Szia! (Hello!)

We began the day bright and early at about 8 A.M. with a breakfast not unlike many that we’ve had in the US: waffles, cereal, and jugs of orange juice lined the table as we all gathered in the breakfast room. However, two particular things stuck out: Open-faced sandwiches with meat and vegetables were available to us as well and there was no syrup for the waffles—just apricot and strawberry jam. After our meal, we walked about four blocks to the tram that we take across the Danube River to the subway. The subway is similar to American subways in how busy it is, but also contains much steeper and faster escalators than ones that we were used to. We then took a train to McDaniel College, or the College International. Here, we entered our classroom for the first time, which had three long brown tables and two green chalkboards stacked on top of each other. It looked rather grand, but before we began class, we had a walking tour of Budapest scheduled. However, the person originally supposed to conduct the tour was incapable of doing so, and because of this, we ended up taking an informal tour of parts of Budapest ourselves.

                On the tour, Professors Hanson and Berliner led us to a historic district of Buda that contained a castle and a statue of Charlemagne. We then wandered the city a bit, taking in some excellent views of Pest across the Danube River as well as the hills of Buda. We eventually ended up at the central market, a massive array of stores with tiny trinkets and antiques and various food shops and restaurants. Here, we were treated by Professor Hanson to a delectable Hungarian dish known as Langos, a type of deep-fried bread that can be served with sour cream, cheese, and a variety of meats and vegetables, the choice of which is yours. Directly following lunch, we made it back to the classroom where we had our first Number Theory class, learning about the Division Algorithm and its various applications in proofs. We then came back to the hotel and had the rest of the day to do what we wished, but it was a fantastic start to what promises to be an exciting journey through the world of Mathematics.

Szia (Goodbye),

Jonny, Colin D., and Aditya