OLGS spends a day “taking the waters…”

by OLGS, guest blogger--

Today, Saturday the 26th, the Summer School at Debrecen offered campers a choice: visit a national park and see “wild nature” or go to a spa and “take the waters.” I chose the latter. Here is what the advertisement, translated into English, for the Hajdúszoboszló Spa promised prospective visitors:

“The excellent medicinal effect of the thermal water is due to its components (ionide, bromide, common salt, hydrogen-carbonate, bitumen and the adhering oestrogen, trace elements present in form of titanium, copper, zinc, silver, barium, vanadium and lead, etc.). When used with proper expertise, this ‘medicine chest’ of nature, can be a remedy for numerous illnesses, or can ease suffering and ailments. The pools filled with water of various temperatures, combined with balneotherapy and physiotherapy, can heal partially or completely the following diseases: disorders of surgical, neurological, internal and dermal origin, and further, locomotor dieseases, parpoplexy and conditions after orthopedic operations, paralysis, chronic neurotic pains, leg ulcers, gynaecological inflammations, infertility, prostrate gland problems, eczema, psoriasis, scoliosis, various sclerosis problems, etc. ... etc.”

Hmmm…”medicine chest of nature”? Remedy for “prostate gland problems” and “chronic neurotic pains”? Why not try a good dose of barium and vanadium and lead, I thought. So along with about twenty other Debrecen campers, 10,000 or so Hungarians, and a lot of Slovaks and Poles in the baths, I spent a full day (8-4:30) at the spa. I did all thirteen baths, drank the water, did the sauna and the cold-water plunge, and if I had thought to bring 6,000 forints with me (about $45) I could have received the “proper expertise” of a Hungarian masseuse. Did it work? I don’t know, but I do know after spending eight or so hours in the water, I have never had such soft (and wrinkled) feet and fingers in my life. If you get the chance, my advice is do “take the waters.”

"Ab saggittae ungarorum, libera nos Domine"-

OLGS guest posting from Debrecen Summer Institute, continued

I’m in the middle of Day Three of Magyarul (Hungarian) language studies at the Nyari Egyetem http://www.nyariegyetem.hu/ based at the University of Debrecen. I have three ninety-minute classes per day with homework and vocabulary study interspersed. Our instructor, Dr. Meszaros Csaba, is very patient, but he does push us along to master conjugations and sentence formation. He is teaching us the playful side of Magyarul with the different ways we can put together a sentence. His admonition is always “legy ovatos” or be careful with word order so that you convey the meaning you want with the words you choose.

Between the two morning classes and the late afternoon class, there is an optional series of history lectures. I attended the first one yesterday on the history of the Magyar nomads arriving in the Carpathian Basin (see imagined 19th century versionn of this event) and their subsequent conversion to Christianity. We even learned a phrase in Latin and then received the English translation at yesterday’s lecture:

Latin: "Ab saggittae ungarorum, libera nos Domine"-

English: “God save us from the Hungarian arrows!”

This was the cry of the Germanic tribes every time the Magyars came raiding, burning, and plundering. It is now said in jest, I think, if I understood the lecturer correctly…

first day of classes at Hungarian Language Camp

Guest post by OLGS

I found my placement at Hungarian language camp: “Advanced Beginner.” Yes, there is something lacking in that translation, but it made sense when I met my teacher, Csabor, and my talented classmates. We all had some familiarity with the language and Csabor started us off by skipping the first three chapters of the textbook and commencing with Chapter Four. There are six of us in the Advanced Beginner class: three Americans, including myself, one Croatian, one Italian, and one Russian. Five of the students are twenty-somethings, I’m the old man. English is the language we are permitted to use only when we first admit our befuddlement in Hungarian.

At mid-day, we had a welcoming ceremony from the rector of the University, the vice-president, the dean of arts and sciences, and the mayor of Debrecen. All welcomed us in Hungarian with a little English aside. We also heard a brass quintet play several numbers. Afterward, we got a tour of the old main building of the University of Debrecen, which has been a “Reformed” (Calvinist) stronghold since the 1540s. As shown above in the photo, there are numerous plaques around the main courtyard-lobby with the names of Calvinist theologian-professors from the 17th through the 20th centuries. I studied those names and had an ah-ha moment: I knew some of those names from the rides up and down the tramline. Ah-ha. Wezpremy Utca (Street) is named for Dr. Professor Wezprenyi (d. 1784); Medgyessi Setany (Esplanade) is named for Dr. Professor Medgyessi (d. 1888). That also helps make sense of the tram stop further down the line: Kalvin Ter (Square), presumably in honor of John Calvin (d. 1564). Wow, that’s a devoted city to name its public places and tram stops after theologians.

Hungarian adventure for OLGS

Guest post by OLGS--

Hello from Debrecen, Hungary, where I am taking a two-week course in Hungarian language and culture. I arrived yesterday after a lengthy flight and railroad passage. The University of Debrecen has been offering summer school in the language since 1927 and when Joe College-on-Leave and I visited the Hungarian-speaking part of Romania in 2005, our hosts urged me to work on learning the language by attending a course at Debrecen. So here I am.

Today I took my placement test and did ok. I find out my placement tomorrow morning, as do the other 200 or so summer campers here. Then it is off to language class from nine to noon, history lessons in the afternoon, language lab before dinner, folk-singing after dinner, and finally, Beer-Twenty at 20:00.

I am staying in one of the college dorms. I am glad I asked for a single room because, although very comfortable, it would be cramped with one or two more roommates. My room has a bathroom with shower & toilet and even cable TV. All the channels from Europe and the US are dubbed in Hungarian, at least as far as I could tell on one spin around the dial. Like most college dorms, this one is not air-conditioned, so this afternoon, I went on a shopping trip to the Hungarian version of BestBuy to find a fan. “MediaMarkt” is the store and I got a German make called “Das HausMeister 8400.” It required some assembly, as did the one I bought at Target last week for our home in Minneapolis. Alas, I don’t have Joe High School to do the assembly, but I managed to fumble through the Euro instructions (thank God for old French lessons) and got the thing put together and working. My room is much more comfortable now.

I have met some nice people already from Canada, Denmark, Germany, and France. There are quite a few Americans here, too. I’ll post some stories about my classmates as I proceed through the class. I explored quite a bit of the city of Debrecen today by tram and on foot. The tram is very dependable and runs every four minutes from the railway station to the University. The generic photo above shows you a tram stop scene in town.

That’s all for today. I’ll try to keep up a regular travel posting as a guest on Domestic Tranquility, the International Edition.