Living like a Hungarian in Budapest

I arrived in Budapest February 3rd

Classes started Monday Feb. 11th the semester ended May 16th

I taught 5 classes

Communications 101 for students who have passed their intermediate level English exam

Advanced English for students who passed the advanced exam

2 classes Cross-Cultural Communications

1 night class in the Language School students who already had their degreesMy flat

Facts about Budapest and Hungary

Hungary has almost 11 million people

Budapest used to be 2 million people now 1.7

Lowest birthrate in the European Union

Hungary was part of the Austria Hungarian Union from 1867 -1912

More Hungarians OWN their “flats” or apartments than any other country in the EU

My neighborhood

Rick Steves call Hungarians the most formal of all the Europeans

They also respect tradition

All grades are recorded by hand in a special book owned and cared for by the students.

Students must pay a fine if they fail to have an instructor sign their grade book

Students face standardized written and oral TESTS in every subject to progress to the next level

Older people try to dress well

however, college students dress like our students mostly.

Perhaps it’s the formality, Hungarians use a lot of words to say simple things

Memorials and plaques are everywhere and wreaths appear on anniversaries and holidays.

Hungarians of all ages know and respect their history

If you taught at BUTE and didn’t have get a bronze bust mounted you failed.

WWI Memorial on campus

Petrofi nationalist poet on March 16th Revolution day.

Memorial on the Danube for the Jews murdered during the Nazi occupation.

Students still talk about the Treaty of Trion in 1920Hungary lost 71% of it’s territory.

They are still discovering live WWII bombs in Budapest

Traffic diverted for bomb Bomb found Info Park May 16th

Badminton and tennis were also popular when spring arrived.

More sports – Scout climbing plastic beer crates

You see more hand tools and less automated labor

Wherever I saw a large street crew of four or more there was always one guy on a cell phone.

No fear of nuclear accidents

Park bench outside the nuclear reactor

Average Salaries are Low -------------------------------------------Physician specialist $1200 per month

College faculty $856 per month

Teachers $821 per month

Nurse $764 per month

Office clerk $475 per month

Sales clerk $343 per month

Most Hungarians pay 50% in taxes

Annual salaries in U.S. dollars

How do Hungarians cope with a sluggish economy and low salaries?

To supplement my salary I was given basic school supplies by the college

• A Calendar• 1 notebook•1 pad of medium size sticky notes•1 large pad of scrap paper•1 box of copper colored paperclips•2 pencils•1 eraser

$16.00 dollars worth of meal tickets each month

I shared a computer running a bootlegged copy of windows 95 with 5 faculty in my office.

Zsuzsa checked out my textbook from the department library

I also checked out my instruction cassette tapes from the library

•Free healthcare (Doctors expect gratuities)

•Free university tuition

•Wonderful low cost mass transit, although everyone complains about it.

•Lots of bureaucracy

•Hungarians have credit cards but they rarely use them.

•Many students & faculty drink 40ft (25 cent) coffee from the Nescafe machine rather than 90ft (75 cent) fresh coffee

At the university students seemed to not mind getting food from machines.

•Brand name sports apparel is rare

•There are a lot of used clothing & discount clothing stores

• Student live with parents, grandparents or in the college dorm

Martos HostileFaculty cars NOT student cars

Their parents will help them buy an apartment later.

Many Hungarians shop at the PLUS a discount grocery store

Everyone brings their own bag otherwise you must buy one

Store help is minimal; bag boys and girls are unheard of

Shopping carts require a coin deposit returned when you re-stack the cart correctly

Discount chains Tesco (British) and Auchen (French) have stores in Budapest.

Whether for convenience or from habit, Hungarians seem to prefer shopping for meat and produce at vegetable stands, green grocers and large indoor fresh markets.

Few Hungarians own clothes dryers

Gas cook stoves don’t have pilot lights. You must light the burners and oven each time you use them.

Many streets and public facilities are NOT pristine

I salvaged some wooden Ikea coat hangers from this mess.

Neighborhood clean-up days???

A beautiful botanic garden but

Puddles on the greenhouse floors and very rusty radiators

Graffiti abounds

The recycling bins are few and far between and overflow onto the street on weekends.

You won’t find these on U.S. playgrounds.

No one worries about minor safety issues (lawsuits aren’t common)

When was the last time you saw pony rides in a city park?

The homeless are allowed to sleep wherever they please.

The subway is a popular choice.

Hungarians require much less space for living.

Zsuzsa’s apartment is a 3rd story walk-up. This is her “dacha” or lake cabin.

In Hungary buildings are built to last.

Stone or brick and mortar with no wood.

Hungarian Splurges

Flowers!!

Fresh vegetables Meat (mostly pork) pastries, candy, chocolate and palinka

To leave Hungary I had to do all the paperwork backwards.

I had to go to various university offices and collect clearances with the official seals and stamps.

My last stop was at the bank where it took over 2 hours NOT to get my account closed.

What I miss most is strolling through the many funny little neighborhood parks and discovering little cafes.

My fitness workout was a walk up Gellert Hill from the university

The view and the chance to feel like a smug local among the tourists were great motivation.

My reward was the view and feeling like a smug local laughing at the tourists.

Young people that take such pride in their history.

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While the fascist were throwing tomatoes at the Mayor the kids were celebrating Revolution Day.

My Neighborhood

The historic memorials at every turn

Would you believe this is Frank Zappa Ter?

Big city surprises