Christmas Time in Vienna

We are flying Swiss Air from Vienna to Zurich, Zurich to Nairobi. Our habit when flying out of Vienna is to go the day before, stay over and taxi to the airport. This time, we especially needed to do it as our flight is at 7:00 am, meaning an airport arrival at 5:00 am is necessary.

Pension Hotel Wild is our place of choice for location, convenience, and cost. Being the season for holiday merriment, we are able to "do" the Christmas markets. We have long given up on the City Hall market. It is filled with commercial products, mostly imported from Asian countries, nothing typically Austrian. It is worth seeing for the decorations, but from afar is just as lovely. The mobs of people make it joyless trying to get anywhere near the booths.

The one thing I do hate about this one night in Vienna at this time of year is the cold. It is about 20 degrees colder here than when we left Budapest. Winter time is hibernation time for me. I despise cold weather and think bears have the right idea. If I could avoid ever going out in this unseemly weather, I would do so at all costs. It is beyond my imagination how people can enjoy winter sports.

So,  after checking into the hotel, we set off to troll around the Christmas market closest to the hotel. Just as crowded, we quickly succumbed to the hot mulled wine to warm our freezing hands. Within minutes, the wine was as cold as we were.

With a day pass for transportation, it made sense to ride the trams to see the holiday lights and displays. The trams have heated seats! Yahoo!! Our tradition to have dinner at the Willendorf, a delightfully relaxed restaurant where we never seem to dislike a meal and the service is always excellent. It was an early night for 3:30 am comes around very early and the taxi will do so at 4:30.

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The Damned If You Do and Damned If You Don't Experience

Yesterday, I received an SMS that my Pentax K-x camera was in, so I asked Ron to go pick it up. After reading the US Travel Advisory for Kenya, I was consciously hoping it would not arrive before we left. With my vivid imagination, I could see it getting stolen at gun or knife-point on while innocently taking a photo on some street in Nairobi. If the camera had not arrived, I could just say fate played a role in it and chalk it up to timing. However, now that I had it in my hand, I had to make those difficult decisions. Do I want to take a new camera that was Expensive, yes with a capital E and one that I had not learned to use? The thought of giving an involuntary gift to some poor Kenyan was not on my agenda. What to do, what to do? The deciding factor was the manual. There was no printed manual in English. A Hungarian manual filling more than 200 pages was of no use to me and certainly not to any robber who may acquire my camera.

The English manual is only on a CD rom. I was able to copy it to my Netbook computer, but that would be extremely cumbersome when on safari and needing to know how to make an adjustment. Hey lion, could you slow down your running after that gazelle; I am trying to find the action mode on this camera.Damn the store for finally coming through and getting it here two days before we leave. Had they come through earlier as promised, I would have had the time to play with it learning the nuances.

Dear Kenyans,

If you decide to rob me, you will have to settle for my old Minolta Dimage 7 model camera.

With regrets,

Ryan

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One List I Am Happy Budapest Is Not On

Pickpockets are everywhere and the people they like the most are the tourists, whose wallets are usually full of money to be spent on souvenirs. Where are your handbags and wallets the most in danger? Tourism-review.com brings the Top 10 of the most dangerous pickpocket places and cities announced recently by TripAdvisor.

1. Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain

Pick pocketing in Las Ramblas can be easily compared to generally practiced and accepted sport such as soccer. So if you want to stay offside or out of field be careful and watch your things!

2. Rome, Italy
The ancient buildings and astonishing cultural and historical buildings draw attention of the tourist. So it is no wonder that Rome is the number two among the top 10 pickpocketing cities. Hundreds of people admiring Trevi fountain or Pantheon are an ideal place for pickpockets to snatch their cameras out of their bags!

3. Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic
Crowds of tourists from all over the world crossing Charles Bridge every day – that is the picture of today’s Prague. So before taking picture of the famous Prague castle panorama make sure your camera is in a save place.

 

4. Madrid, Spain

Chaos, cars, thousands of people in the streets – that is the modern Madrid. All the time you are walking through the narrow Madrid streets you have to careful not to be run over by a car. Pickpockets often use such situation! So pay attention to the cars and also to your bag!

 

5. Paris, France

Another famous city that tourists love visiting every year. Eiffel Tower and Mona Lisa are not drawing only the tourists but also the pickpockets. So think about it while visiting the French capital. Especially in the metro the travelers should be enormously careful. 

 

6. Florence, Italy

It is no wonder that people admiring the perfect body of Michelangelo’s David don’t pay much attention to their belongings. So be careful even in this beautiful historical city. Otherwise it is very probable you will have the unique opportunity to admire local police station from within, which is not what you really want, is it?

 

7. Buenos Aires, Argentina

Don’t cry for your wallet in Argentina, might be an alternative name of the world famous song. Don’t mistake friendly locals with overly “friendly” kids and adults who might be interested in nothing else but the contents of your wallet. 
 

8. Amsterdam, The Netherlands

It's easy to forget your whereabouts in this city full of fun and the many things to see and do. But don’t be lulled into carelessness by the beauties of the city and the laid-back atmosphere – pickpocketers often take advantage of tourists admiring this enchanting city. 

 

9. Athens, Greece 

As in almost every city that attracts crowds of tourists, many people head to the world known sites – including the pickpockets. Acropolis is definitely a must if you travel to Greece – but be careful.

10.  Hanoi, Vietnam

Let’s move to Asia. Charming Old Quarter makes Hanoi a very attractive place for tourists. So again pay attention.

