Demonstration planned on 19 December in Budapest today 17h

klsallee wrote:

Thanks for the update.

But these protesters should know by now that protests are only effective in Hungary when they hurl old computer parts at the headquarters of Mr Orban's ruling Fidesz party,

I reckon the same.  Nothing will happen to change anything.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I receive messages about events and demonstrations from e-mails from my embassy....I never wish to be involved in these things......A few years ago there was a massive protest/demonstration down a major st. from our house. We were taking a nice Sunday stroll and found ourselves in the thick of it. We walked for a short while along side the protesters, not really knowing what was going on. Later thought it over , our imagine for sure was on CCTV along with everyone else. No need to draw attention to ourselves for a cause that has little to nothing to do with us....

I thought mainly it's a message to avoid the area rather than getting in there to support them.  As a non-HU person, not our fight.

I certainly didn't know the US embassy sends these alerts out. 

We get nothing like that from the British Embassy.  Sending messages out to the citizenry would probably interfere with afternoon tea and hobnobbing on the cocktail circuit with  the other "diplomatic" personnel thereabouts.  As far as I can see they don't do anything there - they don't even issue passports now.  What they do there paperwork wise is a rip off.  They could reduce the staffing to a couple of people - secretary and the ambassador, maybe a couple of bodyguards who can double as doormen. In an emergency, fly someone out from the UK as it's only a couple of hours away.  If they need to chat with their counterparts, use video conferencing.

Sorry, that was a rant.  One of those days.

fluffy2560 wrote:

As a non-HU person, not our fight.

Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.
   
- Thomas Jefferson

The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy
   
- Charles De Montesquieu

I added the second quote, since as an EU citizen (for now - until Brexit is completed) you can vote in local elections in Hungary ... so you have every legal right to make some events here "your fight" if you wish them to be.

Or, for example, if an expat has children here in the public school system, are not the teacher's complaints maybe also relevant to one's school aged children? And maybe then these issues might be something to also fight for, for one's children if nothing else? In other words, being an expat alone does not by definition, or automatically, means all local issues are then automatically not "out fight". 

klsallee wrote:

.....
Or, for example, if an expat has children here in the public school system, are not the teacher's complaints maybe also relevant to one's school aged children? And maybe then these issues might be something to also fight for, for one's children if nothing else? In other words, being an expat alone does not by definition, or automatically, means all local issues are then automatically not "our fight". 

Oh for sure these are relevant but education is controlled at the national level in HU, not local level.  It's not the same as my own country where the local government actually has considerable delegated controls over schools and their budgets - even though they follow central guidelines. 

It's gone a bit bonkers in HU - heavy handed really.  My kids complain at the nagging intensity of it all. They are exhausted and the days are too long.  They are always tired when they come back and don't cope well with the pressure and have less time for themselves.  It's counter productive. They should really enjoy school, not fear it. Same as work really - should at least try to make some fun out of it rather than making it drudgery.   

Wandering off piste a bit.