Classes have begun and I have a cold already!! Although, as soon as I felt that scratchy throat and sneezed that "tell-tale" sneeze I brought on the Vitamin C, Echinacia, Airborne, OJ, and water and I can tell that this little viral invasion of my body could have been a lot worse than it is.
Classes began last Thursday. My first class was Elementary French. As it turns out she is going to do total immersion with us and Thursday was the last day we will ever speak English!!! Oh good Lord! I think I could very well have handled a total immersion in German but not so much in French. We'll see how it goes. Perhaps one day I will write an entire blog in French. I'm also taking a Schumann Song Cycle Class,the required Experiential Education Program, Vocal Chamber Ensemble, and my studio voice lessons. A significantly smaller schedule than in previous years. I think it's going to be a really good semester.

Five years ago....
Five years ago I boarded a plane in Columbus on September 8 which took me to Minneapolis, then to Amsterdam, and then on to Budapest. One of the memorable parts about leaving is that all of my family and friends came to see me off and were able to hang out at the gate from which I was leaving - one of the last times that would ever be allowed. On the flight to Amsterdam I sat beside this gentleman who was going to Frankfurt, Germany where he would be stationed at an American Military base for the next 5 years. I remember thinking that 5 years was such a long time - and what would I be doing five years from then. One other weird thing I remember about that flight is that when we were preparing to land the wheels of the plane had almost touched the runway when the plane suddenly jerked up and we started ascending quite rapidly back into the air. One could hear everyone on the plane say "whooooaaaa" and this guy looked at me was like "Well, that was a little un-nerving!" and I just nodded. We ended up circling around in the air for probably 1/2 hour longer before we made our landing.
I didn't arrive at the Institute until later that evening, September 9. Blue Peter picked up me up from the airport which was really nice because I didn't have to worry about catching a train with all my luggage. (Oh, by the way - he's called "Blue" Peter because there are two Peter's at the Institute and this particular Peter always wears a blue sweater. Students from many years before nicknamed him that to keep the two Peters straight.) Angela greeted me at our door and I remember two specific things about that evening: Even though I was thoroughly exhausted we moved the entire room around and Angela made me a fantastic dinner - some kind of pork or chicken stir-fry.
So, I wasn't in America for September 11. I was actually preparing to go to a Hungarian Language lesson. Opened the door to my room to step out and there stood Gretchen, her hand up to knock on the door, and tears in her eyes. She said "There has been some kind of explosion in one of the World Trade Center Towers and part of the Pentagon has also exploded." So we all ran to the tv in one of the hallways where there were already people gathered around it watching the BBC - the only English speaking station we got. During that time we witnessed the second plane hitting the tower and both of the towers collapsing. It was so unreal. I mean... of course it was unreal to anyone who was watching it all over the world. We just sat there for hours and hours watching. Time just flew. As we sat more and more people gathered around the tv. At one point Mihaly, one of our professors, came from his office and sat with us just shaking his head in disgust and occasionally grumbling something in Hungarian. He would get up, leave, and then come back again. It soon got to be past dinner time. After that I don't remember much. I know our internet stopped working and I wasn't able to call into the U.S. but my mom was able to call me. It was such a relief to talk to her. She was crying but I assured her that of all places, this little monastary in this little city in Hungary was probably one of the safest places I could be. The next day Peter Erdei, the director of the Institute, gathered all of us Americans (I think there were 10 in all) together just to talk about the situation and answer any questions we might have concerning safety and going outside of Kecskemet.
All-in-all, the experience of living outside of America during 9-11 was very different. After about 10 days it ceased to be constantly aired on the tv or front page of Hungarian newspapers and magazines etc. It didn't "go away" but it certainly wasn't something that was in our face for 2 or 3 months afterwards. That's how we experienced it.
Well, I certainly did not intend for this blog to be a look into the past but I guess that's sort of what it became.