Reflections on @ Summer!

Wow, that went by fast!  This has been by far the best summer of my life.  The other interns were amazing and really fun to work with.  The camp was incredible.  And these past two weeks in Budapest and Central Europe were the highlight of my summer.

The last two weeks in the camp were even better than the first two.  We spent one night at one of the interns house in Kecskemet.  After an endless supply of giant, homemade "bagel bites", she took us to a hill with a great view of the city.  We were then treated to an incredible piano performance by her older sister back at the house. 

The activities put on by the camp the last week were even more exciting.  For the last night we had a talent show where we were treated to a Michael Jackson dance, a Hungarian folk song by some of the interns, and a rendition of Grease Lightning by the camp workers.  Afterwards there was a showcasing of the movies made by the filmmaking team, followed by a dance for the students, with a live DJ. 

I really enjoyed my time spent at the camp for those four weeks.  I originally thought the internship took place in Budapest, so I was surprised to learn that it actually took place in a small village a couple hours from the capital.  After the first week however, I realized that this was for the better.  The camp was its own world, where we were able to get really close to the other interns, and to the Hungarian workers (squirrels as they were called by the students).  The camp was really supportive of us and gave us around $30 each week for snacks or whatever we wanted.

The last two weeks in Budapest were a phenomenal reward for our time at the camp.  We got free housing in a hostel in Budapest, and with the public transportation system we were never far from anywhere.  One of the first days the AIESEC team took us on a grand tour of Budapest.  We saw the castle, did a boat tour of the Danube, and went to some world famous clubs around the city.  After that day, we figured out for ourselves what we wanted to do.

We spent a couple more days in Budapest, before the majority of us left for Prague.  We spent two days  there, which was just enough time.  We got to see all the major landmarks, and ate at some traditional Bohemian restaurants.  Afterwards some of the group went to Bratislava, while two of us left for Munich, which was my favorite city of the trip.  After seeing the world famous beer gardens and tasting some world class beer, we took a detour to Neuschwanstein castle.  This castle built during the romantic era was the inspiration for the Beauty and the Beast castle in Disneyland. 

After returning from Munich we spent a day at the Sziget festival in Budapest, which was voted as Europe's best major music festival.  There was a ferris wheel and a whole bunch of other activities to do during the day.  Then at night we got to see Steve Aoki live.

The following day we all went to Vienna, which was a beautiful city.  Despite its beauty, it was a little too quiet for my liking, and one day there was good enough.  We spent our last days in Budapest souvenir shopping and seeing any monuments we missed.

All in all I had the time of my life on this trip.  I had a great time at the summer camp, interacting with the kids and bonding with the AIESEC interns.  Then I got to see all the major cities in major Europe all while having a home base in Budapest.

-Zach

The People Team

The following post includes two entries- one written after the teaching stint of my internship had ended, and one upon returning home after the additional two weeks of travel in Europe.

7.27.12

Our camp was a renovated military bunker

It’s the last day of teaching. And with that, these four weeks in Kecskemet have come to an end. There is an odd lack of closure, but then again, few things rarely come with the closure I expect. The ending of freshman year of college, for example came with an odd lack of finality. Perhaps it was the awkwardly staggered trickling of exam endings, and the absence of a final bell, a la high school, that would symbolically herald the arrival of summer.

Fire shows at the camp

Regardless, we are done! I say not free, mostly because I didn’t feel constrained in Kecskemet, despite the fact that teaching started at 8:30 each morning, five days a week. There are no further lesson plans to be made, and instead, our efforts focus on planning our vacation time in Budapest (and ideally Vienna and Prague!). Fridays, while usually reserved for a weekend trip to the city center, and usually savored as an opportunity for a change of scenery from the camp, have donned a new outfit today. Instead, we stay at the camp, passing what we know to be our last afternoon and night. Actually, then I retract my prior rumination. Although it hasn’t quite hit me that these are our final hours here (forgive the dramatic connotations of that phrase), we’ve each made our little goodbyes. Kim and I played tennis one last time, which seemed a little more special as there was a wonderfully refreshing sun shower that accompanied our game. The Andys (our mentors) gave us little embroidered and tie-dyed bags, as well as diplomas, as a souvenir of our time here. There is a talent show tonight where we will sing our goodbyes to the camp via Hungarian folk song (that will hopefully be performed with at least minimal degrees of proficiency).

Exploring Kecskemet's town square

The Hungarian band Animal Cannibals performed at the camp.

