How to deal with stress when moving to Hungary

We thought of moving to Hungary as a big adventure plus we were able to quit work  early and for good.
I basically stopped working at age 51, not stressful at all.
Immigration and the shipping company were about the most stressful thing about moving here, things do have a way of falling into place over time.
No big worries at all.
Maybe easier for me since my husband speaks Hungarian but over 40 years away even he found things to be different then he remembered from his childhood.
One step at a time is the best way to go about adjusting to any new place.
We have lived in 10 different US states same country but so many different regional customs, New Mexico has it's accent and ways and Hawaii took a long time to understand what anyone was saying, they were speaking English too. Slang and accents in just about every US state can through you at first, at least in Hungary if you don't understand, you can't feel insulted or hurt.
So many people now speak English here in Hungary I don't think that is a huge issue any longer.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

...So many people now speak English here in Hungary I don't think that is a huge issue any longer.

It's getting better but the public services are quite weak on speaking English. 

A lot of very professional people can of course but the average Belgian can easily speak English (and French, Dutch and German) even in the most obscure office. 

I suppose one should not really expect the civil service to speak a foreign language but these days it's basic education.   My Hungarian kids have to learn at least English and German at school.   

Obviously my kids find English rather easy but they can get a hard time if the teacher insists on an answer known to be wrong.   They don't get homework in English as they are always 5 (the highest grade) in that subject.

In my own country (UK), no public servant is likely to speak another language unless it's Urdu or Gujarati although there are some speaking other languages.   They do however produce many information pamphlets in other languages - take for example the metro maps - plenty of choices here: Metro Maps in other languages.   Not a great example but there are others.

In the US many jobs want people to speak English and Spanish.
Here most people in the past had to speak a few languages to get jobs say in a hotel or service industry job. Russian or German was big back in the day as a second or third language.
My father spoke a Slavic language a Polish/Ukrainian /Rus version.
His father spoke 5 languages which was odd since he was born in the US but hung in a Rusyn community, spoke better Slav then English and wrote in Slav.
Never taught us his native language because he never would of thought it would ever be useful...

I suppose a bit of red wine or some palinka always helps with stress, I for one never enjoy a drink when I am under stress, only drink when I feel happy or alright. Guess that's a good sign.

I sometimes wonder if public servants here can speak English but just don't wish to bother or be helpful.
I once got so mad and decided to never speak to this person again because on introduction to this man he acted like he couldn't speak any English at all.
Let me fumble around in bad HUngarian and make a clown of myself, it was some family dinner thing.
After a good hour or more of me acting the fool he started to speak English. Made me so angry that he was ok with me looking insane but not himself.
This has happened to me a few times over the long years and I have decided to just stop talking to a person who ever does this or give them back some rude attitude. Just no reason for them to act like a deaf mute and then decide I have passed the test.

I suppose if you can afford it it might be good to hire people to do errands for you.
Go with you tho turn on utilities, show you around the shops and how people do things here.
My first visits to HU I never brought any shopping bags with me and didn't know how to ask for a bag.
It got horrible with the clerks before they finally gave me a bag at a charge of course.
No one bothered to tell me to pay for a bag or BYO.

Like in any country, learning a little of the language helps a lot. My Hungarian is not great but day-to-day I fet by with it. It is not a difficult language to learn, although Hungarians are very proud of telling you it is. There are no gender or articles to worry about. THat being said in daily life I speak Hungarian, hardly any english. Say "bocsanat, huly angol vagyok" (Sorry, I am a stupid Englishman/woman) and they will help you out. It helps for me because I speak French and Spanish well, and a bit of German, so I end up translating the German back to English thence to Hungarian to say what it is. But as a rule, you should not translate, in your head. I know that "egy" is one and "one" is one and "un" is one, etc, but then the mental leap to translate one to the other is hard, you have to THINK in the language not translating in your head all the time.

The worst one for me is what British people call a "Biro". The Wikipedia article and redirects are rather fucked up on that. It was invented by Laszlo Biro, a Hungarian. But in Hungarian it is not called a Biro,

SimonTrew wrote:

.....
The worst one for me is what British people call a "Biro". The Wikipedia article and redirects are rather f***ed up on that. It was invented by Laszlo Biro, a Hungarian. But in Hungarian it is not called a Biro,

Really that type of pen should be called a Judge.

And a slinky should be called a Rubik in Hungarian.

You should consider yourself very lucky. Most Hungarians do speak a little English and are more than willing to practice with you.

Try learning some Hungarian. Then you will get served better. THe tone of your comments makes me think you have never bothered to learn any Hungarian and just expect everyone to speak English.

Becase of my colouring (blonde, blue-eyed) and foreign accent more often I get spoken to in German. Which I don't understand at all. Please, we speak Hungarian. (Kerem, beszelunk magarul).

I think you have the wrong attitude. Learn some Hungarian. It ain't tricky.

