Hungarian Parliament

On December 10, I had the honor of representing the United States and Fulbright during a visit to the Hungarian Parliament. A group of 9 Fulbrighters visited with MP and President of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Dr. Zsolt Németh. There were five US grantees to Hungary, and I was one of them. Here we are before the meeting:

Left to right: Dr. Mary Durfee, Dr. John Cox, Hanni Thoma, Megan Small, and Jan Wessel.

There were also 4 Hungarian grantees to US who have recently returned to Hungary.

Left to right: Tamás Csapó, Anna Péczeli, Dr. Károly Jókay (Executive Director of the Hungarian-American Fulbright Commission), Dr. Katalin Parti, and Dr. Marcell Szasz.


The meeting was a great experience! Dr. Németh shared some of his thoughts on the importance of the Fulbright and connections between the United States and Hungary. He pointed out the benefit of sharing all of the positive aspects of Hungary with the world.  I thought to myself, "Good! That is what I'm here to do!" Each of us had a few minutes to speak about our work and how we are making connections between our countries and cultures. I was proud to share my love of Hungarian music and how I plan to share it. Now that I am in Hungary, I see so many opportunities for further research. No matter where my life takes me, I know that I will always have a passion for Hungarian music and I will continue to study and share it.

Here is a picture of the group with Dr. Németh (in the center).

We also posed for a quick picture outside of the Parliament. It was a successful day for Hungarian-American relations!