March 17, 2007 by Vándorló Budapest

I'm glad to see the back of the 15th, so we can get on with a real celebration (irrespective of nationality) on the 17th, St. Patrick's Day. The patron saint of stag parties.

St. Patrick was, of course, Welsh and not Irish, or at least Welsh speaking. But a Celt none the less. Although, Celts do come in at least two distinct forms, Welsh is P-Celtic and Irish Q-Celtic. Which, in a way is more fitting as in 1856 Arany János used the Welsh as an allegory for the plight of the people in his own nation in a poem entitled The Bards of Wales (A walesi bárdok). It was, of course, about Hungarians, still recovering from the events of March 15th, 1848 and unable to talk about their grievances.

Anyway, I thought of all these tenuous connections (and found the Kuvasz dog coaster for St. Patrick's Day - beauty, isn't it?) when I was looking up some info on Hungarian dog breeds such as the Puli, Kuvasz, Viszla and Komondor.

Pretty early into my search I realised that all is not well with the world. Dogs, would you believe it, now have their own blogs and social networking sites. I kid you not.

You could enjoy the social networking site set up for dogs called dogster ('For the love of Dog'), what else. Where you can let your Puli meet Kubi, Chauncey, Buddy... Who knows, they may have the same interest in rare livestock breeds to chew over.

There are quit a few Komondor blogs out there, as well as those dedicated (or in pathological cases written by) Pulis (Pulik), Kuvaszes and Viszlas.

Basically, I was just dreaming of the day when I finally escape to the country and have the space for at least one or more Komondor to roam around.

That's my piece, have a great St. Patrick's Day!

Words for the Day

• Kutyaharapást szőrivel: 'Hair of the Dog...', could be useful in the aftermath of St. Patrick's Day.
• Amelyik kutya ugat, az nem harap: 'His bark's worse than his bite'
• Pásztorkutya: 'pastoral' to describe the class of dog, to which most Hungarian breeds belong, unsurprisingly.
• Ősi magyar : 'ancient Hungarian' to describe the breed's origin. Most arrived with the Hunnish tribe of Magyars that settled this land.
• Egyik kutya, másik eb.: 'Same difference', though literally it translates as 'one's a dog, the other's a dog.'

For more, there's a great list of animal expressions and phrases in Hungarian over at gportal.hu.

p.s. The full range of Kuvasz paraphinalia can be bought online at Maggie Ross Dog Art. Don't spend too much.

March 13, 2007 by Vándorló Budapest

You should never underestimate a Hungarian's capacity for pessimism, nor the nation's talent for turning a celebration into a dirge.

If you're lucky enough to be in Budapest this week, you'll be able to experience this cultural phenomenon in all its glory, as we head towards March 15th

The past few months have been pretty much fertile ground for the spread of stories about what is going to happen on the 15th and the last few days have seen the fruit bodies of this fungus's mycelia erupt (For example, "Hungary's radical youths take to the streets").

News editors are delighted, they can pretend to be real journalists again. There'll be pictures, plenty of pictures to tell the story for them. Here we go again. The perpetual Ground Hog Day (Idétlen időkig) of Hungarian politics. For [insert your preferred deity here] sake!

I'm just hoping against hope for an uplifted, optimistic story to emerge. But instead, there's yet another survey showing that Hungarians really do have a talent for pessimism: A magyarok pesszimistábbak, mint valaha.

The Results of this survey show that of the 10 new countries that joined the EU back in 2004, Hungarians are the most pessimistic about the future. They feel job security has decreased, despite the fact that unemployment hasn't actually increased. On health reform, whilst neighboring countries have embraced change, the tendency across the whole of Hungary has been resistance, with 6 out of 10 saying it's worse since joining the EU.

A full 67% of people believe that the standard of living has dropped (an increase on the 47% who thought this was the case back in 2004). For most there is the feeling that the forces of corruption are yet more powerful - particularly in comparison with the opinions of neighboring countries. There is the feeling that millions upon millions are being syphoned off by politicians for their own personal gain.

The one positive note is that Hungarians believe that they have better educational and career opportunities.

So with all that, the thieving and lying politicians, higher taxes, few hospitals... March 15th isn't looking promising.

In preparation the police and the same thieving, lying politicians have taken extraordinary measures to make sure no one actually gets to complain too publicly. Protesters are to be kept in manageable groups away from parliament. There will be over twice as many organized (legal) demonstrations about town than in previous years, but the range of issues involved and the lack of any real cohesion between them means any message will just be lost in the clamoring for attention.

Over the last few days there have been warnings not to stop or loiter on most of the major roads and squares downtown: Budapesti forgalomkorlátozás március 15-én.

This effectively puts much of the heart of the city on a defibrillator, ticking over nicely to the tune of the very people the people want to air their grievances against.

Useful Words and phrases for the 15th

• Életszínvonal: 'standard of living'
• Jó Szórakozást: 'I hope you have a good time!', 'Have fun!'
• Az ott molotov koktél a zsebében, vagy csak ennyire örül, hogy lát?: 'Is that a Molotov Cocktail in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me'.
• Minden rosszban van valami jó: 'every cloud has a silver lining', not a particularly useful phrase to know in Hungarian.
• korrupció: go on, guess!

January 05, 2007 by Vándorló Budapest

Look, I've got a bit of an embarrassing confession to make and I thought I'd use the start of the New Year to clear my conscience. The truth is I don't think customer service in Hungary is at all bad. In fact, most of the time it's pretty good. Can't tell you what a weight has been lifted by admitting that. It's been eating at me for a while, because I do join in when the griping starts. It's hard not to. There are crappy people out there with crappy attitudes. But there are fewer than there use to be and generally, most people are either helpful or are victims of the same circumstances. Let me put it another way. Looking at comparative guides for Budapest and Prague, "Time Out" Budapest and "Time Out" Prague, which one do you think has a special section on 'famously bad', snotty customer service? Exactly, not Budapest. In over 15 years the only people who have been consistently rude, grumpy and surly - without exception - have been custom officers at any one of Hungary's borders. Even the ticket inspectors ('Kontroll') have improved. Visiting friends and family noticed, and so did I.

Words for the day

• néni: means 'aunty', but used to describe a class of older women who generally dress in subfusc or black colors and have a terrifying reputation for getting what they want irrespective of who they have to knock off their feet to get it. I find the adoption of a southpaw stance the best form of defence.
• goromba/nyers ember: a brusque, rude or impolite person (slightly formal)
• kontroll: the ticket inspectors on public transport