THe other one is "konkret" (concrete). In Hungarian "konkret" is just an adjective to describe a concrete noun, as opposed to an abstract noun,i.e. it is iteslf abstract, but the word for "concrete" is not "konkret". You don['t get very far at the builder''s merchant asking for konkret.

It helps if you try to speak some of the local language but often some people may make light of your efforts if you do not pronounce a word the correct way.
This happened to me so many times over the years that I dislike speaking to anyone in Hungarian these days.
Not really cool of the locals because I'd like to see how that would go over in the US if we laughed at someone who didn't speak proper English.
A waiter did that when I asked for some salt, so, how hard was that for him to figure out?
No wonder they sometimes do sneaky things to get tips, who is going to tip someone who is making them feel like an idiot?
If some people know you are not a Hungarian, they are going to over step no matter how hard you try or how friendly you are.
I also get allot of people who either speak German to me or Hungarian or just look at me like I arrived from Mars. Even now at this late date in my life.
Just yesterday as I was exiting our car a group of school kids about aged 9 to 10 were walking on the sidewalk, their teacher was with them, she almost walked into the planter because she was staring at me, several kids looked over their shoulders at me. No idea why, I was only wearing some blue jeans with a denim jacket, black turtle  neck sweater and a black beret.
I get so tired of standing out sometimes, just look "different" I suppose.
5'9" tall.slim with red hair, what's so weird about that? Don't know exactly.
Get the same thing at home though too. People in the states ask where I am from, really it gets old sometimes.

And if you go to the csavabolt they will sell you things other than screws, even though it is called a screw shop. You can even get bolts in screw shop, but you can't get hardware at the hardverbolt. What a stupid language.

Someone the other day left a shopping trolley round the corner, so I took it in in case it would come in handy. It did come in handy, to move a load of kitchen counters. But the shopkeeper was a bit surprised that I turned up with my own shopping trolley/cart.

Yes, you should bring your own bag. What is wrong with that? But in small shops they tend to offer you a free bag even if you have one. Perhaps that is just me being male, I say look I have a bag right here, this is it, I don't need another bag. Perhaps they treat women differently, I dunno.

You have to remember to open and close the shop door yourself.

I lived in Texas and I learned Spanish. What would you do?

SimonTrew wrote:

You should consider yourself very lucky. Most Hungarians do speak a little English and are more than willing to practice with you.

Try learning some Hungarian. Then you will get served better. THe tone of your comments makes me think you have never bothered to learn any Hungarian and just expect everyone to speak English.

Becase of my colouring (blonde, blue-eyed) and foreign accent more often I get spoken to in German. Which I don't understand at all. Please, we speak Hungarian. (Kerem, beszelunk magarul).

I think you have the wrong attitude. Learn some Hungarian. It ain't tricky.

Who are you talking to?  If so, then please use the quote button.

Some people nay misunderstand my attempts at humour. 

Look up the word Biro in a Hungarian dictionary etc.

SimonTrew wrote:

THe other one is "konkret" (concrete). In Hungarian "konkret" is just an adjective to describe a concrete noun, as opposed to an abstract noun,i.e. it is iteslf abstract, but the word for "concrete" is not "konkret". You don['t get very far at the builder''s merchant asking for konkret.

You wouldn't in England because what you need is cement.  After cement is fixed up with sand and water and reacted (it's not  a drying process) it becomes concrete.  Not much use for selling concrete at a builder's yard.  Maybe they'd understand here what you really wanted, but I wouldn't bet-on it.

My laptop is on the brink... If I have to quote people as well as try to see my screen without getting flash backs, then I won't be here for long.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

My laptop is on the brink... If I have to quote people as well as try to see my screen without getting flash backs, then I won't be here for long.

It's Facebook messing with your head (which is both SW and HW).

No, I seriously have to buy another notebook next trip over to the states.
My screen is now a blue shade and gets on my last nerve when typing and double checking my content.
We have a big computer, HU style with a new hard drive but I don't use that because the lettering is in HU and I am not wishing to spend the time learning where all the keys are, Even my husband gets confused with it because he has learned on a western style keyboard.
He has the newer notebook be bought last trip over to the states.
I usually only use it to watch some shows and keep up with my mail, that's it, nothing fancy.
That is about the most stressful thing that happens to me, messing with my eyes with the flashing of blue to clear on the screen.
Sort of kicking myself for not having my cousin bring a new notebook over last summer for me, didn't want to hasle him with it at the time.
I make allot of typos because it's hard to see what I wrote without my head spinning.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

No, I seriously have to buy another notebook next trip over to the states.
My screen is now a blue shade and gets on my last nerve when typing and double checking my content.
We have a big computer, HU style with a new hard drive but I don't use that because the lettering is in HU and I am not wishing to spend the time learning where all the keys are, Even my husband gets confused with it because he has learned on a western style keyboard.
He has the newer notebook be bought last trip over to the states.
I usually only use it to watch some shows and keep up with my mail, that's it, nothing fancy.
That is about the most stressful thing that happens to me, messing with my eyes with the flashing of blue to clear on the screen.
Sort of kicking myself for not having my cousin bring a new notebook over last summer for me, didn't want to hasle him with it at the time.
I make allot of typos because it's hard to see what I wrote without my head spinning.

