Becky Ballard In Hungary

I am an American girl from North Western Pennsylvania, Rotary District 7280. The 2013-2014 school year, I will be in Hungary as a foreign exchange student. If you would like to contact me, you can email me at [email protected]. You can also find me on facebook at www.facebook.com/beckyballard13 .

[rllysleepyy]

Dear baby exchange students,

Yeah you, the ones who are so excited to fly away in just a few months or weeks. Take a deep breath, this is really exciting - I know! Here’s a few tips from a girl who is not ready to leave her host country, hopefully they are a bit different from the “don’t hide in your room” tips you always hear:

1. Take photos. Of everything. A good meal, your friends, a dog you see on the street. Do not be embarrassed to take selfies in front of random things. The locals won’t get it, but they don’t have to.

2. Eat the scary thing. It might be nasty, it might be amazing - either way you have a story.

3. Don’t take a single moment de granted. Because one day you won’t see that view of the town on your long, rainy walk home. You will miss it.

4. Exchange weight is whatever. Eat all the things. Eat Japanese sweets and Italian pasta with your friends until your stomach hurts from good food and laughing.

5. A good way to make friends is just tagging along. My best friends here, I made by pretty much following them around for weeks until I became a part of the friend-clique. It works!

6. Take a deep breath. Some days, everything will suck. Remember how lucky you are to explore the world.

7. Go to school. But also skip class. Be lagom, as the Swedes say. It doesn’t translate to English properly, but it means not too much, not too little - just right.

8. Remember that you go through 5 years worth of growth in exchange. That comes with five years of emotions in one year. Feel these intense feelings, and roll with them. Let them come. It will make you better.

Good luck, my little exchangers! You’ve got the world ahead of you - go take it all in!

[beckyballardinhungary]

Person: "YOU SPEAK ANOTHER LANGUAGE?!"

Me: "Yeah..."

Person: "SAY SOMETHING IN IT!"

Me: -Forgets entire language-

[beckyballardinhungary]

January update/ski trip -- 10.02.2014.

My last update ended right after winter break was over, so I'll go from there.

That was the last week Molly was here, so I spent as much time as I could with her, though two days she was in Austria with her family. We had a couple of going away parties for her and we also had a sleepover the night before and went to the airport together.  It was very emotional for everyone. About half of the exchange students were there, and I think everyone cried at least a bit. After a few of us just went and hung out for a bit, then I took a bus home.

The following weekend, the newbies came. On Sunday, I went to Budapest again to greet them with about 10 others. They all seem very kind. After they got here and left with their families, we just hung out and relaxed at a mall. Nothing too exciting.

The weekend after that, I went to Budapest again to meet with one of my best Hungarian friends who was there for some conference. We just relaxed and had a good time together since we don't see each other often.

Then the next weekend is when the excitement starts!! On Friday, Jan 31st, I, along with about 150 Hungarians took 3 buses to the French Alps. I was with a group of about 15-20. I never in my life thought I would enjoy skiing. On the first day, I didn't. I HATED it. I wanted to quit. I'm glad I didn't. I'm not amazing yet, but I have gotten better and I really enjoy it. We skied everyday, though only Monday and Thursday had really good weather.  On Friday, we were all too lazy to go out skiing, plus the weather wasn't very good. So we stayed in, playing games and just relaxing. In the afternoon, we went out and had a snowball fight which was a lot of fun. That night we played a game called Activity (aka Charades) until 4am. That was fun, except for the fact that we had to wake up at 6am the next day... But we handled it.  Around 10:30, we got on the bus and headed back towards Hungary. But I had a seizure (for those who don't know, I have epilepsy) at our first stop. It was a bit scary for my host family, but not a huge deal. All that happened was I bruised my head a bit. They called the ambulance which made me angry. I didn't use the best language at that time and said that I wouldn't go into the ambulance, but they made me. My host sister came with me. The insurance was terrible, and it took us AGES to find a place to stay for the night. But we found one. The insurance wouldn't put us on an airplane because it was "too risky" and they made us wait until the next morning for an ambulance (from Hungary) to come pick us up... So, we spent the day exploring Nice and Monaco. It was a lot of fun.  About 5:30am today, the ambulance picked us up and we made an almost 12 hour drive home. 

