COVID-19 and expatriation in Hungary

fluffy2560 wrote:

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

I was in South Balaton near Zamardi yesterday and the majority of people were not wearing masks (we had a good reason to be out of Pest County).

What was your "good reason"?

Trial by expat.com eh?

More simply suggesting to share to help other expats who may not know what may be or may not be "a good reason". If you share, others can think if they can use that also to travel or not.

For myself, I have not any good reason to travel I can think of yet*. Have not been outside of 5 km of my house for months** ... and that travel was only to shop as that is the nearest, reasonable, place to shop for many items.

*But my passport expires later this year, and I may need to travel to update it.

** Last year, at this time and all within a month, I traveled to Poland and the USA.
.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I am afraid this topic may run longer then our ,"everything else" long line of remarks.
Hope not, can't wait for this all to be over and totally done with!
We were wanting to check out some property near Balaton but seems that has to be placed on hold for now, If summer comes and goes before we can look at places we may just give up on the whole thing.
My husband threw me into a mini-panic attack this morning after he read the latest news.
Seems for the next 2 weeks from May 1 to the 14th they will "randomly" call or write people to come in for "free" to get a C19 test.
....... Once this elderly man passed the Red Cross was calling me all the time and guilt trippin' me. I have a semi-rare blood type and it was we need your blood for premmie babies, we need it for an accident case.
They would of drained me dry if I volunteered.
As it was my husband put a stop to it. He told them rightfully that we had no health coverage of our own and if I needed my own blood back how much were they going to charge me per unit?
In any case what right does any gov. have to force people into doing testing?
They can always start with their own family members if things are really on the up and up.
I have a sinking feeling sooner or later we will all need testing before being allowed to ever board another flight to anywhere.
......
Was a lot more people in the park today then there were on Friday. Almost got hit by a biker going fast through the shadows of the trees, guess things haven't changed all that much then, bikers are more dangerous then a virus for me.

I think you really have to be concerned if Vlad with a Romanian accent calls keeps asking if you want to give blood AND you feel irresistibly drawn to his voice and even more concerned if you give blood once and then start to sleep all day in a narrow bed with the curtains drawn and only go out at night.......

There's a rumour circling that the authorities (doesn't matter which one) are planning to test everyone's DNA and chip everyone. It's fake news but the CIA does have history in fake vaccination campaigns - that' how they got Bin Laden.

They don't charge for blood here. It'll be mixed in with the other ones of the same type.   My blood type (A+) is so common I think about 30% of people have the same.   Mrs Fluffy is a much rarer type. 

I am a real fan of blood transfusions. Mrs Fluffy had to have one after giving birth and she was as white as a sheet just afterwards.  I was seriously concerned - never seen anyone that pale. Then they gave her a transfusion and it was amazing - all rosy cheeks  I almost thought she had rouge on!

Personally I don't understand the idea someone is perceived OK with a negative COVID19 result and then goes somewhere with that result days later and the negative result is then still considered valid.  The person could have been infected in between.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

klsallee wrote:

What was your "good reason"?

Trial by expat.com eh?

More simply suggesting to share to help other expats who may not know what may be or may not be "a good reason". If you share, others can think if they can use that also to travel or not.

For myself, I have not any good reason to travel I can think of yet*. Have not been outside of 5 km of my house for months** ... and that travel was only to shop as that is the nearest, reasonable, place to shop for many items.

*But my passport expires later this year, and I may need to travel to update it.

** Last year, at this time and all within a month, I traveled to Poland and the USA.
.

Yes, I was joking. I keep forgetting the emoticons or emojis or whatever the F they are. 

I've been loads of places even this year. I'm not to happy with the travel restriction. I need to travel for work and to see family.  It's seriously a problem to actually do stuff now.  We're struggling through.

I applied for a passport for a Fluffyette in February and we've still not got it back yet.   That's the idiocy of the British system.  All the passports are sent out from a regionally organised location which for Europe is in the UK.   There's no way to get a passport at an Embassy now.  It's a pathetically expensive and inconvenient system.  The UK demands all original foreign passports also have to be included in the application.  So that ends with people having no passports at all and being unable to travel anywhere.   We finally decided to take action and obtained - as a redundancy - a HU ID card for the aforementioned Fluffyette as a substitute for a passport.   So that would at least allow EU travel.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Yes, I was joking. I keep forgetting the emoticons or emojis or whatever the F they are.

The written language often lacks the subtle intonations that would clarify humor. There is a fascinating history of people trying to express intent in text messages.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoticon#Pre-emoticon

But to be fair.... I should have qualified my question. Looking back, it was terse. So terse it could easily be seen as being judgemental. That was not my intent. Maybe a "query" emoji ( ) should have been added.....

So I think the original error was mine. Wait for it.... here it comes....   

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Yes, I was joking. I keep forgetting the emoticons or emojis or whatever the F they are.

The written language often lacks the subtle intonations that would clarify humor. There is a fascinating history of people trying to express intent in text messages.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoticon#Pre-emoticon

But to be fair.... I should have qualified my question. Looking back, it was terse. So terse it could easily be seen as being judgemental. That was not my intent. Maybe a "query" emoji ( ) should have been added.....

So I think the original error was mine. Wait for it.... here it comes....   

Transferred to Absolutely Anything Else....for further rambling and thought experiments....

