Photography by Renjie

A Glimpse of My Life in Kőszeg, Hungary

Above: Town square in Kőszeg, Hungary

I have been living in Kőszeg, Hungary for the past week now and I have never felt so alive. Each day that I have been here has truly been a blessing with a new adventure unfolding everywhere I turn. This includes discovering the location of ISES, the local grocery store and the gym, and realizing that each location is less than three minutes away walking distance from my apartment and from each other; learning to speak basic Hungarian, allowing me to break the language barrier as most people in this small town do not speak English at all; meeting great local people such as Biego whose family runs a fantastic kebab restaurant down the street in the plaza, and Norbert, my very gracious and generous landlord; as well as getting to know all the people in my MA class who come from a wide range of educational backgrounds, nationalities and life experiences spanning Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

Above: Sacred Heart Church located in Kőszeg, Hungary

I have my good friend Jenna Goodhand to thank for all of this, as it was her who initially introduced me to the MA International Economic Relations program at the Institute for Social and European Studies (ISES) earlier this summer, and strongly encouraged me just over a month ago when I was in Cranbrook, BC searching for my next adventure, to apply and join her at the start of the MA program this year, instead of putting it on hold for another year as I had originally intended. Along with studying at ISES and working towards my MA, it also looks like I will be doing some contract work around marketing and communications for ISES as well, look out for more on this in the coming weeks.

Above: Jenna and I making our way to the Institute for Social and European Studies, located in The Europa House, Kőszeg, Hungary

One thing to note about Kőszeg is that life here is simple. I only buy what I need when I need it, and things seem to move at a much slower pace compared to say, Toronto or even Kitchener-Waterloo for that matter. And I am loving every minute of it. The fridge in my apartment is small and there is no freezer, and yet, I have never eaten as well or as healthy as I have in my life. I buy all of my vegetables and foodstuff at the local grocery store nearby and since I do not have a freezer in my apartment, the meat I buy is always cooked fresh as I only buy it just before I make a meal. That being said however, between not having a freezer in my apartment and a growing affinity towards tasting the local vegetable produce in this town, the majority of the meals that I have had so far have been vegetarian. Another thing that I am growing to love about this town are the local bakeries, again only a short walking distance away from my apartment. Needless to say when I woke up early this morning, I found myself walking over to one of the bakeries across the town square from my apartment to buy fresh oven-baked croissants for breakfast. It definitely went well with my morning coffee and was a great start to the day.

Above: The cafe located right next to my apartment building in Kőszeg, Hungary

When I first arrived in Kőszeg last Sunday, I had these ideas of traveling every other weekend to various European cities (on the cheap of course – budget airlines, hostels and couch surfing, etc) in order to really get the most out of my experience living and working here for the next year or so. However, those cities, ranging from Vienna, Budapest, Amsterdam, Munich, Prague, Paris and Madrid to name a few, will always be there and are certainly still on my travel agenda. It may just take a bit longer to get through them all as I would really like to play tourist in Kőszeg for the next little while, taking it easy and really getting to know this town and the surrounding areas first. Located at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Kőszeg is said to be the ‘jewel box’ of Hungary and one of the prettiest towns in the country, with tourists coming from all over to visit.

I feel extremely humbled to be able to call this place home for the next little while. Enjoy some of the photos of Kőszeg that I have included with this blog post, and if any of you are in Europe and have plans on visiting, please feel free to drop me a line, would be happy to show you around.

More photos of Kőszeg can be found on my Flickr here. All photos taken with a Nikon D5000.

Posted on Friday, September 24th, 2010 at 1:14 pm. Filed under: Landscapes, Photo Essays Tags: Church, Europe, Hungary, Institute for Social and European Studies, ISES, Kőszeg, Kőszeg Hungary, Vas County RSS 2.0 feed.