Is this a metaphor?

10/1

Walking around (mostly alone) with a good amount of time with my own thoughts, there is ample opportunity to observe and reflect. I mentioned to my dad that it felt like college ended, I went right to camp, and I didn't have time to process any of these major life changes. I now feel that I have a great deal of time to reflect and process. With this time and reflection, one more mundane thought that keeps occurring to me is considering whether many of the new and interesting things represent metaphors for my presence and experiences in Hungary. Most people reading this blog probably know that my older sister Rena is living in Hanoi, Vietnam, and she created a blog called "What's normal?" in which she lists the incredibly odd and humorous cultural differences and phenomena that she encounters. I want to riff off of that idea by creating a blog segment called, "Is this a metaphor?" The poet in me sort of wants to take all of these posts and extrapolate, but the friend in me doesn't want to put any of you through that jargon and creative stretches. So I'll leave you to interpret them however you want...

Is this a metaphor?

The clock at Teleki Ter Steible has Hebrew letters, but it goes backwards, and the hands tick counterclockwise. Can a clock be counterclockwise? Plato would have something to say about the essence of clocks, but I'll just wonder: Is this a metaphor? (I took this picture from the internet, but it looks like the one at Teleki. I think it reads 12:35)

The dogs here speak better Hungarian than I do. Is this a metaphor?

There is a big intersection about 15 minutes away from my apartment that features Subway, KFC, Mcdonald's, TGIFridays, Burger King, and Starbucks. They stand out to me as exceptions in the broader scenery, but they are still somewhat subtly incorporated into the consistent, elegant architecture of the city. Is this a metaphor?



I went to the Office of Immigration and Nationality and met the first Americans my age! They are both Mormon missionaries who have lived here for one year now. It made me realize that basically the only Americans who would come to Hungary right out of college for a more extended stay are religious missionaries (myself included?). This one might be too real to ask: Is this a metaphor?

That's all for now! If you thought the "Is this a metaphor?" game was a useless exercise, hopefully you at least gleaned a few bits of information about my time here!