The end of BSM

So yesterday was the last official day of BSM. We had our farewell party, took group photos, got our transcripts, and popped champagne. I'd like to say that it was an emotional event for all of us... but I'd be lying. Most of us couldn't wait to get out of there. First, it was super hot in the room -- everyone was sweaty and gross by the end. Second, they said it started at 4 -- we didn't start getting our transcripts until about 4:45-4:50. Third, most of us are staying a few additional days so it wasn't really goodbye for a lot of us. That being said, I had a moderately pleasant time. I got my transcript and was so stunned that I had to sit on the floor. Film: A Philosophy: A- Combinatorics: A Dynamics and Bifurcations: A-. I just KNEW going in that I was going to get a B in D&B, my first college B, so when that A- popped up I was shocked but so incredibly happy.

Now these last few days in Budapest are getting spent doing all of the things in Budapest that one is supposed to do: the baths, wine tasting, visiting Gellert Hill. Need to keep busy to distract myself from being sad that I'm leaving friends very soon.

126 days down 9 to go

My final BSM final is happening in 2 days. While I will be very excited to finally finish up my classes, I will also be very sad that this experience is almost over. Sure, there have been intense periods of time where I have thought that this was the worse decision of my life, I suck at math, why did I leave my friends, etc. But, there have also been times where I've been so happy to be abroad, living on my own, experiencing new foods and cultures, getting to travel around Europe, making friends that I'll get to visit around the States. For as much as I've hated myself academically this semester, I certainly don't regret this experience. I know I am better for coming here... maybe not mathematically like I had intended but as a person. That's what I'm taking away from this experience. I'm going to go home and things are going to be different. I've got some tough choices ahead of me, but I'm happy and I'm going to make the most of these final days.

Let's hope this Combinatorics final doesn't eat me alive.

Too brain dead to come up with a spiffy title

I have started to write this blog about 4 times now. It’s been a busy few weeks and weekends and I just never got around to finishing it. The reason I get to do this today is because 1) I’m taking a study break and 2) I had a dream last night that my friend Misty yelled at me for not having written anything in such a long time. So, today I write.

Things are wrapping up here. I’ve got my Dynamics and Bifurcations final exam tomorrow at 8 a.m., my final paper for film is due on Tuesday when I take my final exam for that class as well. Wednesday my philosophy final exam/essays are due in addition to the usual homework assignment. Thankfully, I’ll be able to breathe a little after Wednesday since my Combinatorics final isn’t until the following Tuesday.

For nonschool stuffs, it seems that most of my friends here all have birthdays in May. So, there have been a number of nights out celebrating with them. There have also been a number of days where groups of us have gotten together and gone out to eat. Thai, Chinese, Italian, oh yeah, and Hungarian. When you spend about $6-7 on a nice, sit down meal, you can afford to do it often. I don’t know how we’re going to survive when we get back to the States. We’ll probably all be broke within a week.

So yeah. It’s exam time. Wake up, study, eat lunch, study, take a break on facebook for an hour so you don’t go insane, study, eat dinner, study, sleep if you’re that confident in your abilities. Wake up, take the final, accept your first college B and finally move on with your life.

It's the Final Countdown

Today is May 1^st. May freaking 1^st and my time in Budapest is nearing an end. Information about final projects and papers is being distributed. Dates are being set for exams. Emails are being sent about final colloquiums and transcripts. Everywhere I look, I am being told that the end of this study abroad experience is near.

As a result, we are all trying to cram in as much time and fun with each other as possible. This past week, we went out dancing; there was a birthday party; we met for hot chocolate; we marathon-ed the last four episodes of Dexter Season 2; we went out to dinner; we went to someone’s apartment and just hung out. There’s been so much people time (and so little mathematics time :D) because there’s so little time left. Sure, we all know that some of us will keep in touch (Ah, the wonders of facebook) but we’re also very aware that most of us will drift apart and never see each other again. To be together in this way, that’s never going to happen again, so we’re trying to make the most of it.

Various Hang out Pics:

<-- This one was while we were supposed to be working on our Combinatorics Extra Credit...

