Can 2 Adults live on 2000 USD net take home a month?

fluffy2560 wrote:

Hungarian food is mostly like German food.

I would say otherwise.

While there is some generic overlap, due to geography if nothing else, a traditional Hungarian kitchen and a traditional German kitchen are not really that similar.

German Bratwurst is not Csabai.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_cuisinehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cuisine

One can not judge by what one eats in a restaurant these days as to what is traditional cuisine in any region or country.

True, Hungarians are very stubborn about their foods.
I personally love HU food , grew up with a Rusin father , who had us eating pickled herring, dark bread and a glass of beer as toddlers. Jellied pig's feet and beer were another basic  with stuffed cabbage and beet soup.
My husband says HU food is much more delicate, more carefully made and much better then other eastern European and German foods.
Big discussions about it since I like the rough flavors of eastern Europe as well as the delicate paprika dishes of HU.
Anything with cabbage and sour cream in on my menu card.
I have eaten a few dishes I was not insane about eating at dinners of a few HU friends, rabbit meat is not for me but one must give it a little try or risk never being invited over again.
Hungarians are very sensitive about their food, with good reason, it is some of the best in the world.

The average size of a flat in Budapest is not a 2 or 3 BD place. Usually much smaller then that.
Most Hungarians convert the living room into a sleeping area at night.
There are many lovely large flats to rent out there but you should expect to pay somewhere around $1,000 a month or more for the luxury of having extra rooms.
Our old flat is only 50 sq, meters, a large living room with a normal size extra room which is my room, I have it set up for myself with exercise equipment and a fold out style day bed.
Not a huge flat but practical for just the 2 of us. If we were to rent it out I believe we could get at least $500. a month and it's not fixed up with modern furniture and fixtures.
It is close to everything in the heart of the city near but not on a large Blvd. Lots of st. parking on our st. and not far from a mall and train station.
Looking on line at English sites, it seems large flats are going for sky high rates at the moment.
Don't forget you must heat all the rooms up as well which can get costly in the winter months.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

The average size of a flat in Budapest is not a 2 or 3 BD place. Usually much smaller then that.
Most Hungarians convert the living room into a sleeping area at night.

The one bedroom does seem to be the norm, especially in older buildings. Pull out bed/couch in the living room is standard for those than rent -- since all too often the apartment owner will also store their extended family's furniture in the apartment as well so it comes furnished whether one wants it to be or not.....

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Our old flat is only 50 sq, meters, a large living room with a normal size extra room which is my room, I have it set up for myself with exercise equipment and a fold out style day bed.

Our house came with six rooms on 70 sq. m. of floor space. The largest room was 18 sq. m. so you can imagine how tiny some of the rooms were**.

It seems here the design plan is either one large room and just one really tiny back room, or as many rooms as possible, no matter how tiny they are (in which one or more beds will be placed -- In Hungary it is common to expect extended family members to drop by to plague... er... I mean "visit" anytime.... In other words, Hungarians were couch surfing and sharing a room, apartment, or house long before there was an "app for that".....)

** During remodeling, we knocked out a few walls to give some real normal livable space.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Looking on line at English sites, it seems large flats are going for sky high rates at the moment.

There is a minor land rush in Budapest at the moment. Not a great time to be a renter or buyer.