Reprinted from Tourism Review

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Preparing for Travel

Every time we travel at this time of year, I get little nervous about the unknown, which should be part of the excitement. This year, Ron found the US government travel advisory updates where you can register where you are going and get up to the minute information. We registered for Kenya and Tanzania.

Image via Wikipedia

I should know by now that the US travel advisory is always full of doom and gloom, but it did give me pause to read that Americans are especially targeted in Nairobi. There was a long list of places to avoid, mostly upscale, so that leaves us out. However, they continued to state that crime is a major problem due to the poverty. After getting assaulted once and robbed the very next day, when we were in Santiago, Chile, I am more cautious than I had been in the past. 

This has me thinking that perhaps it is best that my new Pentax Kx camera has not arrived yet. At least if the old one is stolen, I have had five good years with it and will not feel the loss as much as if it were a new toy. For the most part, in Kenya, we will be with the safari group, but we do have time on our own at the end of the trip. Here is hoping for the best.

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Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

Sometimes ex-pat living is more complicated than need be, but this is in part due to uncooperative credit card companies who refuse to believe that Americans live abroad. I have a Mastercard that I have had for years now with an A++ credit rating. Until recently I did not use it much because it did not accumulate airline miles per se. It does accrue points for gifts and discounts on airline tickets, though.

What has prompted me to use it more is that they do not charge the seemingly ubiquitous "Currency conversion fee" that my Amex, Diners Club, and Citibank Visa does. Because I pay all credit cards in full each month, this is a great savings over those trumped up charges from other financial institutions.

This particular credit card was about to expire and they sent me an offer for custom logo on the new cards. Thinking it would be fun to have our kitchen mural on the card, I submitted the design, which was approved and the card sent out. It was sent to the address I use in New Mexico. My sister/friend at that address said it never arrived three weeks after it was due to be there. I called the company, which entailed reporting it lost or stolen. My current card number was discontinued. They were to reissue new cards with new numbers. After giving them all of my personal information to verify my identity, they sent me an e-mail stating the new card/number was being processed. 

A week later, my sister/friend called to tell me the card company called her to speak with me, but would not give her any information since she was not on the account. I called the company again and verified yet again that I did not get the new card the first go around and yes, I did request a new card a second time. 

Ten days later, the card arrived in New Mexico. The company refuses to send it to me here in Hungary even if I promise to allow them to charge me with the FedEx fees to do so. They 'cannot' send a card outside of the US. My sister/friend sent me the card FedEx and I picked it up today from the university. Although the cards did not have that sticker across the front that says you have to call in to validate them, I did so anyway just to be safe.

When I called the 24/7 number, I was told that my card was being handled by a "special agent" who would not be in until 9am EST. Of course, I wanted to check this off of my ever expanding To Do list, but there it sits since I called two hours too early. I keep telling myself it is better to be safe than sorry. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Ben Franklin didn't even have these problems. How perceptive he was.

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Window Shopping

Isn't English fun? Window shopping can mean:

1. Browsing shop windows with lust in your eyes drooling over all of the goodies we cannot afford.

2. Looking for windows to replace the windows that are not as energy efficient and need replacing

3. In the age of technology, software.

Today, I was looking behind door number 3. After spending part of Sunday going to two different malls, one with a Saturn store and the other with an Electro World, I was on the prowl for Windows 7 Professional in English. The best I could do was get a Home Premium version. If you read this blog regularly, you may recall that a couple of our guests gave me the Windows 7 Home Premium as a gift. I was and still am most appreciative and in awe over their generosity. However, we have five computers total, so one copy of the software is not enough to go around, at least not legally.  

What I decided to do was to put Windows 7 Professional on the main computer and the Home Premium upgrade on the kitchen computer. I am still reading reviews on what to do with the netbook, one laptop we only use for watching videos powered through the TV, and I just may need another copy for my school laptop. It seems that the Pro version will work better with my Windows Home Server, which feeds into the other computers, thus making a Home Group an even better option, thus sharing everything on the network that I want to share.

I have asked my students to check repeatedly, but they did not come up with anything. Well, necessity is the mother of digging deeper. I had a student who needed his thesis papers signed. I told him which malls I would be checking today if he wanted to find me. Today was the deadline for this paperwork. Amazingly, within an hour, he had a store's link where I could get any version of Windows I wanted. After signing his paper in good faith, I headed off of the beaten path to find this store in one of the outer districts. Eureka! It was true, but they do not stock anything. After placing the order today, it will be available for pick-up by Wednesday. No money was transacted until delivery. The kicker is that it is $100.00 cheaper here than what I could find on the Internet for online stores in the States. I did ask more than once is this was the full package, not just an upgrade. Their English was superlative, but I will examine the box carefully before handing over the money.

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Reader to Reader

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Kim Writes in...":

Coincidentally, another friend told me that he is interested in this same camera. I have owned Pentax (film) cameras in the past and been very happy with them.

Walker

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To Market, To Market or Here Comes Santa Claus

Interestingly, the Christmas market opened a week earlier this year. Their normal date for spreading good cheer is the first weekend of Advent, but hey, some of us wait all year for that hot mulled wine. Why not stoke the fires early? 

We did our first trip to the Christmas market today, but the drizzle did not warm me to the idea of Christmas shopping. Each year, this is like a déjà vu experience. After the first couple of years, you can predict which booth is selling what and its exact placement on the square. With that thought in mind, I immediately headed to the lady who sells ceramics. I have bought parts of a set from her: sugar bowl, creamer, butter dish, small plates, jam jars and spoons for the jam. This last August, when a guest broke the handle to the butter dish cover, I started dreaming of sugar plums, Santa, and the ceramics lady. I am so sorry, but my OCD does not allow for a piece of brokenware. 

