Because it is finals week, of course I’m blogging more regularly now. The CIEE program in Budapest has been a great experience so far; the program is generally well run, and the quality of instruction that we enjoy has been of the highest quality. I’m taking History of Hungary, Political Economy of Transition, European Integration and Security, Hungarian Language, and Political Problems of Transition. Here’s my impressions of the gang:
Our history professor, Attila Lengyel, is this really funny professor with a deep passion for Hungarian history and culture. He accompanied us to Transylvania, and was a blast the entire time. He really is a typical Hungarian – proud, jovial, slightly chauvinist and a great story-teller. Gave a really really hard mid-term though – half the class failed.
Professor Bank L. Boros, who teaches the Security and the Political Transition class, is a very smart guy, and reminds me of Shelley Deane (powerpoints, hard realist approach to IR, no-nonsense style of teaching). He’s given me good grades so far, so I shouldn’t complain, and I genuinely like (and even understand) his classes, but I think he’s somewhat of a far-rightist and a soccer hooligan; he was the president (or maybe secretary) of Ferencvaros FCs supporter’s union in the past, and recently threatened the president of the club with a court challenge, because the latter was trying to enforce some UEFA rules on language and behavior inside the stadium. He also once ran for political office for the now-irrelevant SmallHolder’s Party, and openly supports the conservative Fidesz Party. Keeping aside his politics, he’s genuinely a good professor.
Our Hungarian language professors, Orsi and Maria Gedeon, rock. They’re both very good at making an unbelievably difficult subject easier for us, and work hard to make sure we learn practical words we can use in everyday life. But they’re fighting a losing battle anyway; most of us use maybe seven different phrases to get by in Budapest. It’s a hard language man, what can you do….
Professor Tamas Reti, he’s the Econ professor. I hated him initially, he’s an elderly gentleman who speaks slowly and teaches rather boring material. He gives challenging exams, and actually criticizes us for not doing well. But the fact is, of all the professors here, Prof. Reti I think has the greatest knowledge, the most insightful experiences under Communism, and I learnt so much from him about Hungarian society and economy just by talking to him outside class. He possesses a subtle mind (NOT a hungarian virtue) and has the ability to really delve into the root of a problem and see things which are not appreciated by the common man. He also has a the gift of foresight (again, not another Hungarian virtue) and is also a very courteous and respectful gentleman. It has been a great privilege to learn under him, although I’m pretty sure I bombed the final.
From what I’ve heard of the other professors, Professor Tamas Magyarics is supposed to very good, more similar to Prof. Reti than the others. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to take a class with him. I’ll leave my observations on Elizabeth and Kata for a later date.
