White Elephant

Christmas Break has been going well. I have literally been doing nothing which has been really great. One of the highlights of the break has been the White Elephant gift exchange that we do with some family members. I pretty much hit the jackpot.

The first item I got was a Snuggie. This is probably the most classic of white elephant gifts. I've always wanted one just to say that I have one. I got one with monkey heads on it. That's pretty awesome if you ask me!

Then I got a Shameze, which is basically an imitation version of ShamWowp. I was really excited about this one. I have always seen those infomericals and wondered if they work. Plus it is orange which is my favorite color.

Next thing on the list is a Snowman making kit. It provides you with the carrot for the nose, a hat, a scarf, buttons for the eyes and mouth and a pipe for the mouth. It was pretty exciting. I have never seen anything like this and I can't wait for it to snow to try it out.

Finally, the motherload of all white elephant gifts. This little figurine. It was pretty awesome. I am going to display this with pride. It's probably the most outrageous thing I have ever seen! Thanks to Shelby and Kyle for providing me with my favorite white elephant gift ever!

Deep Fried Milky Way Bars

My friend Sarah a while ago went to the Utah State Fair and had a deep fried Snickers but was disappointed. She put this on Facebook, and I told her that my life was ruined because I had always wanted to try one. She said that she would come up with a better way to make them and that if I ever came to Provo again she would make them for me. Little did she know that I was coming for fall break. So here is our experience.

1. Make the batter

2. Take frozen candy bars and cover them in flour.

3. Dip them in the batter and put them in the oil!

4. Enjoy! You can find the recipe here.

Quiznos

Day two of my first official fall break was also a success. I woke up and actually studied. I was proud of myself. I studied about torts for about two hours. That was pretty good I thought. Then Lillie came home from work and we went to Quiznos for lunch. We had both never been, so it was a good experience. We stopped at Maceys on the way to pick up some Sun Chips and Mtn. Dew to compliment our subs. Lillie got bourbon chicken and I got Chicken Carbonera. It was like pasta in a bread bowl. So delicious!

We ate our food in Carterville Park. It was such a great day! The weather was awesome. Lillie was being very artistic with the Camera. She is really creative. We had a really good time being outside!

Then we did some running around. At 4:15, I went up to campus to meet up with a mission companion. While I was waiting, I got hugged by a really good friend Tori. We chatted for a while. It was really good to see her! She is a lot of fun. Then I hung out with Conner Castagno. It was good to talk to him. He was one of my favorite companions. Then Lillie and Long were nice enough to let me borrow their car so I could go up to Pleasant Grove and visit with a church member from Hungary that lives there now. It was so good to see her. She is such a strong person. She has been through a lot in her life and she has stayed faithful through it all. She made some pea soup and Turo Balls. They were so good! I'm glad I got to spend some time with her!

Then I came back to Orem and continued a historic tradition. I had frozen yogurt with the Steele Family. YoZone closed down, which was really depressing. We went to Yogurtland instead. They didn't have cake batter which was sad, but their Pumpkin Pie flavor was really delicious. We had a lot of fun and got to talk with each other. A really cool family. Good times. I'm glad that we have kept this tradition alive.

Then I went back to Lillie and Long's and chilled with Lauren for a while. Then I went and hung out with Tori, Emily and Nalani until curfew. It was good to see them and get caught up. They are cool!

The Awful Waffle

My first semester of law school is about sixty percent complete. I had my first mid-term on Friday and it was a real killer. The teacher focused most of the exam on something that we hardly covered in class and everyone was just as stunned as I was when we saw it. Lesson learned about law school exams---expect the unexpected.

Sometime over the summer I realized that I had a fall break. For most of you this may not seem that exciting, but BYU doesn't have a fall or spring break. I decided I needed to celebrate in style. Then in July, Southwest had a super sale and I decided that I would head back to Utah to celebrate my first ever fall break. I left Indiana on Tuesday afternoon and got into SLC that evening. Owen picked me up in his new car and we made the trek down to Provo. I stopped in to say hi to Mike and I also got to see Robert Fujiki which was a lot of fun. I then headed over to Lillie and Long's where I slept. Their couch is one of the most comfortable I have ever slept on.

