stories from melis

LOL Barbra Streisand!

I was out the other night and walked by some bar that was playing the infamous song “Barbra Streisand” by Duck Sauce. I usually cringe when I hear this song. I don’t like it much, if at all. But, on this occassion, it made me giggle as I was swept back in time…

During my AIESEC exchange, Antony and I decided to go to Bratislava. Actually, I simply said, “Hey do you want to go to Bratislava? But we have to watch Eurotrip first, then go.” Ant’s reply, “Yea, I’m keen.” After a Wednesday movie night watching Eurotrip, we planned our weekend getaway to BRATISLAVA. And that weekend of the 22-23 January 2011, well… we went to Bratislava…

How does this have anything to do with Barbra Streisand?

Well, during the whole time we were in Bratislava, we heard this song at every bar/club we went to!!! To the point where this song is now my memory jogger for my trip to Bratislava!

[FYI] Bratislava. You cannot live there with a few American dollars like the kids do in Eurotrip. Not that we ever thought this movie was based on anything more than nonsense humour. Nonetheless, we can dream. ;)

The old town in Bratis was quite pretty. The castle - overrated. All this can be covered well within a day.

For dinner we ate at the Slovak Pub. It was here that I accidently ate the hottest paprika in my life! Outcome: I cried. Later, we did a round of drinking at different bars/clubs and partied hard at “The Club” - after consuming the Green Fairy of course!

Barbra Streisand woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo… Barbra Streisand woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo….

Stage 3: Irritability and Hostility

I’m sitting on the couch with little much else to do today. My internet is ridiculously slow. And it’s raining. So it’s a gloomy day in Auckland.

Auckland. (A sadface follows). I’ve been back in Auckland for a week now. Unbelievable. I studied pyschology so I know about things like Culture Shock and Reverse Culture Shock. I have fallen prey to both these things before on my previous exchange.

And still Reverse Culture Shock finds me. Traps me. (Turtles are slow. Easy captures. But I’m not a turtle.)

In diagnosing myself, I’d say I’m at Stage 3: Irritability and Hostility. Despite a week of catching up with family and friends, I (still) feel depressed and alone. Now don’t take this the wrong way, I have really enjoyed spending time with them a lot and it was great to find out what they have been up to and share my travels and adventures with them…BUT…there is a kind of sadness/emptiness (maybe other rEPs feel this feeling too?). A feeling of unfeelingness?!

[It’s like] I’m a stranger in my own home country… I am frustrated and critical of NZ culture right now, of how simple life is here, of how unexciting and laidback it is, and of how shops and eateries shut-down so early in the evenings! I have felt so disorientated over these past few days, as if I have lost my way. A different kind of lost, not the exhilerating and exciting kind I felt in Europe! Although family and friends have told me ‘nothing much’ has changed, (some) things have. Nothing much in NZ is not nothing much. (Great example is the L&P ad. Awesome ad by the way!)

I have a longing to be back in Hungary, to be immersed in the local culture again and to be around people who have become good friends of mine. Even the turtle-ly ones. :P

As I write about this, I am taken back to some wonderful times I had in Hungary. I am remembering the time Antony and I went to Szentendre and Visegrad for a day. Both towns are on the Danube Bend and both are beautiful. At Szentendre Antony and I had some firsts. It was the first time Ant tried Goulash and it was the first time I tried Langos. Then in Visegrad, it was the first time we (I think) went hitchhiking - what a crazy ride that was! - but not without first seeing a most sublime sunset…

Of all the stages…Stage 3 is the most unpleasant don’t you think?! :(

Things I’ve Done So Far in…BUDAPEST!

In no particular order, because I am highly organised and wish to be crazy right now… :P (Yeah right…says those who know me :P)

1. Partied at Morrison’s Pub 2. Like every week I’ve been here. It’s an awesome club!! It’s one building with lots of different clubbing rooms playing different music. Then, in the centre of all the clubs is the Bar and on the second floor is the cloakroom! MEAN AS!

