I am awful at goodbyes. Really, really awful—like cliché awful. It’s not like it’s a fun thing, you know? I don’t ever know where to begin and then things slip into akwardness and I get fidgety and basically forget how to speak. Anyways, how can you say goodbye—you don’t know if you will see someone again or if your paths will cross randomly in the future. Who knows, right? That’s why I always find myself blurting out “See you later!” not to avoid actually saying good-bye, but I really think that you just truly never know, so why not believe you will see someone or some place again?
I have come to love that uncertainty over the past year, something I never thought I would grow accustomed to, but I have learned that as well as other countless lessons while experiencing Budapest. I am continuously thankful. I think mostly that Budapest was an experience which helped me “move into” the person I discovered in the previous year. It was sort of a year of decorating and settling in, but also realizing that many changes are still to come and should be welcomed with open arms. Looking back on some of the earlier posts, it feels good to know that I have absorbed much more than details about the policy process and how to best nip corruption in the bud. I know that I will carry these lessons far into the future— I won’t forget them anytime soon.
So anyways, this is the last blog and if anything, I hope I made you laugh a little over the past year.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
See you later.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Friday, April 06, 2007
BANCKS' UNITE!
Welcome Doug and Gretchen!!
My parents are here in Budapest. Can you believe it?? Talk about surreal. They decided to come over to make sure I wasn’t really in Ames, Iowa knitting up a huge lie and funneling my tuition money into the black-market. That’s a weird family joke. They also just wanted to experience Eastern Europe. It has been really nice so far with them here and school done because we are getting to see a lot of the city together, some of which I have not even seen yet.
It's hilarious--my dad has managed to memorize the ENTIRE section in his guidebook on Budapest and the surrounding area, thanks to the help of the author Rick Steves. When I am just about to lead us off course (thinking I know where I am going) he causally pulls us back on the right path, gently and nonchalantly saying we should be going the other direction. Knowing random facts about the city has become his temporary obsession and he is a fountain of facts, let me tell you. And then there is my mother--the faithful partner and supporter of mi papa. She is very laid-back and very chill. No ice in her almost boiling hot coke?? NO PROBLEM! Ha. LOVE IT, Mom you rock. And then there is me--the suddenly anal guide. I don't know whats come over me but I am in an INTENSE competition with Rick Steves to see who actually knows Budapest better. Currently he is very much kicking my butt and the score is absurdly off-balance. Something like 90 - 3. Bummer, I think I'm just gonna give in tomorrow and let Rick (co-captained by my dad) take the wheel and drive.
Best of all, my parents are experiencing Europe 30 years after their initial visit when they were newlywed hippies looking for adventure. Seeing their expressions and hearing the excitement in their tones is really satisfying for me because this is really a treat for them. I am glad to have them here with me to see my world. It is always a little weird though for me when they step into a world I had previously created very much independent from them. It takes some adjustment for some reason, because this place does not know them and they do not know this place. This all makes me stop and remember how much things have changed in my life from even four years ago. I guess I forget. I have begun to feel very comfortable being in a constant swirl of variety and change, something many people may feel differently about. I love it though and find myself addicted. Somehow I know that this will always be a part of my life.
My parents are here in Budapest. Can you believe it?? Talk about surreal. They decided to come over to make sure I wasn’t really in Ames, Iowa knitting up a huge lie and funneling my tuition money into the black-market. That’s a weird family joke. They also just wanted to experience Eastern Europe. It has been really nice so far with them here and school done because we are getting to see a lot of the city together, some of which I have not even seen yet.
It's hilarious--my dad has managed to memorize the ENTIRE section in his guidebook on Budapest and the surrounding area, thanks to the help of the author Rick Steves. When I am just about to lead us off course (thinking I know where I am going) he causally pulls us back on the right path, gently and nonchalantly saying we should be going the other direction. Knowing random facts about the city has become his temporary obsession and he is a fountain of facts, let me tell you. And then there is my mother--the faithful partner and supporter of mi papa. She is very laid-back and very chill. No ice in her almost boiling hot coke?? NO PROBLEM! Ha. LOVE IT, Mom you rock. And then there is me--the suddenly anal guide. I don't know whats come over me but I am in an INTENSE competition with Rick Steves to see who actually knows Budapest better. Currently he is very much kicking my butt and the score is absurdly off-balance. Something like 90 - 3. Bummer, I think I'm just gonna give in tomorrow and let Rick (co-captained by my dad) take the wheel and drive.