Wednesday morning I headed up to campus to do some exploring. They completely rearranged the bookstore, which threw me for a loop, but other than that everything was the same. I then headed back to L & L's for some lunch. The Enchilada Casserole was amazing! Thanks Lillie!

Then in the afternoon, I met J-Money on campus. We headed to the Awful Waffle and had some crepes thanks to my Groupon. They were really good. The conversation was better though. It was good to hang out with him for a couple of hours. We both talked about our internships and current events which was a lot of fun. I really miss that kid, but he is doing great with Andrea and they live in Provo's old tandem bike shop, which I think is pretty cool.

Then Mike, Owen and I headed over to Amy's for some of her famous potato soup. It was delicious. We were kind of crashing her dinner group and got to meet some new friends. Denver ( I wonder how he got that name?) was kind enough to take a few photos.

Then we went to The Awful Waffle (that's right twice in one day, but I had been planning to go with Amy and it was so good I couldn't resist). It was really good. I had a Belgian Waffle this time along with a variety of crepes. I decided to go with the same toppings that I had when I was in Belgium. They were pretty much the same. I was impressed. If you are in Provo you should definitely check this place out. It's legit!

Bachelor Pad

So I'm about a little more than ten percent done with my first semester of law school. It has been interesting. A lot of reading. Reading is the most important thing because in class the professor will "cold-call" people which is where the professors calls on people of random regardless of  the fact if their hand is raised or not. I've been called on once in Property and it went well, so hopefully that will continue throughout the semester.

I live in downtown Indianapolis. It's a really nice town. I'm really impressed. I have a studio apartment and I figured that it was time to give you all the grand tour.

The door of my apartment. #111.

When you open the door you see the master hallway. Everything connects to it.

To the left as you enter is my kitchen. It's small, but it's nice. The stove is probably the nicest electric stove I have ever had. The dishwasher works well and the sink is nice too.

To the right is the closet/dressing area which connects to the bathroom. Its a nice bathroom, but the only thing I wish it had is a door to separate the bathroom from the dressing area.

As we go further down the hallway we enter the living area. To the right is my sofa/bed and a book shelf. To the left is my kitchen table and my new 32 inch television which I pretty much got free thanks to doing surveys at Zoompanel. It was a good deal.

And last, but certainly not least is the Jimmer Poster. No bachelor pad would be complete without one.

So, it's a really nice apartment and I am really enjoying myself here and things are going well.

Viszontlátásra!

So my internship in Hungary has come and gone in Hungary, so I thought I would share the top five things that I'm going to miss about Hungary and Europe in general.

5. The Ice Cream. I don't know what it is, but the Ice Cream in all of Europe is so much better than any ice cream I have ever had in America. Definitely worth the money and the calories.

4. The Sights. On what other continent can you see the Eiffel Tower, a city built on canals and a peeing boy statue all within a few hours travel of each other. The sights always amaze me and I will miss seeing them everyday as I went to work.

3. The Food. It's already been covered here on my blog enough. It's way good. I will miss it.

2. My Co-Workers. They seriously are some the greatest people I have ever met. Agota and Ildiko always helping me out (both with work and learning how to cook). Monika dealing with everything in the Sziget and not going crazy. Ildi talking a mile a minute and me having to process everything. Nadas Kati always helping me out including helping me find a place to cut my hair. Molnar Kati giving us the press briefing every morning. Brad and Ed were great bosses. Norbert the IT guy always helping us with our tech issues. Attila and his daily "Szia Jeramy." Biro Kati coming to the IRC for her daily chat. It was great! The Hungarians are awesome people and it was a privilege to work with them for the summer!

1. My Friends. It was so great to see them all again. The Dobosek and Sabbaghek especially mean a lot to me, but everyone that I had the chance to be reunited with will be missed!

