Pictures, pictures and more!
March 30, 2007
Hello!
I have uploaded many, many photos so check them out! I have made many albums from my various travels and such, but I have also made some “topic” sets (e.g. my favorite pictures, pictures of people, art, etc).
So to view Budapest, my travels and topics albums separately, go here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/webmoof/collections/
To view all my albums, go here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/webmoof/sets/
I am leaving for Greece for spring break today, so I will write a very quick cultural email. I will be going to the islands Santorini and Ios first, then onto Athens and Delphi.
Well, it turned out I didn’t do so well on my math midterms. A maturing mathemagician can only do so many tricks. Also, I’ve decided that I don’t want to do anything related to math after college. I will definitely use my math skills, but I have no extended interest in theory. I enjoy math on a more elementary level.
So what have I been up to? Besides math…
![My 21st birthday in Szentendre[bday]](images/szent1.jpg)
Since last time I wrote (about a month ago), I had my 21st birthday, where I celebrated with others on the program. On my birthday I went to the artist community Szentendre. It’s a really nice town and I went to a fascinating museum of the works of the best Hungarian potter.
The next weekend was extended because of the Hungarian Independence day. I went to Prague, so I missed the riots. Some BSMers went to the riots and got tear gassed. I sort of wish I would have been there for the excitement. But I did lots of cool things in Prague. I saw the opera “La Traviata”, went to the contemporary art museum, which has a lot of great works, I signed my name on the graffiti wall, I ate some Czech sausage, I walked a lot, I saw public nudity (and in the Opera too—crazy Italians…in both cases), I toured some synagogues and the Jewish ghetto, I went to the top spire of St. Vitus Cathedral (287 steps!) and I went to a monastery museum. The coolest thing was the astronomical clock, which is one of the most beautiful clocks I’ve seen. My favorite part of Prague is that the pedestrians have power. If you take one step into a crosswalk, all of the cars will stop for you. Prague was also one of the only places where Mozart was well-received and the opera “Don Giovanni” premiered in Prague. So, the people of Prague have since thought that they have better taste in classical music. But that doesn’t explain why there were concerts almost every night featuring “The Four Seasons” or “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”. I guess that’s what the tourists want—like the Gypsies in Budapest. The major down side to Prague is the tourism…It’s nice to be back in Budapest, where there aren’t nearly as many tourists.
In Budapest last week, I saw the opera “Aida”, I saw the president of Greece, and I saw the movie “300” in a Hungarian theater. I also went to a Hungarian folk fare. I also went to the West Balkans club, which is my favorite club so far. That night there was a famous New Zealander techno artist playing, and it’s a really fun atmosphere. These clubs buy abandoned-looking buildings and the clubs look really sketchy inside, but that’s part of the fun. I also heard some gypsy music at a place where lots of college students hang out. Six people from my program ended up coming, randomly.
Last weekend I went on a hiking trip with my Combinatorics professor. Our whole class was invited, but I was the only one who showed up! So I went with him, his girlfriend and five people from Wooster Polytechnical Institute. We went hiking in the mountains near the Danube bend and it was a great experience. I had a chance to talk to him about grade-school math in Hungary. Hungarian schools seem to concentrate more on algebra, while the US seems to concentrate more on analysis (i.e. working our way up to calculus). He also said that Hungary is the best in “elementary math”, but for more advanced math, the universities have to recruit people from the US. By elementary, he meant Number Theory and Combinatorics, which are by no means elementary, but I suppose they aren’t as specialized as some fields.
Two days ago I went to the National Gallery in Budapest (in the Castle) and I saw lots of great Hungarian works. Vern—I saw the painting of Jesus giving the sermon on the mount to Romanian peasant workers—very interesting.
One observation: when English-speakers speak English to a Hungarian they speak English in a Hungarian-like accent as if speaking in an accent will make the English clearer. We also use words that are too simple. Also, I’ve learned that Hungarians who speak English know much more about the grammar and the correct usage of words compared to us. They know the language, but they don’t know how to break the rules of the language like we do. It’s funny when they say something that’s just slightly off or when a word has a slightly different meaning than what they intended. But then if I think that’s funny, they must think it’s hilarious when I try to speak Hungarian.
Oh, and I apologize for the many lists and lack of prose.
I need to pack! Enjoy the pictures.
Daniel