Best of all, my parents are experiencing Europe 30 years after their initial visit when they were newlywed hippies looking for adventure. Seeing their expressions and hearing the excitement in their tones is really satisfying for me because this is really a treat for them. I am glad to have them here with me to see my world. It is always a little weird though for me when they step into a world I had previously created very much independent from them. It takes some adjustment for some reason, because this place does not know them and they do not know this place. This all makes me stop and remember how much things have changed in my life from even four years ago. I guess I forget. I have begun to feel very comfortable being in a constant swirl of variety and change, something many people may feel differently about. I love it though and find myself addicted. Somehow I know that this will always be a part of my life.
Monday, April 02, 2007
the end of the road, Jack.
Holy crap (silence....................................................................eye blink.............................silence........)
That about sums it up for me—we have finished our program and I am still in a state of shock and disbelief that the most intense and jam-packed 9 months of my life is done and over. AND I DID IT!!!! SO surreal that I am crossing this finish line, but so very very satisfying. This year has felt like a constant wave after wave of transformation and challenge for me. Not a bad thing by any means, but who woulda known? And that’s the best part.
Now looking back on everything that I have experienced, I think to myself “why did I even try and imagine what it would be like?” because the reality was not even close to what I imagined in many ways—the school experience, the people I met, the opportunities to travel, the friends made, the challenges of dealing and understanding myself, etc. (I wish I could explain it to you in a couple of sentances but it's impossible so we'll just have to sit down and chat about it one day). But I am so thankful that it came out like that, like a constant surprise, because one of the most important things I have learned is that there is so much beauty in watching things unfold as they will naturally and unknowingly. I have spent so much time previous to this year trying to plan out my future down to practically pinning down a 401K that once that future came, it wasn’t as exciting or satisfying because I had been expecting exactly that the whole time. It’s not that now I don’t want to have any kind of plan, it’s that I am just much more flexible with how this plan can work itself out. For example on a much smaller scale, I skipped class the other day (on Ethics, haha) very spontaneously. Not because I didn't want to go or wasn't prepared, but as I was going through my morning routine, I got distracted halfway through getting dressed and started to watch a documentary on positive thinking and the power of the mind, which I managed to completely justify my missing class. See? I ended up still halfway in my pajamas, eating breakfast and loving this piece on the human mind...and I felt so good afterwards. It's so funny how things happen that might surprise you when you allow yourself alittle more flexibility for all the different possibilities in your life--there are SO MANY. And you know what? The slower this happens, the better. Then you get time to remember the details of your experience, rather than just flying through things just so you can check off items on your life to-do list. Hellooooooo---quality, not quantity. Do you follow me?
A friend called me a hippie the other day, to which I replied, “But I wear Banana Republic.” Oh wow Kate. Sometimes even I am surprised by what comes out of my mouth, but even there I saw some flexibility in being the person that I am.
That about sums it up for me—we have finished our program and I am still in a state of shock and disbelief that the most intense and jam-packed 9 months of my life is done and over. AND I DID IT!!!! SO surreal that I am crossing this finish line, but so very very satisfying. This year has felt like a constant wave after wave of transformation and challenge for me. Not a bad thing by any means, but who woulda known? And that’s the best part.
Now looking back on everything that I have experienced, I think to myself “why did I even try and imagine what it would be like?” because the reality was not even close to what I imagined in many ways—the school experience, the people I met, the opportunities to travel, the friends made, the challenges of dealing and understanding myself, etc. (I wish I could explain it to you in a couple of sentances but it's impossible so we'll just have to sit down and chat about it one day). But I am so thankful that it came out like that, like a constant surprise, because one of the most important things I have learned is that there is so much beauty in watching things unfold as they will naturally and unknowingly. I have spent so much time previous to this year trying to plan out my future down to practically pinning down a 401K that once that future came, it wasn’t as exciting or satisfying because I had been expecting exactly that the whole time. It’s not that now I don’t want to have any kind of plan, it’s that I am just much more flexible with how this plan can work itself out. For example on a much smaller scale, I skipped class the other day (on Ethics, haha) very spontaneously. Not because I didn't want to go or wasn't prepared, but as I was going through my morning routine, I got distracted halfway through getting dressed and started to watch a documentary on positive thinking and the power of the mind, which I managed to completely justify my missing class. See? I ended up still halfway in my pajamas, eating breakfast and loving this piece on the human mind...and I felt so good afterwards. It's so funny how things happen that might surprise you when you allow yourself alittle more flexibility for all the different possibilities in your life--there are SO MANY. And you know what? The slower this happens, the better. Then you get time to remember the details of your experience, rather than just flying through things just so you can check off items on your life to-do list. Hellooooooo---quality, not quantity. Do you follow me?
A friend called me a hippie the other day, to which I replied, “But I wear Banana Republic.” Oh wow Kate. Sometimes even I am surprised by what comes out of my mouth, but even there I saw some flexibility in being the person that I am.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
