Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Magyar Monday

Szia! (Hungarian for hello!)

We started our Monday with a healthy serving of homework and the daily yogurt and breakfast sandwich. Upon finishing the homework after minimal tear shed, the somber class embarked upon the trek to school with a slightly less positive outlook on Number Theory and a diminished confidence in their own general intelligence.

Once we all settled in for another potentially brutal day of learning, Professor Bruce Hanson demonstrated another trait representative of his alleged super-heroism. Not only did he manage to break yet another piece of chalk, he also admitted to possessing psychic capabilities. He demonstrated this newfound power by successfully guessing the seventh digit of multiple students’ numbers, which had been generated by multiplying numbers between one and nine.

After a significantly more comprehensible math lecture and inspiring group worksheet, the class delighted in a brief cinematic masterpiece depicting the rise and fall of the great Hungarian, Istvan Szechenyi. Szechenyi was the man responsible for connecting Buda and Pest, advocating an economic renewal by implementing technological innovations, and modernizing Budapest.  One student is quoted as saying, “ Two and a half hours just WASN’T long enough!” No sarcasm intended. Multiple students were witnessed shedding real tears during Szechenyi’s funeral at the end of the movie.

Still bewildered after watching what might have been the best-scored movie Hungary has ever produced, the class went separate ways to indulge in a late dinner. We went to a delightful restaurant by the name of “Paprika,” meaning “pepper” in Hungarian. Natalie ordered a meat plate for two, to be consumed by one. Rachel ordered Wiener Schnitzel, a staple in the European diet.

Upon return to the hotel, most students were found in the breakfast room tackling the new homework assignment, much more confidently than they had the previous. After spending a mere hour and a half working, the assignment was finished. Therefore, our Monday was full of learning, as desired.

Szia! (also Hungarian for goodbye!)
Natalie and Rachel

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