So what brings you to Hungary?

octobop wrote:

What was YOUR motive for this "crazy" relocation?
(mine is school)

I came for adventure and money and stayed for love.

Hi mods,

Hungary is not the kind of place where we'd throw a hissy fit if someone calls the country stupid, old, or both. In quotes. In an obviously non-offensive context.
(Well sure there must be people that would, but they'd never visit a site for supporting expats even if they could speak any English, and are generally laughed at. From a safe distance.)

So thanks for the good intentions, but this level of care is quite unnecessary :-)

To tie this back to the original question: we are Hungarians, and were happy to return from the US: one of the things that made us shy away from living there permanently is the level of pampering and catering to an extremely low common denominator in terms of cognitive effort, physical fitness, and, yes, emotional sensitivity in contrast to Hungary.
We felt like Wall-E on the space ark: Lovely to visit, wouldn't want to live like that.
We simply can not honestly respect a lot of the self-destructive and anti-social lifestyle choices we were expected to fake understanding for, especially in the light of the many harmless ones constantly in witch-hunt season.

Hello szocske,

I have re-edited it Thanks for guiding me on that

Cheerz

Was I censored? i'll work on my choice of words.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I came for adventure and money and stayed for love.

FOR money?  A job?  [half sarcasm]I'm glad to know people survive in Hungary![/half sarcasm]  That's another thing I can't seem to get around people at home - they think I won't find a job and will be poor and destitute.  But the way I see it, (perhaps in agreement with szocske) in Europe, being a starving artist is romantic; in America it's called being a lazy unmotivated slacker person not living up to your potential.  I'd rather enjoy the culture of old historical Eastern Europe while I'm swirling my paints and eating my crumbs, thank you

anyway, continue: Why are the rest of you here?

Work brought me here. Now I am living here and learning hungarian. But so far I do not intend to settle down here for life long - I will rather move somewhere. I hope spring and summer will change my opinion of Hungary and hungarian people
Cheers

octobop wrote:

...
FOR money?  A job?  [half sarcasm]I'm glad to know people survive in Hungary![/half sarcasm]  That's another thing I can't seem to get around people at home - they think I won't find a job and will be poor and destitute....

Yes, I came in the early 1990s when Hungary was the Wild East and there was money to be made in the international aid business in the "transition" economies. There is still money to be made in international aid but you have to go to unsavoury places like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Africa etc. 

I had been living in Germany and before that Holland and I had the advantage of being young, lean and hungry for success maybe (age certainly mellows). I also had very saleable specialist skills, mobility and a taste for foreign travel. THis was unlike many of my peers, who stayed at home in the UK with their large mortgages, 2 hour commutes and comfy armchairs.

In retrospect, my involvement with the international aid community here was probably inconsequential. I think time and the Hungarians are the real transformers of course and now Hungary has "graduated" to the EC, Schengen and all that and fully recognised as a "market economy". Looking back on it, there was never going to be another result except that one. But I'm probably digressing too much.

During my stint as an aid worker, Mrs Fluffy and I became an item and the rest is history. So indeed, turned out quite ok really, summed up as: I came for adventure and money, stayed for love.

fluffy2560 wrote:

octobop wrote:

...
FOR money?  A job?  [half sarcasm]I'm glad to know people survive in Hungary![/half sarcasm]  That's another thing I can't seem to get around people at home - they think I won't find a job and will be poor and destitute....

Yes, I came in the early 1990s when Hungary was the Wild East and there was money to be made in the international aid business in the "transition" economies. There is still money to be made in international aid but you have to go to unsavoury places like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Africa etc. 

I had been living in Germany and before that Holland and I had the advantage of being young, lean and hungry for success maybe (age certainly mellows). I also had very saleable specialist skills, mobility and a taste for foreign travel. THis was unlike many of my peers, who stayed at home in the UK with their large mortgages, 2 hour commutes and comfy armchairs.

In retrospect, my involvement with the international aid community here was probably inconsequential. I think time and the Hungarians are the real transformers of course and now Hungary has "graduated" to the EC, Schengen and all that and fully recognised as a "market economy". Looking back on it, there was never going to be another result except that one. But I'm probably digressing too much.

