Black Hawk down here

Last afternoon as I was peacefully coding a site in my downtown office, with headphones on and listening to Evanescence with full volume, I heard some strange low lumbering that started putting down the music. "Wtf" I thought and looked out of the window and I thought there was something wrong with my eyes - it was a Black Hawk, circulating above the district. "Cool, US put its paws onto this country as well" - I thought.

Well of course the situation was not this fatal, it's just that George W. Bush is coming to Budapest on Wednesday for a short visit and leaves on Thursday.

So all the public transportation -which has not been so bright until now anyway- will be messed up in the downtown, it will be a complete chaos because of just one individual. The full length of the road between Ferihegy Airport and the downtown will be closed when Air Force One lands and takes off. It means that even the firefighters and ambulance can not use these roads - it was however promised that "nobody's life will be in danger because of Bush's life". I doubt it - to be sarcastic. There used to be a "Taxi-drivers' blockade" in 1990 and it lasted for 3 days. Taxi drivers closed up all the roads in the country and they promised that ambulance and firefighters will have free way, but it did not work and some people died because they could not reach the hospital in time because of the blockade.

Also, the schedules of the trains and public transportation will be changed for these two days. Travel agencies have been "recommended" not to organize sightseeing tours to any of the major touristic spots of Budapest during these two days. :-P~~~ "bloooah"

He will be accompanied by 600 hangers-on (holy cow) and security service will be given by 2000, including bodyguards, bomb experts, snipers on the top of the buildings here - I am thinking about going up to one of them and offering some ice-tea in this heat. I wonder if they would appreciate it :-)) hehe, I don't think so :)))

Yesterday their C-5 Galaxy military carrier plane arrived to Ferihegy Airport, bringing all the battlewagons and security equipment (bomb detectors, security gates) to be installed by the time the Very Important Pfff arrives.

I saw a documentary film about this plane not long ago - it's incredible what it knows. I am curious how much it crushed the concrete of the runway, as it was not designed for such huge monstrums.

Some civil organisations organised demonstration for the time of his stay (because of the Iraqi war, because of not signing the Kyoto Agreement - just to mention a few reasons). I pretty much agree with them. As it is said: "The world is a dangerous place - not because of those who are evil, but because of those who don't do anything against it".

Devil's training

I owed this training to devil last night.

My instructor's style is quite tough which probably comes from the fact that he works for the "special services" unit and whenever there is trouble, they're called.
Thus his style is quite realistic which does not allow us to lull ourselves into the thought of that what we do during training is just playing a game.
Whenever we make a mistake he shows us why it could be lethal or at least dangerous for ourselves.

I have a real problem with hitting properly while just practicing. I can hit normally during a free fight, but I can't do the same movement slowly while practising. Just the whole movement is wrong when I try to do it slowly (and no matter how much I practice on the huge hitting-bag hanging from the ceiling in the gym of my Uni).
A. always brings it on when he sees me imitating a straight punch - once a week for sure, and it's been on like this in the past two years or so.
I have been trying to fix it - that's why I started hitting the sack too - but it seems that I am doing something painfully wrong. Not to mention that I am still very clumsy with my left.

Last night A. misused me again badly for this, emphasising (mildly said) that it is a mistake that should not be allowed at my level, and that attending seminars of different instructors won't help me any if I can't do even this basic thing, and that I should understand that what I do is wrong and work more on this.

And that was it for me - I arrived to training dead tired from working 12 hours nearly every day; I've been practising diligently - BJK is the base of my everyday life -; been trying to fix my movement for years obviously with no satisfying result and I get these hard words into my face, a good part of which I think just was not right. I think I ruined the image of the tough woman they had about me when I fell a crying - I tried to hold it back but I did not manage to, it was just too much together with all the things going on recently.

I have never - since 13-14 years ago when I started this training - tipped out from criticism, at least not to the point of crying in front of others in the dojo. But this time it completely flooded me and I could not resist. I understood what he pointed out, it was just bad that all the time and effort I have put into working on this clumsiness was ignored - it seems at least.