2. Enjoyed a fun ‘Welcome Party’ by AIESEC Hungary at Szoda. They gave us a welcome gift of paprika sausages and Palinka! :)

3. Drank Hot Wine at Szimpla Cafe (This one’s for you Delaney :P). It was Alex’s “Welcome Party” (he’s been here 2 months already, talk about delayed much lol).

4. Walked over the Chain Bridge and saw Buda District (the castle, church, fishermen’s bastion, etc…

5. Saw Parliament, Heroes Square, City Park, the cool Castle at City Park, St Stephens Basilica, etc… lol ok lots of Churchs and historic monuments and statues!!! They are everywhere in Budapest!!!

6. Walked along Andrassy Utca!

7. Have riden on every Metro line (Blue, Red, and Yellow (the oldest underground in Central Europe). I have also tried Tram 4 and 6, the trolley buses, the much older trams, the night buses, the HEV, and a taxi.

8. Visited the “House of Terror” museum. Oooo so scary…well. No not really, it’s rather sad.

9. Went to IKEA for the first time. Swedish people you are so creative when it comes to designing a store! It has everything for the home. You can literally decorate your entire house with things from IKEA!!! AMAZING. LOL I only bought pink slippers, chocolate, and Salmon from there!

10. Eaten lots of Gyros!!!

11. Tried Goulash soup and TURO RUDI….both are SOOOO GOOD!!!

12. Had after work drinks with my fellow teachers at a local pub. (Where I tried my first shot of Palinka. It wasn’t so bad. However, it was with honey :P)

13. Drank Hot Wine at Instant Cafe. This is where we farewelled Henrique the Brazilian :(. He’s a cool dude!

14. Checked out the AIESEC BCE LC office. OMG!!! It is huge and so well furnished. It puts us to shame! They have their own mobile line and landline. Not to mention about 8 computers, an UPSTAIRS lounge and gizillions of filing cabinents!

15. Raped the free WIFI at McDs (but sometimes I’d do BK too). I got caught out once. Security forced me to buy something from McDs else they would kick me out! This day I had my first Cappuccino from McDs! :(

16. Outdoor ice-skating with AIESECers after drinking Hot Wine and doing shots of homemade Peach Palinka!! Super fun! lol Especially in the state we were in. Afterwards, I was left with this horrible blister!!! It is still healing now.

17. Went shopping at West End and bought nothing lol. Clothes are expensive here :(

18. Spent way way too many hours at Vodafone sorting out my prepaid stuff!!! At one point I got barred and couldn’t contact my friends that I was meeting up with at Morrisons! For those who know Morrisons you know how impossible it is to find someone! Thank goodness a Brazilian found me and simply asked if I was from NZ lol. Then, took me to my friend :) He is an ‘Angel’ ay Heloise? hehe. Stupid Vodafone in Hungary!!! So much paper work!

19. Nailed the Metro and underground like a local getting me to work in 12 minutes!

20. Shared the love of (or hate for) Marmite with my students and fellow teachers. I also got them to try Pineapple Lumps and Jaffas which they really liked!

21. Went to MOM Park Palace Cinemas and watched ‘Love and Other Drugs’ (in English of course! :P). Oh how dreamy Jake is… :) It is actually hard to find cinemas here that will play the film in English. Most are dubbed over with Hungarian and WITHOUT any subtitles!!! This was also the night I had a mini adventure because I missed all the last Metros/trams for the night and had to work out how to use the night buses. Thank you Gabor for helping me out at even at 1.30am in the morning! (I felt awful because I know you were going to have an exam in the morning that day.) This is also the day I got sick!

