Time to Myself--by Ben

One thing we have done a lot of is walk and ride public transportation since we have arrived in Hungary. We have to do this everyday to get to work or simply get to where we need to go. At first we just sat on the bus, watched the locals and observe the surroundings. However, when you see the same buildings, trees, buses, and trams you get a little bored. So we started listening to music on our ipods and that helped. Then that started to get boring because we would be walking or riding transportation for at least 1 1/2 hours every day. Then we discovered podcasts. We knew they existed before but we didn’t really use them because we listened to NPR in our cars back home. Here we have become addicted to podcasts. We listen to all our favorite programs from NPR like Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, Prairie Home Companion, Diane Rehm Show, Fresh Air, etc. It also helped with keeping our vocabulary sharp since we weren’t really using English in anything more than extremely simple terms. I fell in love with a newly discovered podcast that I am hooked on and have gotten Dana hooked on as well.

The podcast is called Stuff You Should Know. It is my new crack. Each one is about 1/2 an hour which is perfect for my walk or ride around town. Any one who knows me knows that I love random information. I like Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, National Geographic, etc. That is probably the reason I am a teacher. Well, this podcast is perfect for that. It is 2 staff writers from Discovery named Chuck and Josh. They research random topics and then do a podcast about it. For example, they have done podcasts on pirates, bounty hunters, Scooby Doo, The Muppets, Tourette Syndrome, green energy, Jack the Ripper, you name it. This fills my desire for random information. The hosts are both laid back personalities and they are in a way figuring the information out with the listeners. They remind me a lot of my friend Eric and I if we did a podcast. I am positive that many people who read this probably know about this podcast. However, those who do not need to check it out. It is free and is on itunes. I listen to it all the time when I am walking to work in the morning or taking the tram to the city square. People look at me weird when I chuckle to myself while listening. It is also nice because it is a piece of home. I sometimes forget that I am in a foreign land when all I can hear is the podcast and my own thoughts. It also helps for the long train rides and flights we have taken in our travels. I even listen to it while I am shopping at the InterSpar (Grocery Store). That may sound weird but the truth is I don’t care. Everyone is speaking a language that I still haven’t even begun to understand so I would rather be in my own little world minding my own business. I obviously take out my headphones if I am approached because I don’t want to be rude and people here are very nice.

I know this is a random post but I thought I should share it. I figured it has been something I have been up to for the last 5 months or so. Therefore it is part of the experience.

Finally I will end with a joke that one of my adult students told me. Here it is:

The devil was visiting hell. He saw three caldrons and started to observe them. The first one had a sign next to it that said “No Getting Out of The Pot.” Satan asked a demon why that was there and was told that it was the Germans because they follow instructions. The next pot had a metal lid on it. Satan asked about it and was told that it was the Russians because they only understand force. Then Satan saw the last one and it had nothing on it. He asked who it was for. The demon said “that is the Hungarians, anytime someone tries to get out the others pull them back in”

I thought it was clever. If anyone is offended by it I do apologize. It is just one of the first jokes about Hungary I have heard since being here. Plus, it was told to me by a Hungarian so I figured it would be excepted as just a joke. :)