You can easily get  an American keyboard for a desktop type machine.  They are several shops along Bartok Bela utca (near the Gellert Hotel).  I bought one there once but equally available mail order.

But Windows doesn't actually care what the HW is.  Just change the keyboard language in "Regional Settings".  You can still type the USA way without looking at the keyboard.  You can install just about any language there and you can have an icon down on the left side of the system tray (next to the tool bar bottom right) which allows you to select which language you want to type in.  If you don't want a new keyboard, buy a white marker pen and write it on the top of the keys.   Keyboards are so cheap, they are throwaways. 

Oh, and if you are using Windows in say Hungarian, you can simply download and install the language pack for English (US version) or the definitive crunchy original tasty flavOur (British English).    See what I did there?  Languages are then selectable on the Login screen.

On your notebook, it sounds also like your video connection is wrong.  When the machine is operating, press relatively firmly near the hinges. If the screen changes or flashes, then there's probably a cable problem between the main board under the keyboard and the screen.  It's a really easy fix if it's the cable but will require a replacement cable which is not so easy to find yourself but any PC repairer will have one. 

If something else is wrong, it's probably the video section (sometimes they are cards) and while it could be repaired, it would almost certainly not be economic to do it.   However, you can always take out your disk and install it in a new or second hand laptop.  It's not very difficult at all if you have a small set of screw drivers. There's a panel underneath. Turn it off and disconnect it from the power and take the panel off.  It's pretty obvious from there how to install your disk (take out previous one, put in new one).  Putting it the disk in  is the reverse of taking it out.  Screws are a bit fiddly.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

No, I seriously have to buy another notebook next trip over to the states.
My screen is now a blue shade and gets on my last nerve when typing and double checking my content.
We have a big computer, HU style with a new hard drive but I don't use that because the lettering is in HU and I am not wishing to spend the time learning where all the keys are, Even my husband gets confused with it because he has learned on a western style keyboard.
He has the newer notebook be bought last trip over to the states.
I usually only use it to watch some shows and keep up with my mail, that's it, nothing fancy.
That is about the most stressful thing that happens to me, messing with my eyes with the flashing of blue to clear on the screen.
Sort of kicking myself for not having my cousin bring a new notebook over last summer for me, didn't want to hasle him with it at the time.
I make allot of typos because it's hard to see what I wrote without my head spinning.

You can easily get  an American keyboard for a desktop type machine.  They are several shops along Bartok Bela utca (near the Gellert Hotel).  I bought one there once but equally available mail order.

But Windows doesn't actually care what the HW is.  Just change the keyboard language in "Regional Settings".  You can still type the USA way without looking at the keyboard.  You can install just about any language there and you can have an icon down on the left which allows you to select which language you want to type in.  If you don't want a new keyboard, buy a white marker pen and write it on the top of the keys.   Keyboards are so cheap, they are throwaways. 

Oh, and if you are using Windows in say Hungarian, you can simply download and install the language pack for English (US version) or the definitive crunchy original tasty flavOur (British English).    See what I did there?  Languages are then selectable on the Login screen.

On your notebook, it sounds also like your video connection is wrong.  When the machine is operating, press relatively firmly near the hinges. If the screen changes or flashes, then there's probably a cable problem between the main board under the keyboard and the screen.  It's a really easy fix if it's the cable but will require a replacement cable which is not so easy to find yourself but any PC repairer will have one. 

If something else is wrong, it's probably the video section (sometimes they are cards) and while it could be repaired, it would almost certainly not be economic to do it.   However, you can always take out your disk and install it in a new or second hand laptop.  It's not very difficult at all if you have a small set of screw drivers. There's a panel underneath. Turn it off and disconnect it from the power and take the panel off.  It's pretty obvious from there how to install your disk (take out previous one, put in new one).  Putting it the disk in  is the reverse of taking it out.  Screws are a bit fiddly.

You can swop languages on computers these days. I'm so used to the German keyboard layout now I have trouble using an English layout.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

No, I seriously have to buy another notebook next trip over to the states.

Have you thought about just buying a tablet here, and a plug-in keyboard for it? Surprising, a great many keyboards for tablets here are either English QUERTY or German QUERTZ (which is close enough as only the Y and Z are switched).

"It helps if you try to speak some of the local language but often some people may make light of your efforts if you do not pronounce a word the correct way."

Yes! Now it may well be different with friends and colleagues, but in shops and restaurants there are sometimes people who just seem to go out of their way to make you feel uncomfortable, like you're intruding on their Hungarian space by trying to speak the language, as if you're engaging in cultural appropriation of some sort.