I'm not really good at giving exact details, so feel free to ask questions! Yours Truly, Becky

[szia-csere]

12/1/14, Pécs, Magyarország Hungarian play-on-words are so funny when you understand them and this is a gem. It’s so nagyon lame. I love it.

Rossz (rross)= bad Jó (y-Ow) = good Ló = horse

x

[beckyballardinhungary]

Christmas and so on -- 06.01.2014.

This year, Christmas was very different than what I am used to.

I had 4 Christmases. My first was with my 2 best friends -- Molly and Csenge. We just went to a coffee shop and gave each other presents, all of which were handmade things. It was very nice and a loving environment. I love those two a lot. My second was with my host family and my host mom's side of the family, so -- my host mom and dad, 2 brothers, 1 sister, 1 step brother, 3 cousins, an aunt, an uncle, and a grandmother. It started with just my host family and me, and we opened presents. Then the rest of the family came and we had dinner. Then us "kids" (15-28 (not exactly kids...)) played a game called "Bang!" which is actually a lot of fun. I enjoyed it and won multiple times.  The next day, my host siblings and I went to their real dad's family's Christmas, and truthfully, I don't know who all was there, it was crazy. It was very nice and we had good food. After we ate, we opened presents, and then we drove back to Kecskemet. The cousins came over again, and we did the same thing (we really enjoy that game!). The next day (26th), I went to a small town outside of Budapest with my host brother's wife's family. We were there for 3 days. We watched The Hobbit 2 (It was okay, but not really well connected to the book) and played a lot of card games. We also tried to go to the Parliament building, but it was too busy. So, we went to KFC and then they brought me to the bus station and I came back to Kecskemet.

I had a day to relax, then I went to Molly's house, because my host parents were going away, and I wanted to celebrate New Years with her. We went to a party that night that our friend was throwing and we danced a lot, so it was a lot of fun!!

Then, on Jan 2nd, I went to Gyor (don't try to pronounce it, it's impossible, I swear...). I visited a couple of friends and saw the city. Mostly, it was just relaxing. I came back yesterday. 

Today, I went to school. Nothing too exciting there.

It's Molly's last week in Hungary... She leaves Jan 12th. I'm really sad to see her go, but I know she is excited to get back to the sun and her friends and family in Australia. I'll miss her like crazy, but "don't be sad because it's over, be happy that it happened." I am so happy that I got to know her and that we have created a life long friendship. One of the best things about exchange is definitely the friends you make, and Molly is one friend that I will never regret making.

Lots of love, Becky

[beckyballardinhungary]

Christmas from my family back home :)

Chris and Aspen (my brother and sister-in-law) got me the Despicable Me hat.

Alicia and Will (my sister and brother-in-law) gave me cards that Alicia made (really awesome) and money to send some back to the US.

Ryan (my brother) sent me mtn dew chapstick and a lot of candy -- twizzlers, sour patch kids, reeses, tootsie rolls, and nerds (all things that I have missed insanely).

My dad got me a really, really nice columbia jacket that will be very warm this winter!

My mom got me the rest of the stuff -- slipper socks, 2 sweaters, Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (one of my favorite authors), a flash drive, and a calender.

It was really awesome to get it all and it only took 8 days to get here!!!

[blogdeletedbye]

[beckyballardinhungary]

Considering I don't have either of those things in Hungary, yes, please!!!!!!!

[xaizaonigirix]

Why Can’t You Use Vocabulary You Taught Us: an autobiography of an exchange student

[handsomedogs]

My name is Mumford and I am a Hungarian Puli. I love hanging out on the boardwalk. #mynameismumford #puli #hungarian

[beckyballardinhungary]

4 months -- 03.12.2013.

Today marks 4 months of this adventure.

In this past month, I haven't traveled at all. I've just stayed in good ol' Kecskemét. I love it here, so I haven't had much need to.

I am mostly just in the city with my friends (Hungarians and Molly). I go to school most days. 

Truthfully, there's not much new to report. I am almost always with friends. 

I changed host families, though, yesterday. I am now in the city center and it takes 5-10 minutes to walk to the Malom (our shopping center), and to the bus station there. So, now, I only have to take one bus to get to school, which means I can wake up later and leave later! My host family seems very kind. I live in an apartment building now, which is very different for me, but our apartment is pretty large, so that's good. I am, again, an only child (basically). They have 2 kids, but they both live in Budapest. Their son comes home on weekends though, so I will meet him Friday, I believe. 

