A day trip to Oradea, Romania (formerly Hungarian “Nagyvarad”)

by OLGS, guest blogger.



The diakok (students) of the Debrecen Summer Institute boarded two buses early Saturday morning. Destination: the Romania border city of Oradea, or in Hungarian, “Nagyvarad” (aka Great Castle). Oradea is about 35 miles east of Debrecen, but there is still a border checkpoint and non-EU visitors, such as your correspondent, must show a passport. It’s even more of a hassle to return to Hungary from Romania, as the Hungarian border guards search some vehicles for contraband cigarettes. It took up an hour each direction to cross the frontier. The accompanying photo shows the line, about half-way through our wait. If/when Romania becomes a full member of the EU, the border control will be disestablished.





There are remains of a large castle built in the 13th century *after* Genkhiz Khan and his soldiers sacked the city, not that such a fortress would have stopped the Great Khan. The castle was rebuilt in the 16th century against the Turks, again unsuccessfully as the Sultan occupied the city from 1660 to 1693. The Hapsburgs built a third castle on the same site in the mid-18th century, presumably against the Russians, but maybe still the Turks. Anyway, the surviving barracks are now largely empty except, oddly, the Department of Art & Design at the University of Oradea takes up one building. The large windows probably make for good studio space.



The glory of the city is its judgendstihl/art nouveau architecture.



Some of the work rivals what I saw in Prague last year on UWEC’s Central European Travel Seminar. Some of the buildings are also in terrible condition. We asked our guides why this was as we walked around the city. Their answer, as best as I understood it, was that the Romanians were too incompetent to realize the development potential of the city to international tourism. We heard the same refrain from the Hungarian representatives to the City Council. They greeted us at City Hall and talked at some length about their minority status. Too bad most of the students tuned out, due to the heat, fatigue, or hang-overs from the previous night’s “buli."



My personal favorite building was not art nouveau, but rather a simple late 18th century church known as the “Moon Church.” The steeple has a gizmo (not the technical name) that rotates to show the phase of the moon. I checked that night and the gizmo, made in 1795, is still accurate.

Travel weekend; photos forthcoming

by OLGS, guest blogger.

I went traveling over the weekend to former Hungarian cities, one in Romania just over the border, and one in Slovakia, just over the border. Both have wonderful late Hapsburg art nouveau/jugenstihl/secessionist architecture. I'll make a longer post when I have time to organize my photos, but now I must prepare for language class. Rather: Prepare for language class ! (as we are studying the imperative today).

Tamás Vásáry and the "Zoltán Kodály World Youth Orchestra" play Debrecen

by OLGS, guest blogger.

Tonight, the University of Debrecen and the City of Debrecen and the Ministry of Culture hosted conductor Tamás Vásáry and a student group he founded called the "Zoltán Kodály World Youth Orchestra," in honor of an earlier Hungarian composer. Here is Tamás Vásáry's home page.

The students met their conductor twelve days ago and planned a program of two Kodály pieces, one an excerpt from an opera "Háry János" that includes a folk song taught to Magyar language students in the summer program. Very timely.

Next, the conductor escorted to the stage the pianist Tamás Erdi to play the Ferenc/Franz Liszt "A-dur zongoraverseny." At this point in my report to readers of *Domestic Tranquility* I have to note that at Hungarian concerts, no printed progams are distributed. Instead, somebody gives a mini-lecture at the beginning and announces the pieces to be performed, so I might well have gotten it wrong and it was actually Liszt's Sonata in B Minor. Mr. Erdi has made a recording of this piece, available on the "Hungaraton" label, but unfortunately, not available in the U.S.



After intermission, the youth orchestra played the "Csajkovszkij" (English: Tchaikovsky) Fifth Symphony. I expect that maestro Vásáry has conducted this piece numerous times, but he put such energy into his conducting and brought such a response from the student musicians that the large audience applauded and applauded for ten minutes until finally the orchestra played an encore, fittingly, of one of Brahams's "Hungarian Dances."

Quite a night for Debrecen to honor its most famous living artist.

Magyar Film Klub, Part II: "Merry-Go-Round" 1956

by OLGS, guest blogger.

Last night, the Magyar Film Klub screened a 1956 movie, "Körhinta" ("Merry-Go-Round"). The Internet Movie Database has a short summary.

The film is set in the fall and winter of 1953-54, somewhere in the Hortobagy countryside near Debrecen. The opening scene took place in the fall, harvest carnival time in Debrecen, although I could not recognize the locale.