I once asked for the etlapot -- instead of the étlapot -- in a pizza place, and the woman at the counter made a big show of it: looking puzzled for a bit, forcing me to say it wrong again and again, and then finally exclaiming, "Oh, you mean the étlapot!"

After a few experiences like that, you just don't want to open your mouth.

Though to be fair, I've never said etlapot since.

There is only one way to avoid it: don't move to Hungary. I wish I hadn't.

amalka44 wrote:

There is only one way to avoid it: don't move to Hungary. I wish I hadn't.

Be nice if you could elaborate on the subject.

You are obviously a better builder than I guessed from your remarks, my apologies, bocsanat. The problem is most decent products are in German. I just fitted me whole kitchen out with Ikea diagrams made for idiots that took me and the missus three hours to work out. Mostly in her shouting at me. Pleasant weekend that was. I thought we had moved on to false friends etc. Gypsum (plaster, gypus) is not what english people would call gypsum salts etc. Fine plaster or plaster''s trowel, these are the kind of words that you hacve to know in Hungarian or be puzzled. A konnektor is a plug not a socket. I am still trying to find out what two-by-four is, since in the UK it is 50mm by 25mm. Another one my missus uses as a false friend is saying "by" to mean "divide by" not "multiply by". So I say that is five by eight and she doesn't get "forty" out of that. And her English is exceptionally good, and you don't have to ask my word for it.

One thing, I was looking this up on a certain search engine, most people who are bilingual or multilingual do not translate. It takes a mental effort to translate. We don't in our heads try to translate from one language to another. It then comes as a coincidence to us that elbow for a plumber's fitting is elbow in Hungarian because we are not expecting it to be. We think in the language that we are speaking in. We don't translate it back. When I fail to find a word in Hungarian, my brain, small as it is, does not go back through English but puts it into French I supose thinking to itself "This ain't English, therefore it must be French". So Viz (Hungarian for Water) used to become via Tourne-vis (French for screwdriver) to meaningless in English and  other nonsense like that and then your brain kinda "stops"and says no that can't be right.

I know what a bear is, medve, but I don't know what a teddy-bear is. I know what a toy is, jateg, but I don't know what a soft toy is. I know Teddy was named for Edward Roosevelt, and I know Eodvard is Hungarian for Edward. But it is unlikely to be Eodvard Medvei or Roosevelt Medve. The words for soft and toy. These are the kinda struggles when one bothers to learn a language. I know what a piece of two-by-four is. I have no idea what it is in Hungarian. I have bought plenty of it. My missus keeps saying what to my ear sounds like "button" when she means "batten". She knows what it is, she just gets the pronunciation wrong and it is genuinely confusing to me, that one, I bring her a box of buttons instead of a length of batten.

Mind you, even in English we have that. My canadian ex asked me on december 23 to go out while she was preparing supper to get a box of crackers. Naturally, I came home with a box of christmas crackers. She said that's nice for the table, but where are the crackers? (Biscuits)

Market stalls everywhere will have different computer layouts. Although or perhaps because I touch-type, I prefer the keys to match the screen. So that not for the QWERTY but that when I look down for the odd symbols I use as a software developer, then they take some hunting on a different layout.

I have a variety of layouts and take the other option, to get the keyboards that match the screen. I don't do it on the software layout, I do it on the keyboard.

You will find cheap keyboards at Nagykata market (mostly German), there is a good computer shop for secoond-hand near Keleti, the Rackozi bridge, if you are in Budapest, that you can pick and choose and cost you about 1000Ft second hand have a rummage through. Be careful to buy new ones in Media Markt because they are usually German layout, you can get Hungarian layout but be careful to be sure. Hungarian is useful for having the diacritics on it on the right hand side, to save swapping all the time. But I find it easier physically to swap than to swap keyboard layouts on the computer, i.e. I run on two keyboards, that is just easier for me. Your kilometreage may vary.

Of Hungarians, she don't say much
I'll elaborate on a behalf:
Of anyone Magyar or anyone their
It's just a small country, a hole in the air

It was bigger before, before  Tri-an-on
In nineteen oh twenty the work was begun
Then it had Romania, Slovakia, Croatia
And half of slovenia, if that goes to please her

It's bigger than Britain but smaller than France
And has a ridiculous national dance

They're foreign, they're idiots, they speek Finno-Ugric
And like dropping litter (trash) when they're in public

They gave Rubik cubes, Tesla tubes, Biros
And rather peculiar telescope gyros

(Although a gyro in Hungarian is a kebab)

Maygars are better than Danish or Dutch
Almost good as the English, not half!

They're worse than Americans (not saying owt)
And Canucks and Eyeties we well do without,
The Spiks and the Polacks are not worth my word
To say something of Germans would be quite absurd

My lizst's getting longer indeed such a shower
For the Anzacs and Slit-Eyes and Danish and Strines
And Yorkshiremen too if your racism inclines

There's nothing much good of em all as you see
except for fluffy and me.

