The State Department sent us an email recently about blogging. Apparently many Fulbrighters are keeping some kind of public journal. My blog is linked to my faculty page at Providence College. Anyway, what the people at the embassy don’t want us to do is to use the blogs to whine and complain about the things we don’t like in-country. It has, and can, become the source of tension.
Nonetheless, I do have a complaint. Well, Bernard has a complaint–I have an observation. You have already realized that Hungary is an old country and that there are many historical buildings. That means that the doors are quite big and very heavy. Because it is winter, there are heavy velvet curtains hanging just inside the doorway to eliminate drafts. Usually the entrances to these buildings are double doors; but for some reason, no one ever uses both doors. That means that people try to exit and enter (usually simultanesouly) through 1/2 of the doorway. I was always taught to let people exit the building before going in…that rule seems to have skipped over Hungary. As you might imagine, entering a building during rush hour can become hazardous to your health.
The same situation seems to apply at crosswalks. It is an interesting phenomenon. Hungarians wait patiently for the light to turn green…there is little jay-wallking, even when there is no traffic. In fact, the lights will tell you in exactly how many seconds the light will turn green or red (same applies to cars waiting at lights). On the surface, it appears very orderly. And it is, until the light turns green. Then the groups of peoples waiting on either side of the street rush willy-nilly across the pedestrian crossing. If everyone walked on the right, there would be no problem. But the fact is, you just don’t know where to walk…I tried staying to one side and then the other–then I tried walking through the middle. Either way, you are bound to bump into someone. It is very hard to avoid. This situation gets on Bernard’s nerves. He’s an orderly kind of guy and he sees a problem and wants to fix it. Only the Hungarians don’t seem interested.
Things really came to a head last week when we were waiting for the bus. We arrived early because we weren’t exactly sure where the main bus station was located. Anyway, I went to the cashier to buy our tickets; she looked at me very strangely. I thought the problem was because I wasn’t sure which bus we would take back. But, no, the problem is that you pay the bus driver as you get on the bus. Okay, I explained to her that this was our first time. She directed us to stop number 5 where we would catch the 11:45 bus to Eger. There were about 3 or 4 people waiting in line.: an older woman with sacks of groceries, a student with a huge backpack, and a couple of teenagers. By the time the bus arrived, there was a crowd of at least 25 people. There was no line, everyone just crowded in around us, including people who arrived at the last minute and moved toward the front of the bus from the side. I could feel Bernard getting agitated as he saw the latecomers getting on ahead of us. They should sell tickets inside, he fumed. Why don’t they form a line, he wondered. Finally, as people all crowded toward the open door, the f-bombs started flying. I was standing in the middle of this crowd and I remarked to a young woman standing next to me that this was crazy. She nodded her agreement, but she gave me a strange look when I said that people should stand in line and board the bus in the order inwhich they arrived. She said they don’t do that here. Well, I kept smiling, but I also kept my elbows out. I got on the bus before Bernard and saved him a seat. In the end, everyone boarded, everyone got a seat, but it seemed like a near thing!
So what’s the moral of this story? There isn’t one, really. During our Fulbright orientation, one of the presenters talked about cultural differences between Americans and Hungarians. She remarked that Americans are “can-do” people…that is, they see a problem and they try to fix it (What was important in her mind was the optimism implicit in this…Americans believe that any problem can be fixed). If you look at the list of Nobel Prize winners, Hungary (a very small country) has a disproportionate share of those prizes. Bernard thinks it would be easy to correct these little habits that cause disorder and everything would run more smoothly.
I am not so sure. I am convinced, although I have no proof, that part of this is a reaction to 40 years of Communist domination. Maybe people just don’t like anyone telling them what to do. Bernard still wants to fix things. I, on the other hand, have sharp elbows and a good sense of humor…I am invincible!!!!
Thanks for tuning in and best regards,
Marcsi
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