September 16, 2007
September 14, 2007
Desperately seeking the weekend
I have just been for Pizza with my colleagues, but am now back at school for a parents evening. It is well after six and I know that I will not be home before half past ten. I don't mind being here, but I am also very ready for the weekend to start. My apartment is clean, I have lots of things planned for tomorrow and Sunday. I want to shop and museum it about a bit after two lovely, long, lie-ins.
This marks the end of the third week of school and talking to N a couple of nights ago made me realise that it is only 5 weeks before she and her daughter will be visiting Budapest. Maybe I will have a few new things to show them, more than I do now. I am still enjoying work very much, but I am scared that if I say more I will jinx myself. Budapest feels like home only sometimes, but those times are getting more frequent.
Last night I visited M in the Buda hills to see her house now that she has moved. When we first met in the summer I remember thinking that I liked her very much and with each coffee, or walk in the city, I like her and the kids more. Her house is amazing and even has a pool. I walked down to the tram and travelled back over the river to my more densely populated Pest side with N, a Pakistani cleaner who has a husband setting up a Bengali restaurant and wondered if I didn't like marriage as I do not have a husband. In this city, there can be a million things going on at once, and I like it that way.
This marks the end of the third week of school and talking to N a couple of nights ago made me realise that it is only 5 weeks before she and her daughter will be visiting Budapest. Maybe I will have a few new things to show them, more than I do now. I am still enjoying work very much, but I am scared that if I say more I will jinx myself. Budapest feels like home only sometimes, but those times are getting more frequent.
Last night I visited M in the Buda hills to see her house now that she has moved. When we first met in the summer I remember thinking that I liked her very much and with each coffee, or walk in the city, I like her and the kids more. Her house is amazing and even has a pool. I walked down to the tram and travelled back over the river to my more densely populated Pest side with N, a Pakistani cleaner who has a husband setting up a Bengali restaurant and wondered if I didn't like marriage as I do not have a husband. In this city, there can be a million things going on at once, and I like it that way.
September 13, 2007
Living a life in Hungary
I went to the post office for the first time the other night. G came with me, she is one of my new Hungarian colleagues, just in case the people asked me Hungarian questions that I couldn't answer. It was all fine and I even managed to pay some bills, how wonderfully normal and residential. One my way home I popped into my Indian market to get some food and I was set.
I arrived at my building to find a young man smiling at me and chatting away in Hungarian before offering me his hand to shake. I politely explained that I did not speak Hungarian, so he carried on in English. It turns out that he lives in my building and when we got out of the lift he waved to me as I went into my apartment. That makes two whole neighbours that I have met now.
Sometimes it is the normal stuff that makes me smile. As the days of my life in Budapest start to float by and I realise that I have actually lived here a few weeks now, I notice that things like a trip to the post office make me understand culture and people better than museums ever will. Mind you, I am still determined to get to the House of Terror this weekend.
I arrived at my building to find a young man smiling at me and chatting away in Hungarian before offering me his hand to shake. I politely explained that I did not speak Hungarian, so he carried on in English. It turns out that he lives in my building and when we got out of the lift he waved to me as I went into my apartment. That makes two whole neighbours that I have met now.
Sometimes it is the normal stuff that makes me smile. As the days of my life in Budapest start to float by and I realise that I have actually lived here a few weeks now, I notice that things like a trip to the post office make me understand culture and people better than museums ever will. Mind you, I am still determined to get to the House of Terror this weekend.
September 11, 2007
Valami klassz
The city is changing now, and as I live here I am around to see it. I feel strange today as there was so much rain last night that I hardly slept. The Danube is flooded and on the bus this morning I stared out and wondered if Margit Island would be under water tomorrow. That is not valami klassz, obviously, something else is.
My personality needs some fine-tuning, and I feel that now is the time to do it. I am in massive trouble financially, but I can finally feel that I am ready to do something about it. These epiphanies have been a long time coming, but at least they are here now. I have my bank from Paris chasing me, but at least now I am ready to face the music and hopefully get things sorted. I spend so much time trying to hide the things that other people shouldn't know that the things I hide behind totally obscure me.
