Budapest is a very attractive place for those who like nightlife. In the past few years a brand new style of pub has been revived, the so called „romkocsma”. I don’t really know whether it can be labeled as a Hungaricum or not, but it’s obvious that we have a great number of pubs located in old, delapidated town houses. Fogasház is one of them.

Two weeks ago we decided to visit this extraordinary pub, and I already had certain expectations since I was more or less familiar with this „genre”; I have been to Corvin tető and Szimpla Kert, and I thought that the atmosphere would be quite similar. We met at 7 p.m. before the familiar, obsolete building, and I only realized entering the huge doors that this pub was even more eccentric than the others I had been to; Now I know that it is more than a simple pub turning profit from an old town house beyond recupery. Fogasház is also a platform for young artists, musicians and gives place for various events.

After the amazement and perplexity we took a seat and ordered some drinks. When we were friendly disposed we began to discover the several rooms of Fogasház. On the ground floor there were photos, paintings exhibited by unknown talents, but the most astonishing thing was that these galleries took place in semi – furnished flats. I do not know whether it was the intention of the exhibitors or not, but the water – heater and the bath tub is definitely not an everyday spectacle during an exhibition.
On the first floor the same sight met our gaze, paintings, photos, etc. I beg to remark that I had serious doubts about the safety of the building because of the lack of parapets…Anyway, let’s say that it was part of the atmosphere.
There was a great terrace as well, very intimate I think, unfortunately not available for the guests (yet).

My opinion is that Fogasház is a great place to relax, one can chat with friends and worship arts at the same time. I will definitely return there in the foreseeable future.

This semester I have two online courses at the same time, which is a relatively new type of studying, holding lessons and participating in class.
According to my opinion it was high time to introduce this new type of class advanced by technology. Unfortunately it is not so popular and prevailing yet, but I’m sure it will be used extensively in the course of time. On the one hand the use of online courses is extremely advantageous since it facilitates a lot of things: I suppose almost everyone of us has experienced that sending our homeworks, research papers, etc. via e – mail is not the best solution, since these less reliable channels of communication fail to derive messages quite frequently. Naturally, it can be a very good excuse for certain students for not „being able” to send their assignments, even if this is not the case in general :) Additionally, certain online courses enable users to follow up the grades they receive, which can be very helpful. The other thing I find profitable is the fact that we have a platform to share our ideas, to ask for help, to see other students’ writings and comment on them. Our blog gives even more opportunities: one can set his/her profile in a personal way, which makes this online course less rigid or cramped. I mean one is not just a code, but a real individual this way, with photos, personal settings reflecting his/her style and personality.
On the other hand it can be a disadvantage as well: I think that it might be due to our unfamiliarity with online courses, that’s why we do not take it as seriously as a face – to – face class sometimes, even if the only difference between the two is the „platform”. For example, I’m not always aware of the deadlines, and I think that since it is an online course I have plenty of time to upload my writings, it cannot be so strict. I believe that we are at a very early stage of online classes, and for prospective generations in the future it will be more natural (who knows, maybe it will be the most frequent way of holding classes).
Anyway, I hope that I will have more online courses in the foreseeable future, since it is a very profitable way of studying and participating in class.

When the Hungarian peaceful revolution took place in 1989 I was only toddler, consequently I was not able to grasp the importance of this historical happening.

I asked my mom about her expectations that time, whether she took part in the event at Kossuth square when the republic was proclaimed and what were her impressions about the previous regime. She has never been too interested and active in politics, in addition she was too busy with me those days, but she hoped that real changes would take place, that I would live in  a better future. I think that the majority felt like this.

Stories of the West European comforts and social walfare fed their beliefs that democracy would change their lives, and that Hungary would be very similar to more developed countries

in the course of time. They were full of expectations, but after the events at Kossuth square they were left disappointed. Was it that big change? Was it that revolutionary wave that has swept across Central and Eastern Europe? On the one hand there were changes: Soviet troops went home, the freedom of association, assembly, and the press was achieved. The constitution has been radically revised. And we achieved all these things in a peaceful way, without blood.

On the other hand the differences between social classes upsurged, many people say that it was easier to earn a good living in the previous regime.

Naturally it was high time to change the system, to sweep communists out of power, but not all our hopes has come to fruition.