I know a few people with lovely huge flats in Budapest, most live in them alone.
Such a shame because on the other hand  sometimes 3 or 4 generations are all living in cramped quarters in a tiny flat.
I remember once visiting the mother of my husbands old friends, she lived in the same house where my hubby grew up and he just wanted to pay his respects to her.
The kids had her living in a broom closet size back room, I mean really tiny where only a twin bed could fit.
My husband used to say to me that I grew up spoiled in Cal. because I complained that sometimes I had to share a room with one of my older sisters, a large master BD,
8 people in a 4 bd house in S. Cal. we thought we lived hard!! Silly really. Mom had kids with a 22 year age gap between the youngest and oldest so sometimes there were only 3 kids in the house at once.
My husband grew up in a small flat around 38 sq. meters and 5 people lived in one room, fold out bed city!
I know the solution for many is to put in a galleria, loft. We have one in our large room, used only to store items, could sleep another 4 people up there if needed I suppose.
Our Hu friend lives in a huge 110 sq, meter flat in the 5th district all by himself. Was never married or had children. Comes with 2 nice balconies and on a very, very nice st. no cars going down the st. very quiet.
Sort of a waste to me seeing so many young families are living like rats all crowded together.
He basically just uses the kitchen, sitting on a chair using a low watt light and reading, smoking and drinking beer all day long, waste not want not.
He often said he would love to live on a boat, if he sold that  flat I am sure he could live on a boat in Hawaii and enjoy his retirement. Some people don't know how to let go.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Some people don't know how to let go.

Especially in Hungary.

More than one of our neighbors when they moved in came week after week with their little trailer full of things.

Not just furniture. You name it, they seem to bring it.

My wife came in our house one day and said I would not believe it but one of our neighbors just arrived with a load of nick-knacks including about a dozen (not a typo) old brooms. Really. Not joking. Now, really, nobody could do that much sweeping.

I just asked if they had arrived yet with a huge plumber's friend, to push all the stuff they brought to date into their house. My wife, not to miss a beat, said she suspected our neighbors had just bought an Acme Hole and were pouring everything down that.

Yes you would not believe the "valuables?" we ad to toss away when we sold my MIL home.
There was even some sort of POW outfit, some coat thingy from WW11 that my FIL had worn at his time in the Russian Gulag!! Might be worth a few pennies now to some collector...
I was about to toss out one of her old lady shopping bags but luckily peeked into the pocket before trashing the bag. She had a hidden $300. in that old rag!
One of the furniture movers asked my husband if he could keep an old ugly sort of can that was discovered near my FIL bed. Dummy husband said yes he could have the can before we gave it a second thought. Knowing my FIL it's probably where he hide his mad money.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Hungarian food is mostly like German food.

I would say otherwise.....One can not judge by what one eats in a restaurant these days as to what is traditional cuisine in any region or country.

What I meant was it consists of much the same sort of ingredients, preparation and presentation as German style cooking - meat, potatoes and vegetables.  What I would call "hearty".  It's not like they are using noodles, chilis, morning glory or any of that kind of thing. 

It's different in say the UK which has developed indigenous Indian dishes now or even The Netherlands which has incorporated Indonesian food into daily consumption.

Not like the "typical" American food which is basically a hodge podge of everyone's else's dishes.
Can we even claim the "hot dog"? Think not.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Not like the "typical" American food which is basically a hodge podge of everyone's else's dishes.
Can we even claim the "hot dog"? Think not.

Nothing really wrong with mixing it up. 

I've just had a breakfast of curry and poached eggs  in a hotel.

I guess the actual "dog" in "hot dog" are what we would call "Frankfurters".  Bit of a give away as to the foreign origins there.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Can we even claim the "hot dog"? Think not.

Americans did not invent sausage. Americans did not invent bread or buns.

But putting them together and marketing them as such, does seem to be an idea from America:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_dog#History

Well we did go the Great Market i think it is called and it was full of food venders and some more trad Hungarian food so that was good. German food and Hungarian food are not that similar! Not an issue just a bit surprising to me. I did find a good Scandinavian place though, that was yummy! There is  a lot of French places though that i will say is surprising to me!

Biggest issues we have been having is finding a apartment to rent long term!

Today had an agent agree to a time and place to look at an apartment we show up on time, no her. Saw some woman walk by that looked like her. Then we walk down a block phone her she does not pick up. A nice Hungarian woman came up and asked us what was wrong, me and dad explained what happened. The Hungarian woman used her cell phone and phoned her and talked to her in native tongue and asked what happened. The real estate woman told her she did not want to rent to Americans cause they are all "whores and make drugs" yea right. We are not whores or druggies!

This is the 3rd different person that has agreed to meet us to see a flat to rent and has flaked out. (Had  2 agents tell me they do not rent to Jews in Budapest so never got that far! We are not Jewish to let u know although why should that matter?)