Interesting evidence that children may be carriers of COVID-19

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/heal … chool.html

Controlling potential carriers are epidemically important to control a pandemic.

Some suggest that those over 50 should be locked down (with a caveat that it would be difficult).. Seem okay to suggest to lock down the elderly. Will anyone suggest children should be locked down beyond what is already being done (i.e. no public school)?

klsallee wrote:

Interesting evidence that children may be carriers of COVID-19

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/heal … chool.html

Controlling potential carriers are epidemically important to control a pandemic.

Some suggest that those over 50 should be locked down (with a caveat that it would be difficult).. Seem okay to suggest to lock down the elderly. Will anyone suggest children should be locked down beyond what is already being done (i.e. no public school)?

Hmmm.....I have a friend who insists kids are parasites.  They take over the mother's body and on arrival leech off all the resources of the parents for years and years.   Needless to say that person does not have children.

I'm over 50 and I don't want to be locked down.   In any case thought 70 was the new 50.

fluffy2560 wrote:

klsallee wrote:

Interesting evidence that children may be carriers of COVID-19

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/heal … chool.html

Controlling potential carriers are epidemically important to control a pandemic.

Some suggest that those over 50 should be locked down (with a caveat that it would be difficult).. Seem okay to suggest to lock down the elderly. Will anyone suggest children should be locked down beyond what is already being done (i.e. no public school)?

Hmmm.....I have a friend who insists kids are parasites.  They take over the mother's body and on arrival leech off all the resources of the parents for years and years.   Needless to say that person does not have children.

I'm over 50 and I don't want to be locked down.   In any case thought 70 was the new 50.

I did see something in the news regarding kids and passing it on to. I will have to try and find it. The gist of it was a report/study found that there was no evidence that children pass on the virus to old people.

SimCityAT wrote:

The gist of it was a report/study found that there was no evidence that children pass on the virus to old people.

An infected child does not pass it to old people because the virus considers the age difference? Or are we talking about the likelihood of children getting in contact with infected people, then with old people?

SimCityAT wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

klsallee wrote:

Interesting evidence that children may be carriers of COVID-19

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/heal … chool.html

Controlling potential carriers are epidemically important to control a pandemic.

Some suggest that those over 50 should be locked down (with a caveat that it would be difficult).. Seem okay to suggest to lock down the elderly. Will anyone suggest children should be locked down beyond what is already being done (i.e. no public school)?

Hmmm.....I have a friend who insists kids are parasites.  They take over the mother's body and on arrival leech off all the resources of the parents for years and years.   Needless to say that person does not have children.

I'm over 50 and I don't want to be locked down.   In any case thought 70 was the new 50.

I did see something in the news regarding kids and passing it on to. I will have to try and find it. The gist of it was a report/study found that there was no evidence that children pass on the virus to old people.

I am not afraid of children getting me ill at all.
I just prefer to keep my distance from them for other reasons, screaming high pitched voices and crying get on my last nerve.
My SIL has been a school teacher in Ca , kindergarten and a few higher grades for over 30 years.
She doesn't drink either, guess that old Bible of her comes in handy after all...
What freaks me out is the  Stati system they in the US are doing. Report on your neighbors?
Come on, that's going over the top, this is just the beginning of infringements.
I saw something coming for years now but using a "virus" really did throw a new one at my suspicions on a power grab and full control of the populations.
For some reason I actually thought moving to HU would be a safer option then the US. So far so good.
They are really overdoing some restrictions in different states.
Nice to see some people going out to the beaches and enjoying life.
The stress of living under pressure of perhaps getting ill is worst then getting ill if we can believe that only a small fraction of people die from this so called, "virus".
I may change my mind if I actually knew anyone who had this virus.
Have to see it to believe it I guess.
I never have trusted the media, not ever in my life, not after living through the 60's.
The push their own agenda and only a handful of people know what it really is all about.
We'll see how the summer goes here but for sure they are all ready talking about a round 2 of this illness being much worst in the fall.
How many people are now waiting for life saving operations that have been put on hold because of perhaps getting a virus.
If that's the case then hospitals and doctors offices are the most dangerous places to go.
In any case, I don't mind getting carded at the shops. They seem to follow me around and ask for my ID during seniors shopping hours, that's the only bright side to this entire event.

"I never have trusted the media, not ever in my life, not after living through the 60's."

Nor, even more so, the Federal government.

I find the past few months strangely reminiscent of the build-up to the Iraqi war, when politicians and the media joined up to scare everyone into the necessity of getting rid of Saddam Hussein and his fictional weapons of mass destruction.

It's back again, that constant drumming, day after day, of fear.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

The stress of living under pressure of perhaps getting ill is worst then getting ill if we can believe that only a small fraction of people die from this so called, "virus".
I may change my mind if I actually knew anyone who had this virus.
Have to see it to believe it I guess.
I never have trusted the media, not ever in my life, not after living through the 60's.

If you lived through the 60's, then you lived through the US involvement in Vietnam. Only a small fraction of US Citizens died in Vietnam. In fact, government reports (which you may not believe of course) say fewer American died in Vietnam in 10 years than from this "so called virus" in  5 months. So, by your logic, and applying it to my own life, I could say all those anit-Vietnam protests were maybe nonsense, since I do not know anyone who died in Vietnam..... In fact, maybe, the Vietnam war did not happen, since I did no see it and may need to "see it to believe it I guess". In fact, maybe the 60's as we of my generation have been told never happened. Woodstock? Did not happen. All those films about it were made by the same crew that made the fake films about landing on the Moon....

