St. Olaf Budapest Interim 2020: Math, Math, and Invisibility

Did y’all know 16=20? Keep reading to find out why. But alas, we must begin our proof at the very beginning of the day: First, we learned about the Polynomial Theorem and why it could be used to prove why several shortcuts to test divisibility work. Then we learned why 16=20: after learning about bases, we found that 1610 = 208 (16 in base 10 is equivalent to 20 in base 8 since 16=2*81). After we finished proving this, we took a break for lunch. Afterwards, we had a special guest speaker, Szabó Csaba, come in and lecture about math. He talked about a few different things including a proof for why if you were in an artificial forest with infinite trees spaced out in a grid, you could see 60 % of the trees.

In the later afternoon, we all went as a group to the Buda side to go to what was called the Invisible Exhibition. The exhibit itself could not be seen since all the rooms of the exhibit were pitch black. Instead, we were guided around various room setups including a house, a statue exhibit, a street, a cabin, and a bar by a blind person and we were able to experience how many people who are blind, whatever the cause, go through life. It was very interesting being able to navigate through only touch and hearing since sometimes there would be objects in the rooms that we didn’t realize were there until we ran into them. All in all it was a very fun and interesting experience, especially when our guide told us to simply hang on to each other and he would lead the way.

Some of us had previously decided to meet with one of our Hungarian friends, who helped us familiarize ourselves with the city and participated in other activities with us at a Teahouse called Altair Teaház. It was very cool, we had an area reserved, so we had some cushions and a couple low tables where we drank tea or hot chocolate and conversed, or studied, after a group of us left as we arrived at different times due to finishing the Invisible Exhibition at different times. It was especially cool due to both the music played and the fact that Altair is not an easy place to find.

As many decided to go to a teahouse, me and a friend (Audrey) decided to diverge, and head out to the Parliament. After paying the hefty price of 7 dollars, we were officially deemed members of the library of the Hungarian Parliament! So please enjoy these photos of the Parliament/ me walking around having some epic “hat hair.”