Other things i have heard:

We do not rent to people over 30, We do not rent to people that are family , we only rent to same sex couples, We do not rent to Germans, USA people, The Dutch, British or the Swiss, We only rent to people in collage, We do not rent to people that do not use cannabis.

I will admit i am not used to people not allowing us to spend money! I mean i am not going to beg someone to let me give you money!

But i will say people in Hungary that are not renting out flats, have been very very very nice! I mean we went around Budapest and we drove all the way out to Domvobar and never had a problem communication with people. Many that do not speak much English still make a good attempt to figure out what we want or need. That has really been a bonus!

So we will keep trying! Wish me luck!

FeliciaOni wrote:

Today had an agent agree to a time and place to look at an apartment we show up on time, no her. Saw some woman walk by that looked like her.....
This is the 3rd different person that has agreed to meet us to see a flat to rent and has flaked out.

That happens all the time in Hungary. People say they will do something, then do not show up.

FeliciaOni wrote:

The real estate woman told her she did not want to rent to Americans cause they are all "whores and make drugs" yea right. We are not whores or druggies!

There is a lot of misinformation taken as "truth" in Hungary. There is also increasing xenophobia. I could go into a long discourse why, but in short, there is a lot of black tounged gossip and propaganda spread in Hungary as if it were "THE" truth, and many people believe it.

FeliciaOni wrote:

Had  2 agents tell me they do not rent to Jews in Budapest so never got that far! We are not Jewish to let u know although why should that matter?)

Other things i have heard:

We do not rent to people over 30, We do not rent to people that are family , we only rent to same sex couples, We do not rent to Germans, USA people, The Dutch, British or the Swiss, We only rent to people in collage, We do not rent to people that do not use cannabis.

All of course is illegal to do, even in Hungary. Such discrimination is "on the books" as illegal. But of course, then there is the daily "on the street reality".

Especially ironic given the uproar over Magyar Telekom and the government's response...... All I can say is "Welcome to Hungary". The grass is not always greener over the hill, mostly it is just a different shade of brown. Not necessarily better. Not necessarily worse. Just different.

FeliciaOni wrote:

I will admit i am not used to people not allowing us to spend money! I mean i am not going to beg someone to let me give you money!

It is not the USA. People here will indeed refuse to take your money if they do not like you, or think they do not like you because they "heard" you are clearly from the plant Jupiter.

FeliciaOni wrote:

But i will say people in Hungary that are not renting out flats, have been very very very nice!

Hungarians are very "polite". Do not confuse that with being "nice". I have had the "nicest" people here, behind my back, insert many knives between my shoulder blades at (figuratively speaking) at the same time they were being "nice" to me. Just saying to be wary -- my experience. Not saying that Hungary is a bad place, but rather you have to get somewhat "street" smart fast about how it works here, it is different in many ways, else you might get burned**. All things do not necessarily work like you expect in the USA or Western Europe. All the agencies that were taken for granted to protect you do not necessarily work here in the ways you might expect.

** That being said, it took me years, really, to get street smart here. I can be rather dense and stubborn at times myself.

Thanks for the kind words! I do not feel so bad as to i doubt it was me just yes as you say Hungary is not the most logical of places.

I am just used to when it comes to handling money and doing business thing being a bit more efficient.

Like when i lived in Germany, people were on time and they either did what was agreed or they did not agree to do it! For better or worse! I will admit i get mixed up with things and i did end up going to a bar for drinks that was owned and frequented by the modern German Fascist party! Everyone was friendly and the food was good though! Funny cause the only reason i went there was due to a suggestion by the people i was renting from, and they were fascists which i did not know. I asked them afterwards and they told me they were for  "strong new self sustaining Germany." They had all these pamphlets about how "Germans were just better than all others but blacks had a place in society to do some
things. "

It was so embarrassing and i did have some of my friends get angry at me cause for some reason, they all thought i was Communist and Jewish! Like i do not know where people get these ideas about me from! Must be something about me. he hee.