Despite all the historical facts that the war, etc... did in fact happen, etc. So easy to dismiss it if one requires to "see it to believe it I guess"....

Seriously.... Maybe you do not exist. Maybe you are an algorithm as some NSA site. Never seen you or meet someone who knows you.... Would have to see you to believe you, I guess....   

In short, your entire life experience is as easy to erase as others experiencing current events that you are basically erasing, if we all start to require "see it to believe it I guess".... rather than trusting each other. Sad.

Heck... expanding your "logic", how can you believe anyone who comments here exists unless you met us in person? Maybe we are all NSA bots.... Or figments of your imagination from the hallucinogenic drugs being sprayed in chem trails..... drugs that the government uses to make you believe in a world that does not actually exist....  but is less scary than the real world the real government (which is itself a computer program), does not want you be aware of**..... Scared yet? 

I short, the COVID-19 virus is real. Someone where my wife works got it (in Hungary). Stop spreading FUD it may not be real.

** Any similarity to any movie, real or make believe, is purely coincidental.

SimCityAT wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

klsallee wrote:

Interesting evidence that children may be carriers of COVID-19

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/heal … chool.html

Controlling potential carriers are epidemically important to control a pandemic.

Some suggest that those over 50 should be locked down (with a caveat that it would be difficult).. Seem okay to suggest to lock down the elderly. Will anyone suggest children should be locked down beyond what is already being done (i.e. no public school)?

Hmmm.....I have a friend who insists kids are parasites.  They take over the mother's body and on arrival leech off all the resources of the parents for years and years.   Needless to say that person does not have children.

I'm over 50 and I don't want to be locked down.   In any case thought 70 was the new 50.

I did see something in the news regarding kids and passing it on to. I will have to try and find it. The gist of it was a report/study found that there was no evidence that children pass on the virus to old people.

Not sure you understood my post.

First curios why you said you needed to "find" a study since I provided a link to one (you did not). You could look for other links to other studies of course (recommended), but another study finding the contrary to the first study does not defacto negate the first study. After all, the other study may have been done improperly. Or the first was done improperly. Which is why the scientific process is so misunderstood by laymen. One study proves nothing. A second study proves nothing. Science takes time to verify what studies actually provide us real and meaningful information. During a crisis, people what quick answers, but you can not rush proper science methods and protocols.

Second, I was not commenting on children-elderly transmission. I was commenting on a social issue... who should be isolated and why. And why such "comments" by others who may need to be isolated are not necessarily based on the current available knowledge.... but maybe are being made with assumption, fear, and/or using incomplete knowledge by grabbing either short term or flawed information. Thus I was not promoting the study I referenced I linked to as correct (ergo, why I merely called it "interesting" as a lead in). I was rather making a social statement that using just one study, or even worse, a knowledge vacuum in general, is potentially dangerous and probably flawed.

zif wrote:

I find the past few months strangely reminiscent of the build-up to the Iraqi war,

How strange... Both events were by Republican Presidents.... 

So.... distrust government in general? Or maybe just the (*cough*neo-reactionary*cough*) party in power at the time.... 

Hungary: Austrian border with Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia to remain closed until 15 June


As of 16 May 2020 Austria will maintain border closures with the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia until 15 June amid the coronavirus outbreak. A gradual easing of restrictions regarding those able to transit the borders is anticipated in the meantime.

The border closures with Italy is still effect. Amendments to these restrictions are possible, although authorities do not expect the closures to persist past 15 June.

British Embassy:

Hungary has introduced rules to manage people’s social interaction with those outside their household. The police have powers to fine people breaking the rules.

People should wear a face covering (ie mask, scarf or shawl) in shops, restaurants, bars and similar indoor settings, and when using taxis or public transport.

Shops and service providers may open without restriction, but only over-65s may enter food shops, drug stores and pharmacies between 9am and 12pm each day. Restaurants and bars may also open. Within Budapest, guests should only sit outside.

In other parts of the country, guests may sit inside. Outside Budapest, hotels and guesthouses may also open. In all settings, the manager should provide conditions for customers to maintain a 1.5m distance from people outside their household.

Outdoor attractions may open, for example outdoor swimming pools and spas, zoos, playgrounds and outdoor museums.

Schools remain closed until at least the end of May. Higher education institutions may open with measures to maintain social distancing, but access to university dormitories is prohibited.

Religious ceremonies, civil marriages and funerals can be held with social distancing measures in place. Family events for up to 200 people can be held from 1 June outside Budapest, and from 15 June within Budapest. Otherwise, mass events are banned until at least 15 August.

Local authorities have some powers to introduce additional restrictions, so follow local instructions.

AND....

Hungary has restricted entry to foreign nationals.

Hungarian citizens and EEA citizens (including UK nationals) holding a Permanent Residence Card or a Registration Certificate and Address Card are allowed to enter the country following a medical examination at the border to check for signs of Covid-19 infection. Those individuals suspected of infection will be put into officially designated quarantine for 14 days. If there is no suspicion of infection, individuals will still be required to quarantine at home for 14 days.