The Hungarians are very proud that "Körhinta" took second place at Cannes in 1956, although I must say that the film has not worn nearly as well as last week's "Somewhere in Europe." Our student group laughed aloud at the klunky Romeo-and-Juliet storyline. Also, rather than swoon at the leading man, Imre Soós, our crowd hooted when, lovelorn, he knit his forehead and his eyebrows overlapped! One interesting detail: the Juliet character, played by the actress Mari Töröcsik, has a family surname in the film of "Pataki." I never made the connection between that surname and the former governor of New York.

Update: new photos from new camera

by OLGS, guest blogger.

Well, the new Nikon "CoolPix" digital camera from MediaMarkt is easy to use. I'm posting the first photos I snapped, taken of the "Furdo Strand" today. I particularly like the smashed-in window over the letter "H" on the big sign. It's where the docent/security guard assigned me for my changing space yesterday.

It's almost 5:00 p.m. in Debrecen, "Akcio" (sale or discount) time, so I've convinced several of my classmates to go for an afternoon swim.

Visszontlatasra!

A swim at the Strand

by OLGS, guest blogger

One tram stop away from the University of Debrecen is a group of run-down thermal "furdok" (bath spas). The one most popular with the students is the "Strand" which has a forbidding concrete exterior. The photo, taken from the spa's website in winter, incredibly, makes it seem warm and inviting, compared to its actual shabby fortress-like appearance. With my new camera, purchased at MediaMarkt, I will take a picture of the Strand on a future update to this post.

The Strand shows the same suspicion of people that seems endemic in post-Communist Central Europe, that is, people will try to take advantage of you if you are not careful. Exhibit "A" is the ticket sales. The Strand has a very good deal with reduced admission of 500 forints ($2.50) after 5:00 p.m. until closing at 8:00 p.m. The ticket booth is in bullet-proof glass with one of the ubiquitous non-functional microphones to communicate (or shout through the glass)with the bored ticket-seller inside. Upon payment of 500 forints, the ticket recipient walks five meters to the entrance and has the ticket checked by the next official. The Strand can't be too careful about people who might want to bypass the ticket booth! The same mentality is even evident at the University: a diner at the college cafeteria has to present a ticket to a student monitor. Otherwise, who knows? Any bum off the street might come in and dine on cafeteria food.

Back to the Strand-- once inside, I found three pools outside: the thermal pool, very warm at 99 degrees F; a kiddie pool with a rickety-looking waterslide; and the "Aquaticum" which was a wonderful, clean, low-chlorine pool, half-roped for laps and half open. I entered the Aquaticum and began my laps, thinking I would swim ten laps, the same as the former Joe High School swam competitively for Minneapolis South High. On my eighth of ten laps, an official shouted something at me in Magyar. To my delight, and his, I actually understood it: move to the right-hand lane, the open part on the other side of the pool. Got it, did it. Then after I finished my laps, I realized that the Debrecen "Orkakok" (Orcas) were training set aside for lap-swimming.

I resolve to go purchase some goggles this afternoon and visit the Strand again.

A visit to a palinka factory

by OLGS, guest blogger.

The Debrecen summer program took an overnight weekend excursion. Three buses full of students set out early Saturday morning for Kceskemet, a country town southwest of Debrecen and southeast of Budapest. We visited three folk-art museums, but the highlight for most students was a Saturday night visit to the Zwack family distillery, makers for more than a century of "Barack" palinka. No, the family did not anticipate the election of an American president by that name. "Barack" means "apricot" in Hungarian and the Zwacks annually turn out thousands of gallons of apricot brandy.

Sunday was a long day, with a side-trip to Budapest and an evening stop at a winery in the "Bulls Blood" region on the way back. The alcohol-soaked theme continues tonight with a Debrecen-region palinka tasting, but I have too much homework, so I will hit the books, not the bottle.

Alas, my old Kodak digital camera went kaput just a few photos into the trip. I'll continue blog-posting but without my own photos.

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.

Rain, rain

Apparently my grandfather frequently commented on the tendency of Washington County, Maine, to be foggy, rainy and generally unpleasant, if you want to go to the beach. And it is all those things, as our recent week spent on Kenebec Bay proved. But you really don't want to go to the beach in Washington County. The water temp is generally in the low to mid 60s, so who really cares about the beach?

Roque Bluffs State Park is still one of the loveliest beaches, whether or not you go in the water. OLGS did for about 30 seconds.

One afternoon, when it looked as the the fog might burn off, we went for a quick walk. When we arrived, it was impossible to see more than 50 feet off shore. Within five minutes, the fog lifted, and all the little islands appeared. Then the fog returned.

As we were picking our way down the beach, a girl with a clipboard and a lanyard appeared out of the murk. She was taking a survey about why we visited Roque Bluffs, where we came from and how long we were staying. When I suggested that she had the best summer job in the world, she waved her hand toward the fog and admitted that it was not alway glorious. But she appreciated our Minnesota nice ways--apparently not all visitors to the beach welcome her questions.