The Highlights of October

Considering that I have spent the last eight months with reading, swimming, some scribbling and a lot of general hanging out, October was quite eventful for me. This is one of my favorite months of the year, as the days are still quite sunny and light, the weather mostly warm and autumn is the most beautiful in its full bloom.

for the love of autumn

"don't you love new york in the fall? it makes me wanna buy school supplies. i would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if i knew your name and address."

 if you don't know where that quote came from you should be ashamed of yourself watch this very movie asap. alas, i don't belong to those lucky who get to spend the fall in new york, but still, the season is quite pretty in my neck of the woods as well.

In the Past Two Weeks

...life has gotten a lot busier than it had been in the previous months. I have started (or at least tried) to worry  less, enjoy life again, hanging out and going out with friends more, exploring the city, attending exhibitions, going to the cinema, roaming the streets, seizing the day, you know.:)

• Where the hell is Matt was in town and we went to see him. My friends danced along with the enormous crowd that gathered at Halászbástya, while I did the photographing part.

• Then on our way home, as we were walking down to Moszkva tér from the castle, we bumped into a huge container with a massive bunch of books in it, all left behind and abandoned. Poor old, abandoned books! We stopped right there, without the slightest doubt crossing our minds, Zsö jumped into the bin and we dug in... Then the best, most interesting volumes we carried home with us. I still wonder why would anyone throw out their books in such a fashion? Why didn't they put them in a cardboard box and leave them by the bin?

• As the weather has turned colder and more autumnish, I witnessed some really pretty, crispy, and foggy mornings. 

• Then one Saturday morning I went pumpkin hunting with my friend Csilla. We discovered a new market (well, the market itself isn't so new, but it is for us...) where they sell all sorts of marvellous Cserpes products. I am completely taken aback by Cserpes goodies, especially their Trudi and flavoured yogurts. I'll surely make almost-daily pilgrimages to the place. (Which is Cédrus Piac on Örs vezér tere.)

• Then once we put our hands on the most handsome pumpkin, we turned him into the most handsome jack-o-lantern, and named him Tóbiás. Unfortunately Tobiás has passed away since then, may him rest in peace. Still, he lived a short but utterly happy life, during which he was loved and admired by an entire floor of university students. Isn't he simply gorgeous?

 

• I discovered a new cafe with my friend Joci. Well, actually - just like in the case of the market - the place itself isn't so new, but it was a new experience for us. It's Szatyor on Bartók Béla street, which used to be Karinthy's haunt. It seemed like a lighter, a bit more sophisticated edition of Csendes. 

• I also went to Sugar Shop, the design confectionary around Oktogon, with my friends Meli and Anita, where we treated ourselves with some truly tastebud-watering and heavenly cakes. (This place definitely deserves its own post!)

• In the spirit of Halloween and as October was the month of the pumpkin, Meli and I made pumpkin pie, a delicacy I had wanted to try for a long time. Unfortunately it ended up being kind of a disappointment. No, actually, it was a definite disappointment. But I'm still not sure what went wrong: did I use the wrong kind of condensed milk? Did I use too little sugar or too much spicing? The taste just wasn't good, that's for sure.

• I went to see Into the Wild which is (one of) my favorite movie(s), but surely the most inspiring one I have ever seen. I admire it, but I hadn't seen it in the cinema, on the big screen yet. Every once in a while they do show it in random cinemas, but somehow I always let my last chance slip by. Well, this time, I didn't miss my chance. And how glad I am, I didn't! I still find Into the Wild an exceptionally beautiful, breathtaking film, not to mention its perfect soundtrack by Eddie Vedder.

photo via google images

• I also attended the Wold Press Photo exhibition in Néprajzi Múzeum. As you can assume I enjoy going to photo exhibitions, and this was a truly exceptional and inspiring one, grabbing attention and casting light on devastating natural disasters, catastrophies, and religious and civil wars that occured in the world in 2010. There were such tremendous and breathtaking photos that they even brought tears into my eyes. (There were some pretty funny ones too, as you can see from the photo below.)

photo via

• After the exhibition I took part in the demonstration against the new educational bill/law. It was the first demonstration I have ever attended or taken photos of. The whole event was completely peaceful and free of political manifestation; yet, I had been sort of nervous about the demonstration turning into a violent fight against the authorities. Luckily, it did not. Nevertheless, I feel know that I have to toughen it up if I ever want to become serious about photojournalism. Anyhow, let's hope that the demonstration will be effective, and the next generation will also have the chance to attend college without being punished for wanting to get an education.

• I had some new glasses made. Fortunately, my eyes did not get worse, I just got bored of my old rim. The pair I am getting is not the exact same pair as in the picture, but something very similar. (And please excuse that odd expression I am wearing on my face.) (A photo may come later.)
  
  And now all I need is the perfect red beret hat to be ready for winter.:)

          And snow, of course, snow. I need lots and lots of snow!

This Week...