I’m trying to look back and aptly summarize my experience, but I can’t find a thesis-like umbrella to categorize my thoughts under. We ate a lot of bread. And ice cream. Took daily naps, sometimes at least two or three in an afternoon. We swatted flies. And tennis balls. And badminton shuttlecocks. And ping pong balls. We (the Americans at least) enforced the obnoxious tourist stereotype. We adapted to the fizziness of the water. Adopted an air of professionalism as we taught (I failed miserably. I’m not intimidating, and I can’t be stern. Even my kids asked me, “Why are you so happy all the time?”). Bounced on trampolines. Counted the stars. Patted ourselves on the back when we could respond with simple phrases like “Koszonom.” Sang. Climbed a hill. Drank from buckets. Attempted to smuggle food out of the hangar. Tickled and poked each other mercilessly. Mastered the copy machine. Lesson planned. Improvised shamelessly as lesson plans proved ineffective, or if we blatantly left them unmade. Befriended little Ukranian boys. Taught American slang. Facetiously(?) argued for the superiority of our respective hometowns and countries.

Nostalgia is now settling in, and it’s not even over yet. 

Until Budapest,

Kelly 

8.15.12

At Sziget, the largest music festival in Central Europe

I’m sitting at a coffee shop in Miami again, my two-month stint in Europe now just a memory. Tangibly, I’ve come away with a few things, including: a handful of paprika spoons to give away as souvenirs and a ridiculous amount of photos that pretty much categorizes me as an obnoxious Asian tourist.

I’m actually flipping through the photos as I write this post and I know already that what I will miss most will be the people. Budapest was amazing to explore, Prague was a very fun blur, and Vienna was absolutely breathtaking in terms of its architecture. But this past internship was so valuable, not because of the sights that I was able to see, but because it taught me so much about other cultures and opened me up to so many new experiences. I not only was introduced to the Hungarian culture, but also to the cultures and values of the other AIESEC trainees that I worked with. Ireland, Canada, Poland, Brazil, Australia, and China are now also less elusive to me, and it was fascinating to compare and contrast our respective pop cultures, educational systems, and slang. I gained insight into Hungary not only by exploring my surroundings, but also through the stories that my students would share. They loved to ask me questions about America and I was equally intrigued by their own lives. They introduced me to the sport of handball, and I played them American rap in return. I learned some Hungarian as well—they thought it would be funny to teach me Hungarian curse words as well as pick up lines.

A view of Budapest from Gellert Hill at night

In terms of other things that I’ll miss, I’m already craving a gyro from one of the seemingly infinite stands that mark virtually every street corner in Budapest. Forty-cent gelato scoops. Paddle boating in Lake Balaton. Getting lost in a strange new city, without the correct currency or knowledge of the local language. Pedro eating mushroom soup with bananas. Katie mocking my American accent. Dinner at Zsuzsi’s house. Bonfires in the forest. Climbing hills. Etc. etc.

Thank you to all those at AIESEC that made this possible. It’s been an absolutely amazing summer.

Best,

Kelly

Hungarian Reflections

It’s been a week since I left Budapest, and I’ve been missing it constantly. I don’t just miss the other trainees, who I still talk to occasionally; I also miss working in the camp. Having a regular schedule gave structure to my day and made me feel like I was actually accomplishing something. Also, I miss my kids.

Summer for Youth is a camp that aims to teach high school-aged kids about other cultures and about English through immersion. Because we had kids of all ages—our youngest was 11, at one point, and our oldest was 20—we had to keep changing what we were doing in order to keep them interested. We did presentations on our home countries, on the problems in our countries, on our cultures, on our native languages, and more. We went to Zumba and Margarit Island once a week each. We played games like Japanese football, Red Rover, Manhunt, Kabadi, etc. We taught them the different AIESEC roll calls and had a “wish box” where the delegates at the camp could ask us to do any crazy thing they wanted us to do (within reason). We had team-building exercises and scavenger hunts.

What we really struggled with was the changing roster of the camps. Some people stayed for one week, while others stayed for two weeks—not always consecutively. This meant that we were never sure who had seen that presentation already, or done that activity in a previous camp. This also meant that, at least with the kids who came back for a second week, we were able to establish bonds of friendship beyond those of just teacher and delegate.

Just to talk about a few:

Brigitta was Hannah’s host. We went to Síofok and the baths with her. I actually tutored her in algebra for a little while.

Zsambo and Csenge, brother and sister, were the Justin Bieber and the baby princess of the camp, respectively. Both of them were in my homegroup because, as the youngest trainee, I was in charge of the youngest delegates. (I couldn’t be put in charge of delegates who were older than me.) Zsambo’s English was very good, but Csenge’s English was very poor. At ages 13 and 11, they were the youngest delegates at the camp, and also arguably the most energetic.