So i do have problems with housing i do not blame that on Hungary.

Course many people think my father is Egyptian or part Chinese or Filipino which is totally not true so having him around does not help much either!

Yes many things are not going to be better in Hungary than in USA. I do realize that. We did not come for shanghi la. But i do still think we will be ok in most regards.

I seriously doubt someone, a Hungarian even would have an easy time if they moved to USA next week either. So much is just being a new foreigner person in their country.

And as i said before in my earlier post, many Hungarians embrace American things much more than i thought they would! I do not just mean the fast food, like many of the social things i disliked in USA i have seen here in Hungary. Much more so than i have in other parts of Europe.

Hungary is my first post Soviet country though so maybe that is why the love of USA things over even other European things.

(I have been to Lithuania, Latvia and Poland i think they were part of Soviet block? But they are not like USA at all which is good. Course once we are settled in Hungary it would be easier to move to other parts of EU down the road anyway.)

Hungary is very nice though and we both do love it so far very much! Just have to get used to people doing everything slower and taking much longer to get things done!

Once we get a long term apartment and do our residence permit i do still want to buy a house in Hungary next year.

FeliciaOni wrote:

So i do have problems with housing i do not blame that on Hungary.

Hungary is a "who you know" kind of place. To get things done quickly you often have "to know a guy". I recommend contacting International schools who often have to find places to live for their international staff. They may know a local land agent who knows how to help foreign expats find housing options.

Wow Felicia, sorry it's hard to find a place.
Are these professional rental agents that are helping you? Perhaps because it's so close to the holidays people just don't want to bother working, many take weeks off this time of year.
I must say,please don't take it wrong or get hurt feelings, when we were looking to buy our apt. many sellers were proud to tell us that there were no "blacks" in the building.
I think they meant Gypsies but who knows, don't really want to get into the heads of those sorts of people.
Tried to warn you that some in HU are not very open to outsiders .
I personally believe some people are still angry about WW11. Hard to believe it was so long ago but remember, Hungary suffered allot and was closed off from the west and outsiders for decades. The older people in HU still carry a grudge of sorts, at least some do.
I was afraid to meet my in-laws because I am American, with German and Russian heritage, my FIL was a Russian POW for 6 years after the end of the war, thought my combo of US/Rus and German would make them dislike me. Not so, they hated me for other reasons( at least my MIL did).
Hu. are NEVER on time for anything. Never experienced them being on time, even at my old gym in Budapest the classes never started on time.
I hope you do find an agent that can help you out.Be sure to not overdress fancy or they may raise the rent on you, think your good for more then they first thought.
Many Hungarians I found are jealous sorts of people, they would rather cut off their own hand then give you a hand.

Too bad we are out of Hungary ATM, otherwise my HU speaking husband and I would be willing to help you translate with your rental agent.( No charge either, in HU everyone wants to get paid for their time one way or the other)
We are retired in HU and have a few extra hours here and there.
I think contacting an international co. like was suggested is a good idea.
Not sure why many just wish to rent to students other then the fact that most leave after a semester or two. They have to pay their rent on time ( usually but not always daddies money) and they will have issues with their school if they owe on bills in HU before leaving the country.
At least that is what I've heard.
Many HU have watched one too many gangsta films and might think black people are all  drug dealers and thugs. Silly but if the only info one gets is from the media then it is going to be one sided.
I mentioned  before when I told a couple of HU ladies that I was 1/8 Mohawk, their eyebrows raised so high I thought they were stroking out!
Now I know why as a child my mother always told me to tell people we were "French" .
Told me that so many times I almost believed it myself.

Felicia, here is a thought, worst case you may have better luck finding a flat for temp. a few months or whatever in the 8th district.
I know it gets a bad rap, some streets there can be strange and night time walking is not a good idea there in the 8th but...( we don't walk anywhere at night so no issue if you are a homebody)
They do rent to "outsiders" from what we have noticed. It is not really a "ghetto" some parts are but some are rather ok.We noticed many newbies from Africa and India in the area, more used to people of "color" in the 8th.
Hate to recommend it only on that bases but in a pinch, it might be a temp. fix to stay there. Sorry to say HU are not exactly as "liberal minded" as they think they are.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Many Hungarians I found are jealous sorts of people, they would rather cut off their own hand then give you a hand.

