A visit to the Nagy Templom

by OLGS, guest blogger.

I went with my classmates to view the inside of the main Calvinist church, the "Nagy Templom" or literally the Great Church. Inside, it very spare. The walls are whitewashed and the windows are plain. Above the Isten Asztal ("Lord's Table" or altar) there is some beautifully carved wood for the pulpit and also for the organ loft. However, there is no crucifix or other religious display to distract the worshipper from making a direct connection to God. Very impressive and very Reform, unlike, say, St. Giles in Edinburgh which was very Presbyterian but not very reformed, at least when we visited in 2006.

Magyar Film Club: "Somewhere in Europe"

by OLGS, guest blogger.

Last night, the Debrecen Summer Program sponsored the "Magyar Film Club" and showed a 1947 film, *Valahol Europaban* ("Somewhere in Europe). There is a nice review at www.moviehabt.com. I was charmed by the film, especially the 25 orphan children who played their own lives as actors. I also was pleased how much of the Hungarian I could understand, with the help of the English sub-titles for context.

The only drawback was the late start. The Magyar Film Club did not schedule the screening until 10:00 p.m., and even then, the film was preceded by a 40-minute introduction-lecture by the MFC host. We did not finish watching the film until about 12:30 a.m., and I am dragging a bit in language class this morning.

Update on Kalvin Janos's 500th birthday

by OLGS, guest blogger.

The Magyar Post Office has issued a stamp honoring Calvin's anniversary. The artist seems to have captured the subject's uncertainty about the fate of humanity as determined, make that pre-destined, by an almighty God. See for yourself. It only costs 200 forints (about one dollar).

Rain--just in time

It finally rained in Minneapolis. Our water deficit in the City of Lakes is many inches for the year. The lawn kicks up a dust cloud when the lawnmower is foolishly applied to it.

The nice folks at the U of M have mapped the drought and show it hovering around the Twin Cities. Fortunately some of the major agricultural sections of the state are only "abnormally dry", whereas here in the Land of 10,000 swamps, we are in a "severe" drought. Gotta love that scientific lingo.

Kalvin Janos, born 500 years ago

by OLGS, guest blogger:

In the United States, the big anniversary this year is the birth of Abraham Lincoln, 200 years ago in 1809. Elsewhere, and some places in the U.S., people are celebrating the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth. In Debrecen, known for many centuries as "The Calvinist Rome," this year marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of "Kalvin Janos," or John Calvin.

There is a big exhibit on Calvin's life and writing at the Reform (Calvinist) seminary, located just off Calvin Square. It is amazing to think about the speed with which ideas traveled across Europe during the Protestant Reformation, thanks to the printing press and to travelers carrying texts and letters. By 1538, the reform seminary was established in Debrecen, just two years after Calvin published his main critique of the established church. I only had time yesterday to glance at the exhibit and resolve to return to the Reform Seminary Library to study it in more depth, this time with my Hungarian-English dictionary in hand so I can better translate the labels.

First day of Language Classes

First Day of Language Classes
by OLGS, guest blogger


I awoke to good news in learning my placement in the Debrecen Summer School: I am in Level 13 (out of 23), quite a promotion from last summer when I placed in Level 5. My class is small, consisting of eight students. We are quite a mix: Rolph of the Netherlands, Norbert of Poland, Sarah and Camille, both of France, Fabiana of Italy, Tibor of England, and Robin, once of Campbelltown, Kintyre, Scotland, but now of Perth Australia. We meet for language class for three 90-minute sessions each day. Today's classes were review and grammar drill. The language is quickly coming back to me. We have a morning teacher, Rita (pronounced the English way), and an afternoon teacher, Kati (pronounced as a crow would say: "Caw-Tee"), who divide the teaching between them. Last year, I had a single teacher, Dr. Csaba for all the classes, but I learned today that is unusual. Kati declared herself today as "kegyetlen" which I think means she is the mean grammar policewoman, while Rita gets to do the fun things in the morning.

Tonight, the University Rector hosted a reception for us in the courtyard of the main academic building. Very good food, lots to drink, and a pop group that covered Michael Jackson songs.

Return to Hungarian Language Camp
by OLGS, guest blogger

Hello, loyal readers of "Domestic Tranquility":

DomTran has graciously allowed me to write guest posts to the blog as I am once again taking the Hungarian language course at the University of Debrecen.

I arrived yesterday afternoon after a long journey from Minnesota, with stops in Newark, Milan, and Budapest, before reaching the university campus.

This morning, I took my written and oral language placement test. The written part was difficult, despite my cramming on the planes and trains en route to Debrecen. I recalled the conjugations of the three key verbs in Hungarian ("van" "megy" and "jon") ok and most of the directional suffixes (e.g., Minneapolis-*from* go I Newark-*to* go I, Newark-*from* go I Milan-*to*...and so forth), but half-way through the test, I realized that I was being asked about the conditional tense. Wait a minute, I thought, last summer we barely covered the future and past tenses, never mind the conditional. The examiner who reviewed my test gently comforted me on my overall low score. I learn tomorrow morning my placement and meet my fellow students.