From 4 May, citizens of the Czech Republic, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Germany, Austria and Slovakia may also enter Hungary from these countries for business purposes. This measure also allows Hungarian citizens to travel to and from these countries for business trips, provided that they are an employee of a domestic firm or company registered in one of these six countries and that the firm or company has business ties with another company registered in one of these six countries. Individuals who fall under this category of business travellers may enter Hungary without any restriction or requirement for self-isolation.

UK nationals who do not fall into the categories noted above, but who wish to enter Hungary for business, study or other reasons, or transit through Hungary, must submit an application for exemption on the official website of the Hungarian Police by completing an electronic form here. The form is currently only available in Hungarian and must be completed in Hungarian.

The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade recommend applications are submitted at least a few days before the planned travel day, clearly stating the justification for the exemption application. Anyone entering Hungary following this application route will need to follow the same quarantine rules as returning residents, as noted above.

I have a better relationship with my family and my friends, I have made new friends here in the last 12 weeks, I have about 40 people friends who read my weekly blog of the time I am here living in my cottage, no water it’s just harvested, do have electricity though. Here is a day and the thoughts and events I get up to, must say for me it’s been even though I am alone, we’ll accept the stray cat and her 4 kittens, a dog given to me, 4 chickens a cockerel, 2 ducks and 6 bunny rabbits One of the happiest times of my life. Complacency
Sunday Vasárnap 10/5/20 week 11
Often in life one can be complacent about one thing or another, who’d have known that the whole world would have been infected by a virus 4 months ago, I remember the first reports of the virus thinking about the cruise liner where the passengers where not allowed out of quarantine and the reports that that ensued. Well I bring this subject up because my body is telling me something and I have to adhere to it, I am 54 and even though I have lost nearly 4 stone over the last couple of months, my ankles are giving up on me, I’ve managed to pull I think a ligament in my right ankle and it beep beep hurts. Using a broken spade with a bit of gaffa tape around its pole as a walking stick I managed to pick some cherries for Anna Maria today. Found an old handle in the tool shed and thought that would be perfect for a walking stick when I to Maria’s at about ten for coffee she thought I was a silly boy having worked so hard she was actually quite upset and worried about the future for me, “who will help you if you have an accident up there on your hill,” she said. Actually, I have never really given it much thought but maybe she has a point. I assured her with I have my Mobil on me most of the time and I am only a phone call away.  I then gave Maria a cake tin full of cherries of which her mood drastically changed apparently they are her favourite fruit. I also gave Maria a tray of African Marigolds which I had grown from seed, when she asked what they were I said, “they are your favourite flower, they are Marigolds”. I dropped the African bit as I thought being that’s she’s probably the most right wing conservative Hungarian lady I know if I’d said anything about African in her precious garden she would have a fit. Our little secret 😂. Planted them for Maria, then we had a coffee, then we had a discussion about world events and the political state of the Coronavirus, spoke to her son in Stockholm, then another coffee and biscuits and then Maria asked if I could help her roll out her new hose. With all the attachments and 100 meters of hose at least, not the normal hose anyone would normally buy, but the hoses that you generally find on building sites, 2inches thick and at a cost of 38000HUF over a £100, this is so impractical for Maria that I have to go back and wind it up for her in 2 days time. The good thing is Maria is listening to me about her garden and my expert skills, she had asked me why the trees were going brown and even though she put fertiliser on them they still were going brown, at the time I said, “it’s because they are not getting enough water,” didn’t realise she was actually listening, she’s probably thought about it and what I said and realised that I was right and bought the hose.  Sorry it’s so long this Sunday, haven’t even got to lunch yet. Anna-Maria and Stephen are a lovely couple of friends together, at first Stephen came across as a authoritarian kind of man but over the last 5 weeks with me he’s become quite relaxed. He always sits at the head of the table and before we start the meal he now holds out his hand for me to pray, he actually said Amen today, I more or less say the same prayer every week, thanking God for the food, the company and blessing our time together. We had a lovely onion and carrot soup for starter and a creamy chicken main it’s was delicious, I do enjoy eating here and the company is always really good, Anna-Maria, not only cooks but translates the banter between Stephen and I like water off a ducks back. They both corrected me with my pronunciation of cheers or Egészségére saying that the eee sought of flow in an upwards direction as you say the word, very interesting. Came home about 4 in the afternoon no sign of Macska, kittens asleep in their box it’s now 9 and still no sign of her in the meantime started on the construction of Maria’s birthday present.
Keep Safe
Kelvin

A bit cynical reply I am afraid
Keep safe is a good message and so we do (me and my wife (together with our cats and dog)), having 40 friends is something I can not believe. A friend for me is somebody who would do anything for you (support in good and bad times), I have only 1, but that is sufficient for me (I have a lot of good neighbours and acquaintances (as well as family back home) who would help us out if needed, but if I have cancer, Alzheimer, get crazy, Corona, ....I do not know how many would be loyal if I get nasty and I would understand (if my mind allows me to do so).
Do not get me wrong, I like a lot of the people I know and I will help them (but only up to a certain point), definition of a friend is I would help them through all (not too many, for real friends I would pay eg their mortgage if needed)

Interesting post though, just  I was upset a bit with the mentioning of 40 friends. (in my view not possible)

cdw057 wrote:

