Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Eastern

Do we stay (in NYC) or do we go (to Budapest)?

Hwaet — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:20:36 -0800

Following the trail of adventure and windborne caution, my boyfriend and I are kicking around the idea of moving to Budapest next year. Pipe dream or feasible goal? Questions about teaching ESL abroad (ten years after the Central European expat boom, no less!), expat experiences in 2009, Eastern European culture, general questions about Hungary, and... I've been living in Brooklyn for nearly three years, which has been fun but now I'm getting restless. I have worked as a bartender for a year that, sadly, has no future or room for upward mobility. I convened with my boyfriend and he's maybe game for moving to Europe, if we can swing it without bringing destruction to our finances. I honed in on Budapest because as a student studying abroad in Prague a couple years ago, Budapest was by far my favorite city. I liked the metropolitan, open-spaced feel that Prague seemed to lack, the wide streets, friendly but pessimistic people, the lovely architecture, the relatively cheap living (compared to NYC), the spas and operas and flea market, and its central location to other great locations.

I assume I'd probably have to teach ESL, probably business English. I have a college degree in English lit, and it seems I'll need to be certified in order to compete with Budapest's preferred English-speaking Hungarians. My boyfriend dropped out of college with a semester to go before completing his degree in English, and now he's a graphic designer who specializes in designing and selling signs. Do we have a chance in hell at scraping by in Budapest if I teach English and he freelances as a designer? Have you or anyone you know had experience with the TESOL programs? What's the most effective route that will make me appealing to employers that won't also break my bank?

Assuming we did move to Budapest, what should we expect in terms of culture shock? Is Hungarian culture very different from Czech culture? Keep in mind that I was still an American student living with fellow Americans during my time in Prague, so I might have very little idea of authentic Eastern European lifestyles.

Nitty gritty: What salary range should I expect as a first year ESL teacher? How much do decent, centrally-located apartments cost? What's the ex-pat community like? Can I bike in Budapest?

Barring Budapest, should I consider another city? I'm not really game for Asia, as I'm predisposed to cool, gloomy habitats. Budapest is so appealing partly because A) I've lived in Central Europe before and have some idea of how things are run, B) I'm a Brooklyn resident who likes big cities with a small town feel, and C) I'm dying to get away from the NYC mentality that justifies spending tons of money on booze and entertainment. More than anything else, I want to do something challenging before I settle down for marriage and babies and a mortgage. My boyfriend and I have each other, we're bright and adventurous, and I don't want to waste that energy living in America for the end of our days if it's feasible to try another country, however short of a time.

Is this possible?

Gifts to bring to an office in Ukraine from the US?

phoenixy — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 21:38:32 -0800

Gifts to bring to an office in Ukraine from the US? I am going on a business trip from Boston to Lviv and would like to bring some appropriate gifts--ideally, something American, not too too expensive, and that is hard to get over there. The best would be something that could be enjoyed by everyone in the office, although there is a core group of three people I could just get things for.

What should I bring?

Confucius say... what, exactly?

sambosambo — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:32:48 -0800

Suggested reading about the life and teachings of Confucius? I've read the article at Wikipedia and seen the reading list there, but would love some personal recommendations. I don't read or speak chinese, so keep that in mind. :)

Eastern Shore destinations?

Morrigan — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:51:52 -0800

Can you recommend a nice/interesting place for a weekend away on Maryland's Eastern Shore or thereabouts? Especially interested in gay-friendly accommodations.

Energy Follows Attention?

jimmyjimjim — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:29:19 -0800

Is there anything in western psychology shedding light on the martial arts truism that energy follows attention? Martial artists (and also eastern doctors) say that "energy follows attention". That is, by focusing your attention, you are also focusing your energy. The more focused you are, the more vital energy is applied via that focus. Concentration, in a sense, IS energy.

My question is: Is this just a trippy Eastern thing, or is there anything similar in western psychology? I'd imagine, for instance, that it may have been verified that obsessive thinking mis-applies energy that would otherwise be used in day-to-day living. It takes energy, after all, to maintain very tightly focused behavior. Delusions are surely exhausting!

Sorry this is a little murky...it's fuzzy trying to translate between eastern and western paradigms. I'm hoping that someone with a background in western psych might cough up a few leads I could follow which resonate somehow with the eastern way of understanding focus and energy.

Searching for a Cold War Soundtrack

DOUBLE A SIDE — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:46:11 -0800

I am looking to make a music playlist that recaptures that '89 cold war, fall of communism feel. Think Scorpions - Wind of Change. I'm living in Eastern Europe for the first time, a whole bunch of friends and family are coming over for a special occasion and I really want to create a playlist for a night of drinking in an old communist apartment. I'm not so interested in traditional folk music or patriotic songs...but popular music with subject matter relating to the cold war or the fall of communism (or Russia and Eastern Europe in general). I don't mind how cheesy they are and the song doesn't necessarily have to be western.