When I reached her booth, I was ready to buy, buy, buy. Instead, I was only able to bye, bye, bye. She was not there. I thought this was an evil trick, so covered the territory looking for her. She was not there.  Call me compulsive, but if she doesn't show here later in the next month, I will just have to start looking for another complete set to use. I hope Santa brings her coal for her stocking.

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Black Friday

US Americans know this day as Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year with 'bargains' galore and extended store hours. Just to feel like I am in the swing of things, I just may go to the stores to feel like part of a crowd, any crowd.

But what about last night's dinner? Marriott delivered our dinner at 3:30, thirty minutes ahead of schedule. Since we could not eat until the others finished work, we had to refrigerate it until later. The menu, which was described as serving 4-6, left out the word children. Yes, this would have fed 4-6 children with leftovers besides, but for hungry adults it was a stretch. They did not bring the 'glazed carrots' or the 'creamed vegetables' as was listed on the order form. The 'walnut' pie that was an extra 1,200 Huf was delightfully a pecan pie instead. Fortunately, we had made extra sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and other fixings to supplement. The turkey looked fabulous when wrapped in plastic wrap, but once it was uncovered and speared with a knife, I thought it was going to deflate. It did turn out to be sufficiently meaty, tender, and moist.

We were honored to have Balazs and Sylvia, both former students as well as Hunter, Sally, and Deb join us to celebrate. As planned we started with the hot artichoke dip, which received rave reviews, followed by pumpkin soup. Everyone seemed impressed with the spread. I was in my glory having a group of wonderful people to join us in the celebration, reminding me of great times past.

Now, I am off to shop.

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Kim Writes in...

Kim has left a new comment on your post "LIghts, Action, Ah, Where is the Camera?":

I would say NOPE... this is Hungary after all. And I am Hungarian. :-S I would go and get the camera from somewhere else where they physically give it to you. Hope you like your stay here though, I have had enough, moving straight back to the UK. 

Thanks Kim. Normally, I would follow that advice, but my US contacts have warned me that the camera is not available in stores in there either. It is only available online in most places, so this seems to be standard operating procedure. The other options for purchasing here, are also online stores only, but without the extra lens for the same cost. The extra lens is another 72,000 Huf, making the wait a real bargain. I have not put any money down on it and will not until the camera arrives, so I have nothing to lose except maybe exceptional photography for our upcoming trip.

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Happy Thanksgiving Video

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Happy Thanksgiving

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all Americans. I know our Canadian friends celebrated it last month and I missed it. Sorry!

Our holiday meal is supposed to be delivered today, courtesy of the Marriott Hotel. Well not really courtesy, since we paid dearly for the dinner. To make it holiday-ish, I had to supplement it with some of my traditional touches. I made artichoke dip, which is served hot, but is so much better the next day that I made it last night. Then we will start with pumpkin soup thanks to the guests who have read on our website that canned pumpkin would make our holiday more special. I also make mushrooms, the way my Italian grandmother prepared them; after slicing them, they are coated in bread crumbs, Italian seasonings, and grated Romano cheese and baked.

I don't know how I had managed to do the whole dinner in the past for a table full of guests. Just those three things last night wore me out. Of course, when I was in the States, I had more time to prepare, because I could leave work early on Wednesday and had all Thursday morning. Here, I had to return to the university for a doctoral dissertation qualifying exam and did not get home until 5 pm. I also have to teach this morning. Although, this is the American Studies department, we do not get the holiday off. Pity!

What I will give thanks for is too long to list, so I will short-list it. Ron, friends, students, and the ability to live in Hungary and travel the world. There are numerous sub-categories under each and other major categories left out, but you get the idea.

 

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LIghts, Action, Ah, Where is the Camera?

The day before yesterday, I received an e-mail from the company where I ordered my camera acknowledging my order, thanking me for my business , yada, yada. Of course, it was in Hungarian, so it may have actually been yádá, yádá. Either way, I needed a student to translate it. The camera was promised in 1 1/2 weeks, both at the store when I ordered it and by this e-mail.

Yesterday, I received another e-mail, student translated of course. This one states, it has been 48 hours since your ordered this camera. Unfortunately, we are out of stock, but we will do our best to fill this order as soon as possible. 

My hope is that when the salesman was typing the camera into his computer, he or at least the computer knew they were out of stock at the time. When he quoted it would be 1 1/2 weeks, this was because the computer knew "Hey, we are out of stock of this camera, so it will take us 1.4 weeks to get another one in."

Will I or won't I have a new camera for vacation? Anyone work for the psychic hotline?

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Aye, I, Eye

 

I went for my month post surgery check-up today. Not only was I able to read the first screen of four lines, but I continued through the next three screens of progressively smaller letters. The doctor said I was at 100%, but in four weeks, I would be at 120% . It is astonishing to be able to see such distances that in the past I could not even imagine. The only issue is lights. Lights, especially indoors, have halos or at night look like star filters. She said that would clear also, it was normal. I have one more appointment before we leave on our trip and then not again for four months. 

One the way home, I ordered a new camera. I decided on the Pentax K-X after reading dozens of reviews. My current camera was top notch when I bought it, but now my mobile phone camera has more megapixels than the camera does. After contacting some former guests, who had great photos, the Pentax was the winner. After some hunting around, completely done by one of my students, I found a great deal. The camera body, an 18-55mm lens and an additional 50-200mm lens. Originally, I thought I wanted it in red to make it distinguishable, but later, I had second thoughts about a distinguishable camera when traveling. It is on order and will be in in under two weeks. Just enough time to play with it before leaving.

