Budapest Part 3

On Friday afternoon I arrived and on Sunday afternoon I left Budapest. There are some photographs of my recent trip to Hungary’s beautiful capital: 

The Citadel and Elisabeth bridge (named after Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of Hungary a.k.a Princess Sissi)

Beautiful church near my hotel 

'Corvin Plaza' shopping centre. This was on the same street as my hotel.

Statue of young boys playing outside an old school

Outside the Budapest SportArena - pre-show entertainment and staff with balloons tied to their bodies! 

Ez az a nap! sign outside the arena. It means This is the Day! in Hungarian

Short video of Rend Collective at Ez az a nap!

With two very good friends from OM Hungary - Ilona and István

Taking a Sunday stroll across the Chain Bridge

Golgota Church - I went on Sunday morning and also listen and watch the Sunday services online. The teaching and the worship there is fantastic! 

Ez az a nap!

Every year thousands of Christians from all over Europe and other countries gather together in the Budapest Sport Arena at a concert called Ez az a nap! (This is the day!) They listen to some of the top Christian artists, as well as pastors from different churches in Hungary.

I spent this past weekend in Budapest. I took a replacement rail bus to Szerencs (pronounced Ser-ench) and from there took the Intercity train to the capital’s Keleti railway station. A few metro stops later and I arrived at my hotel in the eighth district of Budapest near a shopping centre called Corvin Plaza. Once I had unpacked and settled, I took the metro back into the city centre and walked along the Danube to a perrfect view of the bridges and the stunning Citadel. I was starting to get hungry so a trip to McDonalds was in order.

I know that I come to Hungary and I should be trying exotic Hungarian foods, not a fast food restaurant which I could go to any time at home. One thing they don’t sell in McDonald’s back home is Turo Rudi McFlurry. For those of you who don’t know what Turo Rudi is, its Hungarian confectionary with sweet cottage cheese covered in chocolate. Put it in ice cream and it’s a heavenly combination! It may sound disgusting, but I promise you it’s not!

The next day I set off for the concert. I took the metro to Puskas Ferenc Stadion and made my way up the steps to Budapest Sport Arena. The ticket office would be open at 1 o’clock so I had some time to kill before then. The time arrived and I asked the woman at the ticket office if I could collect my ticket here. I then was told that if I wanted to collect my ticket I would have to collect it at 2 o’clock as that’s when the Ez az a nap! Ticket office would be open. It was annoying as if I had known that before I would have come an hour later. Not to worry though as I headed off to Burger King just down the street and had a delicious burger there before returning to the arena at 2 o’clock.

There was a slight moment of panic as I had told the woman my name and she was searching frantically for my ticket. I hoped my ticket was there as I had definitely bought one! The confusion was over as she found it, on the envelope it said: Summers Rachel. I may have mentioned this in an earlier blog post but Hungarians use their surname first and first name last. So when I said that my name was Rachel Summers, it was harder for her to find it. The good news was that I got my ticket and waited patiently for the gates to open.

At exactly 2 o’clock the gates opened to a cheering crowd. Our tickets were scanned through a machine and each person was given a 15^th anniversary Ez az a nap! programme. I made my way straight to the Mission Expo and saw my friend István. I gave him a huge hug and was so happy that I was able to see them again. We tried to find my other friend Ilona and eventually she came into the Mission Expo and I gave her a huge hug and greeted her in the Hungarian way – with kisses on both cheeks. I was reunited with both of my friends and it was so good to see them again! I met Ilona and István two years ago when I volunteered at an English camp in Balatonfűzfő. They work with a Christian organisation called OM and they do a fantastic ministry within Hungary. I also met some new friends, including a girl called Morgan from Mississippi who has started working with OM and will be living in Hungary for six months. The Mission Expo lasted for around two hours and I managed to share and invite others to next year’s event for a free pin badge and wristband!

It was soon time to go into the main arena and watch the concert. There were a variety of Hungarian and English speaking bands performing. In between the bands the organiser of the event gave a message from the Bible which was taken from John 4:13-14.* He explained that when his wife was pregnant with their child she became sick and doctors were worried that the baby would be born unhealthy. I’m not sure what the exact problem was as the English subtitles were vague. However, through their belief in God and continued prayers, the baby was born without any problems. His son came up onto the stage: a handsome, healthy seventeen year old boy. Miracles happen all the time and it was incredible to see the living proof of that one miracle.

