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Published: August 20th 2009
I've been in Hungary for a few days and for me it feels quite normal to spend a few weeks in Budapest in August as I've done it for the last three years. Probably this needs a bit of an explanation for some readers which I'll try to keep as brief as possible. It all started with a Hungarian chap who I met in Ireland whilst studying viola. I thought he was the bee's knees, cat's whiskers and dog's bollocks - quite a combination, you'll agree. So I moved to Prague (where he got a job in an orchestra) and lived there with him for 5 years. It was tough learning Czech and Hungarian, but I needed to learn Czech for survival and I really wanted to learn Hungarian even though his English was so much better we hardly ever spoke Hungarian together. It was a very happy time and I don't regret a minute of it. Sadly we split up and moved back to London, but stuff like that happens and its rubbish, but somehow things have turned out well for me and I'm doing fine.
Anyway, Hungary and it's language have stayed an important part of my life
Agi and Aniko
Agi drew a miniature dog and Aniko did some rooftop birds and cats.and I'm really glad I've kept that connection. It's difficult to explain why, but I really want to speak Hungarian fluently and it's slowly starting to happen. I'm very lucky to have a friend who was my first Hungarian teacher in Prague, Aniko, who is extremely kind and patient and I stay with her each time I visit. Even though I know she speaks very good English (as well as about 5 other languages) we always speak Hungarian. It's really exciting for me to feel like I have a second language, and especially this one which is pretty exceptional. It's very different from other European languages as its not Latin, Slav or German based. It is related to Finnish and also seems to have some similarities to Far Eastern languages.
Anyway here I am doing two weeks of an intensive Hungarian language course as well as hanging out with some lovely Hungarians.
The course started on Monday, the morning after the very long and tiring journey from Zurich (remember that very long and tiring blog entry?)- not the best planning but there we go. In my confusion (and due to the school moving since I last went two
years ago) not only did I go to the wrong address at the wrong time but once I'd found the right address I also ended up in the wrong classroom. All a bit distressing but not to worry, the good thing was the first class I ended up in were the beginners so I stayed for an hour or so to ease myself in gently. Then in the break I swapped to the Upper Intermediate. I've sort of demoted myself as two years ago I did the Advanced course, which was excellent, however it was really hard and I actually need to work on some of the basic grammar again, so this suits me well. It also means I'm not the dummy in the class!
It's nice now I've got to the stage where I often find myself thinking in Hungarian. I'm going native!!!
Other than the Hungarian, I've been up to my old tricks with the ukulele - in a park, on a hill, by the river Danube - some very nice ukulele spots. I think I've also inadvertantly brought ukulelemania to Hungary, Aniko and her friend and flatmate Agi have expressed an interest in purchasing an
instrument - so Hungary watch out!
Today is St. Istvan's day - a national holiday so there's all sorts of stuff happening around town, various performances, craft fairs and the like. There's also the Red Bull Aeroplane racing thing. I have to say I really hate it - it happens every year. Basically for 3 days they have these little jets flying around between inflatable phalluses in the Danube, with constant loud music and stupid commentators prattling on and there's no escape from the noise. I'm sure there are a lot of people who enjoy it, but why the hell should everyone in the entire city have to put up with it?! Oh, the fury! Anyway give it a couple of years and I'm fairly confident that it will be replaced by the Budapest Ukulele Festival. Ha!
This morning we went to Szentendre which is a very picturesque town just along the Danube. When we arrived in the little square they'd set up some big canvases and invited people to paint on - already somebody had painted a view of some of the houses and anyone could come along and add in any details they wanted to. Naturally
I painted a cockeral (photo included here).
Tonight we'll be going to see the fireworks, I always like a firework.
Here's a nice fact from the Hungarian teacher. The word "coach" derives from the Hungarian "Kocsi" (pronounced kotchi) which in modern Hungarian means car, but originally came from the village of Kocs where a hundred or so years ago a very successful cartwright made wheels for coaches (as in horse-drawn coaches) which were exported all over Europe. There you go, not many examples of Hungarian words in the English language...
Anyway, I'll keep you updated if anything of interest happens, but I don't think a running commentary of my Hungarian lessons would be appropriate.
I'll leave you with a nice new word I learnt today - pitypang which means dandelion.
Viszontlatasra!
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Hilke
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We've received your postcard today - many thanks! I've stuck it on the wall behind Jose's desk so that we can all admire it :) Your cockeral looks very nice and colourful, have you painted many of them before? ;)