Monthly Archives: April 2012

Apr26

Karaoke, Billionaires & Sharks

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This has been an incredibly hectic and stressful week but with some cool stuff thrown in. On Sunday I went to check out a choir because I really want to get back to singing with a group. I sat in on the Gabrieli Choir‘s weekly practice. They exclusively sing sacred music. I’m not a religious person but grew up singing sacred music and I have a real soft spot in my heart for it so I think I will join.

And speaking of singing, last Saturday we finally went to karaoke. Oh how I’ve been waiting to get my karaoke on in Hungary! Well, it didn’t disappoint but perhaps that’s because my lovely new friend Marion plied us all with very smooth tequila straight from Mexico. She also made an AMAZING chili which I’m happy to report stayed in all of our bellies. There weren’t many people at karaoke so our small group got to sing a lot. I sang one of my all-time favs “Chain of Fools,” Marion did a spectacular rendition of Meatloaf’s “Anything for Love” and Anne rocked the house with Lita Ford’s “Kiss Me Deadly.” Stephen and Theo signed my new friend Bart up (behind his back) to sing “I Want it That Way” by Backstreet Boys which he did without a single complaint or attempt at refusal. Good on ya, Dutch Bart! Sadly, we won’t be able to return to this bar since we kind of broke one of the microphones. Some guy was singing Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” (or was it Dolly’s? I couldn’t really tell) and I wanted to harmonize with him so I asked Marion to grab the other mike. Wellllllll, it kinda ended up on the floor and then stopped working; I’m not admitting to anything, nor did brilliant lawyer Marion when one of the karaoke hosts tried to get us to pay 33,000 Hungarian Forint (150 USD) to replace it. Yeah, no. I felt bad and everything but it’s an occupational hazard and you gotta expect that some drunkard is going to ruin your equipment at some point. After karaoke we went to a magazine launch party to hear our friend and colleague Brandon, a DJ, spin some tunes. I don’t know the cool way to say “spin some tunes.” What are the kids saying these days? 🙂

Everyone at CEU has been running around like chickens with their heads cut off (speaking of, this morning I saw a dude in a chicken costume w/ the head temporarily off so he could smoke) because Papa George  – that would be George Soros, our founder and FUNDER) – is here. CEU is opening its School of Public Policy and International Affairs (which was his idea) and their inaugural conference was Monday & Tuesday. One of the panel moderators was Kati Marton who is also a member of the CEU Board of Trustees. She is a former journalist and respected author and widow of U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, with whom our president worked closely. Marton spoke last night about her book about the life of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Jewish lives in Budapest at the end of World War II. In another post, I mentioned the book I read about him when I first arrived in Budapest. I feel really lucky to be able to attend all of these cool events!

I have also had a bit of a job change which I have been anticipating. I will be doing international media relations now but also continuing to do lots of editorial work for the website, etc. I formally met the CEU president yesterday, although I’ve heard him speak many times already. We had a very good conversation about what we can do to raise the school’s profile in the U.S.

Last night I started doing interviews for a freelance piece I’m doing on sharks. Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a recent (within the last 5 or 6 years) obsession with sharks. I was so excited to get to speak to one of the foremost experts in the world, George Burgess, who is often featured on Shark Week programs. The first thing he said to me after I was transferred to him was, “I love your last name!” 🙂 We had a really great conversation and I learned some fascinating new info. I need to ask him for some book recommendations too. If you are Elasmobranch-inclined, check out these awesome books: The Devil’s Teeth by Susan Casey and Close to Shore by Michael Capuzzo. The latter is the story that Peter Benchley based Jaws on and was a stellar recommendation by my friend Mary.

Ok, time to go home and clean up the flat as my friend Ivana (a pal I met way back in 2009 in Munich) will be visiting tomorrow.

