Every month a fantastic process takes place. We knew that we had to pay the man, the landlord, what we didn't know was how much utilities would cost. For the entirety of this month, we have mostly lived in frigid conditions. The only warm places seem to be about 2 inches from the radiators and on the electric range. When Gabor said, "No one has ever used this much gas in a month before," we were all pretty confused. "Uhh, that can't be right," Tristan said. "We've actually been living in the freezer." The highest amount of gas ever consumed in the flat was 271 cubic metres in a month. We somehow managed to consume 324. Last January, which was somewhat milder apparently, the tenants used 68. We've just decided to bundle up at home. We have pretty much cut the heating entirely except for heating the hot water. It isn't our job to invest in caulking, insulation, carpets, blankets, etc. etc. We've already bought shelves and mirrors. We let Gabor inspect the issue but its pretty futile I figure. If we are living in cold anyways, we might as well avoid paying an arm and a leg for it. Besides, this will be the coldest month and if we cut consumption now we can ammortize the gas expense over the remainder of the lease ("ammortize" - a favourite term of McConomy and Welker).
A month has come and passed and though there is still snow on the ground and winter doesn't want to go away, the sun came out and I only wore a sweater to the Immigration Office to finalize my residence permit. After all the documentation needed, the pleas to banks, parents, lawyers, university registrars, embassies, consulates, and 18,000 forint in stamps I finally have the shiny sticker in my passport that allows me to come and go from the country between April 21 and May 23. Seems like a big waste of energy to me considering I'll be studying for exams and not traveling (who am I kidding though?).
Melinda offers free hugs. As of yet no one has blogged about our time with the three wonderful Austrian girls. Initially, since the recent fiasco with the Austrian coat thieves, we were weary of them. I hid all my belongings (which are few and smell of a mixture of 2-week old cigarette smoke, alcohol, sweat, blood, and tears) in the only place where I knew the filthy Austrians wouldn't go: the shower. My first impression was the complete opposite from my presuppositions. The women; Melinda (who is actually from Switzerland I think), Verena (who is actually from Germany) and Raquel (who is actually from Mexico) were a great addition to the pad while they were here. Once I realized none were authentically Austrian I was relieved. I don't really know why anyone even thought they were Austrian to being with. We played yahtzee and bananagrams, they made dinner, we drank alcohol (i know, hard to believe), sang karaoke at Morrison's (slight cringe at the thought of ABBA's "Thank you for the music"), had deep conversations about the world, shared stories, and meant to give free hugs to the people of Budapest but only made cardboard signs which are now hung to the walls downstairs. When we left for Munich on Thursday, we let them stay in our flat over the weekend. They cleaned it up really nice. Melinda works at an Igloo hotel in Zurich and offered a free night for us. We might be all traveled out, but it would be an awesome experience. I'll miss them and I'm sure the rest of the guys will too.
March, fittingly, will begin in Milan. We will travel to Zurich potentially, Belfast, Dublin, and I'll spend 10 days with Lauren in Cairo, riding camels, scuba diving, climbing pyramids and avoiding bombs (Its pretty unnerving but if I can put a positive spin on it, security will be at a high and prices will be at a low).
Well, I'd better get packing. To conclude in the wise words of Dr. Evil, "It's frickin' freezing out here, Mr. Bigglesworth."
Our landlord with Mr. Bigglesworth.
Echer was really a beautiful city, it holds some sort of "churches per capita" record for Europe, or Eastern Europe, or northern Hungary ... whatever ... here's a pretty church ...
I was more impressed with the quality of insurance products offered in Hungary. I went an knocked on the door to see if I could leverage my experience at Aviva Canada to get a job here for the afternoon, but they were closed ...
After a lunch that pretty much consisted of chicken noodle soup, then poutine (sans fromage), we walked up to explore the fort. Nice view, interesting history, wanted a nap ...
Waking up to breakfast (spam and rolls, whoohoo!!) was the next moment of clarity in my life. The night party was an absolute BLUR and WHIRLWIND for me. I didn't have any pictures to post of it ... thankfully. I had a great time throughout all of fresh camp and certainly helped support the Canadian contingent in being the LIFE OF THE PARTY.