A bit cynical reply I am afraid
Keep safe is a good message and so we do (me and my wife (together with our cats and dog)), having 40 friends is something I can not believe. A friend for me is somebody who would do anything for you (support in good and bad times), I have only 1, but that is sufficient for me (I have a lot of good neighbours and acquaintances (as well as family back home) who would help us out if needed, but if I have cancer, Alzheimer, get crazy, Corona, ....I do not know how many would be loyal if I get nasty and I would understand (if my mind allows me to do so).
Do not get me wrong, I like a lot of the people I know and I will help them (but only up to a certain point), definition of a friend is I would help them through all (not too many, for real friends I would pay eg their mortgage if needed)

Interesting post though, just  I was upset a bit with the mentioning of 40 friends. (in my view not possible)

I tend to agree.  It's hard to keep up with just 3 or 4 friends, never mind 40.  I was looking at some Facebook statistics a while back and the majority of people have 3 or 4 main front line friends and the rest are family or second or third line acquaintances.

Even my own FIL rubbishes foreigners.  Never mind the fact that I'm married to his daughter and his grandkids are foreigners (ok, also dual nationals).   Would he help in an emergency? Given my FIL's apparent dislike of everyone not Hungarian, and the poisonous politics of the time,  I'm not very sure who we could truly rely on in an emergency.

I think that I have more than 40 friends to be fare, for instance today I popped into see 2 Hungarian new friends that I have only known for the past 7 weeks, both are retired and I have only seen them probably twice a week in the length of our friendship. Had a coffee with them and the man gave me 10 5 week old chickens for my chicken tractor, which I’ve constructed myself. Tomorrow I am going to see another friend who I’ve only known whilst here in Hungary, I met her in the Post Office and as her son is unable to get her from another country I have been keeping an eye on her, she’s in her 80’s, I would consider her and her son friends, not acquaintances or neighbours, and my 7 week old friends are friends. Sorry you only have one friend, I seem to make friends very quickly life is to short, I had a friend in Hungary who at 58 died last December, I only saw him when I was here in Zalaszentgrót, probably 12 times a year, we spoke via text and kept in contact, I new him for about 2 years, only met him because he had an English plate on his van.  Because, (hope you don’t take exception to starting a sentence with the word ‘because’ ) he was my friend I drove the 300 miles to his funeral my other friends from Holland also drove the 700 miles to the funeral in North Wales. If my friend needed a pint of blood I would find out what type of blood he/she has but I would give my blood for my 40+ friends without question. Then on top of them I have my family who are also very close and our relationships have increased over this time, hope I have clarified my situation for you.
Keep Safe
Kelvin

One of my very good friends since age 12 or so, passed in Dec. on my BD and in early March just before this C-19 hit most of the world,  my BFF died on me.She passed out of the blue in Ca after having a flu. Had issues fast with her kidneys, liver and lungs.  All good, she would of been really mad about this crazy C-19 stuff,her husband was /is dying anytime now from cancer so in some ways she got off easy.
I am done making close frinds, can't find anyone who would ever understand me like my buddies of over 50 years.
We never ever spoke about money or any sort of Bs about who is better off or who is this or that.
I find most people I meet this days are way to jundgy and love to compair themselves to you one way or the other.
Not everyone but my husband is a very anti-social person who doesn't enjoy me being busy with other people.
We actually know a ton of people in HU that we knew in the US as well.
Not really wanting to go back in time after thinking it all over, most were not really friends , just users who always were around when they needed something.
Now that they are on their own home turf, they could care less about us.
No biggie, saves allot of energy not to focus on them and their dramas.
I am no way refering to anyone on this site though, just people we know in person.
Ok, off topic , yesterday we got a call for our one neighbor friend( guess we aren't all that anti0 soical after all) she told us that the flat 3 doors down from us now has a red sicker on the door, those 2 guys fromm Solvakia or in house arrest for now.
Some guy comes around daily and calls out to them , asks if they are ok and need anyhting.
Not exactly a great piece of news to me.
What if they test positive? How will that run ? Will the entire house be in lockdown because they just had to travel?
Sort of pisses me off really, just when they were letting us free again, some dudes had to jump the gun and come back here. If they waited just another week or so they probably wouldn't be locked in their flat for 2 weeks.
Oh, I have 44 friends on FB, does it count that 4 of them are dead and I don't have the heart to unfriend them
One of my "deceased" FB friends was my second cousin. She had 1,436 FB friends. She still died alone in her kitchen at age 55 a couple years back. She was a radio DJ in Nashville, Tenn. Darlene Light Radio show, very sweet lady with a larger then life personality.You could Google "The Light Radio Show"