Tami is an enthusiastic English student, and was always active in every activity, asked questions during presentations, and was generally interested in the camp. He still Facebook messages me occasionally, asking me how I’m doing and sometimes asking for help with English homework.

We had two Réka’s (Réka means river in Hungarian), both of whom we grew very close to. One of them had an American parent, and won a trip to China. The other one turned fourteen while all of us were still in Budapest, so we took her out for chocolate fondue and dinner on her birthday. She later told us that it was the best birthday she’d ever had.

I really, really miss these kids. A good number of them—the most active ones, and the ones I talked to the most—have added me on Facebook, and we’re on good enough terms that we feel comfortable chatting with each other and commenting/liking posts and pictures. I love knowing that I have tens of people willing to host me if I ever go back to Budapest (which I definitely plan to do). It really makes Budapest feel like home.

When I was shopping for souvenirs for my friends and family at home in the last few days I was in Budapest, I realized that I didn’t know what to buy. Usually, there are a few specific items you should get from a place that represents it very well—bits of the Berlin Wall from Berlin, crystal from Prague—but I didn’t know what to get from Budapest. I simply didn’t feel like a tourist there, and I didn’t know what would encompass my entire experience there.

Someday I’ll be back. Hopefully “someday” doesn’t lie too far in the future, because the idea of those kids forgetting about me is heartbreaking. But for now, I’ll continue messaging them and seeing how their lives are going. Summer for Youth didn’t just teach Hungarian kids about other cultures from around the world; it forged friendships across borders.

Budapest, Take One

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from my internship in Budapest. When I landed, I was worried that the guy who would be picking me up, Gery, would be late, or maybe I wouldn’t be able to find him. But I did find him. His dad, who was driving, didn’t speak a word of English though. I had no directional sense, and I could only trust that this random stranger would get me safely to the dorms (the name and appearance of which I wasn’t even sure of). And he did.

Once at the dorms, Gery helped me get the key to my room and settle in a bit. No one else was in the dorms; because it was a weekday, the other trainees were still working at the camp. I stood in the middle of the rather large dorm room, at a loss for what I was supposed to do next. Gery didn’t really know either, so he tried to call the other trainees and see what they were doing. After a short conversation with a guy named Mark, he told me that Nick and Ani (more strangers) would be back in the dorms shortly, and that I should wait for them.

Nick turned out to be a shredded trainee from Singapore with a heavy accent, and Ani was a tall Indian with a mustache and a heavy accent. I mostly tagged around with Ani for the afternoon. He took me to the mall to pick up water and an Ethernet cable (there is no wifi in the dorms), and then out to dinner at Burger King. (Yes, I did have my first Big Mac in a foreign country.) We also attempted to get a phone for me, but it turned out to be too much of a hassle. I ended up just using my cell phone to call home every week or so to check in, emailing updates when I could and using an app to call using wifi when wifi was available.

We got back around 8pm, so I had more than enough time to settle in before my roommate, Ioanna from Greece, came back around 10pm. She brought with her three other trainees: Hesham from Egypt, Jonathan from New York, and Mark—the guy Gery had spoken to on the phone—from Hong Kong. (Later on, Hesham told me that coming back at 10pm was early for them. Usually, we trainees didn’t come back until at least 11pm. That night, however, they knew that I was arriving. “Oh, Amy’s getting here!” they said, according to him. “She’s from Yale! We need to meet her.” So they came back early just to meet me.)

A mere 17 years of age, I was the youngest in a group of 10 trainees, the rest of whom ranged from 20 to 22 years old. They were all shocked that I hadn’t even started my freshman year of college yet—it ended up being the source of many jokes, especially when I had trouble getting into clubs—but accepted that I was more than capable of running the AIESEC Summer for Youth camp with them. Speaking of running the camp, I came in with little to no idea as to what I was supposed to be doing. I trusted that the other trainees would help integrate me into whatever system they were using, and, as nervous as I was about hanging out with people two to five years older than me, I appreciated the effort they made to include me, the latecomer, in their plans. The second day I was at camp—a Wednesday—Hannah, the girl from Australia, approached me and asked if I wanted to go to a beach retreat with them that weekend.

By the time we were at the beach, it seemed ridiculous that I’d only met the other trainees a few days ago. I bonded with them in just that short period of time, to the point where I felt comfortable going out at night with them and staying in an apartment with them.

My relationships with the kids we taught, however, were more varied and complicated. But that’s a blog post for another time.