...life has been turning back into normal, and I am slowly trying to settle into a daily routine. Apparently a whole lot of people have a sudden urge to learn a foreign language as school  year starts, they come flowing into our language school, filling not only our classrooms but my timetable too. Good for me.:)

The dorm has also filled up with life, there's most certainly a crowd and business now as people have moved back into their rooms,  public spirit and hiving have risen up and gone back into normal  after two months of emptiness and quiet in our dining room/lounge.

I'm also trying to enjoy the last warm days of summer (or is it indian summer already?), making the most of going out and walking the streets of the city until chilly winds and pouring rain chases me indoors.

In the spirit of seizing the day and having fun, this week we brought out the Never ending-and-ever-so-growing list we have with Zsö which is a sort of bucket list, containing a few places we want to visit, a few things we want to do, and a few things we would like to experience.

This week we managed to cross off two items from the list. Yay! The first was visiting and looking around at Római part. It was most certainly worth going, in fact, we should have already gone there a long time ago. The place has a completely different atmosphere than that of the river bank in downtown. There is a stoney beach where one can lie around, sunbath and enjoy a perfect summer day, there are children playing in the water or collecting shells, people walking their dogs and enjoying the view. It doesn't feel like Budapest at all.

This week I also watched the summer slowly fading into autumn, leaves losing their bright greenness and turning into colorful yellows and reds,

...while Zsö played with her set of pavement chalks on the concrete football pitch of our dorm.

I also shot some nice portraits, cause you know, it's all about people when it comes to photography.

Then on Thursday evening we crossed another item off of our list: we went to Jamie Winchester's concert, held on the square behind Corvin shopping mall. 

On Friday afternoon, on my way home to Miskolc, I had some time to fiddle at the railway station. Naturally, I got my camera out and started playing around with it. This time I was brave and went close enough to take a couple of photos of the grandpas forever playing chess right in front of platforms 7 and 8. Did you know that you can play a round of chess with them while waiting for your train? Obviously, as they provide entertainment, you have to pay a certain amount of money to them. Nevertheless, they make the station special, without a doubt.

I could not sit still on my butt at the weekend either, so I went through and through the streets of Miskolc. I bought a pair of nice blue sneakers. They will go perfectly with the thousand different shades of fallen leaves.:)

I also wandered back into the library, browsed their stacks for half an hour, then came out with the following books:

Yep, I started learning Norwegian. But that's really the topic of another post.:)

Treasure in the Cellar

As you can assume from the previous posts, I am home for the weekend, and I am spending today and tomorrow at my Grandma's. The weather has been getting a teeny bit chilly in this kneck of the woods, right now I am sipping a cup of marvellous Milford's Schneewalzer tea (it's called Hópelyhek tánca in Hungarian, isn't that simply splendid?) and wearing a pair of SOCKS. God only knows when was the last time I actually wore a pair of socks on my most certainly actual feet. It must have been some time around May. Or June, maybe?  Naaaay, it couldn't have been June, cause that month was hot as hell. Anyhow, I am almost cold, and I love the feeling of being almost cold. The sun has also completely gone A.W.O.L. today, nevertheless, I am having fun, enjoying the company of my darling Grandma and, mostly, playing with my camera and taking tons of photos of silly little nothings. (Then I upload them to my computer, take a closer look at them, and realize that I have taken a bunch of crappy photos again, and delete most of them.)

Most of the time I play the game of wandering around in and around the house, drifting from kisház to hosszúház, from shed to lathe, from ganary to pantry, from garage to cellar, from garden to courtyard*. I am looking for the tiny details I haven't discovered in the previous 24 (and a half) years, long-lost memories, stuff that has been lying around forever but needs to be rediscovered. Every now and then I do get lucky, and find some real treasure here and there. Today I wandered down to the cellar which has been used as a carpenter's workshop by my uncle, but we also store there various odds and ends. This time I rediscovered my grandma's old Singer sewing machine, or rather the desk that came with it and its beautiful wrought iron legs. The sewing machine itself has been long gone, but the desk has been around as long I can remember. But I never really payed attention to that fine wrought iron work. Such a shame it has been abandoned and corroding. It would make a perfect desk for me. It only needs a little bit of furbishing and a coat of paint, and it would be as good as new. I should get on the project, especially since my grandma is more than happy to give it to me, but I can't store it anywhere. Such a shame, such a shame.

I also found an old bottle with the label Rákóczi vodka on it, it was bottled in May, 1989. I never thought there has ever existed such a thing as Rákóczi vodka. It must have been real quality spirit.:)

Here's an assortment of photos from today. Enjoy! 

If all goes well, tomorrow I am going to see the búcsú, let's hope there will be at least a bit of sunshine, so I will be able to take nice & bright photos.

(*Is there a better word for udvar in English than courtyard? It is obviously AmE, but is there a BrE equivalent? I know there's the word garden, which in BrE we use not only in the sense of "the place where you grow vegetables and fruits" but in udvar sense too. However, what if I want to differenciate between udvar and kert? What words should I use then? I reckon they don't have two different words for the two areas/places. Unlike Hungarians, the English probably did not need to invent two different words for them, since agriculturally and socially Britain developed quite differently from Hungary.)