Doesn't matter how many friends a person has as sometimes it saves the pain of them turning on you or just plaine old bad mouthing you.
It's too painful to have people turn on you, best to mind your own beeswax and stay in your own bubble.
In our old group of HU from the US, I am the only born American and the only one who doesn't speak Hungarian. Total bore to hang with these people for me without their game playing on top of it.
My MIL could never understand why my husband didn't marry a HU women. Well, for one thing the pickin' is limited as he lived in S.Ca. at the time we met.
Dang, I now wonder how she would feel knowing that I have found out I have a ton of HU relations via Poland?  Even have a few cousins that are HU citizens and so are their spouces.
Still, without speaking HUngarian they will never really take you in, more of a curiosity rather then treating you like a person with your own mind and ideas.
My BFF who passed also went way out of her way for me.
We flew 2 times to Vegas from HU and she took a long haul Greyhound bus 500 miles each way for a short 24 hour stay in Vegas.She took that nightmare bus ride 2 times just to visit me. She didn't want to drive alone that far acrross the desert so the bus was her only option since she hates to fly.Or should I now say, she hated to fly, dang I am still upset about her kickin' it.
Her last bus ride was from another world.
It took her over 7 hours to arrive atthe station in Vegas.
On the bus, well not known for their "upper class crowd" some women went nuts after a pit stop screaming that the man sitting next to her had stolen $40, fro her bag.
My freind was willing to give her $40, to shut her up and get the bus moving.
No, the police came out, everyone was grilled over the theif and fianlly they just pulled those 2 clowns off the bus and allowed everyone to go back on the road.
Now that's a good friend.

cdw057 wrote:

A bit cynical reply I am afraid
Keep safe is a good message and so we do (me and my wife (together with our cats and dog)), having 40 friends is something I can not believe. A friend for me is somebody who would do anything for you (support in good and bad times), I have only 1, but that is sufficient for me (I have a lot of good neighbours and acquaintances (as well as family back home) who would help us out if needed, but if I have cancer, Alzheimer, get crazy, Corona, ....I do not know how many would be loyal if I get nasty and I would understand (if my mind allows me to do so).
Do not get me wrong, I like a lot of the people I know and I will help them (but only up to a certain point), definition of a friend is I would help them through all (not too many, for real friends I would pay eg their mortgage if needed)

Interesting post though, just  I was upset a bit with the mentioning of 40 friends. (in my view not possible)

Nothing wrong with having one friend, you just have high standards, me too.
Just about anyone could contact me if they needed blood in an emergency. At least I am not hard about helping strangers that way. O Neg. only though....

I am a bit curious as to what the workers here in Hungary are experiencing as far as getting any gov. aid while they are not allowed to work.
My son and his wife both recieved 100,000 Yen last week but she is still employed at her job and will return in 2 weeks . This is in Japan.
Very easy way to give people some aid during this time, they just mailed out a paper to take to any bank with your ID and get cash.
Seems simple to me not sure why the US has made it so complicated to give their stilulus checks out to the people there.
My sister works 2 part -time jobs,One was stopped for awhile because she helped out seniors and only those living in the senior complex could enter the building. Now she works only 90 mins a week shopping for an elderly couple  in the building but gets paid for the hours she was hired for.
Her other job is every other week end answering phones in a retirment home.
She is 72 herself but is in good health and has her own home and garden, works just to keep herself busy and pay for her animals bills.
I was a bit worried about her hanging with "old people" at her age in case she got ill from them. She takes her precautions and seems not too worried about anything.
She was mailed out that $1,200 check in the first round of pay outs to citizens in the US, of course she filed her taxes and is working even if only part-time.
She is the only person I know who has gotten one of those checks as of this date.
Just wondered if Hungary is offering anything like this to it's workers or those put out by this lockdown?

Government support? Clearly Covid creates a big, big impact, economy ideally should run, however, sooner or later somebody has to pay back, either through higher taxes or inflation.

I myself am a bit impacted as well, I am not yet 65 and live off my savings, counting a bit on the odd consulting job as well (totally gone in this situation). Savings should be able to help me through to pension although loss of revenues make things a bit more challenging.
I do support the concept of help to people without a job (including myself), but some fall between the cracks.

If the support will be paid by the internationals or big companies that is fine,however it might drift them away from Hungary, I am therefore afraid that the support will have to be paid by "normal" people.
One of the reasons to leave western europe for me was that things became to expensive and I wanted to "escape" the daily pressure and stress. (The escape helped together with some medicines (I am still alive ))

On a relative basis I think Hungary is doing fine, but pensions from Western Europe might be heavily impacted through inflation. (Best scenario for governments as it decreases the debt, not the best scenario for many of us though).

Of course people without income should be helped, but in a way I am a bit conservative, or you could also say leftist, best approach to me sounds like give subsidy to restaurants (as a service very cheap meals to the elderly and unemployed,), give jobs to the unemployed and have them improve the infra-structure with subsidy (upgrade hotel standards, finish roads/side walks, anything for which budget normally has a shortfall.
For all of this unfortunately a lot of bureaucracy is needed, but then again there are many people without jobs who have administrative skills.

Yes I am an egoist (ie I want to continue to live comfortably), sorry for that, again I support support for the poor and unemployed, but things can be done at the same time.

I repeat myself, but additional jobs without too much additional cost
-Guards/overseeers at supermarkets/parks/lakes to see that rules are adhered to (personally I believe that Corona will explode again end of August). CORONA is not over and we did not see the full extent (only with vaccine things can return to normal).
-Infrastructure as above
-Bureaucracy (as above, who should get what)
-Home support for the elderly (injections, food delivery, cleaning)
-Helping with harvesting of ...(I am not a farmer, but from what I read there are some difficulties here as well, please pay 80/90% of salary and ensure food supply (not all will perform very good, but I am sure that even I can do something even if only 40% effective).  (Of course me and my wife are not farmers, but from our garden I know that I can pick cherries, apples, strawberries, ... after some training I will also be able to pick onions and garlic properly and after more training I will be able to pick blueberrys properly as well. Again of course not as good as others, but slow can also be good (especially if at no significant additional cost)
-.....