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Don't Let Holiday Shopping Frequent Flyer Miles Slip Through Your Fingers | Frommers.com

Don't Let Holiday Shopping Frequent Flyer Miles Slip Through Your Fingers | Frommers.com

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Tiptoe Sunday

Ron and I joined by other Americans, Sally and Debbie, went to the Opera House for an early performance of the ballet based on Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. You can find the rather complicated story here. For less than $8.00 per person, we had amazing ringside seats, along the ringed balcony. For a performance like this, these seats are perfect, giving a perfect view of both the orchestra and the stage.

This particular ballet was unusual in that the major roles were men. There were only two women characters, who had less consequential, yet vital parts. What was fascinating were the movements. I do love ballet, but this was a real treat in that the male dancers had to vastly extend the standard repertoire of movements they are relegated to, many times performing intricate movements that women perform.

Ron had read that this performance is so physically demanding, there are three casts of primary roles, who will perform the six performances. It was apparent that the cast we had the pleasure of viewing were in top form, getting it their all, making for a splendid performance.

Afterward, we went to the Caledonia Scottish Pub, where Time Out magazine proclaimed one could find the best hamburger in Budapest. Ron and I had to test that theory; however, it occurred to me that I have never eaten a restaurant hamburger in the eight years I have been here. For me, yes, this is the best restaurant hamburger I have eaten. However, I can say the competition is not that stiff, if this is the prime standard.

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Such a Geek

The MS Office 2010 beta download was released today. Rumor has it, it will not be available for long. If you want to try it, there is an option to keep your old version as well. I grabbed it since, well, I am a bit of a geek. You can get it here.

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Author, Author and No, Not Me

Funzine magazine, the every two week magazine in English had a book signing party featuring Joanne Harris. You may recognize her name by her now most famous book Chocolat, but my favorite is Gentlemen and Players, but I have read all of her books with the exception of Runemarks. She was scheduled for 6pm, but we arrived at the new Allee Mall at 4:10pm to get a good seat. By 5:15, there was still no one there, so I was beginning to wonder. They only had three of her books in English, all three that I already have, so there was nothing to buy to have her sign. Ron had wanted to bring some of our copies, but I had concerns about being accused of shoplifting. 

She came out very casual, in rolled up jeans and a sweatshirt, her curly hairy bouncing around without the aid of a mousse to tame it into place. She delightfully answered questions, read a small piece from two of her books, the English version and by 6:45 was signing books for those lined up. There must have been over 75 people by that point. 

At first it was quite exciting to see a 'real' novelist in the flesh, but then I realized our dear friend Patrica Schonstein has just as many novels out on the market in addition to ten children's books and I am quite excited to see her each and every time I do.

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Forgotten Costs of Travel

Besides those pesky hidden costs that the airlines are now sucking our blood for, there are other not so insignificant chunks of change that are required to travel far and wide. Today, Ron and I went for our Yellow Fever vaccines. The ones we had years ago expired last year when we were safely in Australia. This years is Kenya and Tanzania, so we needed to get shot up once again.

Budapest has quite an efficient, if not inexpensive World Health Travel Clinic. Doctors are trained in communicable diseases in every part of the globe. With our immunizations records in hand, we entered the waiting room with twenty people who already beat to the door and took a number. With thoughts that we should have packed our next meal, shock is not superlative enough to describe the fact that we were in the doctor's office within fifteen minutes. After looking over our records, Ron needed more shots than I did. How did that happen? Anyway, we received our Yellow Fever, Tetanus booster, and Typhoid or was it Jungle Fever? I am not sure, but it was one mama of a needle that took a good long time to empty out into my bloodstream.

She discussed Malaria treatment options. The last time we were here, the doctor was more than willing to share homeopathic ideas and we have gone that route more than once. This doctor insisted on telling us of a new medication that has less side effects, but costs 20,000 Huf a box and we would each need three boxes. Let me see, 20,000 x 3 for each of us equals 120,000 Huf total at today's exchange rate is $668.00 or 448.80 Euros or 49,582.83 in Kenyan shillings. No, we will go the homeopathic route, thank you very much for the information.

This little outing to the doctor is not of course covered by the health insurance, because once you leave the country and the EU, they are not going to cover you anyway. Our hour of in and out set us back 43,355 Huf or $241.30 or 162.16 Euros or 17,911.19 Kenyan shillings. 

The next set-back is the travel insurance. 

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Thanksgiving by Marriott

Ron used to have a connection through the museum docent program who could get us a turkey at the US Embassy commissary. Her husband was transferred and along with it, our turkey connection. For US readers who can find a freezer case stocked with Butterball or no name turkeys year round in the grocer's meat department, it may seem strange. Here in Hungary, getting a whole turkey is similar to the proverbial hen's teeth. 

One of my journalism students is doing her internship covering food news for an English language portal, so I put her on the scent for a whole turkey to roast for Thanksgiving. A week later, she responded with the fact that all of the poultry butchers in the Great Market receive their turkeys whole and cut them themselves before putting them out for sale. This may have been a no brainer for a Hungarian speaker, but I was not satisfied with the response, so pushed her further. I think the tears were the persuading factor.

She e-mailed me last week. She was by the Great Market, so stopped at a butcher. They are only getting 15-20 kilo turkeys in right now. If you don't know the math, there are 2.2 pounds to a kilo. Those turkeys could be Thanksgiving Day floats in the Macy's parade. Even after she promised to try to find us a reasonable turkey, I thanked her, but no thanks at the same time. 

