Trajectories

(A bit of a warning: this post is going to contain a lot of nerding out over “design.” I won’t take it personally if you get bored and skip this post…)

I have only been in the “design field” for a few years. Before then I didn’t even know what the design field meant. But, as any of you who are also in this field know, it is one full of egos, geniuses, wannabes, world-changers, and rock stars. You could probably say that about a number of professions, but, dang, designers take themselves seriously (myself included at times). Of course, you have to take yourself seriously if you are going to work the long hours that many designers/landscape architects/architects work. Who would work that much if they didn’t believe in what they were doing? I have been to MANY exhibitions on design and architecture over the last three years, and seen a lot of work that I know took many hours to complete. But I have never been to one of a such grand scale until Saturday night. These crazy people took over a condemned 8-story office building and put a single architecture model in EVERY room. There were probably over 100 models in this place. And, I have to say, I saw all types of egotistical, genius, wannabe, world-changing, rock star ideas.

So, let’s take a little tour of some of the highlights:

This model was done by the architects in my office. They used a 3D printer to create the light-colored portion. Cool, huh?

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Well, folks, we all knew it would come to this at some point–I finally had to do more than sit around plucking my eyebrows (one word: caterpillars) and messing around on my labtop all day writing posts on my blog. The reason: I got a job. I haven’t shared much about what was going on regarding the job situation, mostly because it was way more fun to post embarrassing photos of myself than to tell you every day that “we are still working out the details of my employment.”

Well, now that the deets have been worked out, I have a job! I’m working in a landscape architecture/architecture firm that has been doing some really amazing work here in Hungary and abroad. I am quite excited about it. The best thing about it is that their office is a 5 minute walk from our apartment. Every morning, I get up and leave about 6 minutes before 9:00 AM and arrive perfectly on time!

I would be lying if I told you that it’s been an easy transition. Not only have I been on what felt like a 2 month vacation, rendering my ability to sit still in a chair for any length of time nearly impossible, but working in a design firm where everyone speaks a different language has been difficult. While everyone there speaks at least a bit of English, for anything to get done it only makes sense for them to speak the language that offers them the biggest arsenal of adjectives and synonyms. That’s what I would do too. And what I wish I could do now. So, it’s been a challenging week, and I’m already working long hours, hence why I haven’t posted AT ALL.

In light of the fact that I didn’t take a single photo all week, I am going to share a bit about my week using images I found from random Google searches. I entered a word that summed up how I was feeling that day, then picked an image I found on the first two pages of the search results (I was going to use just the first page, but I just couldn’t help peeking on the next page). This is an experiment, folks, so bear with me. This could be slightly entertaining or a total disaster. So, here we go:

Monday I was feeling NERVOUS

I went to bed early on Sunday night to get a good night sleep for my first day on the job. Instead of sleeping, however, I simply lied awake waiting for morning to come. Lucky for me, it did. And the world was rainbow colored.

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I was going to title this post “Things I wouldn’t see in the U.S.” but I was afraid someone would write a comment saying “What are you talking about? OF COURSE you see things like this in the U.S. Were you some kind of frumpy homebody who never got out to explore your country??” (Sidenote: Thank you everyone for making comments! It gives me warm fuzzies knowing that people are actually interested in reading my ramblings!) So, to save myself from a mocking beratement, I will stick with what I think I know–the great city of Minneapolis in the heart of the American Tundra. (Sidenote #2: I am so so so happy to get a break from the AT’s winter this year. I may actually be able to feel my toes for a full 12 months!)

So, Things I Wouldn’t See in Minneapolis (a.k.a “the AT”):

The coolest slides I've ever seen. There's no way the lawsuit-terrified public park managers in the AT would allow this to be built. And that is a shame, because if you are going to die, wouldn't you want to be shouting "WEEEEEE!!" just before you see the Pearly Gates?

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The apartment Chris and I are staying in now was to be temporary, so I didn’t think about posting pictures of it; I was thinking I’d get to show you pictures of “our place”. Well, a few “extenuating circumstances” have arisen and we may end up staying here longer than we anticipated. Which is okay, especially the free rent part. I think I would have enjoyed looking for a place around the city, but we may still do that in the next few months. A lot depends on our financial situation and the ability of the lab to allow us to stay here (they have people coming in and out quite often so they may need the apartment back for guest use).

So, because I foresee us living here for awhile, I thought I’d show a few pictures. It’s still pretty empty because the lab just started renting it a few months ago. I’m actually going to Ikea tomorrow to buy a few things to make it more homey, which will be nice. So, here ya go:

Our front courtyard. You have to crawl deep into a cave to get to it.

