September in Hungary

Hey!! 

So I have been here for a month! Its been INSANE!! i don’t know how to explain how much has happened. Since I last wrote a lot of things have changed. It is the end of September, so the weather is a lot cooler, but is still in the teens everyday for the most part. There has been a few rainy days as well, and the rain here isn’t heavy, but continuous. 

When school started I was super nervous, but the kids in my class were really nice to me! Being in the Bilingual class also helped, because I was able to start talking to some kids that were pretty good in English. So far not much has happened though. Classes are 45 minutes long and I have either 6 or 7 in a day. Sometimes the days can seem super long!! During the Hungarian classes I can’t understand a thing and I have nothing to do! Sometimes I write a letter, or listen to music, other times I read my “teach yourself Hungarian” book and try to comprehend what its saying. I will admit there have been classes where I have fallen asleep. :P But I try not to. In my English classes it is way easier to pass the time because I am at least able to understand what they are saying! The kids in my classes are really sweet, and do whatever they can to help me, make me feel included, and do whatever they can to ease the pain of my boredom. Its really sweet of them! Volleyball has also started in my school, but since its an Academic and Drama school, no one really plays sports. So its a very simple, small, sort of recreational program after school on Mondays and Wednesdays. But hey, its better than nothing! 

Every Tuesday I meet up with my fellow exchangers that live here in Debrecen and we do something for a couple of hours before our Rotary meetings. Its fun hanging out with them and I can tell that we are going to be great friends in no time! :) 

Thursdays I have also started a Spinning class with some classmates and two of the girls on exchange here too. Its really fun and a lot of work! So maybe, just maybe, I won’t get fat while I’m here!! :P Kira and I also go bike riding after school almost every day that its nice out and if I’m not home too late. 

Hungarian is still extremely difficult. I can understand some pieces of conversations now, but I can still only speak small phrases and sentences. My host family is doing their best to help me learn by speaking Hungarian to me, but there is only so much I can understand without a proper teacher. On that note, we are supposed to be starting Hungarian lessons at the University sometime in October and so I am really looking forward to that! 

Other than that, life here is starting to become a routine. I know how to get around in the city using all the methods of public transport! (and I’ve only been lost a couple of times :P) I’m pretty much completely used to the food and know what is my favorites and what to stay away from. I have got my own cell phone, bus pass, etc and so I feel like I am part of this place more and more all of the time. 

In other news, I was able to travel to Budapest on the 10th, 11th, and 12th of September to meet all of the other inbound exchange students that are here in Hungary. There is 37 of us in total. I am the one and only lonely Canadian however. It seems that almost EVERYONE else is either from Brazil, or the United States! It was a lot of fun though!! 

They are all really fun and interesting kids and I really hope to be able to see some of them more often. The next time we will meet will be the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of October when we will travel to Venice together!! :) I am super excited about this trip and hope we all have a great time! 

So even though I have spent so much time doing so many new things and meeting so many new people, I still manage to find the time to feel homesick. Every now and then I start to feel really down, and I need to remind myself that this is an experience that not very many other kids get. Its hard sometimes though, especially on the nights when you just can’t sleep. Or the the lonely afternoons  (during class) and the evenings when I just want to talk to my parents and my brothers. There have been times when all I want is to be back in Canada, and I miss it sooo much. But if I keep myself busy, try not to spend very much time alone, and look forward to the next cool thing I have planned, then things get better. The worst phase for me so far was right around day 10. There was about 3 days that I felt absolutely horrible and just wanted to cry all day, but I got over it soon and since then it only gets better all of the time. So, needless to say this exchange so far has been really hard at times, but it has also been the most amazing thing that I have ever had the chance to do and I will NEVER regret my decision to come here! 

I will hopefully have another update for everyone sooner this time! It will be easier to condense my thoughts if I can do it every couple of weeks or so :P.

Until then! . . .I’m thinking of you all!