Keep the home fires burning! 🙂

C

Apr18

May You Never Have to Deal with a Hungarian Internet Company

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Again I have been remiss in my blogging duties and, again, I blame it on STILL not having Internet service at home. I have to have the rental agency fill out several papers in the name of my landlord in order to have Internet service connected. At this rate, I might have it up and running by Christmas. The best part of all of this is having called the Internet company 5-7 times today and pressing 3 for English only to get (EVERY TIME) a person who does not speak English and tells me in broken English that they can’t help me but they’ll have someone call me back. Rrrrrright. For me, one of the most frustrating things about living in a country where you don’t speak the language is not being able to do simple tasks on your own. That being said, I apologize to all my peeps for being so out of touch. I have no phone either so it’s tough to communicate. I think I’m getting an iPhone soon though, so that sitch will be remedied.

I have been getting the flat in order and I made another trip to hell (IKEA on a Saturday) to get some additional things. Hotel Sharkey is shaping up pretty nicely. It’s so great to have my couch back in my life; I hope we never separate again. 🙂

I’ve been having a lot of fun w/ a group of my American friends. I’ve met some other great people through them and we had a super fun night last Saturday. However, the older I get, the longer it takes me to recover from these all nighters. Sheesh. I’m in the “curl up with a good book” phase of my life but I’m glad I have young friends to still force me out sometimes. 🙂

My friend Anne’s dog Carrot is absolutely adorable and I’d like to adopt one of my own but I think it’s too much responsibility for me. I was imagining having to walk the dog in the middle of winter and crying the whole time. I guess my cat person tendencies run deep – not just the being crazy part but also the too lazy to walk a dog part. 🙂 So maybe I’ll look into the Hungarian kitty adoption options. Speaking of cats, Michael the cat turned 21 years old this week!!! WOO WOO! He was my high school graduation gift which makes me, in a word, old.

I’m off to have drinks with friends at an outdoor pub called a kertek or kert for short. It’s like a biergarten.

Jó éjt  (Good night)!

C

Apr4

Sharkey’s in District VI!

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I’ve been remiss in my blogging duties but you’ll forgive me as I just moved into my new flat and I still don’t have Internet service at home. There have been a few rough patches since I moved in but my shipment from the U.S. is supposed to arrive some time this week and I’m looking forward to unpacking and settling in. Despite the fact that the flat is partially furnished, I still foresee many an IKEA trip in my near future. These are the times when you long for a friend with a car or large truck. Mental note: make friends with someone who owns a vehicle. I’m looking forward to having my first guests!

My neighborhood is pretty cool with lots of bars and shops. I haven’t had the chance to fully explore but I will soon. It takes me about 15 minutes to walk to work. WALK TO WORK!!!! Amazing. When I get a bike, I’ll be able to shave that in half, assuming I don’t crash several times on the way each day.

Friday night I had dinner with a group of my American friends at a really great restaurant called Klassz. After two bottles of wine, and some experimentation with the water jug, we decided to form a band called The Sweet Exactlys (don’t steal the name b/c it is awesome). I’m on vocals and jug; Anne is on washboard; Theo plays the triangle and spoons; Stephen chose the mouth harp. Good times! We’re no Emmett Otter’s Jugband, but we try.

On Sunday evening my friend Anne (a fellow Buckeye!) made me a yummy dinner and we watched some American TV. She is fostering the cutest dog named Carrot. Speaking of dogs, a co-worker recently told me that some local Budapest politicians have actually run on anti-dog shit platforms. Seriously, watch where you step when you come visit me.

Tonight I ventured to the Mammut (“Mammoth” and it lives up to its name, complete with McDonald’s and T.G.I. Fridays) to get a fan so I can try to block out my rude-ass neighbor who feels he needs to listen to his TV at full blast night and day. I foresee some awesome and pointless arguments in our future during which each of us are screaming in our native languages to no avail. I will, of course, end the argument with “Don’t make me call the embassy!” America, fuck yeah!!!

We have the Monday after Easter off so I decided to go back to Munich for another visit. This time I’ll be flying but I’ll probably sing some Sound of Music on the way anyway. Speaking of (this will only appeal to true SOM nerds), after seeing a sign the other day that reminded me of the movie, I was mentally naming the seven von Trapp kids but I couldn’t remember one of the two boys. Turns out it was Kurt – the very same one Maria forgets during the scene when she’s praying aloud for each of them. Maria and I are kindred spirits. On that pathetic note…

C