I didn't think that I would be hitting the bars anytime till spring, but as it happens, the teachers at Selti love to drink and hang out. So apparently payday for them (unfortunately I do not get my first pay till April) was a few days ago, so I got invited to go for a drink with my teachers. Fortunately, my flatmate Dan came along, so I didn't get lost on the streets of Budapest, coz obviously, all public transport stops around midnight and I wouldn't want to get lost in a cold city, regardless of whether winter is at the end or not. So I've been out a couple of nights, and one of the first bars that I stepped in reminded me of one word, "Bohemian"

It has all these funny kick knacks on the walls, and tables and chairs were just squashed up against each other. Everyone was talking, smoking, some jazz (i think) music was playing in the corner. There were people even bringing take away pizza from outside into the bar so that they could eat and drink and SMOKE at the same time. Obviously, coming from countries which have banned smoking indoors, I was quite unused to the huge fragrance of smoke all around. Every bar is like smoky... and the first night I came back, my t-shirt just reeeeeeekkkked of heavy smelly smoke all over. I like "OH MY GOD" when I came back home and took off my shirt. Needless to say, that shirt has immediately gone into the wash. I swear I'm like the camera girl in Selti, coz no one else whips out their camera to take pictures except me. At least my excuse is that I do look like a tourist (asian face.. hello!) and I am a tourist!

So.. teachers from Selti: Me, Sam (from USA), Mairead (Scotland), Jennifer (UK)

My flatmate, Dan, who is from the States.

The second night I went out, Mairead's two best friends from Scotland had come down to visit, so Mairead took them to this Balkan (really.. not kidding) night club, and said that I should come check their music out. Dan was quite skeptical bout it being a cool club but he came anyways... it was the same old smoky feeling and smell, but this was a lot more bigger and more like a nightclub with a live band, a fountain and a large sit down area. As the night passed, we met a lot more teachers/ aiesec members as well:

Mairead's friends, Nikola and Gemma (Sam in the middle). They could stand the cold really really well!!! Scottish people.. They only wore like two layers each, while I was still shivering in my three layers of thermol... bugger..


Aimee (Another intern from NZ) and I

Ludmilla and I (Ludmilla is from the UK of Polish descent). She had her boyfriend there as well, and the first thing he said to me when he learnt I was from Singapore was that, "My surname is Changi, just like your airport." My reaction was, "You've got to be kidding me..." and I burst out laughing hard out.

Now, something of interest to you AIESEC people who are reading this post. Now, Selti is made out of AIESEC interns and non AIESEC teachers. The current AIESEC interns are just me, Aimee and James. NOW. All of the other teachers have hung out with AIESEC members in Hungary, and their impression of AIESEC is that it's a cult and everyone is having sexual relations with one another. *Ting!!!* It was really hilarious when I heard it, but I reckon it must be all the conference stuff which they've seen. Of course, naturally, I was quick to assure them that I wasn't part of this sexual web... and I do know that I've always been clean at conferences.... lol... but can you imagine!! This is the impression that outsiders have of AIESEC!!

Anyhow... when the night ended, I was introduced to my first Hungarian Supper snack. It's called langos, but it's this HUGE piece of deep fried dough, topped with either sour cream, cheese ,etc... or you can even eat it plain. According to Dan, Hungarians love sour cream, so it's quite a popular topping. It costs only like 350 florints for one with cheese ($2.50 singapore dollars?) and it was sooo big!!!! But very very tasty and fatty... haha.