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I played tourist again yesterday, after a couple days’ break. My first stop was to the House of Terror which, by its name, seems to indicate that bad things happened there. But that was just a hunch before I got there. The building was used first by the Nazis and then the Communists in Hungary as a prison and torture chamber, targeting Jews and anyone else they suspected of disagreeing with the government. The museum is an historical record and a memorial to the many people who were tortured and murdered there.

The building was retrofitted with an imposing steel "ribbon" along its edge

This museum was one of the best I have been to. Obviously its subject matter is fascinating and emotional, but the way it was designed was brilliant. Art and history play equal roles here. Each room evokes a new feeling: sickness, sorrow, anger, curriosity, frustration. You couldn’t take photos inside, but I found a few online that shows just a small portion of the large museum.

The museum's many rooms all face towards this inner courtyard. The faces of the victims were carved into tiles and displayed on the walls.

At the time of the Nazi and Communist occupations, most Hungarians identified themselves as Roman Catholics. This room tells the story of how many people were forced to practice their faith in secret.

I spent nearly two hours here and I was blown away. I must confess I knew nothing about the history of Hungary before this. They have been caught in the crossfire of many wars over the years.

After the emotional experience of the House of Terror, I met up with Chris and a group of others at the Széchenyi Spring Baths for some needed relaxation. It was three hours of pure bliss. The biggest decisions I had to make was whether to go in a mineral bath, a steam room, a sauna, or the outdoor hot baths. It was the most difficult three hours of my life.

Entrance to my own personal heaven.

The outdoor hot springs

I love this building. If we ever buy a house, I am going to paint it this color. Do you think the neighbors will mind?

If you ever search for a picture of the Széchenyi Baths, this is probably one of the first you'd see: a group of old-timers playing chess by the side of the pool. Classic.

We hobbled out of the baths and went to a new club in town to have drinks with friends and watch short films about dance. The drinks were good, the fims–not so much. Films about modern dance always end up capturing the worst cliches about modern dance; all the writhing on the ground and dancing among industrial ruins gets to a person after awhile. But the club was cool:

Much merriment was had by all.

Chris and I then called it a night and came home to bowls of delicious pesto pasta (we found rice pasta!!) and a tasty Greek salad made by my one true love. It was a lovely day.

Gluten-free deliciousness.

The past three years of my life have not been easy. Life-changing and interesting, but not easy. While I’m not interested in just flowing through life on easy street all the time–you don’t seem to learn anything that way–I have come to realize that I really missed playing. You know, that feeling of freedom to be goofy and joke around and not worry about what other people are thinking. I was missing out on playing not because I didn’t have great friends who wouldn’t play with me if I asked, but because I was so stressed and caught up in the never-ending tasks for graduate school that play didn’t even cross my mind as something I could do.

I needed to get away, so I joined a group of vikings on their boating adventures

I am not a natural at this whole “play thing” anyway. It has always taken work for me to let go and laugh and be silly. This last week, however, I have had many opportunities to play and enjoy life, which feels like fresh oxygen reaching my lungs for the first time in years. Chris and I have especially had a good time playing with Maria and John. The four of us live at the media lab, so when everyone else leaves to go home or to deal with other aspects of their lives, our world is pretty much right here.

Me, Chris and John after much Palinka madness

Lost in the woods without a GPS navigation system or wireless internet. How will we ever survive??

Queens of the world

On the tram system

Motherboard Table Tennis--the next wave of computer recycling

The winning team

Sooner than later, I will be starting a new job, so I am glad I had this time to feel a bit more free and a little more light-hearted. These are the times that get you through what you mother always calls “learning experiences.”

I did a lot of walking around alone today. Chris is off and running with his work–it looks like he’s going to be in an important role in helping the lab look forward into the coming year. He’s excited to get started. So, while he was doing real work, I was playing tourist, travel guidebook and all. The nice thing about touring alone is that you get to decide exactly what you want to do–no negotiations between group members needed. If you want to stand in front of a statue for twenty minutes trying to understand the expression on his face, you can! No one will think you are weird!

What is this man trying to say? To me, it simply looks like he was dumbstruck by something. "Whaa?? Is that our enemy storming the castle gates?? Whaa??"

I thought I would share some of the highlights of my little excursion.

After deep sea diving, I had to spend most of the morning in a hyperbaric chamber.

Okay, so I didn’t go deep sea diving, but there was this display at a museum I went to that talked about ways to provide shelter for the homeless, and this was one of their ideas. I’ve seen versions of this before. I don’t know about you, but if I was looking for somewhere to keep me safe for the night, this gigantic double-decker microwave oven would not be my first choice.

