I got really busy during this fall, so after skipping September, here’s a joint post of everything that’s happened in the last two months.
September is always bittersweet, as I would never want summer to end, but I kind of enjoy the new things and events that autumn brings. And there were lots of things this time. I had every weekend (and even a few weekdays) packed with programmes both September and October. When I realized in mid-September that my next free weekend will be sometime in November I even cancelled the first on impact just to breath a little. In September it was mostly fun, but the end of September I started my two-semester study-program at University of Miskolc to earn an LL.M degree in compliance. I am very excited about studying again, even with the hard work that’s made even harder by my demanding job at times. I also love being back to Miskolc where I earned my first degree (and half of my second). It is really strange going back to a place you’ve once lived after you’ve changed so much. It’s familiar and foreign at the same time, and I was surprised to find it so much smaller than I’ve remembered after all the places I’ve been to since I left. In all, it’s a good experience, though.
Ever since the end of September, I’ve started all weekends packing, which was the most tiring. I had two weekends traveling to Miskolc for the courses, I had one weekend spent in Vienna with friends, one was spent without traveling, but out of home and still had to pack. And the fifth weekend I packed to travel home to my parents for a long weekend. I’ll be back in early November and as the rest of this semester’s courses are online I’ll be glad to spend the next few weekends in one place (most probably with studying).
I’ve also had more social engagements in these two months than in the past two years. Theater plays, museums, book events, I loved and enjoyed them all, but I still feel like I need to get used to going out being natural again. It wasn’t much at all, but with all the traveling and studying it felt too much, and at this point I can even feel my health suffering the consequences. Now I will have to work on this too.
I’ve finished four books in the past two months, and have three more started (two almost finished). I’ve read Dolly Alderton’s Ghosts and found it painfully familiar, but I loved it. Elif Shafak’s The Island of Missing Trees was a book club pick. I loved the story, loved the writing, loved the history all over it, and can’t wait to read another book of its author that’s on my shelf already. The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams was another book club pick, set in London’s Wembley and I loved it’s vibe so much. The last one I read was sort of a historical fiction based on the biography of famous Hungarian physician Ignac Semmelweis. I loved it. Interestingly, most of this last one was set in Vienna, and before we left to Vienna, I already started another book with Vienna as its main location. Otherwise, most of the books I read are set in London, I don’t even pick them intentionally, sometimes I just find out from the book that hey, there’s my beloved London again. Another common theme this time was reading and libraries. The reading list was partly about a library’s community building role, and there’s The Library Book that I put aside for a while, althouth there are only a few chapters left. I am not a regular library goer these days, but my parents are, and it’s ambiguous reading about the importance of libraries in times when many libraries are fully or partially closing for the winter due to maintanence costs.
Amazingly, I discovered new podcasts again, many in Hungarian, so I won’t list them all here, just a few. One of my not so new favourites started its new season recently with one of Ukraine’s peace negotiators as a guest, it was interesting! I used to love Patrick Radden Keefe’s Wind of Change podcast, that had a bonus episode a few weeks ago, to raise funds for Ukraine. And another one from Asser Institute, which is actually a lecture series about the Hague Courts, with one episode so far, looking forward to the rest.
There was Global Citizen Festival in New York in September with Mariah Carey as one of the headliners. I always planned to attend these annual events, and separately during Covid I said wherever the first MC concerts will be, I need to go. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it happen this time, and not for the Christmas shows either, but I am so looking forward to next year. I had to be content with listening to this classic on repeat.
I almost finished watching the first season of Parlement, and towards the end of October I started watching Only Murders in the Building. I know The Good Fight is already back with a new season, but I’m yet to start watching, while I am also excited about The Crown returning in November. (And I still don’t know where to find time for all these…)
I’ve had at least one more traveling goal for this year, but I can’t see how could I fit it in the calendar anymore, so hopefully I’ll be able to go early next year. Even with all the good things lined up, as many people I guess, I just wish this winter would be over already.
I gave up the 1 second videos sometime in October, I guess. I had the videos of September mostly, and although it’s one click to make a monthly video out of them, there were always more important stuff, so at one point I just let it go. I have so many more important things to do here and on other platforms that I need to find time for, I had to cut something. I will find time to write about the things I want to write about here, though, I am about to test run a few topics that I am considering for my future studies. Stay tuned for that.