When he saw that I was kind of K.O. -ed, he went mild and explained that he wants only good for me, and that he has to hurt me with words too after a while, because normal teaching methods don't work with me with regards to punching. Yeah I know, he was right, and I agree with this method 'cos I know myself enough to know that I need very short leads and strict methods otherwise I'll just get out of hand. It was just too powerful and tough now.

After discussing it there was a break and I went to the bathroom and let the tension come out - that sobbing helped, so I joined them again after a while.

I understand now why are there only so few women and so rarely in our dojo. Sooner or later they all leave. Not only because we do things realistically - but also because the way we are taught is mentally tough too (beside that generally it is a fun environment and it's a very good team). Female soul is a very fragile thing.

It seems that I am the only female who survived here throughout the years on a long run and if it is up to me, I will still stay for a good while because A. is a very good instructor and he can still teach me so many things. It was just one of those days...

Beautiful me

Yesterday I saw an inetersting pragmatic documentary about the latest trends of beauty industry and how much need there is for the exclusive treatments they offer.
The film was focusing on anti-aging products and threatment methods and also on the market.

It says American women tend to have the most beautiful skin, however not because of their genes, but because of all the treatments they get. Botox injections under the eyes, in the lips, golden strings sewn into the skin of the face in order to stimulate the blood supply of the skin... whoaa... even the sound of these gives me the creeps. It said that America has the greatest need for plastic surgery - some of the clients start having injections in the age of 18-20. It is just unbelieveable!!

It also discussed the problem of modells - beauty companies have their products advertised with young 15-18 years old (young) girls, who of course have perfect skin (some retouching with PhotoShop can also work wonders). Also, these girls are very tall and extremely thin (I call them stickletti-girls), and by placing them in the foreground in different types of media (like magazines, advertisements on TV) , they suggest to the wide public that a normal woman is like these girls. Of course everyone knows that it is not true. I asked many male friends of mine about their opinion on what a good woman is like, and nearly 95 % of them said that they like those who are a bit "padded", as they like if there are things to touch/grab :).

I personally really like the recent ads of Dove, where they use real women to advertise their products. There should be more like this. Yeah I know they are also profit-oriented, but still they most likely have the most woman-friendly campaign now.

I consider myself lucky for not being too thin and for being moderately padded :)
I also think a woman nturally needs to have some padding to stay healthy. Obviously I don't mean 20-30 kg of overweight, just some "hills" here and there.

Going for the sword

Attila told me this week to start preparing for the next grade test.
It will be held on July 29, five days before I leave behind Hungary for Japan.
I did not think he would recommend me going for it now as I think I have not done well during my last test in January (I passed tho), but probably he knows it better.

This time I will mainly have to work on sword and hanbo stuff. So now I am practicing even more the different kamae and cuts, combined with some iaijutsu. At least working on pulling out the sword from tha saya correctly - which is not easy for me as I have short arms and if I don't do it properly I can't pull it out at all. But if I think of those tiny little Japanese people who can do it - I really should not complain. If they can do it, I should be able to as well.
It's just a bit difficult with having a plain boken only, with no saya.

I am thinking about purchasing a practice-sword, a real metal one. There is someone in Hungary who makes really good quality practice swords - some guys from the Hungarian Iaido Federation told us that all of them uses those swords as they are so good quality - and the price is affordable, so I will go for it when I returned from Japan.

The hanbo part will not be a problem either, I think. I will have to perform some variations of Tsuke Iri, Koshi Ori, Ganseki otoshi (makikomi), Oni Kudaki (omote, ura) - as far as I know Attila, he will require them against random attacks.
And there will be two more throws: Tomoe Nage and Uchi Mata.

So I think this one will be an easy test - however A. said on the last training that mine will ast for about 45 minutes. Huh, I suspect that he has for me something "extra" in his pocket.

Okura Kyougen Theatre

I was being very cultural, yessss, i try to look educated :-). I was in theatre on Wednesday with my friend, as a Japanese guest theatre company made a performance in one of the biggest theatres of Budapest.

