Archive for Jennifer Van Osdel
Adventures in the 4th dimension.
“The perception of existence by human beings is entirely different from existence itself.” This is how Paul Humke, St. Olaf math professor and the American liaison for BSM, concluded his amazing colloquium lecture on the 4th-dimension today. Chalk in hand, he asked us to investigate the numbers behind higher dimension. We counted vertices, edges, faces, […]
On finite automaton and apple pancakes.
It has now been almost a month since I first arrived in Budapest and I was beginning to wonder if BSM actually stood for Budapest Semesters in Munching rather than Mathematics. Until this week, the most math that Melissa, Rachel, and I had done since getting here was converting Forint to dollars and trying to figure out how to cook using […]
Mangalitsa Festival
What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than wandering around the historical Hősök tere [Heroes’ Square] amongst slabs of meat, pots of forralt bor [Hungarian hot wine], and huge curly-haired Hungapigs. It’s called the Mangalitsa Festival, and it is more or less like a Budapest country fair. Scores of stands were selling everything from […]
Esztergom, Hungary
So if I say the words “Esztergom, Hungary,” what’s the first thing that pops into your head? . . . Nothing? Not surprising. But when a Google search of “best towns in Hungary to visit in the winter” sends back a big, fat “0 results found”, it begs the question – why not go to […]
Culture Shock: The Battle for Antibiotics
I have been in Budapest for just over two weeks and there are so many things that I love about this city. I love the yellow tram, I love chicken paprikas and goulash, I love the crazy boots everyone wears, I love the unique character of all the buildings, I love that everything feels drenched […]
Oh the places you’ll go..
All I have to say right now is.. I love Hungary!! .. Actually that’s not even close to being all I have to say about my most recent Saturday in Magyarorsag (aka Hungary). Oh how to begin.. well Rachel, Melissa, and I decided earlier on in the week that we really wanted to go somewhere […]
Lenni vagy nem lenni? Ez itt a kérdés.
I feel that the time may have come to discuss the Hungarian language in all its quirky glory. For some reason unknown even to the Hungarians themselves, Hungarian bears very little resemblance to any other languages, including the ones spoken in neighboring countries. I have also heard that the history behind the language and the […]
From Pest to Buda and back again
I realized today that I have only been in Budapest for ten days now, but it feels like I’ve been here at least a month because every day is so jam packed with things to do. This past Saturday, Rachel (my flatmate), Melissa (my neighbor), and I went and explored the castle district of Buda. […]
Oh how I wish I had a working shower
Today was my first full day in Hungary!! It got off to an interesting start with an epic battle between me and the “shower”. It’s essentially a bath tub with a shower head and no curtain. To make things more difficult it seems to be broken because no matter how many different things we do […]
Two layovers and three flights later..
So I’m finally here!! After a year and a half of paperwork and anticipation, I am sitting at the kitchen table in my Hungarian apartment eating the pasta I made with ingredients from the local market. The crazy thing is that I’ve only been here for about 4 hours, but I’m already unpacked and on […]