The first time I "heard" (translated to me) the following, I was actually shocked, but apparently it seems to be one saying / life view here in the countryside:

If my cow gets sick and dies, my neighbor's cow should also get sick and die.

Yes another saying I have heard straight from the horses mouth is," If you give a Hungarian women your hand she will take your whole arm", Sorry, I know everyone has HU wives, my husband must of gotten burned a few times before he met me.
Of course in my case he likes to say I took his whole life!
Funny guy... not!

klsallee-

Ok i am a bit dense i guess but i totally do not get that! Course i am awful at getting jokes in English let alone a Hungarian joke!


Marilyn Tassy-
thanks for the kind info. Yes we might end up doing that. It was funny cause the place where the agent said she did not rent to Jews was in D-7 which was a Jewish area, with synagogues and stuff. Odd. But people are just like that all over. I have had many people tell me i look strange ask me why i sunburn so much( will not have to worry about that anymore thank goodness) and ask me if i my freckles come off or why do i have wavy sandy dark blonde hair if i am a black woman. So whatever.

Yes in Hungary i think, from what i have heard is when they say "blacks" they mean Romani people. Not like people of African descent. Just like in Australia blacks are the Aborigines and then there are the black Irish and then we had several South African, Botswana and Nuenibia  friends who were shocked when i said something about being black They all told me we were "colored" not black.

People have there issues everywhere i am just learning those for Hungary.

It is like back when i was like 20 i was dating a guy from Rep of Georgia, my mom's father and his brother, my grandpa and grand uncle on my mom's side were both in WW2 German Ahnenerbe. They flipped out when she told them i was dating a guy from Georgia. My grandpa phoned me yelling at me for dating a guy from where Stalin was from. I told he had no room to talk!  His daughter marrying and having a child with a black american guy did not have issue with, his grand child dating a Georgian that he was ready to disown me over!

I know noting of D 8 so we will look at it though.

FeliciaOni wrote:

..... German food and Hungarian food are not that similar! Not an issue just a bit surprising to me. I did find a good Scandinavian place though, that was yummy! There is  a lot of French places though that i will say is surprising to me!

Now I really want to know why German and Hungarian food are dissimilar and what would be taken as French places.   French places are few and far between as far as I know. 

I've been here 20+ years and have eaten in 100s if not 1000s of restaurants in Hungary and all over Europe.  I've only ever been in one French restaurant I can vaguely remember. 

Mind you, I do not look out for them.

klsallee wrote:

Especially ironic given the uproar over Magyar Telekom and the government's response...... All I can say is "Welcome to Hungary". The grass is not always greener over the hill, mostly it is just a different shade of brown. Not necessarily better. Not necessarily worse. Just different.

Hungarians are very "polite". Do not confuse that with being "nice". I have had the "nicest" people here, behind my back, insert many knives between my shoulder blades at (figuratively speaking) at the same time they were being "nice" to me. Just saying to be wary -- my experience. Not saying that Hungary is a bad place, but rather you have to get somewhat "street" smart fast about how it works here, it is different in many ways, else you might get burned**....

What's that about Magyar Telekom and the government?  I must have missed that one.

Regarding sticking the knife in your back, they (the HUs) do that all the time.  I've become like a bit of the furniture around here so they might (and I mean might) tolerate and hardly notice me. But then again, since I depend on them for nothing, I really couldn't give a damn what they say as move in utterly different circles.

In my apartment block, I help them out sometimes fixing their broken stuff or even trivia like pumping up their car and bike tyres.  I get some points for being Mr Fluffy as Mrs Fluffy is mega-popular amongst her local contacts.  I doubt they would ever stab her in the back.  In any case, in a confrontation,  she's the good cop and inevitably I'd be the bad cop.