Perhaps I am naive, but better to do something which produces something rather then getting money for nothing.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....
She was mailed out that $1,200 check in the first round of pay outs to citizens in the US, of course she filed her taxes and is working even if only part-time.
She is the only person I know who has gotten one of those checks as of this date.
Just wondered if Hungary is offering anything like this to it's workers or those put out by this lockdown?

As far as I know, no-one gets anything in Hungary.   People will run out of money.   

While the $1200 in the USA seems interesting, it's a one off.   I can imagine with a family, it would soon disappear.   Families cost a lot.   I don't think it's going to be enough with 40 million unemployed over there.

In my own country (UK), furloughed workers in paid (and taxed) employment get £2500 a month to live on while work is suspended. It's not a loan, it's a grant and doesn't have to be paid back.  I believe similar schemes exist in other countries.   At least it's injecting money into the economy.   Some people are quite keen on the life continuing - it's take a lot of the pressure off day to day existence. Stress is much less, people have more time at home and more time to do stuff.  It's even opened arguments for universal income instead of social security. 

It's really going to be painful economically when things start improving.   I am not sure how the bond issuance in the EU is going to fare.  The economics of debt are awful.   Be years of austerity and recession and unemployment.  I've been through recessions before - one needs at least 2-3 years of cash to weather the storm.  Not a lot of people can say they have that. 

I suspect the politics will be dire.   There's no way to argue with or demonise the virus. It is what it is.  Possibly we'll see a change in politics here finally.

BTW, we were in Visegrad today.  No-one wearing a mask, restaurants open, ice cream shops busy, the castle but not the museum open, the Bob/Toboggan operating normally and busy.   Over the other side, there were crowds of people on the beaches.

I am so tired of this entire C-19 thing.
My cousin in Conn. the one who visited us here in Hungary 2 summers in a row, tested positive for C-19.
He let everyone know yesterday in case they had been in contact with him.
For some reason he took it upon himself to just go and get tested for the virus.
Results came back positive although his wife is negative.
He is a healthy 71 year old person super active and doesn't seem his age.
I wrote him and told him to "stay positive" emotionally at least!
Several of my cousins on my father's side have seriosuly wanted me to get DNA tests, they were even willing to pay for it for me since I was not really into doing it.
Not sure why but most got that 23 and me DNA testing.
Most also have more money then they know what to do with , not my problem, sadly.
Good thing is I read that soon the doctor's offices will be open again in Hungary for check up's and hospital beds will be open for other issues beside C-19.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I am so tired of this entire C-19 thing.
My cousin in Conn. the one who visited us here in Hungary 2 summers in a row, tested positive for C-19.
He let everyone know yesterday in case they had been in contact with him.
For some reason he took it upon himself to just go and get tested for the virus.
Results came back positive although his wife is negative.
He is a healthy 71 year old person super active and doesn't seem his age.
I wrote him and told him to "stay positive" emotionally at least!
Several of my cousins on my father's side have seriosuly wanted me to get DNA tests, they were even willing to pay for it for me since I was not really into doing it.
Not sure why but most got that 23 and me DNA testing.
Most also have more money then they know what to do with , not my problem, sadly.
Good thing is I read that soon the doctor's offices will be open again in Hungary for check up's and hospital beds will be open for other issues beside C-19.

My FIL is in hospital here in HU and I think he might have C19 in addition to some other serious conditions.   

Mrs Fluffy and I tried to do that 23 and Me thing - they sent us the kit but it was confiscated by the Customs or they never sent it.  In the end they gave me the money back.

After I thought about it a  bit, I decided it was a bad idea to put our DNA in the hands of Google and besides, the accuracy is a bit suspect.   Google is as bad as Facebook, Linked In, Twitter and WTF.   They'll be selling on my details to anyone who wants them.  None of them will be able keep anything secret.  Best not to volunteer stuff.

I've also been somewhat curious what those DNA tests would show, but after looking at how your DNA and other data are used, I decided that sacrificing my privacy wasn't worth sating my curiousity.

Yes, we all have so little privacy these days without surrendering our DNA.
Don't need it used in some mad scientist lab to make a ,"Shopper zombie." born with a credit card  for a hand" or some other sick stuff.
I know my family history on my father's side going back nearly 300 years and mom's side, well German, nothing much to see there... And Mohawk.
It's more of an ego thing rather then trying to find out some rare health issue or problem that could be given to the next generations.
So far, it seems anyways that we are "The last of our kind" since our son has no children.
Speaking of lack of privacy, a couple summers ago my husband's old bussiness partner , a HU guy  contacted me through "spying" on my posts on this site. Never ever wrote a comment or anything, just sent a PM once that he was visiting HU with his second wife and wanted to hook up with us.
Was nice to see them but even so, felt weird to me to know my silly jokes, comments etc. are being viewed and judged behind my back.Guess that's the price to pay for going online.
Not that I am hiding anything but it still felt a bit creepy.
Met the guy and his wife one day, had fun and hoped to see them again before they left HU. No, they spent time with his mother, all good, didn't expect much as the guy told us it was not only his first visit to HU in 17 years but the first time in 17 years that he even spoke to his own mother.Wow. if my mother was alive I wouldn't leave her side any further then I could toss a stone.
Not giving any more fuel to the fire by giving my blood too with a DNA test.
Well, now that my cousin in Conn. has been tested with C 19, I only hope he is not blacklisted . Not sure what they do with people who tested positive and never got ill. Maybe they are "marked" for life?
He and his wife love to travel everywhere, think they have been to every country on earth, very social people too. Would kill him not to be able to travel or hold parties again.

zif wrote:

I've also been somewhat curious what those DNA tests would show, but after looking at how your DNA and other data are used, I decided that sacrificing my privacy wasn't worth sating my curiousity.