THus wittgenstein is routed once again. I know what it is but I don't know what it is called. I know gips gypsum and I know it ain't concrete, the missus calls it Rolson which is just a brand name (like British people call it Polyfilla, what american english is spackle) and these kinda words are not because you don't know what it is but not what it is called.

Plasplugs (Br. Eng) or Biro as I started. It's a biro. Not a gyombrolly. You invented it... you must have heard of him, Laszlo Biro.

SimonTrew wrote:

Of Hungarians, she don't say much
I'll elaborate on a behalf:
Of anyone Magyar or anyone their
It's just a small country, a hole in the air

It was bigger before, before  Tri-an-on
In nineteen oh twenty the work was begun
Then it had Romania, Slovakia, Croatia
And half of slovenia, if that goes to please her

It's bigger than Britain but smaller than France
And has a ridiculous national dance

They're foreign, they're idiots, they speek Finno-Ugric
And like dropping litter (trash) when they're in public

They gave Rubik cubes, Tesla tubes, Biros
And rather peculiar telescope gyros

(Although a gyro in Hungarian is a kebab)

Maygars are better than Danish or Dutch
Almost good as the English, not half!

They're worse than Americans (not saying owt)
And Canucks and Eyeties we well do without,
The Spiks and the Polacks are not worth my word
To say something of Germans would be quite absurd

My lizst's getting longer indeed such a shower
(In Hungarian Llzst just only means "flour")
For the Anzacs and Slit-Eyes and Danish and Strines
And Yorkshiremen too if your racism inclines

There's nothing much good of em all as you see
except for fluffy and me.

OK got it now. I have to hit quote not reply. I got it now. No wonder the conversation is so disjointed.

SimonTrew wrote:

You are obviously a better builder than I guessed from your remarks, my apologies. The problem is most decent products are in German.

I think you might be addressing me but I am not so sure.  You should use the quote button and edit down to the essentials.  But also this is probably not the right place to post this  response.

I should say the main inhabitants of this forum have been here a long time and are married to Hungarians.  So collectively we know some things about the place over many years.

The German thing is unsurprising.  Personally I am quite used to it having worked in Germany several times and being interested in Germany, I am more active to improve there  as I enjoyed working there a lot.  And hereabouts, it's a German village so we see all sorts of German hints flashing about here and there. 

I just received a new kitchen hob - a Bosch brand - and the main instructions came in Hungarian and German. I always use the German manuals if there's no English.  It's just easier. 

SimonTrew wrote:

I know what a bear is, medve, but I don't know what a teddy-bear is. I know what a toy is, jateg, but I don't know what a soft toy is. These are the kinda struggles when one bothers to learn a language. I

Medve is basically the same as in Russian like the former PM there, Medvedev, aka Mr Bear.  Despite the "uniqueness" of Hungarian stated by some locals, other words are similar like Stadium in English, it's the same in Russian and Hungarian, Stadion.  And kitchen, Konhya is Kukhnya (transliterated).  Not really a surprise that some words are the same or nearly the same.

For toys you mean "jatek".   This may have some dashes in it but I just cannot be bothered putting them in.  I often just leave them out and it's still OK anyway.  For soft toy, you mean Plüss which is easy to understand as that's "plush" as in (US English) plushies. Plüss medve = soft (toy) bear.

You might find there are just no words to describe something in Hungarian and if you try it might come out really stupid. 

I don't have a specific example from here but in Germany, my German teacher and I had an intense discussion about air bags in cars - was it Der Airbag (yes) or was it eine Windbeutel (no)? 

The latter suggestion brought about intense laughter because a Windbeutel is a cream puff* (klsallee will put that straight if I remembered it wrong). 

* Safety advice: always carry a cream puff on your steering wheel in case of emergencies or if wearing a clown outfit, take a custard pie and place it on the dashboard. On second thoughts don't go out driving in a clown outfit - stupid shoes cause gas vs brake confusion.  Take the bus instead.

fluffy2560 wrote:

amalka44 wrote:

There is only one way to avoid it: don't move to Hungary. I wish I hadn't.

Be nice if you could elaborate on the subject.

I elaborated on it most equatiosly and with max verbosimosity below but hit reply instead of quote. Got that now.

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

You are obviously a better builder than I guessed from your remarks, my apologies. The problem is most decent products are in German.

I think you might be addressing me but I am not so sure.  You should use the quote button and edit down to the essentials.  But also this is probably not the right place to post this  response.

I should say the main inhabitants of this forum have been here a long time and are married to Hungarians.  So collectively we know some things about the place over many years.

The German thing is unsurprising.  Personally I am quite used to it having worked in Germany several times and being interested in Germany, I am more active to improve there  as I enjoyed working there a lot.  And hereabouts, it's a German village so we see all sorts of German hints flashing about here and there. 