I know that it has been difficult for me to examine and deal with my flaws (of which there are many),but I have come to the following conclusion: It is Ok to be a mess sometimes, and it is perfectly OK to admit it.
My personality needs some fine-tuning, and I feel that now is the time to do it. I am in massive trouble financially, but I can finally feel that I am ready to do something about it. These epiphanies have been a long time coming, but at least they are here now. I have my bank from Paris chasing me, but at least now I am ready to face the music and hopefully get things sorted. I spend so much time trying to hide the things that other people shouldn't know that the things I hide behind totally obscure me.
I know that it has been difficult for me to examine and deal with my flaws (of which there are many),but I have come to the following conclusion: It is Ok to be a mess sometimes, and it is perfectly OK to admit it.
September 09, 2007
I need a Hiro
I am totally addicted. I can't stop watching. I only have three episodes left and I am only pulling myself away from the TV because I have to get ready for work tomorrow. Heroes is my latest DVD boxset obsession and I have to say that it is fabulous. The way that it is filmed and the use of artwork is amazing. The characters are engaging and obviously Milo Ventimiglia is second only to Hiro, who I would quite like to marry. Normal Hiro, not future Hiro...it's all a bit complicated. Anyway, if you have not started watching yet, buy the boxset, it will be the best winter hideaway weekend you will ever spend. If anyone tries to spoil the ending for me, I will hunt you down and show no mercy.
September 08, 2007
Half empty/half full
Autumn is closing in on Budapest despite promises of an Indian summer. The sky stays stubbornly clouded and the air is still cool. I finished my second week at work and now feel firmly ensconced in the school. I have busy days, but they pass quick and make me enjoy my quiet time alone in the evenings. I always knew that these first few weeks would be hard and I have coped in the only way I know how, but shutting down a little bit.
When I got home last night and got into my pyjamas,I looked around my flat and had that same feeling in my stomach that I used to have when I walked through the door to my home in Warsaw. After lots of Grey's Anatomy and Dim Sum, I fell into bed tired and settled. I snuggled right down and felt a wave of relaxation and fatigue wash over me. When I woke up this morning I thought of calling C and doing some shopping, and cooking something nice for dinner, or texting J for a coffee tomorrow. After living and working in Budapest for nearly 6 weeks, it turns out that I really like it. It might even be a choice that is making me happy.
September 07, 2007
Social Butterfly
I went out last night to the apartment of one of the girls from work. She lives a couple of blocks away and we got a taxi home together the other evening and chatted. It was raining and the ride took near 45 minutes so we had plenty of time to exchange life stories. C is a couple of years older than me and from Ireland. When we were in the taxi I remember thinking that I thought she was really nice and she sort of added an invite to come and meet her brother as an after thought.
So I went home, thought about hiding and remembered that it made me feel funny last weekend, so I pulled on my jeans and headed out on a school night. There were quite a few people there and after thinking that I would just stay for an hour and get to bed early, I ended up staying until way after my bedtime and really enjoying everyones company. The social brain freeze appears to be over, I can be with other human beings again. I told C and a couple of the other girls that I would take them to my chinese supermarket after school today and we are off for a coffee on the way. L from Paris has also said that she is hoping to come at the end of September, so I am excited about that too. Feeling happy today, Friday at long, long, last.
So I went home, thought about hiding and remembered that it made me feel funny last weekend, so I pulled on my jeans and headed out on a school night. There were quite a few people there and after thinking that I would just stay for an hour and get to bed early, I ended up staying until way after my bedtime and really enjoying everyones company. The social brain freeze appears to be over, I can be with other human beings again. I told C and a couple of the other girls that I would take them to my chinese supermarket after school today and we are off for a coffee on the way. L from Paris has also said that she is hoping to come at the end of September, so I am excited about that too. Feeling happy today, Friday at long, long, last.
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