They are really strange sometimes though.  My FIL (Father In Law) is really right wing and usually attributes anything going wrong to Jewish people and foreigners. That's even though he's got a Serbian Jewish name but is not actually Jewish or Serbian.  Mrs Fluffy says I should be thankful I do not actually understand Hungarian.  I am not sure that I am even really tolerated. 

Usual mantra here is that the Jews did it, the illegal immigrants did it, the LGBT community,  the Romanians, foreigners of indeterminate origin did it or it's the Ukranians, Russians, Serbians etc etc.  Quite tiring.   I think they are all very insecure.

klsallee wrote:

If my cow gets sick and dies, my neighbor's cow should also get sick and die.

Yes, that's exactly right.  If the other person's cow doesn't die, it's probably Jewish.   I mean the owner, not the cow.  Yes, folks, it is that dumb in HU sometimes.

FeliciaOni wrote:

.....Today had an agent agree to a time and place to look at an apartment we show up on time, no her. Saw some woman walk by that looked like her.

She probably saw you, then decided to not show you the apartment.  They do that.  They won't tell you directly as they do not like confrontation. They'd prefer to run away. 

As experiment, you might try simply misleading hese agents about what you are doing in Hungary.  I know that's unethical but this is Hungary.  They are for the most part unable to tell if people lying to them in a foreign language.

You could tell them you are being posted to an international company in Budapest for 3 years and you are part of the forward planning/market research team for when they set up properly and you are searching for a temporary apartment for when you are posted in country full time. 

If they think you are gainfully employed as an expat they might see some money in it and see a lower risk. 

You should do not have to prove to a landlord who you work for and you can just BS them anyway.  So long as you pay the deposit and rent etc, there's little risk to them.  If you say 3 years, then they can see an end to it but make sure your rental contract includes the "diplomatic clause" which means you can give them notice and go whenever you want.

They might ask some details so you can make up some plausible, consistent and rehearsed back story you could be familiar with through your previous employment. However you want.  The chances of them checking are almost zero but few half-truths to get what you want might be enough. 

I was told the secret to lying well and being believable is believing the lie yourself.   My EX-wife told me that so it must be true.

Makes me think back to around the year 2000 when we had a 6 month long family visit to Hungary.
My MIL was very depressed, getting on 80 years old and a recent widow, her 2 children living in HU lived a 4 min. walk away but for some lame reason only my husband would do to comfort her in her hour of need.Quit my very, very good paying Vegas job, husband quit his job, put all  our things into storage and flew over to watch her flowers grow in her garden and hold her hand while she cried. Help me!! Still nothing was good enough for my MIL.
Ok, guess I was not used to having an older mom who was having a break down, my mom was tougher then a lumberjack and could probably drink one under the table to boot!
Ok, my SIL had  a contract to care for my MIL so she decided to rent us her nearby home while she stayed in MIL house to fulfill her contract.
We stayed in her house and the water main broke. The local handyman in Erd was super busy, we needed him to dig 4 to 5 feet deep for about 100 yards for the plummer to come and fix the pipes.
He could make time so my then 58 year old SIL an then 55 year old husband started digging away. I thought they both had lost their minds and I did not offer to dig,noticed a group of younger, healthy looking Gypsies working in Erd on digging up roads and pits. I told my husband he should ask them to come over and dig for a few bucks, safe his and my SIL's backs since they were not exactly young.
Holy Cow!! I got an ear full from both of them about inviting Gypsies into ones property.
I thought they were both insane but they quickly told me as an American I had no clue what was going on and if they asked them to work in the yard no neighbors would ever talk to them again.
I could not believe my ears. My husband had lived in the US most of his life but just being in Hu again brought out some traits I didn't know he had.
His sister would not hear of it. Ok then, I had some nice cold drinks and watched them dig for the next 3 days, suckers...
In the end just after all that hassle my SIL had another blow out with her old mom and literally told us to get out of her house since she couldn't stand her own mother for another second. We packed up and moved into my MIL house for the next few months of our "vacation".
I never experienced so mush misery with family in my life all the while knowing what I gave up for it.