I just received a new kitchen hob - a Bosch brand - and the main instructions came in Hungarian and German. I always use the German manuals if there's no English.  It's just easier. 

SimonTrew wrote:

I know what a bear is, medve, but I don't know what a teddy-bear is. I know what a toy is, jateg, but I don't know what a soft toy is. These are the kinda struggles when one bothers to learn a language. I

Medve is basically the same as in Russian like the former PM there, Medvedev, aka Mr Bear.  Despite the "uniqueness" of Hungarian stated by some locals, other words are similar like Stadium in English, it's the same in Russian and Hungarian, Stadion.  And kitchen, Konhya is Kukhnya (transliterated).  Not really a surprise that some words are the same or nearly the same.

For toys you mean "jatek".   This may have some dashes in it but I just cannot be bothered putting them in.  I often just leave them out and it's still OK anyway.  For soft toy, you mean Plüss which is easy to understand as that's "plush" as in (US English) plushies. Plüss medve = soft (toy) bear.

You might find there are just no words to describe something in Hungarian and if you try it might come out really stupid. 

I don't have a specific example from here but in Germany, my German teacher and I had an intense discussion about air bags in cars - was it Der Airbag (yes) or was it eine Windbeutel (no)? 

The latter suggestion brought about intense laughter because a Windbeutel is a cream puff* (klsallee will put that straight if I remembered it wrong). 

* Safety advice: always carry a cream puff on your steering wheel in case of emergencies or if wearing a clown outfit, take a custard pie and place it on the dashboard. On second thoughts don't go out driving in a clown outfit - stupid shoes cause gas vs brake confusion.  Take the bus instead.

Sorry Fluff we are crossing posts. You are right I did just work out that I should quote instead of reply. I am quoting you in full so that I don't tangle the web farther.

What to you want to do with the hob? I just fitted my kitchen out last weekend I have the approptriate lengths of cable unless your kitchen is about seventeen metres square. I have jigs and jigsaws, I am just used to reading the safety instructions in the seventeen langages no doubt they come in. I am a qualified electrician and can sort that out for you. I got too many metres of kitchen counter top so if you want some spare to mount it on you can have it for free. You have to do a cut-out, right? I have all the tools and stuff to do it with, I am not just an idiot I am pretty handy, and will wire and cert that for you. Got mine in on Saturday morning before sunrise. I am not even a pretty face. I have spare backing boxes and about ten metres of 2.5mm of cable which is what it should be rated in (I am assuming it is electric hob, if it is gas ask someone else). I can whack that in for you no problem. trew ess em /!\ I AM A STUPID SPAMMER /!\ dot com my real name is simon trew

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

You are obviously a better builder than I guessed from your remarks, my apologies. The problem is most decent products are in German.

I think you might be addressing me but I am not so sure.  You should use the quote button and edit down to the essentials.  But also this is probably not the right place to post this  response.

I should say the main inhabitants of this forum have been here a long time and are married to Hungarians.  So collectively we know some things about the place over many years.

The German thing is unsurprising.  Personally I am quite used to it having worked in Germany several times and being interested in Germany, I am more active to improve there  as I enjoyed working there a lot.  And hereabouts, it's a German village so we see all sorts of German hints flashing about here and there. 

I just received a new kitchen hob - a Bosch brand - and the main instructions came in Hungarian and German. I always use the German manuals if there's no English.  It's just easier. 

SimonTrew wrote:

I know what a bear is, medve, but I don't know what a teddy-bear is. I know what a toy is, jateg, but I don't know what a soft toy is. These are the kinda struggles when one bothers to learn a language. I

Medve is basically the same as in Russian like the former PM there, Medvedev, aka Mr Bear.  Despite the "uniqueness" of Hungarian stated by some locals, other words are similar like Stadium in English, it's the same in Russian and Hungarian, Stadion.  And kitchen, Konhya is Kukhnya (transliterated).  Not really a surprise that some words are the same or nearly the same.

For toys you mean "jatek".   This may have some dashes in it but I just cannot be bothered putting them in.  I often just leave them out and it's still OK anyway.  For soft toy, you mean Plüss which is easy to understand as that's "plush" as in (US English) plushies. Plüss medve = soft (toy) bear.

You might find there are just no words to describe something in Hungarian and if you try it might come out really stupid. 

I don't have a specific example from here but in Germany, my German teacher and I had an intense discussion about air bags in cars - was it Der Airbag (yes) or was it eine Windbeutel (no)? 

The latter suggestion brought about intense laughter because a Windbeutel is a cream puff* (klsallee will put that straight if I remembered it wrong). 

* Safety advice: always carry a cream puff on your steering wheel in case of emergencies or if wearing a clown outfit, take a custard pie and place it on the dashboard. On second thoughts don't go out driving in a clown outfit - stupid shoes cause gas vs brake confusion.  Take the bus instead.