The Dog Days Are Over (Again)

source

In case you were wondering, I am back in Budapest, safe and sound, and not so homeless after all. Lucky me, I managed to find some sort of an accomodation in the dorm, let us call it health-room-turned-into-spare-room-for-those-broke-and-homeless. It does come with a proper bed, room for my stuff (well, a part of my stuff), internet connection, and a likewise-homeless room mate (and a door and a ceiling), which are kind of more than what I had expected. If nothing gets screwed up (fingers crossed), I can stay in this room until I will be taken back as a permanent resident at the very end of the month or in early October. Obviously, the sitation is not ideal, still, it's much much better than what I had anticipated, and I am perfectly satisfied with my temporary rooming. 

Things are also getting better at the language school, I have recently got a few new students to teach, the number of lessons I give a week is slowly growing and returning back to the more or less normal 10-12. As I have plenty of freetime on my hands, I would love to work more (never thought I would ever say that) and give at least 15-20 lessons per week, it would be absolutely ideal moneywise, but I don't think there is a very fat chance of that. So sooner or later, once I am a bit more settled in, and manage to maintain at least a sort-of-daily-routine, I will have to start looking for another job, probably at another langauge school. (Or maybe journalism? But I don't think I could squeeze any money out of it as a beginner/intern.) 

Anyway, the point is that I am glad I decided to stick it out here and did not run back home because of my cowardice. Apparently, being brave and taking risks do pay off, and if you really want something to work, you can make it work. You just have to toughen up a little, and pull a few strings here and there. 

I know I should not start counting my chickens until they are hatched, yet, I feel I can stop worrying now, because things are actually settling back into normal. Those liberating feelings of independence and freedom are slowly taking me over, and I am realizing that being an adult may not be so awful after all. I guess it's high time I actually started enjoying the first days of autumn. Anyhow, I have a grandma to visit, a búcsú to attend, and a million fascinating photos to take at the weekend, so let the good times roll again!

Welcome Back, Dear Autumn!

I have been looking forward to this time of the year for so long. I'm so glad you are back, but please please please be kind to me. I really need to survive you somehow, especially your first child September, you know, being homeless and all. It's so weird that I am not going back to school this year (or anymore) and there is no need to buy new stationeries.. Still,  I love you with all your colors and shades and crunchy leaves under my feet. I'm going to take so many pretty pictures of you, I promise.

Love,

A

Budapest on a Crispy Monday Morning

Today I had to wake up rather early, at 6.30AM which for most of the people is nothing special, but my classes at the uni don't start until mid/late morning, so I usually don't get out of bed before 8AM. (Yeah, yeah, what a lazy person I am, aren't I?) But today I had an early meeting in an office right on the river bank at 8.30AM which meant getting up at half past six. It was totally worth it though, as today was another bright and shiny Autumn day with an amazingly blue sky, and I even saw the sunrise this morning while having breakfast. It's probably the best way to start a new week, I reckon. Then after the meeting I still had a couple of free hours on my hands before my class was to start, so I decided to take a walk, enjoy the marvelous Budapest sight, and indulge myself in the warm sunshine. ... And of course, I could not resist getting my camera out and taking a handful of photographs. Here are the results. I hope you like them.:)

Btw, I really should wake up earlier on some days at least, wander around and take photos, because Budapest is utterly beautiful in the morning. 

And so is She during the day.

And at night, too.

You Are So Beautiful To Me

"No Spring nor Summer Beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one Autumnal face." John Donne

As it turns out, this  long weekend of mine is not about being curled up on the sofa with a cup of tea in my hands and just reading, writing, and hanging out. But to be honest, I don't really mind the change of plans, since the weather is absolutely marvelous and it would be such a shame to lock myselp up between the four walls of my room. I am pretty sure we will have more than enough  of cold, dark, and long winter nights when I really won't have nothing better to do than sit inside and enjoy a book or the company of my journal in this warm and cosy room of mine. But for now I shall indulge myself in the stunning autumn sunshine, especially since today is another lovely day and in a couple of hours I am leaving for my Grandma's. I can hardly wait to take over her garden and shoot plenty of macro photos.

Yesterday I went to see my Dad & family who live in a village nearby the small town I grew up and lived in until I finished high school. It was a beautiful bright and crispy autumn day with lots of sunshine and superpretty lights. Naturally I could not resist taking a few several photos in the garden. Then on my way back to Miskolc I had some time to fiddle until the departure of the bus I was to take, so I took a long walk in that good old small town of mine. I like wandering around on the streets of Tiszaújváros, it always brings back so many memories, after all I grew up in that town, I spent most of my years there. Yet, I know that I could not be happy, should I have to still live there, for my thing is big city life, and in such a small town I would suffocate. (Like I did start suffocating during my teenage years.) Anyway, it's not at all bad to take a walk down on Memory Lane every once in a while. 

And now let the photos speak for themselves. 

Enjoy!