^     These were at Luis Diego's Birthday Party    ^

Mid Spring Break

I like to write a blog once every 7-8 days. This time I’m a little late, I know, but it’s been a very busy week and a half. Last Tuesday, Angie, Clara, Ethan, and I went to see La Bohème at the Hungarian State Opera House. The opera is, of course, in Italian and the subtitles were in Hungarian. So, we all did a little research beforehand so that we could figure out what was going on during the performance. I had never been to an opera before. My favorite part was listening to the orchestra. It was definitely an experience that I am happy to have had.

My Spring Break technically started on Thursday after my combinatorics class let out, since I have no classes on Fridays. So Thursday night, my roommates, a few others, and I went to see “Kings on Ice” in Budapest. We got to see a variety of ice skaters including Evgeni Plushenko! It was fantastic! I must admit that watching some of the performances made me nervous. There’s no way I’d be brave enough to do a back hand spring on ice.

Yeah… this either. ^^ I mean come on… that takes serious skill. It was an amazing night and a ton of fun.

Then, as if my week wasn't awesome enough already, Friday and Saturday, Keith, Francisco, and I went to Lake Balaton in Hungary. We biked about 30 miles on Saturday around a part of the lake. And let me tell you, it was worth the pain I was in after it was all said and done. The lake was so beautiful!

Now, it’s Wednesday of my Spring Break and I’ve been doing little things around Budapest: taking the metro to new parts of the city, going out a couple of nights with different friends, etc. I went to this amazing hot chocolate place with Michael last night and tried a mint hot chocolate. It was real mint and it was delicious. Plus, this hot chocolate isn’t like hot chocolate that you normally think of. It’s literally liquefied chocolate. I’m pretty certain that having this molten chocolate drink has ruined all hot chocolates for me after this.

So that’s how I’ve spent the last week and a half and a good chunk of my Spring Break. I still have another 5 days too and I’m definitely looking forward to them.

Live and Let Live

You would think that having only 4 classes and school Tuesday-Thursday would be a blast. Let me tell you... it gets old. When everyone else is still in class AND you've already gotten caught up on all of your regular tv shows [and started a few new ones], you can get a little bored. Thankfully, however, I found many things to take up that free time and keep this week from being a total drag.

Angie, Clara, Melinda, and I had coffee with our topology/knot theory teacher from the summer math program that we did last year. She was visiting her daughter who is also in this program and took the time to hang out with us for a while before she went back to France. I restarted a sudoku puzzle 4 times. Normally, I would have moved on to something else by now, but I don't exactly have that option this time. Michael and I went to the only Starbucks in Budapest that we've been able to find and I had a most delicious raspberry mocha frap. Francisco, Nikole, Keith, Angie and I went exploring a park near our apartments. We found 2 playgrounds and had fun acting like little kids again. Clara took me and Angie (and a few others) to a Thai place. Thai was a new experience for me and I absolutely loved it! Finally, a huge group of us climbed up to Gellert hill at night. It overlooks the Danube and the city. We had a blast just forgetting about math for a while and enjoying the view and each others company.

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty fantastic and unboring week. Hopefully, next week will be as good.

Life is no Nintendo Game

Midterms are officially over! Well, for me they are. Some of my friends still have a few to freak out over. What can I say about these past two weeks of stress and sleepless nights? They were terrible. Studying is not only boring, but when you finally do see something that you have no clue how to even start, you panic, at least temporarily. But it’s a necessary evil if you want to do well, I suppose.

Which I did, or so I think. My film midterm was amazingly easy. It was like “Do you listen to what I say in class? Prove it and you’ll get an A.” My philosophy midterm was two short essays, one on Berlin’s Two Concepts of Liberty and the other on Plato’s Gorgias, so that wasn’t particularly stressful. Also, I think I rocked my dynamics and bifurcations midterm. I definitely had the major concepts right, but I probably messed up little details. Finally, my combinatorics midterm killed me, but I suppose you can’t win everything. Good news is extra credit is being offered.

But now that period of stress is over and I can move on to goofing off and being unproductive again. Last night, to distract Angie from studying for her midterm, (I know. I’m a horrible person.) she and I did a little karaoke and then decided to make our own music video. Oh yeah. This is what we nerds do when we get bored. We rap/sing to Eminem and Rihanna’s Love the Way you Lie.

Guess who was Eminem...