End of the first chapter

Hello everyone,

This is most likely my last post before I go back home so I have decided to dedicate it to fulfilling an earlier promise. I will now turn to my beloved bullet point format to report some more out-of-the-ordinary events that have taken place in our dear Lincoln in these past few months. Enjoy:)

• In Flames concert: honestly, the best part was probably the pregaming I did with Frank. I am proud to have introduced the great ‘wine and coke’ to the equally great American culture. I hope this union will bear many a great fruit… Seriously, the show was great, the support (All Shall Perish) probably even a notch better. We had a great time and a substantial amount of booze. Losses: a phone battery and a mouthpiece on my part, a broken finger on Frank’s. Best (and unfortunately, the only) true metal night in the U.S. so far; but at least I enjoyed it in due fashion.
• I found a sparring partner so I felt very much alive again (God I need karate!) for a few weeks. Then he disappeared… so I got back to doing stuff on my own at the gym/pool. Now that the weather is finally nicer, I can also ride my bike around… nevertheless look forward to doing martial arts again. After the last class with my methods teacher, I learned that he used to be a fighter and still knows some people around here… will definitely be worth a shot next semester.
• To be a 100% honest with y’all, speaking Hungarian in Lincoln feels awesome! Thanks to T.B. (or in its original form, Tibi), I had the chance to experience this a few times. We even had a few truly Hungarian nights… with all the excesses you can imagine. About the language: it also provides my friends in the computer lab an opportunity to detect if I’m really pissed off about something. English words just don’t suffice once you get passionately hateful.
• Stammtisch: in order to up my German skills, I finally gathered up the courage to attend this great and pretty old creature, a German conversation table. Its basic purpose is to provide students of German the opportunity to practice their beloved passion in a free environment. It was fun, mostly until it relocated from a bar to a café/restaurant/bakery. Shame, shame. So I had to substitute it with the German movie club on Tuesday nights. Goethe Institute exam in June: here I come…(the universe help us both).
• Saturday nights are always… okay, occasionally fun. I usually choose to hang out with friends in bars, which sometimes leads to quite memorable experiences. Some of those I can’t share here, but will be more than happy to do so if asked in person.
•  I have conquered the world a few times. Not in my dreams (not that egocentric), but in the game of Risk. Even though by the time we usually get there I’m completely braindead. Mission cards --> even more fun.
• And yes, I will be nerdy enough to briefly mention some work-related stuff. My work in general, and my own projects in particular are definitely among my most rewarding experiences here. A special source of pleasure is my continued cooperation with PIL (kudos, guys, you are doing an amazing job) and Ági, which will hopefully result in some groundbreaking… okay, at least cool discoveries and articles soon.

In short, it has been fun but boy, do I look forward to going back!:) Not because I don’t like it here, but mostly because I miss my people, my folk, my gang... and my beloved. It will be great to share all the stories… and in general, life with you again.

Balazs out (most likely for the whole summer but we'll see)