Thanksgiving is the holiday I miss the most not living in the US. I am a traditionalist when it comes to this holiday and want it to be as 'authentic' as possible in my terms of authenticity. In the US, after appetizers, the dinner started with cream of pumpkin soup, turkey, homemade chestnut stuffing, mashed potatoes, glazed yams with mini-marshmallows, stuffed mushrooms, a green vegetable, lots of gravy, and other fixings, followed by pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake (I loved making this), and another type of pie. 

Our tradition was to always invite those who did not have family or friends close by to celebrate with and would otherwise be alone.

Each year here, it has been a hit or miss trying to find the ingredients needed. Pumpkin is the toughest. However, after posting it on our website, we now have three cans of pumpkin and two cans of evaporated milk. Pumpkin pie anyone?

For the rest, we broke down and ordered from the Marriott. On Thursday, they will deliver a turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, glazed carrots, a bottle of wine, plus a pumpkin and walnut pie serving four to six, for $125.

Just to make it a holiday, I will supplement it with my baked artichoke dip for an appetizer, make my stuffed mushrooms, and another pie. It is not a holiday if you cannot smell it walking in the door.

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Counting Cash

How do you count your cash? My pile of cash is so small, I barely need to count it at all. However, this is an interesting thought and I will pay more attention when we travel.

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Busy or Lazy?

When I don't get on here for some time, this antsy feeling comes over me. The problem is scheduling. Each semester, I try, I really try to space out my essay assignments, so that I am not piled under with papers to read at one time. If most Hungarian students understood the meaning of "Deadline" this would probably work out better than it does. Just as I think I am at the end of one classes group of essays, an e-mail comes in with a pleading note about why this paper is late. I would rather read the late paper than fail them, so I accept the paper. Then just as I finish one pile, it is time for the next class to dump another pile in my lap. From the middle of the semester to the end, it is one non-stop cycle. 

The difference this semester is having had the eye surgery. My one eye, the operated one can now see distance almost perfectly, but it is expected to continue to improve in the next few weeks. The other eye is great for short distances. What I need is a third eye for those in-between distances, like from seat to the computer monitor. I have had to correct papers by increasing the size to 150% or hunch over the computer table. I alternate between the two, because I really love my massage therapist and want him to feel needed when my back has had it from the hunch mode.

Other things have distracted me also. I decided that we, my Journalism students and I needed a web site. In a couple of hours, I created this one ELTE Journals. It was easy and fast, so I became carried away and created one for myself too, called what else, Dr. Ryan James. I did not have any special purpose for it, but thought it could not hurt to get my name out there more often. One never knows. With Goolge analytics in mind, I thought I should create a mirror site for the B and B. It is actually more than a mirror, since I can add content to it that there really is no room for on our regular site. Like our regular site, this is also called BudaBaB.

Speaking of Google, I was able to get us listed on Google maps. After registering, I had to wait for the confirmation postcard with the pin ID to arrive in the mail. It came to the day that they promised. Now, if someone types in BudaBaB into Google, they will get this map location. In addition, the list goes on for days, showing where we have been listed, guest reviews we were not even aware of, and other surprises. I love technology!

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Andy Said...

I checked this link out. There is nothing to download and it is free to use. Looks interesting. Ryan

andy said...

Hey everyone , I wanted to recommend you on a program I use with my students. I tried all kinds of conferencing tools, and so far this was the easiest to use: Show Document - Its Great for teaching and studying together online. Students can use it themselves to complete homework and projects from home. - Andy

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Google Wave

I just was invited to accept a Google Wave invitation. If you don't know what the Wave is, click here. If you will use it with me, I will give you an invite. I have 6 left, but don't comment here for an invite. Write me at drryanjames@gmail.com.

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Culture Happens

Here is Jim's other comment, "Culture is happening. CULTURE IS HAPPENING! (you must share THAT funny story.. how funny)".

Now to put it into context. When Jim and Peggy arrived, they spoke a great deal about wanting to experience the culture here as they do whenever they travel.

One night while they were here, there was a fire on our street. The street was filled with fire trucks and although Jim, Peggy, and our other guests were milling around the window watching the goings on, I was grading papers and never left my computer. However, I said to Jim "Culture is happening." and we chuckled.

The next morning at 7:30 am, the buzzer rings for the downstairs door. Everyone was still sleeping and we ignored it. People wanting to get in to leave flyers always choose our buzzer. This time, the buzzer was insistent to the point that I answered it and let whomever into the building and went back to bed. 

Not five minutes later, our own door bell was ringing. I threw on my bathrobe and went to answer it. There was a man in a uniform, the likes of which I had never seen before. He bla, bla, bla'ed to me in Hungarian, but when I said I did not understand, he said "We need to check your chimney. There was a fire here last night. The 'chimney' is for the hot water heater and is inspected annually. The last time was only a month ago, but I let him in. He came in followed by three other men all in the same uniform. Being wider awake, I saw the logo was a fireman running with a ladder. 

The four men went into the bathroom, where we pointed out the heater and chimney. They did massive investigations and were chattering like a bunch of old women at a gossip convention. I was concerned they were going to wake the guests in both rooms, but especially the large bedroom. Without our knowing it, they went into the bedroom, saw people in there and zipped out again. Then they sheepishly opened the door and said they needed to check the thermostat as well, which is in the large bedroom. There was enough noise to raise the dead and we still had a few days before Halloween. After they declared us fully in compliance a clean chmney and with no fire hazards , they thanked us and left. 

Thirty minutes later, Jim emerged from the small bedroom. I apologized for all of the noise, but he had not heard a thing. I said I should have been shouting "Culture is happening, culture is happening". So culture happened and he missed it.