To Begin:
Scorpions - Wind of Change
Elton John - Nikita
David Hasselhoff - I'm Looking for Freedom
Leonard Cohen - First We Take Manhatten [for the Berlin mention]
Nena - 99 Luftballons

Not Interested in:
The Beatles - Back in the U.S.S.R
Novelty songs - e.g anything by Weird Al

There were these nuclear songs previously, but maybe a bit too nucleary for me.

romancing romania

crazylegs — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:58:47 -0800

What is sex like in Romania? What are the common attitudes towards various sexual practices in Romania? How is a person from Romania likely to feel about: oral sex, anal sex, different positions, gay sex, threesomes, etc.? Are there any attitudes, enthusiasms, or taboos that are unique to Romania?

Where should we visit or stay in Eastern Europe?

D J Robertstein — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:54:44 -0800

Where should we visit in Eastern Europe? Me and three or four freinds are planning to have a bit of an interrail this summer and unlike last time, we've opted for more of an eastern European slant. So far it's looking like this:

France - Italy - Greece - Bulgaria - Romania - Hungary - Poland - Germany

We're hoping to see a bit more of the countryside and will be camping a fair bit as well as using hostels. However, we know nothing of Eastern Europe save for a Michael Palin documentary.

Does anyone whos been around that area have any suggestions of places to go, things to see and stuff to do? We're on a fairly low budget, but we could save cash for certain things if it's worth it.

Sorry for the vague post but we're ignorant and in the early planning stages. Thanks!

Green Tortoise-like but on the East Coast?

lorimer — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 05:17:12 -0800

Is there anything like Green Tortoise that has East Coast and/or Eastern Canada trips? By "like" GT, I mean you sleep in beds on the bus as it drives overnight, then you wake up at your next destination in the morning and can explore all day. I've found many bus-trip companies that are not like that (you sleep in motels) -- and I know I could assemble a quasi-GT trip (more expensively!) with individual overnight Greyhound legs. I just wanted to make sure I'm not missing any real GT-equivalents.

(GT has only one east coast route, three trips a year from NYC to New Orleans, and even that isn't a sure thing... I booked one of those last year, then it got cancelled because not enough people were booked! They were fast & nice with the refund, though, and I probably will try booking it again this year.)

I know GT does 14-day trips from one coast to the other, but I couldn't be away from regular work for that long -- and those trips also would cost more since I'd have to fly either to or from the west coast.

Who wrote these weird short stories?

thewrongparty — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:02:12 -0800

Please help me locate a collection of Russian/Eastern Bloc short stories. I read this book when I was kid because it belonged to my parents and I want to read it again. If not the book, I'd like to find the two most memorable stories. One concerns a snowman and the other is a reflection on life while falling out of a window to one's death. Details inside... 1. Local officials observe children building a snowman in a public square. The officials think that the children are creating offensive caricatures of them in the snow. They are sort of right.

2. A man is pushed/jumps/accidentally falls out of a window of a tall building. As he falls, he looks into the windows of the building's tenants and reconsiders the decision to fall. He sort of sees a love story play out, from innocent lovers in bed to betrayal and infidelity in the end. By the end of it, he decides he does want to fall and chooses to smash his head against the pavement.

One more thing I remember: a story possibly titled something like "Matryoshka's* House." The part I remember is a vivid description of the walls. The layers of wallpaper over the many years have stuck together and pulled away from the wall itself. Roaches (or maybe it was rats) scuttle around in the space in between and the author describes being able to see the movement of their bodies under the wallpaper. This image has stuck with me for many, many years.

Now that I've summarized these stories, I realize I was a weird kid.

I believe that the stories were contemporary, or at least contemporary when they were published. (However, I could be totally wrong.) I think this may have been a textbook of my mom's from college, so nothing in there could've been published later than the early 70's.

The google is failing me and I know there are lit majors here...

*Petryoishkavov's. Glastnostolavt's. Whatever. Something long and Russian-sounding.

More price info!

juva — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 05:49:19 -0800

[Big Mac meal price filter] I need to how much a regular Big Mac meal costs in different cities around the world. Long list of cities inside! I need to how much a normal (not super-sized) Big Mac meal costs in the cities listed below; preferably in local currency. I’ve been to the local McDonald’s websites. Thanks!

Ankara
Bratislava
Budapest
Chisinau
Istanbul
Ljubljana
Riga
Skopje
Sofia
Tallinn
Varna
Vilnius
Almaty
Baku
Kiev
Minsk
Moscow
St Petersburg
Volgograd

Eastern Promises Plot

billysumday — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:27:03 -0800

Question about a plot point in Eastern Promises [SPOILERS INSIDE] Why did Semyon order the hit on Nikolai and not Kirill? Or, did he actually intend to order the hit on Kirill and Yuri just misinterpreted it to mean that he wanted to kill Nikolai? Even Wikipedia's explanation is murky: The hit [on an earlier character] was not approved by Semyon and was ill-advised with the Chechen gang now coming to London to seek vengeance. Semyon, impressed by Nikolai's knowledge of the criminal underworld and tolerance and protection of his son, hatches a plan to trick Nikolai, now a full member of the vory, so that Nikolai would temporarily take Kirill's place during the meeting with the Chechens at the baths.