Sorry Fluff we are crossing posts. You are right I did just work out that I should quote instead of reply. I am quoting you in full so that I don't tangle the web farther.

What to you want to do with the hob? I just fitted my kitchen out last weekend I have the approptriate lengths of cable unless your kitchen is about seventeen metres square. I have jigs and jigsaws, I am just used to reading the safety instructions in the seventeen langages no doubt they come in. I am a qualified electrician and can sort that out for you. I got too many metres of kitchen counter top so if you want some spare to mount it on you can have it for free. You have to do a cut-out, right? I have all the tools and stuff to do it with, I am not just an idiot I am pretty handy, and will wire and cert that for you. Got mine in on Saturday morning before sunrise. I am not even a pretty face. I have spare backing boxes and about ten metres of 2.5mm of cable which is what it should be rated in (I am assuming it is electric hob, if it is gas ask someone else). I can whack that in for you no problem. trew ess em /!\ I AM A STUPID SPAMMER /!\ dot com my real name is simon trew

expat.com took out my cunning email. tango romeo echo foxtrot sierra at golf malarkey alpha iniquotious

SimonTrew wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

You are obviously a better builder than I guessed from your remarks, my apologies. The problem is most decent products are in German.

I think you might be addressing me but I am not so sure.  You should use the quote button and edit down to the essentials.  But also this is probably not the right place to post this  response.

I should say the main inhabitants of this forum have been here a long time and are married to Hungarians.  So collectively we know some things about the place over many years.

The German thing is unsurprising.  Personally I am quite used to it having worked in Germany several times and being interested in Germany, I am more active to improve there  as I enjoyed working there a lot.  And hereabouts, it's a German village so we see all sorts of German hints flashing about here and there. 

I just received a new kitchen hob - a Bosch brand - and the main instructions came in Hungarian and German. I always use the German manuals if there's no English.  It's just easier. 


Medve is basically the same as in Russian like the former PM there, Medvedev, aka Mr Bear.  Despite the "uniqueness" of Hungarian stated by some locals, other words are similar like Stadium in English, it's the same in Russian and Hungarian, Stadion.  And kitchen, Konhya is Kukhnya (transliterated).  Not really a surprise that some words are the same or nearly the same.

For toys you mean "jatek".   This may have some dashes in it but I just cannot be bothered putting them in.  I often just leave them out and it's still OK anyway.  For soft toy, you mean Plüss which is easy to understand as that's "plush" as in (US English) plushies. Plüss medve = soft (toy) bear.

You might find there are just no words to describe something in Hungarian and if you try it might come out really stupid. 

I don't have a specific example from here but in Germany, my German teacher and I had an intense discussion about air bags in cars - was it Der Airbag (yes) or was it eine Windbeutel (no)? 

The latter suggestion brought about intense laughter because a Windbeutel is a cream puff* (klsallee will put that straight if I remembered it wrong). 

* Safety advice: always carry a cream puff on your steering wheel in case of emergencies or if wearing a clown outfit, take a custard pie and place it on the dashboard. On second thoughts don't go out driving in a clown outfit - stupid shoes cause gas vs brake confusion.  Take the bus instead.

Sorry Fluff we are crossing posts. You are right I did just work out that I should quote instead of reply. I am quoting you in full so that I don't tangle the web farther.

What to you want to do with the hob? I just fitted my kitchen out last weekend I have the approptriate lengths of cable unless your kitchen is about seventeen metres square. I have jigs and jigsaws, I am just used to reading the safety instructions in the seventeen langages no doubt they come in. I am a qualified electrician and can sort that out for you. I got too many metres of kitchen counter top so if you want some spare to mount it on you can have it for free. You have to do a cut-out, right? I have all the tools and stuff to do it with, I am not just an idiot I am pretty handy, and will wire and cert that for you. Got mine in on Saturday morning before sunrise. I am not even a pretty face. I have spare backing boxes and about ten metres of 2.5mm of cable which is what it should be rated in (I am assuming it is electric hob, if it is gas ask someone else). I can whack that in for you no problem. trew ess em /!\ I AM A STUPID SPAMMER /!\ dot com my real name is simon trew

expat.com took out my cunning email. tango romeo echo foxtrot sierra at golf malarkey alpha iniquotious

For foxtrot read whisky as in trew

It always says @The BBC code is incorrect@.

This is you quoting me quoting you.

I can fit your hob next weekend. Despite being stupid (just learnign the tools) I have actually spent the last two weeks here fitting a kitchen in my own house. I can give you some pictures as references. I am a good carpenter and plumber and qualified sparks and a better painter than what you will find on the street (from the many houses I have lived in in Hungary). I  have too many kitchen countertops left over, I counted at 4m a run and then it was 3m and the18-year-old who sold them to me couldn't do the difference so sold me three times three instead of it would have come out of three. These are 38mm counter tops shorter is 1152, the rest is not much longer I think about 1148, but twice the length of your hob. We have a 60mm base unit going spare if you want cos Mobelix sold us the wrong style and it was not worth taking it back, if you want it mounted in there, we have lots of the spare Mobelix countertops we didn't want to buy all in original wrapping but they come in 50mm or  60mm mostly, largest is 100mm. You would have to do transport but I will do the work for free to get your hob in. My real name is Simon Trew my email address starts with trewsm and ends after the at sign in a well known free email provider who also does search services.

