So, I can't say I'm an expert or anything of Europe. I've only been there a couple of times, once in college when I took a summer semester at Oxford, then this past year when Kris and I went to Hungary. I love visiting Europe, there's always so much to see, every little thing is... well, something. However, I always thought that I'd never want to live there. It's so different... And I think I'm through with adjusting to "different" for a while, I've done so much of it already in my short life.
Studying in Oxford was fun, yet challenging. Obviously language wasn't a problem, and there were American students who were studying with me. So that was good, but the culture is very different, and at times I felt very lonely. It probably didn't help that Kris and I were getting serious at the time, and I missed him terribly. But as "American" students, we had fun, went punting (boating), went to places where C. S. Lewis hung out, saw beautiful cathedrals and ruins, drove by the Stonehenge, etc etc. Then I went to visit my friends in Switzerland and Holland, and spent time with them. Being with people I was familiar with, I don't think I got to taste the real "Europe" that time around. It was an awesome experience, but I remember being so relieved being back here.
Hungary was SO vastly different. We went there for Drupalcon, but went a week earlier to do some sight seeing. Kris and I were alone. In Hungary. We were in a little bed and breakfast type place, and we had to figure out the transportation, places to go see, what to eat, etc all on our own. :) It was, obviously challenging, and me, being the stress-out-whenever-you-can type of person, was strung tight. (It's a good thing I met a mate who balances me out so well...)
The first amazing experience for me, (being Korean, of course) was breakfast. The place we stayed in, Korona Panzio, had a buffet breakfast. Not huge, but small and quaint, and with lots of different choices. Things we don't normally see in America or Korea. Lunch meats, cold cheeses, and other things that's just not served for breakfast. Then there are the croissants and... YOGURT!! The first bite of the fresh, real cherry yogurt and I was in LOVE. I've never been a fan of Yoplait, and I found out why. Fresh yogurt is SOOOO good, so different. It was absolutely amazing. I think I indulged in their yogurt every morning I was there. (Kris' fave breakfast item was their peach juice.)
Fast forward to after Drupalcon. We had planned to go to Vienna for a while, but decided there was just no time to go to Vienna then back to Hungary for our flight out. So we stayed in Hungary longer. Which ended up being an excellent choice!
We tried to book Korona again for our second round of stay, but they were full... So we found this place in the middle of the city called Soho hotel. Small, modern, but very nice little place. They also had breakfast (at this point, I wasn't going to stay at a hotel without a free breakfast!)... And they had packaged yogurt. I was a little disappointed, but when I opened it and tasted the cherry yogurt, I was in love all over again! (so maybe the first place didn't have FRESH yogurt... I dunno. But it really didn't matter.) I had such an amazing time during breakfast, eating yogurt, drinking hot tea, enjoying crusty croissants, bread and butter, getting the day started. (If I become really rich, I will have people serve me good breakfast everyday!!)
When I got back to America, I was craving some of the yogurt. But Yoplait just won't do. It's like eating Uncle Ben's ready rice after eating real Korean rice done right in the steam cooker. So I browsed the yogurt section for a long time, and found Dannon All Natural (no artificial anything) Cherry yogurt. I thought I'd give it a shot, since it can't be worse than Yoplait stuff!
It proved to be close enough to the Hungarian yogurt. Enough to satisfy my craving. However, since that time, I haven't been able to find cherry flavor of the same stuff. So the other day I went and got the strawberry. And now I'm eating it. Yum. Nom nom. Not as good as cherry, but still really good. And when I miss Europe, I eat my yogurt and reminisce our wonderful trip to Hungary.
I know. Kris will probably say, "You're so Korean..." Koreans have this weird attachment to food. I also should write an article about gelato. The best dang ice cream I've ever had.
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