I managed to take a day off from work and that's a big thing because no one is allowed to do that during the first 3 month of their contract. It takes about 2 hours to get to Veszprém by train and I figured I would sacrifice that time on the altar of studying. The only thing I didn't count on was a group of old people sitting right across and playing cards. You might think that playing cards is something you do quietly, but they definitely didn't think so. They were cute in a way, so I said nothing.
Surprise! Snow! As soon as I stepped off the train, I felt that this was not the temperature I was used to, and certainly not the temperature this time of the year would make you expect. My mother always tells me that they used to wear skirts on the 15th of March, one of our national holidays. If I were Dutch, I might do that still. But I'm not, so I'll stick to my trousers as long as the weather stays the same. I found my way to to the hostel and was happy to see that I was the only guest again. Maybe I'm the only one who can cope with the nomadic circumstances the place offers. Anyway, the room was warm and that was enough.
The accounting class was an absolute disaster. Our teacher is the worst teacher I've ever seen. She crossed every rule you'd learn in a pedagogy class. She was unprepared, annoying, self-righteous, unrespectful. Later that day I talked to a couple of second years and they said that they have had a huge fight with her, and even took the issue to the Dean. She's going to teach another class, controlling, too. How lucky.
Then I had an HR managment exam and I passed with a B; that's good enough for me. I decided to join the second years' business simulation class, which was (/is, because I'm here again) a lot of fun. The teacher is a strange fella, but the game itself is quite exciting. Our group is corporate #1, fighting corporate #2 on 4 markets. We have to make decisions about how much to spend on marketing, development, storage, transportation etc. and we have to decide on the price of our product. The other group does the same. Then we run the program and see how much we earned, how many orders we had and how many we could satisfy, how many products we have standing on storage and a hundred other things. Then we calculate other stuff (such as what percentage ofa certain market is in our hands) and decide on the figures for the next round. It's cool. I could do this for days.
In the meantime, I also passed a law exam, which means that I finished 3 subjects in 2 days (including the simulation because that one doesn't have any other requirements apart from being present in class)!
In an hour I'll be on my way home... I'm tired as hell and tomorrow I'll be at the EVIME interviews the whole day.
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Spring, baby!
Or at least I wish... Anyway, blossoming cherry trees from AC to everyone who misses them :) I took the picture behind Tice House. These trees were absolutely gorgeous.
Thanks for the notes on the double post. Well, that's what happens when you start writing something and then you decide to rewrite it to make it slightly more appropriate THAN the first version. Yep, these posts are full of mistakes, I know... Well, some things never change.
Thanks for the notes on the double post. Well, that's what happens when you start writing something and then you decide to rewrite it to make it slightly more appropriate THAN the first version. Yep, these posts are full of mistakes, I know... Well, some things never change.
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Budapest night 3 - salsa crowd edition
Warning:
This post contains statements that are likely to offend some people. My purpose is not to offend, but to look at a system purely based on my personal, subjective point of view. This is not, by any chance, a complete description. Furthermore, I'll generalize, which, as we all know, will never give a complete picture of any issue. Besides, the people I'll write about are often nice and sweet etc., I don't mean to say that they are not. Finally, you don't need to agree with anything I say. If, having read this, you think you can't cope with my personal point of view, stop reading now.
Now we can get started.
The skeleton of this post was born in my mind a while ago, but I refrained from writing it for quite a bit. Anyway, here we go. Another description of the salsa scene of Budapest; but now from a very different aspect.
I was thinking a lot about what kind of people go out to dance salsa in Budapest. In Utrecht, I wasn't too aware of who was at the Winkel van Sinkel. There was a big group of first and second generation immigrants, mostly men. There was also a group that seemed to be rich to me, but was probably middle class Dutch men and women. I didn't talk too much to any of them, except to Enrique (who was as much of a latino as one could get) and Kees-Jan. I was there to dance, not to talk.
In Budapest, the cultural and language barriers disappeared, and based on what I see and what I'm told by my friends, I've been thinking about whether there were distinct groups in the Budapest salsa scene.
MEN
There's the "young" group. They are salsa fanatics and very good dancers who can't live without salsa and other latin dances (and also like the idea that they are surrounded by women - see the part about women). OR they are losers who can't find a girl to date them. The latter ones are usually engineers, IT people, easy too recognise them from their checked shirt. Very often they don't use deodorant or just sweat excessively nonetheless. Some of them dance quite well and some of them keep dancing although they don't have the slightest talent. This is their social life. I'd be surprised if they had anything else.