Before Rend Collective came on stage the different pastors of the churches in Hungary walked onto the stage and we prayed for them, that they would share God’s love with people and that one day there will be revival in Hungary. It was a very touching moment and the whole area fell into silence as they prayed. After this time of prayer the whole arena was crying: Rend Collective! Rend Collective! Then the stage went black and when the lights turned on the group appeared on the stage. Their first song was a version of the ancient Irish hymn ‘Be thou my Vision’ and they had modernised it to ‘You are my Vision’. The whole arena was up singing and dancing. I noticed some people had flags and they were waving them rhythmically. The band played their hit songs: Lighthouse and Build Your Kingdom Here.

In between songs, Gareth, one of the members of the band gave a little message. His mum used to have a stick which she called ‘the stick’. When he was naughty she would hit him with it discipline him. One day little Gareth took the stick, broke it over his legs and cried freedom! Unfortunately it didn’t last long as his mum went out into the garden and came back with a log! Gareth was not free from his mum’s discipline. He used this illustration to say that God is not looking over us with a big stick, but instead when we make mistakes we are forgiven by God and there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8 v. 1-2). After this, Rend Collective finished off with a few more songs which included the fantastic ‘Praise like Fireworks’. It was great to sing and dance and worship God.

I returned to my hotel happy that I had gone to the concert and met my friends.  It was an excellent weekend and definitely a great change of scenery.

I did take some videos and photos on my phone, but they’re not great quality. You can check out better ones on the Ez az a nap! Facebook page. 

You can also find videos of the artists on YouTube, just type in Ez az a nap! 2015.

* Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Graduation

The first of May is an important day for the senior students of Refi. They have a farewell ceremony before their final exams to say goodbye to the school, their fellow students and their teachers. In Hungarian it’s called ballagás (closest word in English is graduation). The school was decorated with beautiful flowers. They were laid down on a line in the ground, on the floors and on the stairwells at school. The graduating classes had their classrooms decorated and these were decorated by fellow students.

The day before the ceremony was the senior students last day of school. There is a tradition called the ‘Farewell Bell’ where the students ring the school bell and then they receive a ceramic bell from the headmaster with the school name and the year they graduated.  There were a total of 86 students graduating and some students were louder at ringing the bell than others!

That week I received bottles of wine from the two graduating classes. On one of the bottles I also was given a leather pencil case with my initials on it, which I’m so pleased about. One wine was Hungary's famous Tokaj wine (sweet white) and another was white wine which was homemade in Tolcsva, a small village not so far from Sárospatak. I felt pleased but sad because I knew I would miss the students and the school would be quiet without them.

The farewell ceremony started with the students and their form teachers walking down the school stairs, out of the school, the school yard and then out of the gate to the church. I walked with some colleagues to church and we sat upstairs. The ceremony lasted about two hours, but I think most people started to get restless. There was a farewell speech by one of the school’s top students and another student gave a speech to his graduating classmates. Prizes were also awarded to three students who had excelled in school and in competitions. Eventually the ceremony ended and it continued with a procession throughout the main streets of Sárospatak and into the school garden. My friend and I went for an ice cream. By the time we came back the students were returning to the school where they would have photos taken by their families. All of the students said hello, smiled or waved at me – it was very sweet.

This is a tradition that happens every year in Hungary and in my opinion it is a lovely tradition. It is a good way to say goodbye to your school, plus there are a lot of beautiful flowers!

Below are some photos I managed to get from the day. You can check out the professional photographs on this Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.681239865336139.1073741937.207643612695769&type=3

Hungarian

I haven’t posted anything yet about the native language of the country I’m currently living in, so here goes:

There are around 16 million Hungarian speakers in the world. As well as being the official language in Hungary, it is also spoken in some of its neighbouring countries: Slovakia, Romania and Serbia.

I have been told many times that Hungarian is one of the hardest languages to learn. This is because of the grammar, the ending of words change constantly and the fact that Hungarian has no similarities to any other language in the world. It has been known that Russian has more similarities with English than Hungarian.

However that’s not to say that you cannot learn it. I am able to have a (very) basic conversation in shops, train stations and other places. I also know and understand some words and their meanings.  If I don’t understand I just say nem értem (don't understand) or nem tudom (don't know). These phrases are useful!  If I stayed in the country for a number of years, then I believe I would become proficient in the language. The fact that more and more people are speaking English and want to learn English hinders my progress in learning the language (although that doesn't stop me from trying!)

Below are some survival phrases in Hungarian (I will put the English first then the Hungarian followed by pronunciation.

