NAAW Report January
This time there are not to many news. I spend three weeks at home. I was pretty busy to visit all my friends and to organize my German life. And after my return to Hungary I made an internship in the German speaking congregation of Budapest (www.kirche.hu) for four weeks.
What I am experiencing here is not very Hungarian. It also could happen in a bigger German city. I am following the pastor, helping with the Sunday worship, joining in group meetings like bible lessons or conformation lessons. I also accompanied Pastor Erlbruch to his school classes. This was my personal highlight, because I was asked to hold my fist religion lesson. I choose the introduction into Islamism. I really enjoyed it and had big luck with this very nice small class. Through this work at the German School Budapest I firstly experienced what a private school means. It is very different to my school at
home. I was at a Gymnasium in the countryside and a musical and humanistic education. Here the school is in a capitol and does not offer classical education at all – no Latin, no deeper music lesson and of course no Old Greek. That it was a private school, the very well dressed kids, the ignorance of simple behaviour rules and especially the reaction to notes showed me. There was a big fight if a student got a two/B or three/C instead of a one/A, because Daddy is paying… I heard really unbelievable stories! But the main part of this internship was not new for me. It was very interesting to experience a new kind of congregation, but mostly a congregation outside of Germany is basically not very different.
At the university it is very quiet. Everybody is learning. It seems they cannot do other things. But it is totally understandable. Sometimes they have more than three exams in a week and all together more than twelve. This is definitely another disadvantage of the BA/MA system.
I am already organizing my subjects for the coming semester. There will be New and Old Testament, systematical and also practical theology, church history and music lessons. Hopefully I will get more than 45 minutes Hungarian lesson. 45 minutes every week are almost nothing. No wonder that I am still unable to speak Hungarian. That is the only thing which makes me really disappointed! 
A lot of snow and sometimes minor 12 degree Celsius… But these picutres were of the beginning of the snow period.
NAAW Report December
Now I stay more than three months in Budapest and the semester will end in a few days. Then I will spend Christmas and New Year at home with my family. I was very productive and made a lot of experiences – and all without getting very homesick.
I did really much this semester. I take part on four main seminars and one lecture and of course my Hungarian lesson. My highlight was the seminar with Jutta Hausmann. We analysed some psalms and I got a lot of insider information. These were very worthy because they were by a German who spent many years in this country. But the most helpful seminar was with the practical theology teacher Agnes. She taught my and the Finish exchange student the history of the Hungarian church and how this background effects the Hungarian Church of today. It was very helpful to understand some basic differences, so for example the less liturgy in worships and why most congregations do not accept the new liturgy order, which is very similar to the German order and uses more liturgy, because it is something new and unknown, but mostly because they think it is too catholic. (In Hungary was a catholic reformation as reaction of the protestant one. It was very brutal and the almost completely protestant Hungary became catholic again.)
For me it is really nice to be abroad. But Henrika, the Finish student, has big problems. She is a BA/MA student and has troubles with her credits. It is so stupid! This new systems makes more problems for studying abroad than it was supposed to make it easier. I can say: “Oh, 
relax. I just need a sign. That is all! No difficult credit counting, please!“ Yeah, the diploma system rocks 
But the Hungarians ignore this problem. They have to go to other countries. Budapest is the only faculty for Lutheran theology in Hungary. And because there are not many Hungarian theology books they can use, the students have to go abroad. They are spread all over the world. It is amazing how many contacts this 200 person university has! Here two examples for the lacking of Hungarian translations: Students do not have Hungarian dictionaries for Hebrew or Greek. And the Systematical Theology offered a seminar on Tillich, because some of his works were lately published in Hungarian. So they wanted a doctor seminar to discuss and to get familiar with his thinking so that they can teach it soon. But of course the basic books are also available in Hungarian, English or Germans. And the doctors studied many years abroad and can teach everything important.
The only disadvantages here are the antique copy machine of the university, the high taxes on imported products, no wireless LAN in the university and many stinky persons. Hungary is not very rich and like in every country the poor people crowd in the capitol. Here in Budapest it is very visible, because of the poorness of the state. There are too less police and charity institution. So the homeless persons are sleeping on streets, in the underground and in the public transports. And the last is very bad. If you have to stand in overcrowded bus next to a person who is unwashed and wears very dirty and stinky clothes, you feel very uncomfortable. It is very difficult and sad. Especially during the winter time, when it is for many weeks very cold and many homeless persons must die, because there is no money to help them. And many are not guilty; often they are victims of the economical and financial state problems.