The Balaton Weekend

Ever since I was first in Hungary, I have heard about "THE BALATON." Everyone always talks about how great it is and how they are going to go there on vacation. As missionaries we weren't allowed to go there (the whole not allowed to go swimming rule) and I have always been curious what it is really like. The Balaton, for those of you who don't know, is central Europe's largest lake. Some of my friends from Gyor were going and they invited me down for a couple of days. I asked off work and they gave me a Friday off. All of my co-workers warned me of how cold the water was because of the cool summer, but I told them I was going in regardless. So I left on Thursday afternoon from Budapest. I first went to Szekesfehervar to transfer to another train. I was in this town during my mission, but for only six weeks. It's a really pretty town though.

After a half an hour I was on my way to the Balaton. I honestly wasn't expecting that much, but I was amazed when I got my first glimpse from the train. It was really impressive.

My friends met me at the station at Balatonaracs. It was really good to see them again. We then walked to their hotel. They were telling me how crappy the weather had been all week and how Tibor had gotten sick. I felt kind of bad, but you can't really control the weather. Then we walked around town by the water. It was a really nice evening. We got gyros for dinner and had a really pleasant experience.

The next morning we woke up and the sun was shining. We decided that we needed to go to the beach. We were all really excited! The beach was different than I expected. There was grass instead of sand, but it really wasn't that big of a deal.

The water was pretty cold as you can see from my reaction. It felt good after you got used to it.

We had a great day on the beach. We went back to the hotel room and got cleaned up and then headed out for a walk around town. It really was beautiful. I must say for being a lake and not an ocean, it was pretty nice.

Then we went out to dinner at this amazing restaurant. I had chicken stuffed with Camembert and bacon over rice with a cranberry sauce. It was great!

After some more walking, we headed back to the hotel and went to bed. In the morning we woke up pretty early and headed out! We had to walk forever in the hot sun which was not good for my body because I got burnt the day before. Always wear sunscreen even if you think you won't need it. We made it. The bus ride was nice back to Gyor. Then we headed back to my friends apartment and we eventually made our way to the big TESCO (the Walmart of Europe). We got some stuff for dinner.

The rest of the afternoon was spent making Porkolt. It's probably my favorite Hungarain Dish. I had it one of my first days in Hungary when I was a missionary and I have been hooked ever since. I even got to teach Annamari how to make nokedli which is pretty cool. An American teaching a Hungarian how to make hungarian food. Pretty cool if you ask me!

Then after that, we pretty much just talked and went to bed. It was so nice just to be able to hang out with them. In the middle of one of our conversations, it hit me how much I was going to miss them. They are great people!

The next morning, we woke up and went to church. It was good to see everyone there again. My friend Zsoka was there and it was good to see her again. Robi was there too. So many great people. It was tough to say goodbye. Then we came back and had some porkolt for lunch. It was still really good. Then we just spent the rest of the day listening to music and talking. In the evening we went over to Szabina's house so I could say goodbye to her. They had suti there which was really good. It was sad to say goodbye again. I really love these people and I could tell how much they care about me too. I was blown away by their generosity. For people who don't really make a lot of money, they made me feel like a king. In a lot of ways, saying goodbye was like deja vu all over again considering I had done it in the very same room three years earlier. I will really miss these people until we meet again!

Chicken---Hungarian Style

This week I decided to tackle Paprikás Csirke. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but it turned out to be really delicious.

1. You start by cooking onions in oil, just like for most other Hungarian dishes.

2. Once the onions are opaque, you take the pot off the fire and add about two tablespoons of paprika. Be careful, because paprika burns really easily. Then you add your salted chicken.

3. You cook it like that until the meat becomes white.

4. Then you add water, chopped up peppers and tomatoes. Cook for about fifty minutes.

5.In the mean time you need to make the dough for the nokedli. You take two eggs, some milk and water and salt and mix it with flour. The key is for the dough to not be runny, and not be to hard.

6. Using a nokedli maker, press the dough into boiling water.

7. Take some sour cream (it's actually tejfol, so it isn't quite the same) and mix it with some flour as well as a little bit of the juice. This will act as a thickening agent. My didn't get as thick as I would have liked it, but it was still delicious.

8. Mix the sour cream into the chicken mixture. Let thicken for a couple of minutes and then serve over the Nokedli. So delicious. Jó étvágyat!