It was the Okura Kyougen Theatre Company from Tokyo and they performed two kyougen stories: Kazumo (Wrestling with a Mosquito) and Ne Ongyoku (Singing While Waying).
They also gave a little introduction to the history of this genre. They told this school of Kyougen is about 700 years old and by now only two families carry on the tradition: the Okura and Izumi families. It is a kind of drama, but a fun one, kind of a comedy, and always has some folklore-based theme. Also, the guy who was kind of a constant visible helper on-stage, spoke a bit about the technical parts too, about how the stage traditionally looks like and why.

Then they went into the stories. Boy, it was a great success! Although it was recited not simply in Japanese, but on in ancient Japanese dialect, we were still able to follow the story and understood it (I even understood some words and expressions). Good movements and gestures are so important! Bye the end of the whole event the whole audience was completely enliven. They got such a huge three cheers, which I have never seen before, although I can say I am a regular theatre-visitor - they were also stunned and were just standing ont he stage smiling and not being able to say a word, the cheer was so long and loud. So by the end they had to give three extra performances to satisfy the audience.
If you happen to have the chance to watch their performance, make sure you make it because it is just so cool!

Here you can find a very short description about Kyougen.

And here are some pictures about the performance.

We're still here

It seems that Apocalypse is cancelled again due to lack of interest, just like in 2000 :-)))

The Anti-Christ

Hehe, I've read here and there that some prophecies say the Anti-Christ will appeare on 6 June, 2006 (6-6-6). Hehe, I am curious what day is ahead of me on Tuesday :))) Maybe we all should take a day off? :)))

The Bride, the Groom and the Stranger

Had a busy weekend - it's getting to be somewhat normal, I would say. Fortunately or unfortunately? Well, I get a lot of money for all this extra work, which is good, but it does not leave much time to rest, which will revenge itself on a longer run, I am afraid.

Friday weather front worn me out so I went home right after work and fainted into the bed.
Saturday mornign was spent with html coding and scanning readings until about late afternoon when I set up and went to the wedding where I had to say a few poems. It's been a nice wedding however it was strange to notice that the groom seemingly did not really care neither about the ceremony, nor about the guests. Just did not care about the whole thing I would say. My friend - the representative of the venue, and the responsible person for organizing the whole event there - confirmed my doubts and said that the guy seemingly wants the girl's money only. I hope it is not true, but if it is: poor girl. However everyone is responsbile for their own decisions and deeds.

Anyway, I think the poem section was okay (I could have been better), and I got my money after the official part of the ceremony was over, so to be polite, I stayed for a little while, but not too long, as I was not invited for the party.
My friend told me that as they host many wedding ceremonies and parties, they would recommend me to new couples in the future if they want some poem or if translation is needed.

Sunday was dedicated to work again, it was a long day in my office, playing with html, syllabi and schedules. I 've bought a bottle of wine on my way home and drunk it at home. Needless to say I slept very well :-))

Today I had Japanese class with my tutor - we agreed to study for two hours today, as she won't be available next week, so now I have plenty of things again to learn until mid June. Now that I am quite okay with Hiragana we are covering Kanji, Katakana, more and more conversations (shopping, introducing and talking about ourselves) and also a lot of verbs, adjectives, and names of different food.
Another test paper is to come in two weeks. She said we are doing very well. I hope she is saying this not just to encourage me.
Anyway, I can test my knowledge in August only - that will clearly show what I really know and what I don't.

This day have not lacked adventure either.
On my way to my Japanese tutor I was asked by a stranger on the street if I spoke English. When I said I did he nearly started a prayer about that maybe God sent me or what cos he was in trouble and noone could help him.
He said he was Canadian, from Ontario, and his bag and stuff was stolen in Budapest, with all his diabetic food and money and he wanted to go to the Embassy (which is at the other end of the city) to ask for help but he had no tickets and everything was closed today due to Pentecost. Well, I dunno but his accent was not like of those Canadians I have spoken with so far, sencondly, he was sloven and unwashed, and he smelled like acetone, so either he was simply drunk or really had diabetes. Not knowing what exactly to think, but having heard the same touching stories many times, I was just smiling and nodding and waiting for the obvious question to come: "Could you help me out with a few forints?"
Usually these guys can not melt my frozen heart, but this time I thought that if he really has diabetes he would be in a big trouble soon. So I gave him some money which was enough for some tickets to the Embassy.
If he spent it on drink, that's his problem, I gave the chance.