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Jim and Peggy from Austin Comment

;) Hey Ryan, just saw your posts below.. THANKS for the shout-out. Indeed, you found a fellow geek here friend on this side of the Atlantic. Also glad that your eye surgery went well. Peggy did that a number of years ago, and she is soooo happy she did. We also wanted to say thanks for the wonderful hospitality! We love your place and it's location in the middle of Budapest. THAT was like hitting the lottery for us too! We travelled for 24 hours straight and are glad to be home and NOT to be sitting on a plane or airport. Thanks again for you and Ron for opening your home to us. Going to miss not being there and esp the wonderful public transportation Hungary has. Wish we had that in Austin!
Cheers!

Jim and Peggy Kipping
Austin TX.

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Lottery Week

I feel like I won the lottery, it has been an incredible week. On Tuesday, I had my eye surgery. All went well, thank you for asking. It turns out it was 105 Euros LESS than I had been initially quoted and that was not because I only had one eye done. The quote was per eye. Not knowing better, I had planned on having both eyes done, so I saved a whopper amount of Euros there too.

Then our guests from Austin gave me the Windows 7 as a gift! I still cannot believe their generosity. 

You know how things come in threes? Well, I had sent an e-mail to Zack, the owner of Tipton Eyeware to tell him I had left a "Recommended by Frommer's 2010" sticker at the store, but I don't think they understood why and may have ditched it. While I was at it, I had to share that I had brought my friend Kim in there, not knowing we would be there for over an hour while she tried on and modeled frames for me, before settling on a pair. Another thing I mentioned was that due to the surgery, I needed good sunglasses without a Rx, but with 100UV protection. Zack zipped back an e-mail asking me to come in, meet him, and look over the collection. This time it was my turn to try on and model. 

The wowser part about these frames is that they are made from recycled 45 and 33 1/3 vinyl records. The designs are original and not the run of the mill off of the rack kind. When you wear Tipton glasses, you are making a statement. After a few different eyeglass changes, Zack suggested I try one of his newer line of eye wear. All of the temples are made of old, but genuine celluloid cinema film strips. The one Zack gave me to try was from an old 'adult' movie, risqué but tasteful still. 

They looked great, felt wonderful, but could I really splurge on sunglasses? Of course I can! I am worth it. However, Zack would not hear of it. They were a gift with his thanks for putting his wares in both of my books and bringing a eyeglass-a-holic friend to the store. Now, let me be upfront. If I did not like the product, they would never have made it into the first book, let alone the second book. The truth is, I love them and think others will too, so I am going to do my best to direct people to Orange Optika at Király utca 38 in Budapest. But hey, if you are not heading to Budapest, don't despair, there are plenty of other stores on their website.

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Almost Halloween

Ron passed this on to me. I could not resist posting it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/christian-broadcasting-ne_n_338738.html. Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network posted a blog by Kimberly Daniels recently that warns Christians to forgo celebrating Halloween because of its evilness. Don't try to find the blog post though; it has been removed. When reading the link above, be sure to read the captions under each candy. They are priceless.

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A Bad Joke Gone Good

WE currently have a great couple of guests from Austin, Texas. It seems to be a trend that we have all the best from the Austin area. Jim happened to call me from TX before leaving and asked if there was any computer equipment I needed. He too is a geek. I jokingly said "Sure, you can bring me a Windows 7 since it was just released in the States." We both chuckled, chatted briefly and hung up.

When they arrived, he handed me a new unwrapped Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade. After recovering from my choking spell, I asked how much I owed him, thinking we would deduct it from their week's stay. When he said, "Not a penny. This is a gift. We always bring gifts when we go somewhere." There was no dissuading him. I am still choked up over his thoughtfulness.

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Eye Can Almost See You

My first follow-up eye exam after the surgery yesterday was this morning. Again, I was examined by the computer and then by the doctor. She said it looks perfect. Eye drops five times a day for a week, four times a day next week, and so on until they are all gone and I will be fine. She did schedule me for another visit on Monday.

My vision is clearing. I am able to get around fine; there is still some blurriness, but that will clear up over time. The improvement thus far has been dramatic. I am sitting closer to the screen than usual, but that should improve too, according to the doctor. I do need to invest in 100% UV protection sunglasses and will have to wear them outside regardless of the weather for the next three months. Since we are going to be in Africa for a month, they will be good to have anyway.

Tomorrow, we will get a Swine flu vaccination, recommended by our local doctor and seconded by the Kenyan government. Our travel agent there said it would be good to have it listed on our medical cards. We may have to get Yellow Fever too, if our last one has expired.

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The Eyes Have It

Yesterday, I went for my eye surgery. I was not the least bit nervous until they gave me the release form to sign; that put me on edge a bit. However, after weeks of researching this surgery and hearing from others who had it, I felt more confident than if I had not prepared.

Once again, they did an eye exam with two of the three computerized machines that they had done the day before. The doctor did a  physical eye exam with the chart and various Rx lenses to read from, just as she had done the day before. 

I was send out to the waiting room and given a Xanax to keep me relaxed. This is standard operating procedure, if you will pardon the pun. 

After a half hour or waiting presumably for the pill to kick in, I was taken back to surgery. Given shoe coverings, a gown, and a cap to wear over my hair, I was ready. In the operating room, there was the surgeon, an electronic engineer for the laser, and an aid. The doctor explained the procedure again.

I had to relax on a cushioned table. The doctor put what seemed like a monocle in my right eye, but it must have been without an isert as the laser presses directly on the eyeball. There is an orange light and your eye is supposed to follow its movements, but toward then end, there is a bright white flash like a sun exploding. This took all of two minutes.