During my stint as an aid worker, Mrs Fluffy and I became an item and the rest is history. So indeed, turned out quite ok really, summed up as: I came for adventure and money, stayed for love.

p.s. btw, the theme I am reading here is that everyone seems to be disenchanted with where they come from or where they were for long periods.

fluffy wrote:

p.s. btw, the theme I am reading here is that everyone seems to be disenchanted with where they come from or where they were for long periods.

yes, it's that time of year !

For me it was a combination of many things. I needed some distance from a memory of a love that was lost, a desire to come back to my roots and find some family members that I haven't seen in 15-20+ years, teaching my children a language that they'll most likely never hear again in their life, and to be able to use Hungary as a spring board to travel all over Europe!
It's been a success so far!

logger wrote:

yes, it's that time of year !

Hey, it's supposed to be Spring and everyone should be getting full of optimism, the long dark days of winter are starting to fall away, flowers popping up, new buds on trees, days getting longer, birds tweeting, more sunshine etc etc.

Doesn't seem like it today though does it?

logger wrote:

yes, it's that time of year !

yeah... i'm having a rotten winter.  yesterday it was sunny and 70*, just to torture us, then it went back to being winter. 

and I'm wondering if the disenchantment isn't from the places, but rather from the failed relationships in those places...  ha.  it's winter.  we're all pining.   *don't hit me!  the puns are genetic!*

They say April's the cruellest month, but for sheer brutality, February wins hands down every time.  Only good thing about February is, it's the shortest month.

Beautiful sunny day outside, pertfect for a hike in the hills !

Feb and till middle of March its going to be the same!

I'm here for work since an year; Its been the same last year.

logger wrote:

They say April's the cruellest month, but for sheer brutality, February wins hands down every time.  Only good thing about February is, it's the shortest month...!

February isn't so bad, snowdrops and all that and it's not long until March and more Spring.

For me, it's January, it's a long month, it's dark and horribly cold and as it's 31 days, it's almost 5 weeks long. Goes on and on with almost no respite. Dreadful.

My despair of everything that used to be English but is now mulitcultural, plus the fact that my wife's family are all Hungarian.
Having worked for 20 years in stressful jobs, long hours, much daily abuse(childrens' homes) and the fact that I couldn't see a future in the UK brought me here to rural Hungary for a more basic life with less stress.
I'm still looking for that as I work as many hours now but earn less money than I did in England. I do however have slightly less stress but a lot more genuine friends and a better future to look forward to...once I start earning enough money.

Hi

I was drawn to Hungary for some reason. Hungary chose me and not the other way round. I saw a 5 minute programme on TV whilst in Dublin, I was living in England at the time, it looked nice in Pecs. I booked a holiday in Balaton to see the North, with my Wife and daughter, and then drove to Pecs, booked the second week in a small village, Cserkut, to see the south. By the end of the second week I had shaken hands on a large property that was being used as a hotel. The people here probably thought I was kidding until they received the deposit and the rest is history. I have lived all over the world and worked in too many countries to remember them all and I can honestly say that the Hungarians are the most welcoming people it has been my pleaseure to meet. I am here for the duration.

With all the natural disasters taking place at the moment maybe this is the safest place to be, I hope so.

I only just noticed this thread. My own story was posted as a blog by a student who interviewed me as part of her research project:
postcardsfromhungary.blogspot.com/2012/03/lorem-ipsum.html

I only come for six weeks at a time each summer and wish I could live in Budapest half time.

Why do I come?

1) My dad has Irish roots, but my mom was born in Hungary (Baja).  I love to hear and speak Hungarian.  I was raised by Hungarians so part of the culture is a part of me.

2) Budapest is an amazing city.  I can hear music every night.   The architecture is amazing.  I love how close forests are to the city borders. Margitsziget in the early morning.  I like to bike around the city and the surrounding hills.

3) I am a biologist who is interested in central European wildlife.  I spend part of each summer recording animal sounds.

4) I love the Hungarian people.

5) The real reason I come - Palinka!

For me its quite simple...

1. Living in Hungary is cheap compared to other EU countries.
2. Budapest is really beautiful and i love the city.
3. People here are very kind and nice to me.
4. Women and girls here are really beautiful compared to rest of Europe
5. Most hungarians speak good english, so no language problems here..
6. Costs of food and eating is really cheap in Hungary, compared to vienna and other cities.

Truly budapest is very beautifully lit up at night. I love it.