The title of this post is how you say "thank you", or "thanks" in Hungarian. It was the first word we learned after touching down in Budapest, and it has already been, and undoubtedly will be, an important one during our time here. I know I said I wouldn't blog again until I was in Copenhagen, but the hostel we are staying at, Maverick Hostel, has not only free wi-fi, but free computers with internet as well, so I'm currently on one of those. The hostel is BEAUTIFUL, and we have our own room and bathroom!
For dinner tonight we decided to pick up items at the grocery store to prepare in the hostel's kitchen, since it costs less than a "meal" out- prices were so cheap! The currency in Hungary is in much larger amounts; I ended up paying with a 2000 Forint (not Forinth, thanks Levi!!) bill, although my food was lower than that. I had coins also, in amounts like 20 Forints, 100 Forints, etc, but I didn't really know how to use them yet.
Once again, the kindness of strangers came through. After the cashier pointed to my wallet to indicate that I could use coins to make the purchase easier, the nice older woman behind me literally reached into the coin pile in my hand, sorted through the different currencies (I had Euros and Forinths), and the two of them worked together to find the appropriate ones for the transaction. And again, the one Hungarian word I have learned so far came in handy- I thanked both women with "Köszi!" and a very appreciative smile. As expressed in my last entry, it really has been remarkable how helpful people have been since arriving in Europe.
Just a Few Examples:
1. The family at the train station in Rome who helped us get on the right bus after literally waiting, wandering, and trying to find someone who spoke English to ask for help. They also made sure we switched buses because the first one was broken, and found a nice older Italian woman to help us get off at the right stop once they got off. She is person 2.
3. The woman at our all female hostel in Rome- yes, running the hostel is her job, but she went out of her way to book a taxi for us, tell us what buses we could use to get to various places, and show us exactly where different sites were on the map.
4. The women at the grocery store in Budapest. See above.
5. The woman at the train station in Budapest who confirmed that we were heading in the right direction to get on the train to Nyugati, before we even got the chance to ask.
6. My future host family- I haven't met them yet, but they picked up my suitcases from DIS (my program name; Danish Institute for Study Abroad) and brought the HUGE bags to their house so they will be waiting for me.
7+. Countless more- the two people who helped us find out way out of the Copenhagen train station, the woman who offered us assistance in finding our Danish hostel before we even asked, and everyone who will, in the future, help me find my way around the streets of Europe.
THANK YOU/TAK/DANKE/GRAZIE/MERCI/KÖSZI!!!
We are planning to have a full day in Budapest tomorrow, so there will definitely be stories and pictures to follow. We are heading to Paris on the 13th, and then will be there until we return to Denmark on the 15th, this Saturday, where I will finally get to meet my host family!
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