New Sights: 2015

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

What I Miss About America

After 100 days in Hungary, I’ve started to miss things that I never thought I would. I’m not talking about Doritos and Netflix, though I do miss them dearly. I’m talking about the deep stuff. Here are three things that I miss about America.

1. 1. Diversity

There is diversity among the Hungarian people; it’s not like they all look the same, but being here has really opened my eyes about the diversity I took for granted. I’m used to hearing last names from all over the world and seeing people from different ethnic backgrounds. Here, when you see someone who obviously isn’t Hungarian, they stand out. Note: I am in a small town away from the capital. In Budapest, there is some more diversity, but still not much.

2. 2. The Competitive Spirit

Growing up with three siblings makes it nearly impossible to not be competitive. At least, in America. I play a car racing game with my 10 year old host brother and every time his car passes mine, he apologizes. He even apologizes when I crash (I’m not that bad) and offers to restart the game. He’s not the only one with this attitude. I feel like no one really wants to win or maybe, they just want to have a fun, fair competition. Another similar thing I’ve noticed is that there is less cheating here. I was playing a game with my classmates and I remember thinking “this would never work back home. It would be too easy to cheat.” While I don’t miss the cheating, I do miss a good competition without an apology for winning.

And the thing I miss the most about America is . . .

3. 3. More freedom of gender expression

Hungary seems a bit old school to me gender wise. Mostly, the men drive and do the hard labor and the women do the cooking and house work (though there is some variation). I am okay with that. The problem I’m having is with the younger generation. I am the only girl in the school with hair too short to pull into a ponytail. 90% of the girls have either nail polish or fake nails, and they always dress fashionably. No girls ever just wear just jeans and a t-shirt, (which is all I brought). The girls here are girly and I’m having a hard time fitting in. In America, not doing these things doesn’t have as much of an impact – it just means you’re a little tomboyish. Here, that isn’t an option. You are either a girl or a boy and I’m not girly enough to fit into the girl category. I’m not even talking about more extreme gender issues, I’m just talking about being a little tomboyish.

This list is not meant to bash Hungary or their ideas. I just feel so grateful that I was raised in a place where thing like diversity and gender expression are the way they are. Maybe we can learn a little something about competition, though.

-Alina

Monday, October 19, 2015

The Austro-Hungarian Empire

What a weekend! I got up on Friday morning like it was a regular school day, but instead of going to school, I got on a bus and headed to Budapest. I met up with some of the other exchange students a few hours later and eventually, when everyone arrived, we all got on a bus and started our journey to Vienna. Bus rides are so much fun with exchange students. We were singing and playing guitar together and some people didn’t even notice when we crossed the border.

In Vienna, Bécs (baych) in Hungarian and Wien in German, we check into our hostel and met up with the Austrian inbounds. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was united once again! Empire might even be the right word; together we numbered over 120.

We dressed up real fancy and headed to the opera. It was a funny Midsummer Night’s Dream style love story about a rich widow in Paris. I was all in German, but there was a giant screen with English text above the stage, telling us the gist of each scene instead of trying to translate each line. I really like it. I loved the story and the music was amazing.

The next morning, we headed over to the Austrian Parliament building with the Austrians. We took a million pictures and then headed inside where we took a million more pictures.

We were allowed half an hour to walk around, which was not even close to enough time, before we all went to lunch. I tried really hard to talk to the Austrian inbounds and get to know them. Lunch was a great opportunity to do that. We only got a day with them, but I made the most of that time.

After lunch, we went to the most beautiful church I have ever been in. We, all 120-some of us, walked through in stunned silence and took pictures.

Then, we went to the palace.

We took the non-guided audio tour and had plenty of time to explore the surrounding gardens.

We said goodbye to the Austrians and got on the bus back to Hungary. We arrived in Sopron and ate dinner at the hostel before being let loose in the city, with a curfew of midnight. We saw what we could, but almost everything was closed so late at night. I ended up back at the hostel with a small group around 10:30. I had a great time talking and eating snacks with them until the other group got back.

The next morning, we had breakfast and toured around Sopron. We visited the border between Hungary and Austria, right where the Iron Curtain was, and this spring water area. The water is supposed to be good for you, but it smells like rotten eggs and tastes worse. After a million pictures, (because that’s what exchange students do) we got back on the bus to head home.

The bus ride back to Budapest was the saddest thing I’ve ever been a part of. We dropped people off in small groups as we passed their cities and some were crying as we said goodbye. We’ve really become a family quickly.

I got off with a small group and boarded my bus back to Szekszárd on my own. That was almost as sad as getting on the plane to Hungary on my own. It was really that sad.

I made it home around 8:30 at night and spent a long time telling my host family about my weekend.

I wish we had more time, but I had a great time in Vienna and Sopron. I saw new sights, met new people, and took millions of pictures.