It begins.

I am sitting safe and sound in my apartment in Budapest. The flights were fairly well uneventful, which makes me happy - a little late out of Grand Rapids (big surprise... NOT!), landed early in Frankfurt, and just a few minutes late into Budapest. After going through customs, which consisted entirely of the officer waving me through, I was met by a student guide from BSM, who got us a cab to go to my apartment. A word to the wise, definitely look both ways before crossing the street in Budapest - Hungarian drivers are... let's go with "aggressive." I am no expert on Hungarian traffic regulations, but I'm pretty sure a few of our cab driver's maneuvers were less than legal.

Anyway, moving on to the apartment. The landlord is a really nice guy, who also works as a deejay. However, he doesn't speak English very well, so that will be interesting. The rooms in the apartment are quite spacious, except for the kitchen, which is fine, but the eating area is cramped. I will be sharing the apartment with two other BSM students who I will meet tomorrow when they arrive. Since I was the first one here, naturally I got my choice of rooms. :) My apartment is also only a five minute walk from the school - which should be really convenient. The building is a bit older, but that is the price you pay for the larger size.

I will get pictures up on facebook later, but right now I am hungry - which means I either have to find a restaurant or supermarket and hope they speak English. Sounds like an adventure! Oh, and I am told I arrived just in time because Saturday is Hungarian National Day (similar to the Fourth of July - except this year is Hungary's 1011th birthday) which means lots of celebration and fireworks. That should be fun. Now I am off to find food.