Then, there's the "older" group. 40 up. Some of them dance well, and loads of them visit a party for the social event itself. They have the money to go to salsa schools and they stick to their little groups. The engineer-IT type can be found here too. People in this older group definitely enjoy that they are surrounded by younger women. It's their second chance of partying and picking up girls. They are usually divorced, have children or had at least a very long relationship that ended not too long ago. They love the fact that they can play around with women - at least with those who let them do it. They lay one, and then in a couple of days or in 2 weeks max, they move on to the next one. (This is how Kaszi had more then a dozen of women during the summer. Easy to get - easy to let go :) ) They can be around most of the nights because their children are with the ex-wifes. Easy life.
WOMEN
There's the "young" group, which in this case means women up to the age of 25-26. They are there to party. Many of them dance very well. Some of them are in a serious relationship, and most of the time, the partner is also a dancer. Some of them are alone - or between relationships - and don't mind it too much to end up in someone's bed for a night or two.
And there's the "older" group. The group that's in the age where you're already supposed to have a family. So, why would they party? Some of them are divorced. Their children are old enough to be left alone for a night or the ex will take care of them. It's their second chance to find a partner. And there's the group the members of which haven't yet managed to find a man who would marry them and get them pregnant. They are desperate. It's really quite sad. Some of them are in very respectable positions in terms of work, and in their private life... they are total losers. Desperation is the last thing that attracts men, which they probably know but can do little about it. So, they are in a very hard position. They think they have found someone who likes them and they give in to someone who actually only wants to have sex with them. Then they are bitter and even more desperate. They dress up in a way that tries to emphasize that they are still attractive women. They go on a diet, mini skirt, boobs out. Some of them end up looking like whores. Women who want to find a men at this age and haven't yet managed, might actually have something wrong with them.
Take the following example. Woman, thirty-something, respectible position, but no child (no wonder). She goes to a salsa class where a classmate of hers, a man, takes his two young sons. Since there are more than enough women in the class, she quits, sits aside and starts playing with the two little boys. Then she starts crying, hoping that someone would see her, someone who would feel sorry for her, and maybe someone who would even knock her up. Poor soul. But rather pathetic.
Other example. Woman, end-of-twenties, lives near Gödöllő (and I know where exactly, but there's no need to make sure everyone knows who it is). Had sex with my boyfriend last summer, way before we even knew each other. Checks on my blog all the time to see how things are going. One day she actually visited my blog 8 times. How sick do you have to be to do that?
Anything to add?
This post contains statements that are likely to offend some people. My purpose is not to offend, but to look at a system purely based on my personal, subjective point of view. This is not, by any chance, a complete description. Furthermore, I'll generalize, which, as we all know, will never give a complete picture of any issue. Besides, the people I'll write about are often nice and sweet etc., I don't mean to say that they are not. Finally, you don't need to agree with anything I say. If, having read this, you think you can't cope with my personal point of view, stop reading now.
Now we can get started.
The skeleton of this post was born in my mind a while ago, but I refrained from writing it for quite a bit. Anyway, here we go. Another description of the salsa scene of Budapest; but now from a very different aspect.
I was thinking a lot about what kind of people go out to dance salsa in Budapest. In Utrecht, I wasn't too aware of who was at the Winkel van Sinkel. There was a big group of first and second generation immigrants, mostly men. There was also a group that seemed to be rich to me, but was probably middle class Dutch men and women. I didn't talk too much to any of them, except to Enrique (who was as much of a latino as one could get) and Kees-Jan. I was there to dance, not to talk.
In Budapest, the cultural and language barriers disappeared, and based on what I see and what I'm told by my friends, I've been thinking about whether there were distinct groups in the Budapest salsa scene.
MEN
There's the "young" group. They are salsa fanatics and very good dancers who can't live without salsa and other latin dances (and also like the idea that they are surrounded by women - see the part about women). OR they are losers who can't find a girl to date them. The latter ones are usually engineers, IT people, easy too recognise them from their checked shirt. Very often they don't use deodorant or just sweat excessively nonetheless. Some of them dance quite well and some of them keep dancing although they don't have the slightest talent. This is their social life. I'd be surprised if they had anything else.