Poor Felicia wish we were joking.
Forget everything you ever knew and welcome to the Twilight Zone!
It's actually not all that bad here these days, my first 6 week visit to HU was back in communist times of 1978. My SIL's new husband had to get permission to see us at a family dinner, he worked for the police dept. and they would not let him meet with "westerners" without permission first.
I called my mom in Cal. but had to register the phone call a few days in advance at the main post office in Budapest. All the while knowing my call was being monitored .
We were told where and when we could take photos, literally had men wearing over coats following us around Budapest, day or night when we were out on the town.
No one at all spoke any English that I met that trip.
Nothing much to buy even though things were very cheap, only bought baby clothing as it was good quality and very different then what was offered in the US, dressed my boy in a cute style , boys and girls both wore sort of unisex baby clothing back then, really sweet stuff.
Had people pulling back their curtains to get a peak at me whenever I was outside, everyone wanted to see what an American looked like. Very strange and uncomfortable for me as a 23 year old.

fluffy2560 wrote:

What's that about Magyar Telekom and the government?  I must have missed that one.

See for example:

http://www.portfolio.hu/en/economy/hung … 30636.html

FeliciaOni wrote:

Ok i am a bit dense i guess but i totally do not get that! Course i am awful at getting jokes in English let alone a Hungarian joke!

If you mean my comment about the cow, it is not joke. It is to describe how some people actually think here.

It is a way to describe how some people here are very bitter if they have a failure, and want others to fail too rather than have to self reflect why they failed, maybe unwilling to consider the choices they made that might have contributed to their failure, etc. Rather it is --- if "I" fail or have problems then other people must also fail or have problems -- that is the only solution "I" consider as "just".

There are a lot of Hungarian sayings like this (I do not know really, but suspect / have an opinion, it may be part of a societal coping mechanism). For example, instead of saying someone is acting crazy, one might instead say "their pills must have rolled away from them under the cabinet" (i.e. they did not take their medication).

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Makes me think back to around the year 2000 when we had a 6 month long family visit to Hungary
......
I never experienced so mush misery with family in my life all the while knowing what I gave up for it.

That entire story.... Hate to say this, but sounds about like most every Hungarian family I have ever met. Almost all seem to have stories like this; and they did not even have to inject an American to make the drama.....

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

so my then 58 year old SIL an then 55 year old husband started digging away. I thought they both had lost their minds

My village put in a "sewage" system some years ago. Every village resident had to "self connect" to the line, which meant everyone had to dig the ditch to the main line on their property. Out came the elderly land owners with their picks and shovels. It was really odd to watch digging for days on end.

Me --- When I need digging for a waste water line, I hired a mini excavator. Job was done in an hour (cost 10,000 HUF - 5,000 HUF for the trip to our place, 5,000 HUF to do the work). Worth every "cent" I paid. And I no stranger to shoveling.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

What's that about Magyar Telekom and the government?  I must have missed that one.

See for example:

http://www.portfolio.hu/en/economy/hung … 30636.html

Jeez.  The patients have taken over the asylum.

klsallee wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

..... Out came the elderly land owners with their picks and shovels. It was really odd to watch digging for days on end.

Me --- When I need digging for a waste water line, I hired a mini excavator. Job was done in an hour (cost 10,000 HUF - 5,000 HUF for the trip to our place, 5,000 HUF to do the work). Worth every "cent" I paid. And I no stranger to shoveling.

We had a digging machine recently to dig out a hole about 1.5m deep, 8m long and about 3m wide.  That's really a lot of earth.  It took the guy about 1.5h to do it and that included my kids having a go in the machine as well.