Love, Amy

Second Week in Hungary

Just finished my second week in the camp!  My experience here so far has been awesome.  I look forward to the first day of class every week when I get to meet my new students.  The first half of the day is spent with them in the classroom.  After lunch all the interns meet up and we usually participate in different camp activities.  So far my favorite has been the trip to the local pool and waterpark, which was paid for by the camp.  After dinner we all meet up in an empty classroom where we start lesson planning.  Since the first Wednesday here was the fourth of July, I've made every Wednesday an American themed lesson that the kids really enjoy.  I've had them read articles about America's history and the difference between America and Great Britain.  After a break I teach them a little geography, then have them try and guess the lyrics to a famous American song.  Finally I teach them American slang words, which they always seem to enjoy.

After lesson planning there's usually a late night activity that the interns usually participate in.  It's ranged from a fire dancing show to a rap concert by Hungary's most famous rappers. 

I can't wait for my next two weeks here at the camp, and for the two weeks after in Budapest.  Tomorrow I'll get a new group of students, and I can't wait to learn where they're from/what they're interested in learning.

-Zach

Kelly in Kecskemet

Hungary just isn’t what I expected. I don’t know what I imagined, but all I really knew about the country before I arrived were snippets from history class: the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the later influence by the USSR. I had a friend I met at a camp a few years ago named Miklos who was Hungarian, I knew that goulash was the “must-eat” dish here, and I knew that Budapest was supposed to pronounced “pescht,” lest Hungarians roll their eyes at you.

Hungary, or Kecskemet, the city that the camp is located in, isn’t all that different. In fact, aside from the fact that I can’t understand what’s going on around me (although some people would argue that that is a key and integral difference, I’m pretty oblivious to my surroundings even when I understand the language so it really isn’t that much of a hindrance), I mostly just feel like I’m at camp.

The city of Kecskemet

Which has been great. I really didn’t know what my attitude toward teaching would be, as although I am an outwardly patient person, I easily get frustrated. But as we’re halfway through the second week of teaching, I think I’ve experienced enough to realize that I do in fact love it. My first class of students were so fantastic, and as cheesy as this sounds, I really don’t feel like I could have asked for more of them.

The first day of teaching was a stressful, hectic yet mind-numbingly long day. I was rather exhausted from trekking around Western Europe for the past two weeks, had been training all weekend to learn how to teach, and was still feeling a bit overwhelmed upon realizing that I had free license to structure my curriculum for the week as I wished. Of course, now I really appreciate that fact that the structure of the classes that I teach is entirely of my own creation, but on the first day, I wanted rigidity. I wanted answers; I wanted someone to tell me what to do. What I got was “Okay, your kids are intermediate level, aged 12 to 15, figure it out.” (Obviously paraphrasing to some degree as the mentors of the program were entirely willing to help out, but it certainly felt as if we were just being tossed out into the deep end, discarded floaties bobbing forlornly at the other end of the pool.)

My class from the first week! 

But we got through it. We all did. And as teaching got easier, the students grew to talk more and more. I doubt that they were so great because of anything that I had done, but they truly were fantastic. Each wanted to participate, each loved to laugh, and each (at least it seemed) cared about learning. They grew animated when they talked about subjects that they were familiar with and wanted to share with me (we spent almost an entire hour just talking about Budapest and their lives there) and individually and as a class really proved to be special.

The AIESEC teachers

Aside from teaching, life here is nice. It’s slow, it’s easy, it’s simple. I don’t think I’ve had a chance to relax like this for quite some time. At Yale, it’s always go go go. Go to a meeting. Hole up in the library and study. Power nap but get right back to it. Even while I was at home in Miami, I was working all the time. I had friends to see, I had workouts to do, I had actual work at a bioinformatics lab downtown. But here, it’s calm. When I’m not teaching or lesson planning, I just am lounging. I’ve been playing tennis and badminton pretty frequently, but as we can’t really leave campgrounds, the AIESEC teachers have just been able to chill and enjoy each other’s company. Which is a change that I really needed.

I suppose now that I’m thinking of it, there are moments where I realize “Oh, that’s right, I’m halfway across the world.” One: the camp itself is located on a former Russian military camp. Two: the exchange rate! I know this sounds silly, but the teachers snuck out of the camp into town for dinner one night, and the bill was about 25000 forinths. Which is actually great for dinner for 12, and came to about 10 dollars a person, but it was a slightly unnerving moment.

And now it’s time for the camp’s weekly water fight. One of my students this week hasn’t exactly been an angel, and I’ve already decided that at least a few water balloons have his name written all over them.

Szia! 

Kelly