From here, I was taken to another table. They put a mask over my face, but the circular disk went back in my eye. A second laser went to work, creating colorful visions of old-fashioned tie dye t-shirt designs of red, blue, green, and yellow, continually changing the patterns as it went through its paces. Toward the end, the designs changed to something quite different. If you have ever put eye drips in your eye, as they are falling from the bottle, it looks like you can see the molecular structure of each drop. If you can picture this, in red and white, then blue and white, you will have an idea  of what I was seeing. This process took three minutes and it was all over. 

The doctor gave me instructions on how ot administer the two different eye drops prescribed. Two drops every hour until bedtime and then start again immediately after waking up. I could not sleep on my stomach or on the right side for fear of the pillow hitting my eye. 

When I came out, Dr. Simor was there to take me home again. Although I could see out of my left eye, without glasses or contacts, it was negligible. The right eye was quite blurry, which I was told before hand would be the case. It was like looking through thin milk glass, which is what I am guessing cataracts are like.

The instructions included taking a nap as soon as I made it home. You don't need to beat me over the head to take a nap. Two hours later, drops in, my vision was clearing, but still not enough to play cards with our guests.

There was no pain involved, but for the first four hours when awake, it felt like I had an eyelash under my eye. By evening, it was gone. 

This morning, my vision is clearer than last night, but it will take three weeks to three months for it to become the best it will be. Other than having to look at the computer screen a little closer than normal, less than 24 hours later, I am able to be functional without assistance. Today, I return for a follow-up check=up.

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Healthcare Hearings

For a longer version of the hearings go to http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/289547-1.

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IntraLasik Surgery

Initially, I had interviewed Dr. Randy Simor, a medical doctor who happens to be American-Hungarian, at his business MediTours Hungary, for my next Frommer's book. Medical tourism is growing at a rapid rate. I was impressed with him personally and his business, so decided to us his company for eye surgery. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time, but have now waited for the third generation of laser surgery to be widely used. 

Dr. Timor met me at the eye clinic today for my  eye evaluation where it was determined if I was eligible for IntraLasik eye surgery for corrective vision purposes. He stayed the entire time I was there to make sure all went well.

Because I am over 40 years old, I had three choices after they determined the health of my eyes.

1. I could have both down, giving me excellent distance vision, but still need reading glasses (This would not be true if I were younger.)
2. I can have one eye done with perfect distance vision and leave the other alone for reading. 
3. I can have the cornea lifted and have plastic lens implanted giving me perfect vision in both eyes.

The choice was clearer than the eye chart that I would take option 2. I have done a lot of reading about this surgery and have heard from a number of people who have had it done. They all have to wear reading glasses. With the point being to shed myself of contact lens and glasses, there is no reason not to try going for one eye for each distance and 'see' how it works out.  I always have the option of returning to have the other eye done at a later time.

My surgery is tomorrow at 2:30pm; Dr. Timor will again join me there. The surgery is supposed to take 15 minutes. I will be reporting back. 

MediTours does a big business with plastic surgery, dentistry, and of course eye surgery. Although his business does not do any of the procedures, it does contract for the best of the best in the field here, so a potential client does not have to hunt blindly. They also walk the client through the whole process, so language is never an issue. For dental and medical procedures, they have someone on call 24/7 and apartments where they can put you up.

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Changing the Clock

Our time changes this Sunday in Hungary. This is a fun British video reminder.

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Lorne the Reader Writes

Lorne S. Marr has left a new comment on your post "Funny, This":

Hehe, nice. Can't but love the beautiful Chinese alphabet. It really does look confusing to a person who's never been accounted with it. Nevertheless, it's a very interesting language. Check out my article on weird insurance if you want, funny also :)
Take care, Lorne

I know about this personally. My father had a coin collection that was older than I am. Unfortunately, he never cataloged anything, but when I wanted to do it for him in 2001, he had to tell me the story of very coin as I logged it. He had about five thousand coins. After five hours, I had 10 coins in an Excel program and through in the towel. After he started letting strangers stay with him, because of their hard luck stories, the coins mysteriously decrease in number.

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Funny, This

I was Googling looking for the link for my book on Amazon today to send to an old friend. I came across this. You can click on the picture to make it more comprehensible.

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Celebration Time

Time to celebrate...I finished my book, Frommer's "Budapest & the Best of Hungary" 8th edition. The most difficult part was the page limits. I have a maximum of 280 pages, but with all of the new information going into these new books, it was a major struggle. I came in at 281. There is usually a minute bit of wiggle room, so I have my fingers crossed. 

I still have the maps to work on or rather to assist Ron is assisting me with the maps. Then off it goes.

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Reaching Out

Sometimes team work means reaching over the other side to the other team. I tried embedding this video, but it would not show up, so you are on your own. This is based on a true story. To move on to the show, just click on the word video above.

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C Flat, B Sharp

Could this trick you into exercising more? It may work for me until I fall FLAT.

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You Light Up Our House

We had some incredible guests leave today, Mark and Enid Sherman. Originally from NYC and still sounding enough like NY'ers to make me homesick it was exacerbated when we discussed the quality of bagels across the US. Mark is a retired psychologist, formerly both as a practitioner and educator. Enid runs a business with her daughter designing, manufacturing, and selling luggage tags and hair barrettes. You can see some examples here. The back has a hidden compartment for your name and address. As a travel writer, this is a great advantage as most experienced travelers know you do not want people at airports seeing your name and address, knowing your house may be ripe for the picking. Here are some examples of their offerings. Click on the picture to be redirected to their website, but not until you finish reading here. 