One day I must ask my husband to retell me some of these lamo sayings.( I thankfully have forgotten most of them)
My HU girlfriend who lived in the US for 30 some years and now lives back in HU. Told me once that yes, most HUngairans love to see others fail.
My PT therapist in Hungary is a family friend  of ( hate to mention names) a famous HU film director who's last name starts with V. Think you probably can guess who V is.
A Hollywood big shot these days. Anyways her parents knew back in the old days before he left HU for fame and fortune. ( lately he was in the news in HU too)
MY therapist is a wonderful smart young HU lady, no big ego and very conservative and good natured, a nice person.
I talked allot with her while she helped with my PT.
I asked her why she doesn't move to Hollywood and have Mr. V introduce her and her husband another PT therapist , to some wealthy Hollywood types. She could do what she is good at and knows plus make some big bucks and move like she wants to.
She said he would never actually help with a job, he started out on the bottom rung in Hollywood, was a go fer and assistant for years so he thinks everyone should suffer even if he could help out in big ways.
OK, she said as a child he brought her whole family to the uS for a month and gave them a wonderful vacation, took them all over the US and paid for it all, but as far as actual help, too bad no way. I find that very odd.

Since we have been here almost six months now i would say it is do able. We are not saving as much as we like due to surprise expenses coming up and trying to do things to go forward but i will say Budapest is till pretty affordable.

Food is very cheap and mostly good quality although i have notice health standards in Hungary are lower than i am used too. Electronics are beyond expensive! Coffee pots, fans, microwaves etc are rarely under 40 dollars where we are used to like 10 dollars for those things.

And laptops are very very expensive and much older technology than i am used too. I have an 8g of Ram with 2 T of storage i brought new last year and i want a new one with 8 or 12 g and guys at the computer stores or media mart look at me like i am crazy! I do not have the money to buy one right now but i am used to being able to see things i can not afford at least! he hee.

The hardest things is dealing with people that make things difficult for no reason. Most Hungarians seem to do that. Which is sad as things would really be better for them if they just tried being nicer, hell even just normal toward people! I see it very much in the younger people ie those in their 20s.

I think there are always surprise expenses when you move home , especially if you move country. You will settle down eventually and be able to keep within your budget. I don't think there is any normal behaviour anywhere. Hungarians just behave differently and therefore can appear strange. If every third person smiles at me I am happy enough but I always have to smile first. In Budapest especially there are people from all over the world but once you get out into the countryside you tend to only meet Hungarians.

As Ann pointed out to me just yesterday, most young people these days are from Mars, I know that to be true.
The thing here in HUngary is if you physically stand out for any reason, most locals just assume you are a tourist and fair game for anything like over charging or just being plain old rude.
They do not think you will be a regular customer and they always feel slightly jealous and think they deserve to be served, not serve others even if that is the job they are being paid for.
Funny, while you were in HU for the past 6 months, I was home in the states for months.
I am seriously thinking of finishing up any business here in HU and returning to the states, no where is perfect but after a decade in HU I know it will never be home to me no matter how cheap things are.
I love a challenge most times but when taking a walk just to go get a loaf of bread becomes a challenge , dealing with people etc. it's time to hit the highway.
I need more smilies in my life.

FeliciaOni wrote:

Electronics are beyond expensive! Coffee pots, fans, microwaves etc are rarely under 40 dollars where we are used to like 10 dollars for those things.

A lot can be blamed on VAT.

For example, there are a few filter coffee machines available for 4500 HUF (~15 USD), and when you remove the 27% VAT you get back to about 10 USD.

Because of the extra tax if I needed a new lap top or tablet I would buy it mail order or when I visit elsewhere. Going back to Marilyns point it is possible to stay in one place for too long and as we age we have to face new challenges quicker.
For me I just wanted to have the experience of living abroad for a few years and Hungary has been a good choice.
One sees miserable faces everywhere when you look for them. At the moment I am really enjoying the vibrancy of Budapest: The numerous free festivals . My lovely apartment and my time in the countryside. I have also made good friends and can live comfortably on tuppence halfpenny.
I am quite new to Hungary but when I get jaded and bored with it ,  I hope I have the confidence to cut my losses and move on. Also a sense of humour is invaluable because your original country is changing too.
I will be properly elderly after ten years so maybe I just won't care which planet I am on in the future.