DAY 6 OF CLASS!

 

Our day begins on the first floor (2nd by American standards) in the breakfast lounge. Can I just say that the lattes from the machine here absolutely hit the spot? You know what else hits the spot? Morning socialization. Here's our friends Berit and Alex posing for the camera. We enjoy conversation and croissants (not pictured) before we head out for the day. 

                            After breakfast we head our for our morning commute. The weather has been chillier for sure; temps are more in the 20s and 30s instead of the 50s. The sun is always a nice touch - it only compliments the stunning architecture in this city. It is a short commute - less than 20 min to get to the school. Without spoiling it, something uh, interesting happened to one of us on the bus. More on that later... 

Our lecture today was on modulo arithmetic - it was a new way to think about the problems we had been solving. It also cut the time needed for some problems by more than half. All in all a fairly light day by number theory standards. Now comes time for lunch - experts agree that lunch is the best meal of the day. 

Tim, Will, and I went to a place by the name of Scusi for lunch. We had originally stopped by there for dinner earlier in the trip but were turned away as they were just about to close. I ordered focaccia with proscuitto, truffle mayo, and mozzarella. Tim got the same sandwich as me whereas will got a sandwich with turkey, cheese, and chipotle mayo. We all agreed that the sauce was to absolutely die for. At around 4,000 FT it was a little on the expensive side for lunch but well worth the extraordinary taste. 

After a long lunch break (more than an hour) we had a guest lecturer by the name of Robert Freud. I especially enjoyed the bit about the Banarch - Tarski paradox. Freud also dispelled information on famous mathematicians - Erdos, Euclid, among others. My dad has been pestering me about the mathematical history of Hungary. I am glad to finally have something to tell him in that regard. 

The sun sets pretty early here, even by Minnesotan standards. As we walked back to the bus stop, I couldn't help but take a picutre of the moon as it rose over the horizon. It makes for one last look at something beautiful before staring at our number theory textbook and college ruled notebook paper. 

A lucky student started their day with a phone left on the bus, winning the award for first lost phone in Budapest. This lucky student had to overcome many obstacles to retrive their guidepost in a foriegn country, inculding chasing a bus getting on three different buses. Until finally the phone was retrived  by our local hungarian math professor (not teaching our classes but teaches at the same school). She managed to retrive the phone within 30 minutes of learning about our predicament. Above we can see the phone picutered abandoned on the bus. 

Some students chose to end their day early, others went ice skating and others joined together for our nightly homework session. Some even plan to wake up at 2 am again to hope for a better showing of our favorite football team. This concludes our 9th day of Budapest and another day of life long memories!