I was born in Budapest and moved back to Hungary after 4 years in the US and 23 years in Canada. One source of stress is that things that I took for granted in Canada don't exist here, like efficient banking, payment by credit card, health care etc.
Bureaucracy is overwhelming, after one try I used the "elintezzuk.hu" company to deal with it. Wasn't cheap. The largest problem is the attitude. Long ago friendly Hungarians are extremely hostile against foreigners. I was yelled on the metro for reading an English book. If you don't understand Hungarian you will feel better -- you won't understand it...
There are few expat activities as compared to e. g. Vienna or Madrid.  After 4 years I still feel the culture shock and gave up trying to adapt and will move to Vienna.

@amalka44 so R u saying Austria is better then Hungary?

27 years away from home is a long time.
After over 40 some my husband is also in between worlds.
All good, he says having "space case" me around is like still being in the USA.
We are "considering" going back to the US for our "elderly years" which haven't come just yet but time goes by fast.
One day at a time is the way we have always lived.

No big worries, if I had too much stress here we would just pack up and leave too.
Almost left some years back when immigration was giving me a headache.All got sorted out and I'm good to go here.
If God forbid, anything serious should happen with either of our health or worst, we would hit it fast outta here.

I don't worry at all about sizes of pipes, boards etc. that's my husbands job, we have our own roles and his is "fixer". Mine is helper.

Not sure if this is true or not but my husband swears that all the "cool" smart and open minded Hungarians have already left Hungary or have moved to their, "own private Idaho" in a nice small town in Hungary. Allot of country dwellers have come up to the city for jobs and just don't have the "manners" or style that people used to have in the city.That's what I have heard, seems so at times as allot of people don't even know how to walk on the sidewalks.
Most of his old friends from the 1960's are either pushing up daisies now or did well and no longer live in the city limits.

He also told me years ago as well as most of our US/HU friends that I shouldn't worry about learning too much HUngarian because it will only lead to trouble.

People will be jealous, upset or rude just because they may think you have it better then they do/did.
I learned a long time ago to not give a hoot about what someone else was doing, too move on and trust only a few people in life.
Sometimes even family can turn on you so what can we expect from strangers?
Not much.
No one really sees what one has gone through to get to where they now are, they only see the results of hard work or planning, not what one went through to finish their goals.
One great thing in Hungary is the wine is pretty darn good, not too strong if you don't over do it,  just enough to get by without a care.
To be perfectly honest, we only are still here because it is not a expensive place to live, sooner or later though  prices will increase here too, so might just go home and make everyone happy.
It takes a person with allot of self confidence to move to a strange new country, some people fantasize about how wonderful it will be.
They forget they bring them selves with them where ever they go in life.

Have to change your expectations sometimes even daily to deal with small stresses. No where on earth is perfect, it's all a state of mind.
So many people here are on xanax just about as bad a situation as in other countries.
Read something awhile back that they had so many people here on xanax that they had a shortage for a bit.
The internet, movies etc,are over selling the "good life" and people believe having more is going to make them happier, not true.
Having enough is important but having more then others is nothing but a headache in the long run.
Once more people in HUngary realize that more money, bigger home and nicer car is not going to make them all that much happier once the thrill wears off, then we can as Rodney King stated," All get along".
We lived in Hawaii and had a very peaceful time, still wasn't perfect though.
Have to fix in the inside way of thinking before one can find peace even on a remote Island.

SimonTrew wrote:

I am still trying to find out what two-by-four is, since in the UK it is 50mm by 25mm.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=what+is+a+2+by+4

SimonTrew wrote:

Another one my missus uses as a false friend is saying "by" to mean "divide by" not "multiply by".

Everybody seems to have an opinion in Hungary. Even about things they know nothing about.

And that can be stressful to those not prepared for it: Getting inundated by all sorts of inaccurate, misleading and just plane wrong suggestions how things work, or how to do things. Especially when these opinions are unsolicited. A lot of opinions are given, even when not wanted.

amalka44 wrote:

The largest problem is the attitude. Long ago friendly Hungarians are extremely hostile against foreigners. I was yelled on the metro for reading an English book. If you don't understand Hungarian you will feel better -- you won't understand it...

Even if one does not understand, say a tourist, they will still be shocked to be yelled at by someone in public. Even tourists do not need this sort of stress. And is not good.

Sadly, the desire by some to get, or keep. power has unleashed a rhetorical fervor that is poisoning the minds of people in too many countries.