Starting to get a hang of things
American Hungarian Relations is my first class of the week on Mondays from 12-2 in a lecture format. Finding the lecture hall on my first day was difficult because they do not have rooms numbered like in the states. The class itself will focus on the History of the American and Hungarian relationship leading up to the 21st century. We had a “syllabus” day where we discussed the materials that we will be learning and stereotypes throughout the decades - shout out to my Kossuth County followers because you were mentioned in class! I went to dinner with Flora at a restaurant in town and brought home some leftovers for lunch.
My Hungarian language class does not start until next week, so Tuesday was empty! I lounged around most of the day until our Welcome Dinner. I don’t even know where to begin - it was so much fun! I was able to meet another American (Zeyad), he is from Baltimore and is super nice. My table had a couple of people from Albania, Romania, and Turkey, along with a girl from Uzbekistan and we started the night with a shot of palinka (think the equivalent to American moonshine)! We had a traditional Hungarian dinner of cabbage rolls stuffed with pork and rice, and a traditional dessert that was filled with sweet cottage cheese and tart cherries. Everyone continued to visit at their tables for another hour before heading out into the main hall to learn the traditional Hungarian folk dance. The party continued at a student bar (very similar to a pub) in the city center which we all traveled to via the tram. Flora and I made a friend group with the two girls from Uzbekistan, two Finland guys, a Brazilian guy, and the other American. We got a round of drinks and visited until they turned the music on, and a disco ball dropped down for the dancing part of the night! We were out a little late, but how many people can say they listened to Old Town Road in a bar in Debrecen on a Tuesday night?
Wednesday, I had my American Literature class - which is going to turn out to be one of the more difficult classes of the semester. I have lots of books to read and of course none of them were required readings in my other Literature classes (yippee more Steinbeck and Hemingway). Flora and I grabbed lunch at the canteen by our dorm which is basically just a cafeteria. I don’t know what I had for lunch because the guy behind the counter didn’t translate it for me, but it tasted good! The next thing we tackled was doing our laundry. The bright side: we do not have to pay for the loads; the not so bright side: we have to rent out a key to turn on the laundry machine and if we do not return it at a specified time we get fined, the machines do not have any English so we guessed on what cycles we needed, the washer did not spin the clothes so they were soaked, and the dryer does not actually dry! We eventually gave up and opted for the drying rack in our room (the tower of clothes took 2 full days to dry and that was without any jeans).
Thursday - another empty day for classes until next week. However, we did have an unexpected visitor at the door who came in and took our curtains! We also had cleaners come in and wipe down the bathroom and floors which was very unexpected. While they were cleaning, I headed out to run some errands. I am working out a few kinks still on starting the process of my residence permit, one of which is waiting on the housing staff to sign my paper saying that I live on campus. I officially moved into my room after housing finally got back to me saying that I will stay in my room with Flora as my roommate. I was able to pick up my official student ID for the semester too!
On Friday, Flora and I woke-up wayyyy to early for not having class! We went to a local cafe called the Black Sheep for breakfast - it was about a 40 minute walk so by the time we were there we were both ready to eat. I had a cappuccino and an “American Breakfast” which was waffles, eggs, and bacon and took half of it to go so that I could have breakfast the next morning! We went and did some shopping while we were down in the city center including some snacks for the room and a few organizational items and dishes that I can stow away in my suitcase for when I travel home. Flora and I came back and bought our tickets for the University’s Budapest trip - where we get housing and food along with some tours of historic sites. We took quick naps and had dinner before getting ready to go out with our friends to the opening semester party at one of the clubs in town. We were out til 4 in the morning and the music in the club was all over - Turkish, Spanish, and American to name a few! One thing is still the same from SDSU, a pizza place had a sale for students coming from the club where we got a free slice of pizza with any purchase. After grabbing our pizza, we hitched a ride back to campus via Taxi and slept in on Saturday!
Saturday was a very lowkey day we had breakfast in our dorm room. I went out to meet my “Buddy Family” which is 3 international students (me, Abdullah - a guy from Jordan, and Sumeyra - a girl from Turkey) and 2 Debrecen students (Diane - a local girl and Joel - an Indian student that has studied here for 5 years). We grabbed coffee at a local cafe that features international options (my vanilla latte was called the American Malibu). After the sun went down it was a bit chilly, so we went to a board game pub and played Hungarian Monopoly. After about 3 hours of hanging out, we split ways, and I came back to the dorm to have my free pizza slice from the night before for dinner and a night in to work on this post.
On Sunday, we had another international student activity this time it was a scavenger hunt through the city center of Debrecen. We paired up into groups and it was Flora and I, the two Finnish guys, two French girls, and 3 local Hungarians! The Finnish guys kept saying it was like we were in the Amazing Race, however, there was no 1st place prize instead we all get postcards about the flower market and festival that happens every April. We also learned a lot about the history of Debrecen and the different parts of it that make it unique! We all grabbed dinner at a local restaurant in the city center. We are all going on the Budapest trip this next weekend so it will be another fun opportunity to learn more about each other. Flora and I ended the night shopping for snacks at our ALDI and I found some Coors Light that I had to purchase!
It is getting a lot easier having more connections on campus and finding people to go out and do things with and I think I am getting a hang of this international student life… for now at least!