Then, there's the "older" group. 40 up. Some of them dance well, and loads of them visit a party for the social event itself. They have the money to go to salsa schools and they stick to their little groups. The engineer-IT type can be found here too. People in this older group definitely enjoy that they are surrounded by younger women. It's their second chance of partying and picking up girls. They are usually divorced, have children or had at least a very long relationship that ended not too long ago. They love the fact that they can play around with women - at least with those who let them do it. They lay one, and then in a couple of days or in 2 weeks max, they move on to the next one. (This is how Kaszi had more then a dozen of women during the summer. Easy to get - easy to let go :) ) They can be around most of the nights because their children are with the ex-wifes. Easy life.
WOMEN
There's the "young" group, which in this case means women up to the age of 25-26. They are there to party. Many of them dance very well. Some of them are in a serious relationship, and most of the time, the partner is also a dancer. Some of them are alone - or between relationships - and don't mind it too much to end up in someone's bed for a night or two.
And there's the "older" group. The group that's in the age where you're already supposed to have a family. So, why would they party? Some of them are divorced. Their children are old enough to be left alone for a night or the ex will take care of them. It's their second chance to find a partner. And there's the group the members of which haven't yet managed to find a man who would marry them and get them pregnant. They are desperate. It's really quite sad. Some of them are in very respectable positions in terms of work, and in their private life... they are total losers. Desperation is the last thing that attracts men, which they probably know but can do little about it. So, they are in a very hard position. They think they have found someone who likes them and they give in to someone who actually only wants to have sex with them. Then they are bitter and even more desperate. They dress up in a way that tries to emphasize that they are still attractive women. They go on a diet, mini skirt, boobs out. Some of them end up looking like whores. Women who want to find a men at this age and haven't yet managed, might actually have something wrong with them.
Take the following example. Woman, thirty-something, respectible position, but no child (no wonder). She goes to a salsa class where a classmate of hers, a man, takes his two young sons. Since there are more than enough women in the class, she quits, sits aside and starts playing with the two little boys. Then she starts crying, hoping that someone would see her, someone who would feel sorry for her, and maybe someone who would even knock her up. Poor soul. But rather pathetic.
Other example. Woman, end-of-twenties, lives near Gödöllő (and I know where exactly, but there's no need to make sure everyone knows who it is). Had sex with my boyfriend last summer, way before we even knew each other. Checks on my blog all the time to see how things are going. One day she actually visited my blog 8 times. How sick do you have to be to do that?
Anything to add?
Monday, 2 March 2009
First day
The first day at a new workplace is always exciting. You meet the new colleagues (and forget all the names) and try to familiarize yourself with the place. The two girls I'm working with are very nice - we laugh our ass off at the texts we have to translate. Two of us are actually translating the descriptions and the third girl is checking our work. I was a bit worried at first that 8 hours of translation would be a bit too much, but it turned out to be okay. Once we find something hillarious (and believe me, there is something every 10 minutes or so) we read it out loud, laugh for a minute or so and then continue. Then we have tea and talk a bit.
The break rules are very strict. Apparently, you get an e-mail even if you go to the bathroom too often... We are all wearing silly magnet cards, which I guess make some people feel important. Every single room is opened by these. And I mean all of them. If there are 3 doors on a corridor - no idea why, but there are - then you need to open all of them with the card. It obviously checks when you are working, but that's also done by the videocameras that can be found in all of the rooms. So, watch out, Big Brother is watching. You can't leave the building for lunch. You either have to bring your own food or order. For now, I'll go with the latter.
The place does seem a bit prisonlike based on this description, but it's quite a nice environment once you forget the videocameras and the magnet cards. The design of the offices is cool, there are loads of glass doors everywhere, so there is a lot of light around, there are artworks everywhere and people seem quite friendly. I like it.
PS: It seems that our little stalker friend stopped being a bum, so the option to leave a message in the shoutbox is once again open to everyone.
The break rules are very strict. Apparently, you get an e-mail even if you go to the bathroom too often... We are all wearing silly magnet cards, which I guess make some people feel important. Every single room is opened by these. And I mean all of them. If there are 3 doors on a corridor - no idea why, but there are - then you need to open all of them with the card. It obviously checks when you are working, but that's also done by the videocameras that can be found in all of the rooms. So, watch out, Big Brother is watching. You can't leave the building for lunch. You either have to bring your own food or order. For now, I'll go with the latter.
The place does seem a bit prisonlike based on this description, but it's quite a nice environment once you forget the videocameras and the magnet cards. The design of the offices is cool, there are loads of glass doors everywhere, so there is a lot of light around, there are artworks everywhere and people seem quite friendly. I like it.
PS: It seems that our little stalker friend stopped being a bum, so the option to leave a message in the shoutbox is once again open to everyone.
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