The entrance exam

The exam went quite well on Tuesday.

There were about 50 applicants for the same department where I applied to.
The written exam was held in one of the largest meditation rooms, with a huge bronze Buddha in the middle - it really made me feel relaxed and comfy. We started at 9 am sharp and had an hour to answer the fifteen questions of the test and write a max 2 pages long essay.

The test was a pleasant surprise - it was a multiple choice test about the history, the fundamental teachings and rules of buddhism, and also about some more specific ceremonial parts of the tradition. This latter one caused kind of a headache for majority of the people, I found out later after talking to some of the guys, as many lacked knowledge about the traditional theories and methods, applied in Vajrayana (tantra). I was lucky for having been taught these things by my lama, as beside the fact that our lineage originates back straight to Shakyamuni, it still applies the old traditional ceremonies and methods (btw, that's why some of the newer Hungarian communities are smiling about us and say that we are doing useless hocus-pocus only :) hehe )
Anyway, I finished with the test in 5 minutes, and I think I did 100% correct, the questions were so easy.

Then I could choose from among several subjects for the essay, and the two relevant ones for my application were "What do you think is the difference and common between eastern and western religious traditions and philosophy?" and "Why did the Buddha say that what we love, causes pain and suffering to us?"

My heart's content was to choose the first one as it was very much relevant to the subject of my prospective studies, but since I have no safe knowledge and a solid overview about western philosophy (yet), I thought it would be silly to choose it merely out of being interested in it. I'll know more about it if they accept me, so I chose the second one, which I was quite familiar with. Also, the proctor said I can choose any subject, irrespective of where I applied to.
So the essay was a good one again, I feel.
I finished with the written part in 30 minutes.

I had to return for the oral part at 14.00. The exam-team consisted of 3 people, a student-supervisor (my guy was someone from the Japanese Department), one faculty member of the College (in my case it was the pro-rector, a sinologist) and a guest professor (in my case he was a mathematician) Nice combination, isn't it? :)
They were a very nice delightful company, first they saw my weapons -as I planned to go to trainig after the exam, but later it turned out that I had to skip it-, and I had to talk about what kind of training it was and why I did not apply to Budo "Department" (well, cos they had only Aikido and karate, which I am not interested in). Then when I mentioned I was a member of the traditional Kagyu community, their eyes started to glow and asked all sorts of questions, like why I still was interested in other religions if I found the perfect path for myself. So I had to enlighten them about how I am really dealing with this question in contrary to how it might seem to be from outside :) They wanted to kind of "wring" or confuse me a bit but they did not manage to. I know exactly what I want, what I need, that's why I applied :) The whole conversation lasted for 20 minutes and it was very delightful and friendly.

The results will be announced early August, but I'll try to pull it out from them earlier as I'll be in Japan at that time and won't be able to arrange any paperwork if they accept me.

By the time I finished with the oral part, some guys (complete strangers to me) from the college prepared with some surprise. I've come to know after the morning written exam that a film screening would be held in the afternoon, some Spanish drama, and there was also a Japanese anime scheduled for the next day. Its title was "Grave of Fireflies", and I just released a silent sound of regret about how pity it was that I could not see that as I'd have to work the next day.

When I finished with the oral part, it turned out that the guys changed the screening schedule and were waiting for me to finish with the exam and watch the anime together in one of the classrooms. I was so stunned that I can't tell. It was very nice of them. :) They even made tea, served cookies and sandwiches, so it was a full luxury :) In return I did the dishes afterwards :)

The movie was a great one, very nice and very sad. I try to get it on DVD somehow.

So, it was the most pleasant and friendly entrance examination I've ever attended.