This is what I don't get. Semyon did seem impressed by Nikolai. And he did seem to think his son was a fuck-up, a homo, an alcoholic, and out of control. So why would he "hatch a plan" to kill Nikolai? It only makes sense that he'd sacrifice his son and groom Nikolai to be the next in line. So why the switcheroo? Are we to simply believe that he decided at the last minute to save his son? Did I black out for five minutes? I can believe that he suspected Nikolai was a [youknowhat], and that makes the most sense but there didn't seem to be any indication of Semyon discovering anything like that.

A Zoltant Khodaly choral work with a Hallelujah at the end?

Wilder — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 07:07:18 -0800

Half-remembered Zoltan Kodaly (I think)choral piece that ends with a Hallelujah, help! As a teenage I remember singing a piece twice in competition that I think was written by Zoltan Kodaly. (it may have been some other enthnomusician from Eastern Europe)

It ended with an amazing Hallelujah and had a particularly difficult but memorable descant. Am I misremembering?
It's been driving me crazy for a week now and I've searched Youtube in vain. I'll know it when I hear it. Thanks

Anyone know anything about the Eastern Shore of Maryland or southern Delaware?

boots77 — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 06:14:27 -0800

Anyone know anything about the Eastern Shore of Maryland or southern Delaware area? My wife and I are relocating in six months around the area of Salisbury, Maryland or southern Delaware. While we have found all of the usual government sites on the area that make it sound like heaven on earth, we really want to hear from people who have been there or who live in the area. We hope to get any and all information about the area and Mefites are the only people I trust on the web:

Info Needed About:
*People/Culture—Will we be accepted by the locals if we are friendly? Will we never be able to fully connect?

*Maryland taxes—are they high? Cheaper to live in Delaware? Is there a commuting tax penalty?

*Areas with low crime near Salisbury (30-60 min commute o.k.) Any info on drug/gang activity? What towns should I avoid?

*Things to watch for if I’m buying a house there (Flooding? Strange molds? Etc…)

*General year round weather?

*Private/Public Schools in the area where I might enjoy employment as a teacher? Ones that I should run from?

*Any other information that you think a transplant might find useful.

Thanks, everyone. If I can’t count on you, I can’t count on anyone!

Calling all Middle Eastern music buffs...

anonymous78 — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 13:07:17 -0800

I'm looking for a Cheb Mami song which makes use, I think, of bagpipes. It's a very danceable song with a catchy chorus and was/is quite popular - I know I've heard it in NY and Cairo.

Primary sources for Eastern Philosophy

selfnoise — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 11:14:56 -0800

Help me learn Chinese philosophies through primary sources. I've already read many translations of the Tao Te Ching as well as some Chuang Tzu. I'd like to read some primary sources now from different traditions, such as Confucianism, Buddhism, Legalism, and Moism. I understand that these traditions may not have keystone texts or bibles, but I'd prefer reading original sources to contemporary analysis, at least at first. All texts will also have to be English translations. What should I have on my reading list?

Adult Swim track on "all times/music eastern."

AllesKlar — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 21:28:57 -0800

Does anyone know what the artist / song name in the Adult Swim bump that reads "All Times and Music are eastern?" It is cool and I can't find it.

Two weeks floating in Eastern Europe

whatitis — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 09:01:01 -0800

Tell me about Eastern Europe... My travel plans for Morocco fell through and I'll be going to Eastern Europe with a friend instead. I don't know anything substantive about the area and am, in all honesty, finding it difficult to get motivated. We've already planned to go to Budapest, Prague, Vienna, and do not require any extra info about those places, but after that it's two weeks in the air. Possible destinations include Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia. Questions are thus:
What are some things to do, places to go?
What kind of response can I expect as a chill, non-boisterous and considerate yet curious American?
Anything else I should know... ?

Thanks!!

Travel in Croatia

spicynuts — Mon, 23 May 2005 09:04:36 -0800

Want to go to Croatia in September. Have questions and need some advice. So everything I hear about Croatia is wonderful, and I'm also going to try to hit Slovenia. Here are some questions I have:

1) I've heard you cant fly directly into Croatia from the States, so I'd like to fly to Budapest and take a train to Zagreb. Is this a good idea? If so, how do I schedule such a thing?

2) Should I use a travel agent or do it all myself on the web?

3) Any hotel recommendations or should I try to stay with citizens? I thought I had heard that many Croatians will rent rooms in their houses.

4) Besides Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik, where else should I go? Should I rent a car or use trains?

5) I'm going by myself. Do you think this will be a problem safety wise or no? What is the level of English and Russian fluency there?

6) Anything else I should know? I remember there was an AskMefi question back in the winter about someone going to Croatia...if you are out there, how did it go and is there anything you want to pass on?

THANKS!