i'm back and i don't think home has ever been this sweet.

i love america.

alrighty. i'm outta here at 5am tomorrow.

i'm nervous.

see you soon.

:*

all packed up. yeah, it's starting to sit in...

:/

okay. ice skating time.

has anyone seen the new civic yet?? i think it look pretty awesome. it looks like a cross between an accord and a lexus is300...



oh, and if i had a civic, these are the headlights i'd put on it...



it's not fair that civics get all the cool accessories.

oh yeah. boondock saints rules.

worst fokhagymaleves cipoban ever

well, john and i just got back from saying "goodbye" to franziska at the bus station. i'm going to miss my german neighbors. even though i know that i won't be seeing these people ever again (within all probability), my mind can't seem to grasp that fact. it's still thinking, " yeah, okay, bye. see you monday." i said "bye" to a lot of people last night. it's really been hard with several people, like we must have said "bye" to each other 4 or so times because it was so hard to let go. . .

yesterday, instead of traveling to Pecs, we stayed around town and went to a bath. it was so worth. i've almost completely lost my initiative to travel. i'm sure it'll return quickly once i get back into the swing of things, but as for now, just take me home. i'd type the name of the bath, but i don't know how to spell it. it was so great. there was a large swimming pool outside and the water in it was 38 deg C (100.4 F) and of course, the air was somewhere around freezing. there was so much steam coming off the water. at times you couldn't even see the edges of the pool. it was one of the most beautiful things i'd ever seen. i also heard more english yesterday than i have in a very long time in hungary. i think it was possibly due to it being saturday and close to christmas. i met a guy from california that's been working in Georgia (asia) recently and a couple from australia and scotland. we sat out in the pool for about 3 hrs. it was way better than walking around some city in the freezing weather. i was uberpleased.

went to have cheese soup for the last time (and so i could get a picture of it). yikes. it was so garlic-ie that i couldnt finish it. ugh. even coke didnt help. i've been through 2 pieces of orbit and i'm still tasting it.

i'd like to publicly apologize to todd for my comments about work. i mean, what can i say? i've never even had a real job! everything thus far has been me goofing off for 8 or more hrs a day and somehow getting paid for it. therefore what could i possibly have to add to such a "discussion" about employment. the answer: absolutely nothing.

worst chili dogs ever

much ado about . . . everything

i went to lunch today by myself in hopes of getting some cheese one more time. "sajnos, nincs" (unfortunately, there was none). which is probably for the best since my body is screaming for nutrients. so i got some sort of meat. maybe pork. i don't know. it was fried, so i didn't care. as i sat there eating in Sztoczek (which was virtually emtpy), all i could think about was how thankful i am. for everything. i think perhaps i've learned more about the world in the past 4 months than i have in the past 4 years. all i've dreamt about since i heard about studying abroad is going somewhere completely unknown and just being completely submerged in a different culture, a different world. and i got it. my dream has come true . . . and it's been one of the best ever. man, i've learned so much. do you have any idea how small this world is? it's incredible. i love the fact that i personally know another human being in spain or germany or france who's carrying on just as i am, who's going through the same things as i do day in and day out, who's going through completely different things as i do day in and day out, and who's just come away from a once in a lifetime experience just as i have. i dont know if i'll ever see any of them again . . . and that breaks my heart. ...i can't get over how many amazing people there are in this world. i think we get caught up in our own little worlds after a while and just develop paradigms about others and how we live. and of course this is only natural. how could it go any other way? if you're ever allowed to remove yourself from that, if only for a short period of time, do it. you won't regret it. i can remember talking with sam about me going (or wanting to go) abroad and i remember telling her that i felt like i had to. for myself. i had to know what else was out there. i had to know that there was more to this world than what we see everyday. and now i do. now i know that this planet is full so many differences that only God could do more than scratch the surface of seeing it all. You are truly astonishing, God.

i don't know if any of my fellow exchangees will ever read this, but if you do, i want you all to know that i love you so much and wouldn't trade my time with you for anything in the world.

jesse, my family, guys, get the enchiladas ready, because i'm comin' home.

