Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Home Alone 2: Lost in Budapest

   So I’m getting on the train in Brno, where I spent my last days in the Czech Republic, and I’m heading to Budapest, the city that is going to be my home for some indefinite time. You know (or maybe you don’t), you always have strange feelings when you go for such adventure, but I’m excited at the same time. I don’t really know what to expect, I’ve never been there before, I know the language only from jokes, nobody‘s going to pick me up there. But that’s the adventure I like!
   Frankly speaking, the journey by train through Slovakia is pretty boring, there is not much to see, it’s just fields, fields and sometimes fields. Then Bratislava and till Hungary still a couple of fields. Surprisingly, it changes once you've crossed the border. The train is rapidly slowing down and with the speed of a faster tractor it no longer feels like a Eurocity train, but the view is finally quite stunning. From the Slovakian border, the train goes along the Danube, so you can enjoy nice views of the river and its bends, the Visegrád castle (on your right) and other hills basically untill you finally reach Budapest.
    After a couple of hours I’ve finally arrived at the Budapest Keleti station. What a lovely super old station with an even more lovely smell :-P Looks liken the Bratislava train station finally has a competitor :-D Soo now what? It’s hot as hell, I have big luggage with me and can’t even find an exit since in Hungarian it’s probably something like szjekelenedeindsjdnsczsykemelterlletmegdskgnskfg…..(it’s Kijárat, folks). 
    Well, let’s find a hostel for a few days to settle down a bit, relax, look around and get to know the city a little. Actually, let’s first find a cafe with a wifi connection because I don’t even have a hostel booked, yet. Yeah, my friends wondered many times, where are you going to stay, have you found a flat? Eh, no worries, will sort that out on the spot :-P
   So after 10 minutes of looking for a way to get out of the station, I’m taking my 30 kg heavy suitcase and going to face the city and the first impressions (let’s better ingore the impression of the station). And the first impressions are…..weird. Very weird. The station is under reconstruction, everything around is destroyed, messy, there are no sidewalks so I’m carrying my suitcase through gravel and concrete cubes and the wheels of my suitcase are starting to melt as the concrete ground has like 50°C. Holly crap, I’m  thinking, is this place what I’ve chosen to be my home for next months? Well, but I can always come back, can't I ? And come on, the first impressions are always strange, let’s give it a chance.
    After 20 minutes of walking the direction to the center (hopefully) I’ve found a bar with a Wi-Fi. I’m glad they have those here. Let’s just get a place which is cheap and not too far from work so I can calm down. Tomorrow I'll sign the job contract, then find a place to live, get to know the city better and everything will be just fine. Yeah, I’ve a got a job, that’s why I’m here, right? Ehm, I beleive I have, as there is no signed cotract yet, though.
    I mean, no contract, no friends, no palce to sleep, just my luggage. Just with my luggage. Cool, isn’t it? :-D That’s the way you do it! Or I do……Remember, the real life begins ouside of your comfort zone! But let’s see…..

Sunday, September 1, 2013

What the heck am I doing in Budapest?

    Finally, I've pushed myself to share something with you again and I'm launching my second blog (Yayy)! A blog about another life abroad, in which I would like to give you a picture of what the life here in Budapest, or should I say Hungary, looks like.
     Before I start writing about new adventure(s), I guess you are all wondering why I decided to come to Budapest. This is a question I'm frequently asked, anyway. So....here is the story.
     Actually, there is no special story behind. The main reason is that I simply got bored in my home country (Czech Republic) and therefore wanted to go abroad again. Well, yeah, maybe I also started to suffer from so called "Post-Erasmus - Not wanna Stay-at-Home" syndrome, I have to admit. Let me explain it. This is a syndrome that most of the people get when they return back home from Erasmus (a very popular student program in Europe, when based on an agreement between universities, you can spend 1-2 semesters studying abroad). The ones who have ever been on Erasmus can perhaps imagine what I mean. For those who never have (sorry, but you made your life mistake) - you usually get a feeling that suddenly you no longer have anything to do, that your life is over and you don't want to accept the reality of being home again. So the point is, I, along with most of the Erasmus people, or should I say post-Erasmus people, decided to accept new challenges and again start a new adventurous life abroad.
   Now, Budapest.....why would you go to Budapest? To be honest, I never considered this destination before. I wanted to move abroad again, but never thought of Budapest. It just came up...I don't know, I just got an opportunity to come to Budapest, so eventually I thought, well, it's not really Western Europe though, but why not to move to the capital city of Hungary instead...
    And the opportunity was a job offer. I got hired for an international company, it was a challenging position to me, and, you know, I love challenges! :-) I was convinced it was going to be good experience, full of good experiences as well. Not only because you get another line in your CV, but mainly because you can explore another beautiful place, where you can get to know lots of new people and experience many new things. Plus, you never know...you never know who you can meet, you never know what it can bring you. I believe you now understand me. So here I am, starting my new life...