... and the rest is history....

... and the rest is history.... 19 dec 2002 sziasztok! so this is it... i don't have too much descriptive to say this email... finals came, finals went, surprisingly, i'm almost done with a 12 page mini-thesis draft for valpo this week too, been up to final things i couldn't possibly leave hungary without having said i've done, several closing/goodbye/holiday parties to attend, sunday i play flute at church, and monday i'm traveling back to the states... (in case you're wondering about my schedule -- dec23:arrive memphis 7:15pm -- dec24&25: in memphis -- dec26thru30: in pittsburgh -- dec30pmthrujan2: in memphis -- jan3&4: driving to g-ma pudwell's and in illinois -- jan5: back to valpo mid to late afternoon) (dude!!!) basically time is flying way to fast, and i'm not nearly ready to leave such incredible people and such an awesome city, country, and culture behind either, so here's something a little different while i'm in reflection mode... don't let the 42 scare you -- just enjoy when you get a chance =P la(ra) p.s. a million thanks to all of you who have humored me and read my novels all semester -- all y'all are great =) top 42 things i've learned this semester (in no significant order whatsoever) 1) central/eastern europe is most incredibly spiffy, and hungary is the best =) 2) no matter where you go, awesome Christian fellowship abounds 3) half a long island tea is plenty 4) don't bite or stab people 5) learning a new language while being surrounded by native speakers makes things both easier and harder to pick it up... 6) every city needs a metro, and any metro station is incomplete without a princess bakery 7) there is something amazing and unique to be learned from each and every person you meet 8) you can never take too many pictures while abroad (those of you not here, just wait til you see the monster of a scrapbook i'm stowing in my carry-on... you'll run in fear from the size of it!) =P 9) 101 ways to inadvertantly light stuff on fire 10) szent istvan is everywhere, if he's not, you must not be in hungary 11) many things have 'america's favorite' written on them,... 9 times out of 10 these things are brands never seen or heard of before in the states 12) you haven't had real bread until you've eaten it in hungary or poland 13) every country has at least one common street sign that looks hysterically funny to non-natives... 14) you can get to know an amazing number of awesome people in four and a half months 15) some places have national quiet hours -- learn them if you want to stay on friendly terms with your neighbors 16) there is a completely different philosophy to being a dog in hungary than being a dog in the states 17) people who work with international students for a living are angels in disguise =) 18) when two southerners agree on something, everyone else is wrong =P 19) what a homotopy is and how to find homology groups of funny shapes (topology) 20) sixty-seven ways to prove that there are infinitely many primes (number theory) 21) that hypergraphs are really really cool and really really really hard to draw (combinatorics 2) 22) way more variations on chessboard problems, decompostions, and countability problems than i ever thought possible (conjecture & proof) 23) all twelve present tense hungarian verb endings, all twelve past tense, the six conditional tense endings, and the six imperative ones plus many many more strange grammar rules involving lots more k's and t's than i knew i could say in one word 24) no matter how many vocab units you study in language class there's surprisingly useful entire units of words you never ever come across: e.g. camera parts, hospital/more complicated than 'it hurts' descriptions of problems, proverbs and sayings that don't translate well either direction, and the list goes on =P 25) there are countries where you just have to get over your fear of lighting matches to survive 26) there are times when you're surrounded by brilliant people and have to fight to keep up -- it's times like these you learn to work even harder to keep up and practice humbleness 27) there are few things as exciting as figuring out a brilliant solution to a problem and being able to convey it well =) 28) for as much as america opts for electric applicances over gas, i'd say especially our gas water heater, oven, and stove have it made much better =) 29) it is possible to make fourteen distinct vowel sounds come out of your mouth, although some take a little more practice than others... =P 30) no matter how much you've read before coming, actually being in a country makes you realize how much more you have to learn about it! 31) bottled water is generally carbonated in hungary and much prefered to the lesser found 'normal tap water', beware! 32) how to make sour cherry soup 33) revised new favorite pizza: instead of pineapple and mushroom, it's now definitely pineapple, mushroom, and tuna =) 34) the biggest scariest dog in the world lives at XII. acsadi ignac utca 5/a, just around the block from my flat here.... if you ever need a good shaking up, just walk past that creature's gate and prepare to jump and run! 35) hungarians have an interesting way of categorizing cd stores: jazz, classical, dance, world music, international pop, international rock, magyar rock, magyar pop, and.... black music (how this one section is allowed to encompass eminem, prince, and reggae at the same time, i still fail to understand!) 36) there are few experiences as wow-ful as sitting *on* the wires of the chain bridge and seeing seven simultaneous giant fireworks displays, three laser light shows, and people dancing with fire over the river to a very loud soundtrack for szent istvan's day in budapest. 37) a chunk of my english vocabulary has been reprogrammed into hungarian and probably won't go back for a bit, or at all for some =P -- e.g. danube = duna, subway = metro, hello = szia, how are you = hogy vagy, etc. =) 38) sometimes you have to be brave and let people take out stitches, and other such things you'd rather let a professional do -- it's times like these you can be extremely thankful to be surrounded by friends you can trust 39) no matter how well you think you've mastered the art of procrastination in your own country, it becomes a million times easier in a new culture altogether! (however, when abroad you can easily reclassify it as a "cultural experience" =) ) 40) taking classes from some of the most published and recognized mathematicians of today makes for one of the most challenging, productive, swamped with work semesters of your life, but it's worth every minute 41) there are times when life gets really confusing and changes an awful lot at once -- it's then that you especially appreciate the one thing that never changes -- an awesome God who loves you and gladly travels round the world on a regular basis =) 42) that it's impossible to not love budapest, and i'm definitely coming back!