to the markets for a bit. It was even more gorgeous lit up with the Christmas lights and trees and garland! :) I love Christmas time!!

We took the last train back to Kecskemét and were greeted by beautiful white Christmas lights glittering through the whole town square! Nagyon szép! So lovely! It had been the first day of the Kecskeméti Christmas markets. :)

Sunday was the day when I everything came crashing in my brain. I realized that I only have 2 1/2 weeks left and have to wrap everything up in that time. Let's just say, I'm currently slightly overwhelmed. And stressed. And frustrated. Had a bit of a freak out. All will be well, though. Just lots to think about.

I took a walk around the Christmas markets in the town square and found the most amazing gift for my dad. hehe! It's brilliant! Quite excited. ;)

Today, I was just not ready for anything, but I made it through. We had a Hungarian music literature exam, which Sun-Xing and I had stayed up really late studying for the past two nights because it was the only time we had to work on it. Ugh! I don't do late nights and early mornings so well. I need my beauty sleep. haha! The exam went well, though, I think. Nothing horrible.

Solfege was not as successful, but semmi baj. It'll get there. Klára sensed the frustrations and stress and nerves. I arrived back to class after our break before the others, and her and I had a short chat, which made me feel a little better.

My voice lesson was not so great on the singing level. At least, I didn't feel so personally. János asked if I was tired. (It's never good when your teacher asks you that.) I was tired. My voice was tired. Not enough sleep. Stress. It all influences how you sound. However, I think it was a good lesson on a different note. I was really frustrated, and we talked a lot about it, why I was, what it was, how it was, and really started to pinpoint the difficulties I was having. We're making some great progress. There's just not enough time... So frustrating.

Apparently, I'm making strides in conducting, as Zoltán seemed pleased...but then I think he started to get frustrated as I kept not being able to fix what he was asking. He remained very light-hearted through it all, though. (I think he was afraid of a repeat incident of a few weeks ago. haha! I needn't worry, though, I don't think. Talking with him helped...and helped him realize how much trouble I was having.)

Sun-Xing and I went to dinner at the River Pub tonight because, again, neither of us wanted to cook, and our brains were on overload. When we came back, I caught János before he left to discuss what to sing on the Christmas concert. This shall be interesting...

Now, I am off to bed. Crazy day of work to do tomorrow. (But I'll probably sneak out to the Christmas markets for a bit...) Piano lesson in the morning...

The whirlwind of life lately...

You remember when you were a little kid, and you would spin around and around in circles till you were so dizzy you toppled over? That's been life...at least the past few days. So much to do! And I leave in two and a half weeks! So soon! My brain needs a short rest, so I decided I'd try to catch up a bit. Been getting limited sleep lately, though, so I am going to try to hit the pillow early tonight.


Blast to the past...


It snowed on Monday (Nov. 24)!!! For about an hour...then it turned to rain. :( I want snow! Mounds and mounds of fluffy white decorating the town in a glitterly frost! However, it was beautiful for those few minutes.




Last Tuesday was a typical crazy Tuesday. However, I had switched voice lessons with Caitlin, so I had an hour lesson on Tuesday rather than a 1/2 hour on each day. Plus, Zoltán was not there in the afternoon, so no conducting!

My lesson went pretty well. And the most amazing part...János finally gave a somewhat literal definition to "the point"! Incredible! (But only after I was so frustrated with trying to find "the point" that I gave him a disgruntled look and asked what exactly this point that is never defined really is.)




Wednesday, I had to take the train to Szeged to straighten out my residency permit/visa papers. Agi could not come with me, so I went on my own. Piece of cake. Hop on the train. *do-do-do* Take the bus across town. *do-do-do* Go to the immigration office. *do-do-do* Hop back on a train to go home. This traveling thing is nothing. haha! (Of course, just a few months ago, it was the scariest thing! haha!) The trip went so smoothly, too. I was kind of shocked. When I got to Szeged, I took the bus Agi had instructed me to take, and the bus driver was super nice. I told him where I needed to go, and he made sure I knew where everything was along the way and that I got off at the right stop. Once I knew I was on the right bus, I knew where I needed to get off, but he was so sweet about it, being so helpful. The moment I saw he had fuzzy little puppy stuffed animals on his dashboard, I knew he had to be the softy Papa-type. haha! I ended up getting there about a 1/2 hour too early, and they would not let me in, so I took a walk down the street towards one of the big main squares of town. I found a lovely little pedestrian-only area and a little confectionary rightly titled "A cappella" where I got a pastry and a tea. Then, I made my way back to the immigration office taking a different route and WITHOUT using my map! (I guess my sense of direction is getting better!) At the office, I had to wait a bit but only about 30 or so minutes, and then it took them approximately four minutes to stick a sticker in my passport and have me sign a couple of papers. Then I headed back to Kecskemét where I had my pile of work waiting that had yet to be touched since I had to take that last minute trip. Nem baj. I was somehow ready for Thursday.


Thursday was Thanksgiving! Woohoo! We had a big feast planned at the Institute that evening, but we had to get thru classes first. In solfege, I got all of my dictations correct! But I didn't believe they were right until Klára confirmed it...in response, she said, "Nagyon jó, Samantha! How much you've progressed! But our work definitely is not finished if you don't believe/know for yourself that it is correct." True. We'll get there someday. I have discovered that I really don't trust myself to give the correct answer or that I know how to do something. I'm a work in progress.

Our turkey feast was amazing! (Gratitude 43) It was really neat to share our holiday with so many other cultures. And so much food!

Friday, I had double conducting (to make up for Zoltán's absense on Tuesday). Other than that, I accomplished very little work. My brain was on Friday mode. Nem jó. In the evening, Sun-Xing and I decided to cook dinner together because neither one of us wanted to cook, so we thought we'd suffer together. haha! Later, we just needed to get away from the Institute for a short time, so a bunch of us went out for a bit.

Saturday morning, we caught an early train to Budapest for a day of ice skating and a visit to the Christmas markets!