Mark surprised us with a leaving gift, a copy of one of his paintings. He had taken painting classes and later offered lessons himself. His specialty is lighthouse paintings as you can see here. We were also treated to his small gallery of paintings that he created while on their cruise here. Each painting was a stunning piece of art with extreme detail. With  my lack of patience, these only assured me that if I were to take up painting, it would have to be the modern splash paint in large areas type. As OCD as I can be at times, it has to be with larger things, like categorizing my books by genre, author, and in alpha order by title. Mark picked up on this habit of mine. If you click on Mark's painting, you will be redirected to one of his web sites.

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Language School

I had gone to a unique language school to interview them for the new Frommer's book, because the new edition has a section for this. I was impressed with the technique, which is innovative, but expensive. If it were not so pricey, I would have considered taking Hungarian lessons there, but it is out of reach. However, non-traditional methods for teaching languages to adults is one of my professional areas, so I was curious about the methodology and pedagogy used to create the program and told the school owner. 

She did not feel qualified to answer my questions, but since my interest was to possibly publish a professional article in a professional language journal, she offered to connect me with the founder of the system. All of us met this last Friday. Unfortunately, he did not speak English, so we had to depend on the school owner to translate everything. When I asked how he came to create this program, he stated that he had heard from a friend that the average person here in Hungary spends 750,000 to 1 million Huf to pass an intermediate language exam. This gave him the business idea to create an accelerated method.

Fine, well and good, but I needed to know his research background for the development. After all, I was not planning an article for an in-flight magazine, but a professional journal. He said he had heard of Lozanov and his methods as well as Jose Silva's Mind Control research. Did he study with either of them or study using their methods? No! He just spoke to people who knew OF them. I asked if he had any teaching background. No, only business. 

Were any educators involved for resources for the pedagogical or methodological portions of his program? No! Do they do any testing after X number of lessons to assess what the student has learned? No, they repeat a lesson if the student did not get it the first time. Do they do any research and data collection on the effectiveness of the program? Yes, they have received e-mails from former students telling them how pleased they are with their new language skills. One student had to go to another country for work and was able to speak and understand things at a business meeting. Do they have any hard data? No, e-mails only from students. I also asked how he arrived at what vocabulary was to be used with each lesson and what the foundation was for building from one lesson to the other. From the response, I gather it was all by chance.


He kept repeating that students had to have a strong motivation for learning and to be stress-free during the lessons. I asked how they measured motivation. They ask the student. Personally, I would think the cost would be a motivation in itself, but not something that would appeal to a professional journal article. At the end of 26 lessons, they state the student will have a 1200 word vocabulary. True or not, this is not enough to pass an intermediate exam for writing and oral skills.

Finally, after an hour and a half of asking questions, I came out with as little substantial information as I had when I went in. When he asked if I would write the article, I honestly, but politely explained why it would not be possible without research and data to support it. Strangely, he has not used his own method for learning English.

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Survey spotlights Hungarians' poor foreign language skills - Caboodle.hu

Survey spotlights Hungarians' poor foreign language skills - Caboodle.hu

I will relate a recent experience connected with this in another post.

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Frustration Knows No Limits

I have had the computer guys here so often, they are thinking of renting one of our rooms. They could not seem to figure out why my cable box and router goes out more often than Brad Pitt did in his twenties. Finally, they decided it had to be the cable box and they called the cable company to fight the point. Each time I called they said they ran diagnostics from the office and all was well. The cable man cometh yesterday, worked at the junction box on the third floor, and then replaced my cable modem. All seemed to be smooth Internet surfing until last night when it went out again. Perhaps the router needed to be rebooted to recognize the new cable box. Today, all seemed fine until an hour ago when it showed I was connected, yet I was not getting anywhere I wanted to go on the Internet highway. Not even a yield sign came into view, just stop, and in stop trying, because there is no connection. The cable man said it may be because the box is on the third floor and the connection has to travel too far to reach my computer. Ah, duh! I cannot imagine we are the only people one floor away from the junction box. Wouldn't logic dictate that a solution needs to be found?

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NileGuide: Five of the Best Sweet Eats in Budapest

Here is an article I wrote for NileGuide as they "destination specialist". NileGuide: Five of the Best Sweet Eats in Budapest

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Life Musings

It has felt like there has not been much happening, yet it is not true when I reflect back. Besides working diligently on trying to get my book finished, little things change daily causing me to edit and rewrite what I have already written. When I called the Dohany Synagogue for a guest, the number I had was changed. When I called the new number offered, that was disconnected. Finally, I had to track down the new-new number. Ron and I were invited to a US Embassy reception, hosted by the Regional English Language Officer. We went for a relatively short time. The room was suffocatingly hot and although many were from IATEFL, I knew few of them. We did meet the new English Language Fellow (ELF), who is working with Roma college students and their English skills. It made me wonder if I could get any of my students to volunteer time to assist them as well. Something to ponder. It would intertwine nicely with my Race and Ethnicity class. It they had turned on the A/C, which they do have in the building, we may has stayed longer. After interviewing a medical tourism company run by an American-Hungarian M.D., I have decided to have laser surgery for vision correction. Later this month, I will go for a two hour exam to determine if I am eligible and if so, will have the surgery the next day. The surgery takes 15-20 minutes, but they tell you to block out two hours. Once the surgery is over, my next medical project is an evaluation of my teeth. My whole mouth has been non-stop annoying pain, sometimes throbbing, while other times just painful enough to make me aware of it. Our regular dentist is great, but he is not a cosmetic dentist. Both he and my dentist from CA both muse that even if I am a model patient who flosses abundantly and brushes as prescribed, I am the victim of three generations of really poor teeth genes. Fortunately, Hungary is known for its dentistry, with substantially reduced cost. That is life in the big city for now.

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