They are called Hungarians!

When Italian Nobel Laureate Enrico Fermi was asked if he believed in extraterrestrials, he replied, "They are already here...they are called Hungarians!"

 

 Not to be weird, but I really really like Hungarians. They are really kind people, to each other (which is nice to see), but also even to foreigners, which I find uncommon everywhere else (especially when foreigners are generally clueless tourists who don't speak a lick of the local language). I wish I had been keeping more of a specific record of events instead of just thinking over and over to myself as things happen "wow, Hungarians are so nice".

Many Hungarians I have talked to, even just once or twice, seem to genuinely want to get to know me and hear about life in the US and, of course, what I think about Hungary. This has included friends who work at the hotels, teachers in the kindergarten, and of course AIESECers. Especially given I'm only here for a short time, I really appreciate the effort.

Tuesday morning on the metro I wasn't paying attention to what stop the train had arrived at and I couldn't see the name outside the window, so at the very last minute I started squirming trying to view the station name somewhere. A man across from me noticed and immediately told me where we were (Deák Ferenc) and looked very concerned as he asked if that was my stop (I'm assuming) and some other stuff in Hungarian. He kept smiling at me afterwards too.

That's something else that is refreshing - the language thing. I try really, really hard (oftentimes fruitlessly) to say basic things in Hungarian or at the very least ask for English in Hungarian. If possible, on some occasions (shout out to the Tesco Vodafone guy and the Tesco Posta guy) the Hungarians I'm talking to seem to be trying even harder to communicate with me in near-perfect English. And, in great contrast to my experiences in Russia and also, to a less severe degree other parts of Europe the reaction to the realization that I don't in fact speak Hungarian is not a look of disbelief or annoyance but often a kind smile. It is so nice.

When a friend from UNC visited Budapest from Prague, one of the first things she pointed out was how kind people here were and what a contrast it was from people in Prague. It isn't just me, I promise! Anyway I really love it here, and the kindness of Hungarians is one of the main things I'm going to miss.

love from Pest,

Em