on passports, sweden, slovakia, etc. 30 September, 2005

Today’s big news: I fly out of Ferihegy (the BP airport) at 7 tonight for Sweden(!!!). I’m meeting up in Stockholm with my friend Ashley, from Pomona, since we both have a friday with no class. As a lucky coincidence, this is also the first of three nights of the Swedish Beer, Whiskey, and Cider [...]

a welcome change 27 September, 2005

I’ve always felt that American construction crews have a reputation for not doing much while on the job. For every guy digging a hole in the street, you have two people holding signs, for every hour paving, there are two hours spent laying out cones in the road, etc. Well, I have to tell you: [...]

some tags around town 27 September, 2005

It may just be because we spend most of our time in what could be called downtown Budapest, but it seems like most available surfaces are to some extent covered in graffiti. Some of it is fairly artistic and well-rendered (like the pedestrian underpass in Szentendre, which is almost like a collaborative mural), while some [...]

some facts (but not too many) 22 September, 2005

So i went out and bought a new monthly transit pass yesterday, alerting me to the scary fact that i’ve already been here a month. In that time, i’ve learned a surprising amount about europe, math, and me, i managed to update people about what was going on about two and a half times, and [...]

Budapest: Diva of the Duna (danube) 20 September, 2005

… So goes the subtitle of the Lonely Planet guide to the city. The question that came first to my mind was, “How long did it take them to come up with that one?” Closely followed by, “Did whoever think of it get paid? And if so, how much?” And even though Lonely Planet writes [...]

Getting around in Budapest 14 September, 2005

… hopefully, a sparklingly witty examination of it, but I’ll settle for interesting.
First, I have to say that, in general, I’ve been enjoying things here. A lot of stuff is cheaper, particularly food and drinks other than water, the people in the program are cool, and after an initial week of unseasonal rain, the weather [...]