My name day is Friday, too! That's also the day that Santa Claus comes, so that's pretty cool. I don't really know how name days work. You celebrate the name you were given. I just know that you sometimes get flowers and candy and things like that. Anyway, I'm excited for that.

I got a new book today, but I posted a picture of that. I have a music lesson later (40 minutes), so that's my day. School, friends, home, music lesson. The normal.

Sincerely yours, Becky Ballard

[budapestagram]

stevenmkelly // http://ift.tt/18QqXHq

[beckyballardinhungary]

Budapest <3 

[lambo-san]

[lucky-lucifer-deactivated201712]

High schoolers in one sentence.

[winter-buchanan-barnes]

College students in one sentence.

[best-of-funny]

X

[beckyballardinhungary]

Exchange students in one sentence...

[beckyballardinhungary]

I had to introduce myself to someone and here is how I did it -- 24.11.2013.

My name is Becky Ballard. I am 16 years old. I am from the USA, also. I grew up in upstate South Carolina, but I have lived in NW PA for the past 2 years, and will move again when I get back to attend my senior year in Dayton, OH. I am currently living in Kecskemet and I LOVE it. It's the biggest city that I've ever lived in and it has many opportunities. I've made a lot of friends and spend most of my time with them. I'd really rather stay in Kecskemet with them, instead of traveling around visiting the other exchange students (not very exchange student-like of me). Most of my friends speak GREAT English, and like to teach me Hungarian...though I'm not very good at remembering it an hour later... 

I still go to school maybe 4/5 days a week. Some days, I just need a day off to sleep in... I go to 5 lessons every day. Most of them are just English lessons, though I always attend Spanish, too, because I understand most of it, because I took Spanish in the US. The other classes I go to, I tend to read and sleep in... Hungarian voices are very relaxing and lull me to sleep!

My home life is good. I have a lot of freedom which is a good thing for me, because I am so independent. Unfortunately, I am moving a week from tomorrow. I am quite disappointed and I will miss my current host family, but I am excited for a new adventure, too!

Hungary is great. The food is good (I am REALLY loving the duck right now, since it's the closest thing I'll get to turkey right now...), the people are friendly, everything is BEAUTIFUL. I even like the language... Okay, I like listening to it. Speaking it? Not so much. It's very difficult for me (and everyone else, too, I think). I chose to come here, I've wanted to for years. My great grandmother was born and raised here in a village that is no longer part of Hungary. I never thought I would get the chance, especially not while I was this young, or for an entire year!! So, I'm extremely happy here, much happier than I was in the US. I've had very few hard times. My hardest time was when my brother got married and I missed that. I think Thanksgiving will be hard, because my entire family will get together and I won't be there for that.

Life is great, and I am extremely happy with coming here!

-Becky Ballard

[tokyoghosts]

i wish i just knew languages without having to learn them

[maketimetotime]

[dadbot]

Just in case

[sappire-charizard]

I’m actually going to reblog a thing just because this is really important.

As someone who has epilepsy and used to have several grand mal seizures a day, I’d also like to add that “offer help” can range anywhere from keeping the person calm to explaining to them where they are and what they were doing to even just telling them they should sit and rest for a while longer (lack or coordination is common, and it can be hard to walk straight or see clearly).

It’s okay for them to take up to a half hour to fully regain their bearings and sort out what they were doing prior to the seizure. Just answer any questions calmly and be there for support.

If they come around and you start to panic or shake them or ask them what the heck is wrong with them they are going to freak out and panic too.

I cannot stress it enough that this is bad.

If someone has a seizure and they come out of it, please. please stay calm. They are likely disoriented and confused, even if it’s only for a minute or two, and you don’t want them panicking on top of that because they can have another seizure as a result.

[felicityredbarrow-blog]

IMPORTANT

[beckyballardinhungary]

October update. 03.11.2013

So, since I haven't updated in ages, I thought I would...

