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Hi, everybody!
This week we started the "math" part of "Budapest
Semesters in Math."
This was the first week of the 3-week preregistration period, when
everyone sits in on as many classes as they want to, before officially
registering for the classes. I sat in on the 4 classes for which
I "preregistered" before I came to Hungary, plus a few others.
I will
definitely be taking a Hungarian language class; Conjecture and Proof,
a class unique to BSM that takes examples from all areas of math and
focuses on improving our ability to find and write proofs (today we
proved that a winning strategy exists for the "Divisor Game,"
even
though no one knows what the winning strategy is); Number Theory 2; and
Topics in Analysis, which is an introduction to real analysis. This
last class is more dry than my other ones, but I'm dedicated to taking
it because I haven't studied real analysis yet, and it will be very
helpful for graduate school. I'm still undecided about Topology and
Combinatorics; they look like they're going to be very interesting
classes, but I'm not sure I want to take 4 math classes plus Hungarian,
and I definitely don't want to take 5--I want to have time to explore
Hungary, too!
The schedule of classes here is kind of wacky. Our classes meet
twice
a week for 2 hours each time (actually 2 45-minute periods with 15
minute breaks), but not always at the same time of day. Topology
meets
at 8am on Tuesday and 10am on Thursday; Number Theory meets at 10am on
Wednesday and 8am on Friday. Some classes are Monday-Wednesday,
some
are Monday-Thursday, and so on. It makes me long for Carleton's
simple
1a, 2-3c system! Also, there's no scheduled lunch break, so if you
have a class at 10 and 12 on a given day, the 15-minute break is your
only chance for lunch. I bought a loaf of bread and a jar of
Nutella
for such occasions.
Despite the packed schedule of classes, I've had time for fun &
culture. Last Saturday, Mai Anh and I took a 45-minute train ride
to
Szentendre, a town just north of Budapest. There, we met up with
Xiang, a friend of David Fang-Yen's from London last year. The
three
of us visited an open-air ethnographical museum, which had replicas of
traditional houses and shops from different areas of Hungary. It
was
like Plymouth Plantation (if you've been there) without the people in
costume. Unfortunately, without explanatory plaques or tour guides,
I
couldn't really tell the difference between the architecture and
decorational styles of the Great Hungarian Plain versus the Balaton
Uplands, for example.
After visiting the museum, Xiang left to meet some of her other
friends, and Mai Anh and I explored Szentendre. We strolled along
the
Danube and visited the Kovacs Margit Museum, which contains all sorts
of ceramic art by one artist (Margit Kovacs). However, I thought
the
most impressive thing was something far less highbrow: The Marcipan
Museum. This is a small museum above a candy shop, and it features
the
most amazing sculptures made of marzipan and chocolate. We saw a model
of the Hungarian Parliament building; busts of famous Hungarians;
scenes from Snow White and from The Little Mermaid; the Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles; even a life-size statue of Michael Jackson.
On Monday, Melody and I went to the Operett Szinhaz to see a klezmer
music and dance performance that was part of the Jewish Summer
Festival. We didn't count on how popular it was going to be!
There
were no tickets left when we arrived half an hour before the show.
I
bought a ticket from a girl who had an extra one; at $15 it was on the
expensive side, but it was a really nice seat. Melody couldn't find
a
ticket to buy, but after I had gone in the theater, as they were
closing the doors, an usher came up to her and said, "Hey, are you
willing to sit on the floor?" and led her up to some stairs on the
balcony, so she got to watch for free!
The show was great. The dancers were very talented and athletic.
The
dances all seemed to portray stories, although I couldn't always figure
out what the story was, or what was Jewish about it. I enjoyed the
music, too; I had never been to a klezmer concert before.
Last night Stephanie Jakus, the other girl who lives in my host family,
and I went over to the apartment of Alethea and Amanda. Alethea is
Stephanie's friend from Smith College, and she lived in my host family
for a day at the beginning of the program, but wanted to live in an
apartment, so she moved. Stephanie cooked dal, the Indian dish with
legumes and peas and other vegetables. She had to improvise a bit,
since Alethea and Amanda's apartment didn't have a blender. So she
put
the chopped onions and garlic in 3 plastic bags and mashed them with an
aluminum can. She complained that the finished product was
"too
crunchy," but I thought it was delicious. Along with the dal,
we had
bread, peach juice, and cookies that Alethea made out of a simple pie
crust recipe. It was very nice to have a home-cooked meal instead
of
eating dinner in a restaurant!
So, that's my news. I hope you are all doing well!
Viszlat!
Abra
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