Pandemic Funk

For the last week, Kaposvár has been shrouded in an early morning fog; it burns off by mid-day, most days, but not to-day. And I feel as if my noggin is in a similar, metaphysical fog. I've read it called, "Pandemic Funk," which is not to be mistaken for my dear friend, Charles Funk. [In Hungarian, the word for 'donut' is 'fánk,' pronounced like 'funk,' or a close approximation. And, I have to say, a donut sounds real good right now; it might go a long way to relieve my 'funk.'] This morning, I read the following from a 'good news' article, you might say. One thing I did not know: that 'cat cafés' were a thing. And the last sentence certainly made me smile. 

• A new study in Japan found that, while a cat can stay in one spot, it is likely tracking its owner's location in the home, specifically by using the owner's voice. Saho Takagi, the first author of the study, says she's always been a cat person, but is particularly interested in their hearing abilities. 
• Cats have very sensitive ears, and move them in different directions to follow sounds. Takagi said, "I saw a cat with only one of its ears tilted back, listening to the sound behind it, and felt that cats must be thinking about many things from the sound." The study took place in both a home setting and a cat cafe to observe how cats would react to a speaker playing their owner's voice. 
• Cats in the study were surprised when they heard their owner's voice from a different spot, leading the scientists to conclude that cats have 'socio-spatial cognition,' which means they can visualize where people are using cues. Takagi also said that this indicates that, while cats pretend to be aloof and disinterested, they are mentally keeping track of your whereabouts at all times -- what's not clear is if this is out of affection, or as part of their plan for world domination.

Christmas Markets

It's that time of year! As the holiday season harkens, the Christmas markets in Europe begin to re-open, after a pause, last winter, in deference to the koronavirus. [There is, of course, no 'Thanksgiving' holiday here, so the Christmas decorations go up in the stores immediately after Halloween.] I have my doubts that the markets will be anything like a 'normal' year, what with another wave of Covid overwhelming Central/Eastern Europe. Perhaps diminished, but hopefully, open they will.

Perusing a few websites, it appears that the main Xmas market in Budapest will re-open on the 19th of November (or 29th, depending on the source). I will be in BP on the 28th, so I will know then.

A few cool facts about the markets: The Frankfurt Xmas Market dates to 1393 AD…Dresden's has been going for over 587 years…Holy Moly!…the Cologne/Köln market is the largest in Europe, with over 4 million visitors a year…[I've been to this market, pre-Covid, thanks to Alexandra's Aunt Fanni (and her lovely partner, Robin)]…the market is located on the Cathedral square and the Köln Cathedral is magnificent…it receives 20,000 visitors a day, year-round…there are, at least, 4 more markets around Köln to take in.

Here's a link to a couple of articles related to Christmas markets:

https://www.dw.com/en/german-christmas-markets-to-reopen/a-59707446

https://www.austria.info/en/things-to-do/skiing-and-winter/christmas-markets

https://www.austria.info/en/things-to-do/skiing-and-winter/christmas-markets/graz-styria

I hope to visit Graz and our handsome nephew, Cameron, soon…this past week, our plans were blown-up by, once again, the koronavirus…mid-week, 2 members of Cameron's volleyball team were positive for Covid, so it was decided that the game, Saturday, would be played without spectators…and it was thought best I wait a week or so before trying to again visit.

OMG: Graz has a square called Glockenspielplatz! There is a Xmas market there, with real sheep, no less. I'm hearing 'Tubular Bells' of Joy! (You have to be very old to get that reference.)

 

Elizabeth Gilbert

"To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow — this is a human offering that can border on the miraculous."

The Index Finger

While looking through some Hungarian language material, I came across a collection of 'hand gestures' and 'expletives deleted,' as it were, presented in a fun, humorous manner. Think the universal ‘middle finger’ or the Italian ‘vaffanculo,’ which includes one arm stretched out in front, while bringing the fist of the other, hard into the crook of the first arm (elbow).

Which got me to thinking about the index finger. Unbeknownst to me, once I opened that 'Pandora's box,' it was like falling into 'Alice's rabbit-hole.' And if you understood the references in the previous sentence, English is, no doubt, your first language. Congratulations; you don't know how lucky you are.

Anyway, 'index finger' literally means 'pointing finger,' from the Latin word, to 'indicate.' And I suppose that is how we all understand it. In America, the UK, and Canada, it is also the 'first finger,' the 'fore finger,' the 'trigger finger' ("Don't get trigger-happy with that gat, old sport!"). The thumb is the thumb; the index finger is the first 'digit,' and the thumb is the fifth. World-wide, that’s not always so.

Wikipedia makes the case that a lone index finger held aloft signifies the number 1 (one), but not always: "In the Western world a finger is raised for each unit. While there are extensive differences between and even within countries, there are generally speaking, two systems. The main difference between the two systems is that the "German" or "European" system starts counting with the thumb, while the "American" system starts counting with the index finger."

This brings to mind an incident I experienced when I was newly-arrived in Hungary. Alexandra & I visited a self-serve restaurant, and after ordering our food and finding a place to sit, I asked her if she would care for a small glass of wine (wine is sold by the deciliter). She declined, but I did want one, so I approached the bar. I asked politely for a "vörös bor." The bartender was across the bar and asked, "Mennyi", and I held up my index finger while saying, "Egy." Much to my surprise, she brought me 2 glasses of red wine(!). I showed, I'm sure, a perplexed look, because she asked, in perfect English, "What?" And I explained to her that I only wanted/ordered one. Now it was her turn to look at me quizzically, no doubt thinking, 'another ugly American.' Although, to her credit, she said nothing and simply took one glass away while also taking my money away. When I relayed this to Alex, she asked me 'how did you order?,' an odd question, I thought. I demonstrated my technique, upon which she laughed (she does that a lot), "Here, to signify one, you stick your thumb up." Who knew? 

Lesson learned; I've never forgotten that.

The World Keeps Going ‘Round ‘n ‘Round

…with the offer of work that would give me license to see at least a few more miles of the world, I jumped at that open door as I've jumped at most others that ever came my way…I was for off, as far as the road would take me, and it took me half across the world, before I understood: Life goes not in a straight line, but in a circle…the first half we spend venturing as far as the world's end from home and kith and kin and stillness, and the other half brings us back, by roundabout ways, but surely, to that state from which we set out.

— Brother Cadfael

The Kapos River

The Kapos River

The photo above is of the mighty Kapos River/Kapos folyó, running through town…although, here in Hungary, the word for river, folyó, and lake, tó, is never appended to the river or lake alluded to…the River Danube is called simply, Duna; Lake Balaton is Balaton, the river Kapos is no more than Kapos on the maps…I think it is because in the Hungarian language the subject is already understood, no need for the adjective (I hope I am describing this correctly)…another example of this: there is no gender pronoun in Hungarian; no ‘he, she, it’…from the context of the sentence/conversation, who you are talking about is understood…this causes much consternation with our family learning English, trying to parse the ‘he’ from the ‘she;’ the ‘her’ for the ‘him’…so much for your grammar lesson for today.

Kaposvár, where I am now, means the ‘castle gate’ (kapu = gate; vár = castle)…and I’ve often wondered where the castle was located…near where I’m standing, taking this photo, I found a sign saying that the remains of the castle were discovered close-by, during an excavation for a new building…on my next foray, I will explore and see if the foundation was preserved.

More later. David