First Stop Budapest.

Just got into Budapest about eight hours ago and I am loving every second of being in Europe. Luckily our hotel has internet and my room mate has a power adapter for my computer. We are staying at the Novotel Hotel in the heart of the city and we just got back from our city tour. Tonight we are going out to eat at a traditional Hungarian restaurant. Earlier today during our free time we went to a local restaurant and I had Veal Goulash with a half liter of Dreher the traditional Hungarian beer that is actually brewed in Budapest. We are in an amazing location for the trip centered around three different banks, restaurants and bars. I got about 19,000 Florints which is a little less than $100 in cash to use while we go out to eat or travel through the city. I saw a sign that said 1,200 Florint foot long out side of a subway which is about equivalent to $6 foot long. I have taken a plethora of pictures that I will be posting on facebook so you can follow along while I blog about all the different places that I have been. My room mate left his camera charger so we will be sharing my 2.0 Gig camera for the trip.

I have been trying to fully immerse myself into the culture as much as possible while meeting people along the way. On the flight from Atlanta to New York I met a 56 year old man by the name of Chris who was Bulgarian as he told me all about his experience with the three different countries that I will be traveling to namely Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. I talked to him about Gypsies and pick pockets and he said that he is even weary of them in the cities of Budapest and Prague where they are the worst. I have been keeping my pass port and wallet in my front pocket to keep it a fair fight against the gypsies. Chris said that his family has lived in the U.S. for about ten years but he grew up in Bulgaria. He was on his way to New York from Atlanta to catch a flight to Bulgaria. Once we landed in New York we flew into the Kennedy airport and flew right outside of the city. We we there for about five hours before our next flight. While we were there I ate my last hamburger in America and watched the Celtics v.s. Magic game to try and keep up with the U.S. culture for one last time. Five guys was way better but at least it was an American Burger none the less. When I got on the next flight headed towards Budapest I knew I had a nine and a half hour flight ahead of me so I was hoping to sit to some one interesting. The man I sat down next to was Alex from the Ukraine. He was in his early thirties, divorced once and an industrial businessman. He was dressed very professional and he was a sharp man with really good wavy hair. Twice a year he flies all the way from the Ukraine to the U.S. to represent his company and try to start business ventures. He recent venture was in Savannah, Georgia. He described life in Eastern Europe from his perspective and he said not to worry about the different culture as it is really not at all that different. From his experience in both the U.S. and Europe it's basically just the same people in a different place. So far I have taken in this country and my experience seems to line up with his impression. These people aren't from mars but we are all the same universal people just with different cultures. At the same time the U.S. and Hungary are still part of Western Civilization so they aren't that drastic. Budapest is a very established culturally developed city as well so this isn't that much of a culture shock.

I am going to post another blog tonight about the tour I took and detail a little bit about what I have learned. At the restaurant we are going to that is covered by our fees paid for the study aborad entail a three course meal. We have an appetizer, main course and dessert which includes any two drink that we want such as Hungarian soft drinks, beer and wine. I slept as much as possible on the plane ride here but I know I am still due for some solid rest tonight. we'll see what the group wants to do but people were falling asleep on the tour today which I think is a sure sign that everyone is still jet lagged after our twelve hours worth of flying on top of setting our time six hours ahead. In Atlanta it is about 12:40 pm but here it is 6:40 pm. I can not stress enough how much I am thoroughly enjoying this experience and want to thank my parents once again for sending me away! I know they could probably use a good break from me as well. I have to wake up my room mate now so he can get ready for the dinner tonight which we are leaving for at seven. We were instructed to dress "smart casual" as our tour guide suggested which is simply another term for nice casual. She will be joining us as well.