Eger Day 1 - Internationalization Conference

I'm getting a little behind with my posts because we've had a busy schedule. Last week, we spent three days in Eger.  It was a wonderful trip! On Thursday, we caught an early morning bus to Eger where we attended the Internationalization of Higher Education conference at Eszterházy Károly College. We participated in two lectures by Hans de Wit. You can read his bio here.  He discussed the meaning of internationalization and a strategies for implementation.  Although the focus was on higher education, I feel that I could use the same concepts with my private horn students.  The goal is to assist all students, not just those with the privilege of studying internationally, in becoming global citizens.  I enjoyed the lectures and hope to continue learning about internationalization in the future.

That evening, we attended an extravagant dinner.  First, we had snacks in the courtyard while traditional musicians and dancers performed.  Then we went inside to begin the program.  In addition to several award presentations, we witnessed the graduation of the students of the Master of Business Administration program of the Open University of Malaysia. My favorite part of the program was a performance of Robert Schumann's "Carnaval" by Gábos Judith, the head of the music department. After her performance we had a delicious four course meal.

Now let me come back to the traditional dancers and musicians.  They were my favorite part of the evening. I took these short videos so everyone can enjoy the experience. This first video is two men playing flute and bass.  The bass player is not using a traditional technique. Instead he is striking and tapping the bass more like a percussion instrument.

In this video, we can see a trio of string instruments playing a traditional Hungarian song. I have heard this before but I cannot remember the name.

The final video shows the dancers. Some of the men's movements included leg slapping, snapping, jumps, and kicks.  The women were more often spinning and swaying.  Part of the video shows the women dancing with wine bottles on their heads.