11-13 October

This weekend I was in Budapest! I was with my friend Tatiana for the majority of it. We went on a free tour of the city (they got paid off tips...we gave them 500 forints each.... that's like $2.15 or so....poor exchange student problems). It was really awesome since it was my first time in the city. We met up with our friends Max and Sarah and went to a market, a place where mostly tourists are, and then we just explored until pretty late. Then we all split up and I went home with Tati.  The next day, we met up with more exchange students (I think there was like 10 of us...) and went to Oktoberfest, which was in Budapest this year! It wasn't what I expected it to be, but it was really cool to see. Tati and I went home, got lost on our way there, and a Russian guy helped us get to the road we were looking for... Thankfully. It was kind of a sketchy place and I wouldn't have wanted just Tati and I to go there alone. We hung out with her host brother, Dani, and played Uno and just hung out. We went to sleep pretty early (we are crazy partiers, let me tell you!).  The next day, we explored some more. We went to the Rock Hard Cafe and also got Nutella pizza. Then I went home after that. But it was over all a very good weekend!! My brother, Christopher, also, got married that weekend. I was very sad that I had to miss it, but I'm really glad that it got to happen and I'm really excited to finally have Aspen be part of the family!!!

I really should update my blog more, because I can't really remember all of the details from the next couple of weeks. I'll try though. Either Monday or Tuesday, someone told Molly and me about a Mexican Restaurant that was just built in Kecskemét, so, of course, I had to go check it out, because I have missed Mexican food SOO much. Yummy yummy. It was really good! I got 2 tacos, a bowl of pinto beans, and a Jarrito for 1800 forint, I think, Which is around $8.  That Tuesday, I went to music lessons (like always) and played my baritone saxophone, and then, my music teacher let me play the tárogató, which I posted about a LONG time ago....when I first made this blog. It is a Hungarian instrument, that is really uncommon. It was so awesome, and I wish I could own one. But even if I COULD find one, I know I wouldn't be able to afford it... I went out and got coffee the next day... Thursday...I'm not sure. Friday-Sunday, I was with Molly and her host family, who I adore. I know that on Saturday, we went and saw the Kecskemét soccer team play (they lost 3-0...) and then went and got McDonald's.... On Sunday, I went with her and her family to a museum. It was interesting. Then, I went home.

Week of the 21-25. Nothing really happened on Monday or Tuesday, I don't believe. I had a music lesson on Tuesday, but that's about it. On Wednesday, we had a holiday, so no school! My host family and I went to an indoor pool, but I don't like swimming, so I stayed in the kiddie pool the entire time (80 cm...). I was supposed to go hang out with a friend, but that ended up not happening, so Molly came over and spent the night. We went to school the next day, but I think we decided that we will no longer go to school on Thursdays. We don't do anything, but read, so they seem pointless.. Plus, I need a day to sleep in. On Friday, I went to the theater with host parents and saw a musical in Hungarian....I didn't understand anything, but it was really cool!

Then, fall break started! Yay! :D So, fall break -- 26.Oct-3.Nov On Saturday, my host parents left for a trip and left me here with my host grandmother. Molly came over though, and we went to my neighbor's house to watch the Barcelona vs. Real Madrid game. She then spent the night. On Sunday, I went into the city and met with a friend and we went to a man made lake and just hung out. I had a good time.  On Monday, Molly, Csenge, Rizsa (they're Hungarian), and I, went to the lake and had a picnic. It was a lot of fun and I had a really good time! On Tuesday and Wednesday, I went to Szeged and spent time with some exchange students. We carved pumpkins and went into the city. And then we walked home, at 1 or 2 am... It took 1.5 hours to get home.... It was fun though!  On Thursday, it was Halloween! Yay! I went and met with one of my music friends in the morning, Zsofi (she plays violin), and we had coffee and talked. I, then, went to a party at my friend Csenge's house...It was her little sister's party, so all we did was hang out and we ate. Molly was also there. That night, we went to a Halloween party in a club, so I got to dance. It was my first Hungarian party, it was really cool!! It was a closed party, so I had my name on a list and everything (so fancy..)! I got home around 4 am....Molly came over and spent the night. On Friday, my host family and I went to Lake Balaton, so Molly went home early...I guess it was a holiday, because the 18 bus didn't come. So, Molly got on the 23A bus, at the beginning of the route...so she had to stay on a bus for almost an hour because of that... She got home 2 hours after she left my house... That evening, Tati came to Balaton and spent the entire weekend with me. It was really cool! We went to a zoo on Saturday and that was really fun. We also carved a pumpkin....It was really bad.  She's coming up later this week and we are going to try to make pumpkin pie from an actual pumpkin... This will be interesting.

Okay, that's about it...Sorry for the lack of updates lately!!! I will try to be better....no promises though.

--Becky