that's all she wrote

well i'm done today. i finished my film paper on HUKKLE, got it printed off and attended my last class (which was film class; we watched Sunshine; it was an awesome movie). yeah, it had Ralph Fiennes and other people in it. also, it was a Hungarian film. The thing with so many hungarian films (that ii've found) is that they're so depressing. they always have the unhappiest ending possible. and it's not that i can't see where it comes from. i mean, hungary has had one of the most oppressive pasts i know of, but that doesn't mean EVERY movie has to reflect that, does it? i mean, good things DO happen everynow and then. geez. but Sunshine rose above that and came out strong with an uplifting ending (not necessarily "happy", but uplifting). so i was more than happy to have sat through all 3 hrs of it.

so i'm sitting here contemplating what to do. i was going to go to the opera Don Giovanni but the guy with the tickets is too sick to make it out there to sign for the tickets. so that's canceled. and i told john i'd be back at 10.0, so now he's wandered off somewhere and left a note saying he wont be back till 10. great. dave it gone to visit Europe and franziska went over to someone's house. there's no one. and i'm hungry.

i guess it's time to get a gyros and watch one of the 20 movies i have taking up space on my hard drive.

so do you guys know that i haven't gotten a haircut or shaved since i left? i've trimmed the side of by beard, but not the goatie area. it' so long. the hairs have to be around 1.25" long. and my hair is longer than it's been in a LONG while. maybe since high school. i dunno. the hair is semi euro, but the beard ain't. actually, most people in europe are really clean cut looking. no one has any sort of facial hair, so i stick out like a sore thumb (particularly when i when my sandals nowadays; i definitely see people stare and say stuff to their friends; turds).

ah well. i hope all you dungheads enjoy LoTR III. did you know that hungary doesnt get it till Jan 8th (or 20th; i can't remember)??

retarded.

job's done.

so my debate it over. some might say that it was a waste of time. okay, so everyone said it was a waste of time, BUT i don't regret it. it was interesting. and gave me some insight into the true ingnorance of the kkk.

always a pleasure.

g'day

:/

well, i was afraid of this. my debate with the kkk guy has taken a turn for the insane. according to him, everything Jesus said was directed at the "White Adamic race", not the "non-whites." i'll respond, but it's hard to get anywhere with someone who lives by speculations.

oh well.

i think katie givins' blog infuriates me to read. not so much the content (although it doesn't help), but her horrible shorthand internet writing style. i started reading it and just stopped after she wrote the word "u'll". that was the last straw.

still discussing matters with the kkk guy.

all i ate yesterday was candy and potato chips. i felt not so great last night. i can safely say that josh's sugar diet is not for the faint of heart.

i just finished writing a really long letter to the kkk youth guy. it was probably a waste of several hours of my day, but i feel better for it.

so 'we got him.' that's unbelieveable. it truly is. man, that's a really . . . good . . . thing... in so many ways.

i have to study now. crap.

now THAT'S a thermal lake! (mostly)

we went over to the Lake Balaton area today. it's nice. then we took a bus over to a town called héviz. and that's where the thermal lake is. there's inside water and outside water and a big temperature difference between the two.



yeah, outside was . . . chilly. just kidding. it was FREEZING. there were some patches of water that were liquid ice. i don't know how, but they were. and you could go from the inside (where it was nice and warm) to the ouside through a little door in the water and the temperature change from in to out was like night and day. wow. so i jumped outside several times and swam as far as i could. that's brisk, baby. my biggest fear was that some giant mutated (and radioactive mind you) catfish was going to swim up from the depths and bite my legs off. but that didn't happen, so that's good. apparently there is a bit of radioactivity to the water. go figure. i felt kind of heavy in the water. that was . . . weird. AND it said somewhere that the water in the lake completely changes ever 36-48 hrs (or something around there). that's pretty amazing considering this lake is easily several acres in size. this is due to the large thermal vent at the bottom (about 100ft down).

so that was fun. but i'm really tired because i only got 3.5 hrs of sleep last night. and i have a lot of studying to do tomorrow. i hope i still know how. ah boy. this could be bad. it almost seems wrong for them to not require anything from us the whole semester and then try and make us take tests at the end. it just ain't right.