22. Suffered an intolerable cold for a week and a half. At its high point, I actually lost my voice whilst teaching a class. So embarassing!!! I could really use some hot honey lemon tea… Anyone wanna come over and bring me some?! :P

23. Saw a fashion show with some AIESECers at Creol. The dresses were really pretty then they turned Gaga LOL - so much more interesting. There we enjoyed free drinks (lemon+vodka, but it was more like just lemon!). AND If its free take two. So I got another one. Though, a trainee said to me that its really…”If its free take three!” Hahaha I shall remember that for next time! :)

24. I went shopping at Central Market with Antony. The biggest indoor market. Things are cheaper here then in the supermarket :P They had lots of stalls of fruit and veges, meat and paprika, seafood and pickled cabbage, and a floor full of souvenirs!

25. Watched snow falling from the sky for the first time (in Budapest). It was so magical. :)

26. Met lots of AIESECers from around the world and made lots of new friends. :)

Ahhhhh I <3 BUDAPEST!!!

Firstly, I’m officially one of the worst bloggers ever. I am still such a newbie at this and have not yet caught the buzz of blogging every moment of my life! (This is not a bad thing.)

I wrote a post for Cosmo - the school - a couple of weeks ago. And I will share it with you here. :)

My First Week at School.

What a fantastic first week in Budapest and at Cosmopolitan Language School.

On my very first visit to Cosmopolitan, I was greeted with warm smiles and with kisses to both my right and left cheeks. This kind of greeting was new to me and I felt a little strange about it at first. But now, I welcome it. Where I am from, we simply say “Hello” and shake hands.

In meeting my colleagues, I was not nervous, but rather excited. I found them all to be very friendly and helpful. Also, Tivadar is a really great boss, he is always checking on how things are with me and if I need any help or anything. I liked it here already and I had not even started my lessons.:)

My very first lesson with the students last Wednesday went really well. We even went over time by 40 minutes! The students participated heaps.  They had lots of questions for me during my presentation and at the end of it. It was great! Each student also presented to me about their own life and the many amazing places one can visit in Hungary. I really enjoyed all the presentations.

Every lesson I have visited so far has been just wonderful. All the students have been very participative and welcoming towards me. In each lesson, there has been a lot of cultural learning, English speaking, and laughter! A common question I got was, “Have you tried Palinka?” LOL. Thanks to the students, I now know what this is and hope to try it while I’m in Hungary!

I have learned a lot about Hungary from the students and their presentations. I now know more about what things to see and do while I am here in Hungary. I want to see places like Lake Balaton, St Stephen’s Basilica, Margaret Island, the towns along the Danube Bend, Debrecen, and Eger, etc. Also, I want to try Bull’s Blood wine and Tokaji wine. And… I want to relax in a thermal bath!

I must mention that by the end of the week I got a cold – I guess my body was still getting use to the very cold weather here! I wish to apologise to the students who endured my lesson where my voice almost stopped because of my sore throat.  I am truly sorry for this. Today I am feeling a lot better. :)

Also, during the week, there were two sweet students who gave me some TURO RUDI to try. Thank you. J I really liked it. Who knew cottage cheese could taste sooo good?! So good, that I went out and bought a handful of them at the supermarket!

Speaking of trying food, on Wednesday 13^th, I brought to school some famous Kiwi spread and sweets for the students to try.  The spread was called ‘Marmite’ and the sweets were called ‘Pineapple Lumps’ and ‘Jaffas’. Of these, Marmite was the most interesting.  Michael (the American) was the first to try it. Within seconds he was saying his two favourite words! Oh, if only I had video recorded that moment when Michael tried the Marmite! It was hilarious. The rest of the students tried it. They firstly tried it in a traditional Marmite and Chips sandwich. This yielded positive feedback. But, when they tried it alone…well, they could not help but simply describe it as “strange”, “salty”, and “disgusting.” Hahaha… That’s Marmite for you. You either ‘Love it or Hate it.’ I still need to get all the teachers to try it!

As for the Pineapple Lumps and Jaffas, the students really liked eating them! They said these sweets tasted a lot better than Marmite!

Anyway, next week I will be starting my optional lessons and private lessons. I look forward to seeing the students then and in speaking with them in English!