Fine dining at its most luxurious...

The best decision I made all day was to actually take my travel guidebook’s advice and go to this beautiful cafe called Luckac’s Cafe. Seriously, the most beautiful place I’ve been allowed to eat in. Here is what I had (don’t get jealous):

Chocolate mousse with a caramelly-nutty center

All of my dreams have come true...

That chocolate bomb extravaganza was so rich I could only eat half of it. I walked out of there weak in the knees. My vision was fuzzy, so I thought what I saw next was a mind trick:

A boy fishing in a fountain. With no fish in it.

Maybe he was practicing?

Next came Heroes Square, a square that honors…heroes. It’s a pretty beautiful, amazing place. The statues tower over you and the square is smack dab in the middle of a crazy busy round-about and main thoroughfare.

Heroes Square. Where's Cowards Circle?

At the end of my lovely walking tour, I came upon one of the most inspirational statements I’ve seen in awhile. I think we all need to take a moment and think about this one:

Well, at least I failed better. That's all I can hope for, really.

So, dear friends, go out in the world and fail better. You’ll be glad you did.

I’m not really feeling like posting about our very brief trip through Ireland because we have since arrived in Budapest and I’m a bit overwhelmed. However, I know there might be one or two people (hi Mom) who would actually be interested, so here are some photos of our trip. Commentary will be limited but profound, I’m sure.

Portstewart, a beach town on the northern tip of Northern Ireland

Incredible cliffs along Giants Causeway

Giant's Causeway - hexagonal rock formations

It was really rainy that day

I realized I was getting older when preventing my pants from getting soaked won out over a fashion trend that died in 1993

Giant's Causeway, surprisingly small next to my giant head

This is what happens when large pools of molten lava are suddenly thrown in the freezer

A real Irish rainbow! But it looked like its end was in some guy's backyard

After a long day of walking in the rain, we stopped at the Bushmills Whiskey Distillery, where we got samples of some fine beverages

The trip was a lot of fun–we got to see some beautiful scenery over the short few days we were there. The people we met were amazingly friendly. In some ways, Ireland felt familiar. I think it had to do with the fact that we (Americans) grow up with a lot of cultural similarities to the Irish, so when I visited, we saw and experienced people and places that I “expected.” The feeling of Ireland was completely different from the feeling I got when we arrived in Budapest. More on that later….

Welcome to our blog! We (Chris and Laura) will be posting here on our travels and journeys–wherever they may take us

Chris and I have been dreaming and planning to move abroad for years now; Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Japan, China, and Hong Kong have all been discussed as possible places. I can honestly say that “Eastern Europe” was not on that list. But, here we are, on our way to Budapest, Hungary after more than a year of planning. The more I learn about the city, the more excited I get about this adventure upon which we are about to embark. (Side note: The above sentence is–I believe–the correct way of putting a preposition into a sentence, but it sounds so pretentious…)

While I had a whole month off from work before we left Minneapolis, it still felt like there was a ton to do the last few days. The photo below shows Chris in the middle of the chaos. You’ll notice there’s absolutely no furniture because we either gave it away or sold all of it. I was a little overzealous about making sure we sold everything and left us without anywhere to sit for over a week.

Chris in our skeletal Minneapolis apartment

Our lovely friends Bob and Lauren let us stay with them our last night and Javier took us to the airport. He snapped this photo right before we took off. All of the bags that we took with us are there. That’s right, we’re moving to Europe with two small bags each. Luckily, I was able to just squeeze in my toothbrush.

We decided to take the scenic route to our new home, so our first stop was in New York for four days. I love New York–if we weren’t moving to Budapest, I would want to move there. The fact that it is always changing is good for someone like me who fears change. I think it would keep me from becoming what I fear even more that change: a frumpy homebody. We stayed with some friends in SoHo and had a great time just bumming around. Literally, we bummed around–it’s far too expensive to actually spend money in New York.

We left for Ireland on the red-eye flight Sunday night. After renting a car in Dublin, we drove up to Coleraine, Northern Ireland, where we are staying with Simon, a friend-of-a-friend. He’s super cool. So is driving a stick shift on the other side of the road. And by “cool” I mean “terrifying”. Here’s Chris trying to not get us killed:

See how nicely his hands are at 10 and 2?

We’ve been to a few lovely places today, and I’ll post more pictures from the trip later. Until then, please sit back and enjoy a little something I like to call, “Chris, can you PLEASE smile for the picture? PLEASE??”