hasta pronto.

incredible

i just finished watching this guy beat super mario bros. 3 in 3min 11sec. wow. that was amazing. i'm just blown away. you have to watch it. it's unbelievable.

watch it.

now.

okay. change of plans. we're not going to sarajevo because it costs double what we had anticipated paying. that sucks.

yeah. so i think tomorrow we'll head to the thermal lake instead. ah well.

almost

i woke up this morning to the sound of all these voices and for a minute there, i really thought i was at home hearing everyone downstairs (maybe for christmas or something). i think i was kind of disappointed when i realized it was just some loud doofuses out in the hall. so i think that's a good thing, right? that i was disappointed?

i hope so.

i'm going to sarajevo tonight and i'll be back sunday morning. i'm pretty sure everything will be perfectly fine. but if you feel like praying for me (and my friends), i'll (we'll) gladly take 'em. it's funny. i wasn't going to tell my parents about it until AFTER i got back because i didn't want them to freak out and worry a lot or anything (because it really will be fine down there), but last night on the phone my dad asked me, "so what are you up to this weekend?" and i was like, 'ah what the heck', "i think me and few others are going down to sarajevo for a day." and he was like, "ah. cool" (well, he didn't say "cool," but it was something to that effect). anyway, i totally wasn't expecting that response, so that WAS cool.

i guess that's it. we went to an "irish" pub last night. that was fun. best music in town.

it's what the French call a certain 'I don't know what'

i guess i don't really know anything worth writing about today.

um, i think i'm gonna try to make it sarajevo before i head out. 13hr train here i come.

and... i... dont know... what else.

i have exams on monday and tuesday. so thats scary. i guess it's time to learn... stuff.

yeah.

just for kids!

huh. i just emailed the kkk youth corp requesting they hurry up and finish posting their writings on the specified youth topics.

i just can't wait. what an amazingly ignorant organization.

i love it.

okay, show me the "computer not restarting and erasing my blog again"

okay. just wrote an entry, my computer freaked out and restarted itself, and now i have nothing...

alrighty then...

i went to krakow this weekend. it was really fun. and really cold. see?



(man i hate trying to write the same thing twice. it never comes out as well the second time.)

right, so the weather wasn't so happy our first day there (and the train got in at 6.0am after a 10 hr trip), but we went around sightseeing. all day. it's not that you necessarily want to, but you have to. otherwise you've wasted your trip. Krakow was a nice city. it had a very large square in the middle where they held all sorts of events. and their castle/cathedral was great. but i think in general, the town didn't really do it for me. (and they had an interesting Jewish district complete with Holocaust survivor (via Schindler's list) and pigeon market, where they sold . . . pigeons.)

the next day we went to Auschwitz and Birkenau. that was . . . unbelievable. it was pretty much impossible to imagine what went on there. i just dont understand how a human being could have been capable of that of anything that went on there. i mean, i don't care who you're working for, how does anyone justify smashing a baby up against a wall in the name of ethnic cleansing? i don't get it. And Franziska, my german neighbor, went with us. i think the significance of the whole thing was slightly different for her. but she's not always a big "talker," so i don't know more than that.

anywho, i took more picture there then i have anywhere, i think. we got back, ate dinner, and boarded the train with lots of chocolate. i mean, it was a 10hr ride. you gotta have chocolate.

i'm very torn about my return. as jesse put it, it will certainly be "bittersweet." i mean, i can't wait to see everyone and on top of that, celebrate christmas with family and loved ones, but i'm never going to see any of these people ever again. i mean, anything's possible, but let's be realistic. never again. that's really distressing. i've become great friends with a lot of people here. not all of them, but they've all become my friends. how do you spend 4 months with people, getting to know them and hanging out with them and experiencing brand new things with them and then just leave them forever? it just seems wrong. and i think it'll be incredibly difficult to keep in touch with most. i just dont know. i mean, all i can do is visit with them as much as possible until i leave. and then that's it. wow. i hate that.

yeah.

yup yup

yeah, i'm back. which is good.