N.B. Like some languages, Hungarians have different words to say hello or goodbye depending on who they are talking to. I will write this down on the table too:

Hello/Goodbye	Szia	See-ya
Hello (polite)	Szervusz	Ser-vus
Hello/Goodbye (plural)	Sziasztok Szervusztok	See-ya-stawk Ser-vus-stawk
Goodbye	Viszontlátásra	Vee-sont-la-tash-ra
Bye	Viszlát	Vees-lat
Thank you	Köszönöm	Kur-sur-nurm
You’re welcome	Szívesen	See-vesh-en
Yes	Igen	Ee-gen
No	Nem	Nem
Please	Kérek	Care-ek
I am (....)	(....) vagyok	Vodge-ok
Do you speak English?	Beszél angolul?	Bes-ells an-go-lul
Good morning	Jó reggelt	Yo reh-gelt
Good day/afternoon	Jó napot	Yo na-pot
Good evening	Jó estét	Yo esh-tet
Good night	Jó éjszakát	Yo ay-sa-kat

If you’re planning a trip to Hungary then I would highly recommend using these audio lessons from: http://www.letslearnhungarian.net

They are free to download and you can listen to them or download them onto your iPod, MP3 player, iPad etc...

Hope you enjoy learning Hungarian! 

Viszontlátásra! xx

Furry Friend

It was exam week last week so that meant days off school! However for the students (particularly final year students) it meant exams. However there was something unexpected that happened. I headed out for a walk and this gorgeous blonde dog ran up to me. I kept walking away from it and it kept on following me. I decided that it just wanted to play. When I told the dog to roll over it rolled over, I stroked his stomach and gave him lots of high fives. He followed me to my door and I gave him a drink of water (which he lapped up eagerly).

I went back into my house thinking that the dog would go home. However it sat there for a while and I kept on going outside to check that it was okay. The rain started to come on and I went back inside and when I looked out my window the dog had gone.
Since then I have never seen that dog again, but I have a feeling it belongs to one of my neighbours. So you can appreciate its cuteness, here are some photographs of my furry friend: 

Visit to Tengerszem: 26th April 2015

It’s now spring and the weather here has changed for the better. People are putting away their winter clothes and digging out the shorts, t-shirts and sandals which have gathered dust in the attic for the last few months. More people are now out in the streets eating delicious ice cream and enjoying the sunshine.

I decided to make the most of this weather by hiking up to Tengerszem with my friends. I had heard about this beautiful Hungarian heritage site and I never got the chance to visit it until now. We set off from the main street of Sárospatak at 3pm and kept on walking until we got past the railway line. From there it was a steep uphill climb. I’m not the fittest person around and Sárospatak is a small town so amenities are quite close by. However I managed to get up to the top without desperately panting for breath. The view from the top was beautiful, looking down we saw a lake which was surrounded by a huge quarry. It used to be in operation and miners used to work next to it, but now it is just a popular hiking route for tourists and locals. I think its part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site as it is placed in the Tokaj Wine Region Historical Cultural Land (sounds like a fantasy land, I’ll have to admit). Tengerszem does look like something you would read about or see in a film like Lord of the Rings or The Wizard of Oz – it truly is beautiful.

I almost took a tumble when descending (the stones were not fixed in place) but I managed to get down the mountain safely. About an hour later we returned to Sárospatak, where a lovely meal and delicious cherry cake greeted us. I then returned home exhausted and ready for bed. It was a fantastic experience and I will hopefully get to visit Tengerszem again before I return home to Scotland.

Below are some photographs of this magnificent place: 

Cuvee Events House

Hello everyone! Once again, I apologise for the lack of updates – but here I am with another blogpost!

It’s crazy as I only have six weeks left here – where has the time gone??? I know that I will make the most of my time here, which includes sitting outside in the beautiful weather. During my time here I have attended two concerts in the beautiful Cuvee Events house in Sárospatak. It was built in the seventeenth century but has since undergone a renovation. The original wooden doors and the wine cellars have been preserved and the events house can be used for conferences, family events such as birthdays or christenings and weddings. My friend Niki and I received free tickets so along we went to the concerts.

The first concert was on the 21^st of March with the Hungarian chamber orchestra Mozaik. Although the speaking part of the concert was Hungarian we all understood the universal language of music. The orchestra played Rossini, Debussy and my favourite song Somewhere Over the Rainbow from my favourite film The Wizard of Oz.

During the break there was an opportunity to visit the wine cellar and to taste some of the wine that was on the offer. Outside we were treated to a fantastic view of Kis Patak (little Patak in Hungarian) and on the right hand side, there was the magnificent Sárospatak Castle.

A few weeks later there was another concert held at the Cuvee house. This time it was an acapella singing group called Octovoice. They are based in Budapest but perform all over the country. Their sweet melodies and harmonies enchanted the audience and they gave a rendition of Let it Go from Frozen and A Whole New World from Aladdin during the break. The evening was beautiful and many people enjoyed sipping a glass of wine outside as they enjoyed the view.

They were two very enjoyable evenings and I hope to return to the Cuvee house soon!