and i still have all of my possessions. which is also good.

and that's the way the cookie crumbles...

okay, so the story behind my last entry is as follows:

i was working out yesterday (doing shoulder presses), when i hurt my neck/shoulder muscle. like, i really hurt it a lot. i tried to lay down and maybe sleep it off. but it was really painful because it's the muscle that you use to stabilize and lift you're head, so unless i was laying completely relaxed, it was wailing on me. i mean, almost bringing me to tears at times. so laying down didnt work so great. in fact, i think it may have made it tighten up. i have no freezer nor access to a freezer, so i dont have any ice or anything that could be of use. the best thing i could find was microwaving a wet towel. so after talking with my mom, i go to the non-stop store down the road (this store has helped me out many a time). i grab a bag of frozen peas for cooling comfort, the whisky (in hopes of dulling the pain until the morning when i could get to the doctor), and the bag of potato chips because i was hungry. (and the whisky was my grandmother's idea :) ) (yeah, and it helped a lot.) i got medicine today so i hope it starts doing it's thing fast.

so i happened upon katie givens blog. yeah, it's always weird when you first realize that people arent way you remember them to be.

i'm going to krakow tonight. it only takes 10hrs to get there, so that's cool. i've heard some bad stories about thieves and whatnot on the train ride to/from poland (specifically krakow). i have my knife with me, but i hope i dont have to stab anyone. that'd sort of put a damper on my trip i guess. hmmm. i'll be back sunday morning. we're gonna go see auschwitz (i KNOW thats spelled right) too. should be an interesting trip. and a cold one. possibly very cold.

have a good one.

yeah buddy

so i just got back from the non-stop. the items in bag are as follows: potato chips, frozen peas, and a bottle of whisky.

it's party time.

just got through watching another depressing hungarian film in class. geez. i'm beginning to think it's just my teacher and her choices. yep. i hate em.

i also just realized that i've wasted the last 2 weeks (essentially) and that i have so little time left here. AND how much i'm going to miss everyone. i'll never get to see these people ever again. that's incredibly disappointing. so, i guess...i have to start being more efficient.

yes.

i watched American Psycho tonight. wow. what a sick movie. not like, "sick" i cant watch, but "sick" like "holy crap i hope there arent really people like that out there." on the other hand, i thought it was really good movie. man, the main character was just . . . sick. and not sick like "ill". and not ill like "cool". it was also a lot funnier than i thought it would be . . . because i didnt think it'd be funny at all. but it was funny in a sick way. go figure.

2 sick thumbs up

(sick like "ill" (like cool))

dude, i'm gonna be so euro when i get back

so i got stuff today. like this new sweatshirt. i dig it!



and it has these 2 random patches on the back. each shirt had a different arrangement. some didnt have any.



and i got a pipe, a hungarian flag, some small hungarian flag patches, a few more gifts and . . . thats it.

okay.

::WARNING::
If you plan on seeing the movie Mystic River, you might not want to read ahead. I'll do my best not to give anything critical away.

i like to think of myself is a very understanding film critic. i can understand and accept certain endings despite the fact that they may not be what i want to see happen. it's fine. happens all the time. but tonight's endng was just . . . rather unacceptable to me. one of the characters had a really messed up thing happen to him as a kid and his whole life was messed up because of it. and the whole movie he's made out to be the bad guy, but then in the end, you find out that he's definitely not. in fact, he ends up being one of the better people, but that doesnt stop him from getting his life and his family's messed of the most in the end. and the other guys just end up "fine". i was rather angered by it. and it sucks because it was a good movie. it had a great cast and they did a great job acting. but in the end it just seemed to be a movie about the sucky life of this one guy was dealt. i dont know. but as the ending was happening, i just remember knowing that this was the end and that i hated it.

we're working on grammar and sentence structure in hungarian language class. it's getting really hard. the whole prefix and suffix thing they have going on with their language upsets me.

i've been toying with the idea of being in band next year. i may not be weighed down by classes and i hear it's a good schedule. AND i'd get to play notre dame's fight song! it's my favorite. who knows. if anyone else is joining, let me know ;).