Nothing really is private these days.  Others in this forum will know Mrs Fluffy and I have been conducting long term research on surveillance.  We've been inserting the word "dinosaur" into our conversations to see if they are monitored on the phone and putting it in our e-mails.   We're waiting to see if we start being offered things to do with dinosaurs.  However, we have not had much luck. I am thinking it's because no-one has any dinosaurs available or they aren't looking at us or we don't fit the algorithm. Google is really sneaky.  Even using Private Browsing doesn't work - they're looking in there too.

Government would love to conduct surveillance on everyone.  It all seems such a spiffing idea to have such details locked away on a secure server somewhere.   Of course, when the dictator gets around to looking at it, they have a nice profile for who needs to be  disengaged from society.  It's easy to imagine how Google and Co might be "coerced" by foreign government to share details.

Years ago when I was a student,  I remember reading about IBM's involvement in sorting machineswhich were used by the Nazis in WW2.  It's a surprising bit of reading.   

Before that, when I was in school we made a mechanical sorting machine for punch cards using knitting needles and cornflake boxes.  It might have been a formative moment.

Couple of people I know are prone to clinical depression.  They go to great lengths to conceal that.  They fear that if they see a government doctor, it will be in their medical records and  if anyone else has access, it could affect their ability to work or obtain things like car insurance.  So they use private services to avoid linkages.   Imagine if they could diagnose that trait from DNA.  Apparently serial killers share many traits with people who get ahead in business (Google it - without a hint of irony).

My husband and son both get insane if anyone speaks about certain subjects online or over the phone. I can understand my husband getting paranoid at times since he was raised in hard commie times but our son? Could be in the DNA to be paranoid?
We have no big trade or gov. secrets to hide so I find it funny.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

My husband and son both get insane if anyone speaks about certain subjects online or over the phone. I can understand my husband getting paranoid at times since he was raised in hard commie times but our son? Could be in the DNA to be paranoid?
We have no big trade or gov. secrets to hide so I find it funny.

Ah, well, that's the commie paranoia. I did some  academic investigation when I was on a course back in the 1990s. It wouldn't be so funny if you are on the wrong end of it.  The authorities can easily slip from perception of protector to outright oppressor.  History is littered with examples including recently here.

The Commie governments then always kept people on the edge of legality so they could easily get you on trumped up charges.  But it ends up with that silly point of "if you have nothing to hide....nothing to fear" refutation of which is well rehearsed.

I'll include Edward Snowden's comment:

"Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say"

Maybe your hubby and son have got it right.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Google is really sneaky.  Even using Private Browsing doesn't work - they're looking in there too.

Off topic. 

Moved to:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 32#4892352

fluffy2560 wrote:

The Commie governments then always kept people on the edge of legality so they could easily get you on trumped up charges.

I would argue that current governments is post communism Europe still do this. Putinism does this, for example. As do even some EU counties, to remain nameless, who are "followers" of Putinism like methods do so today.

Good news, my cousin in Conn. does NOT test positive for C-19.
It was a false positive test the first time around.
He , his wife and daughter all got tested and only he was found to be positive.
They all got retested about 3 days ago and all are negative.
He seemed to ask for trouble by just going on to get tested for the "fun of it".
He said he believes in testing because it could save other people's lives.
All well and good but the stress he gave himself over the past week or so probably took some time off of his own life.
I am not sure even how expensive these tests are in the US. I know they are not free.
Went to Tesco yesterday during the "senior hours" well it seems it is not longer senior shopping hours. All ages were shopping in the morning.
Fine with me, wasn't a fan of dragging myself to the store before noon anyways.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Good news, my cousin in Conn. does NOT test positive for C-19.
It was a false positive test the first time around.
He , his wife and daughter all got tested and only he was found to be positive.
They all got retested about 3 days ago and all are negative.
He seemed to ask for trouble by just going on to get tested for the "fun of it".
He said he believes in testing because it could save other people's lives.
All well and good but the stress he gave himself over the past week or so probably took some time off of his own life.
I am not sure even how expensive these tests are in the US. I know they are not free.
Went to Tesco yesterday during the "senior hours" well it seems it is not longer senior shopping hours. All ages were shopping in the morning.
Fine with me, wasn't a fan of dragging myself to the store before noon anyways.

Good they weren't positive over a few days.  Maybe his first test was a false positive.

The COVID19 thing is beginning to look disorganised.   Really the tests should be free - even in the USA.  Otherwise it'll end up being a reservoir of the virus simply because people won't be able to afford to test. That's just dumb. 

I am still struggling with the idea I cannot go back to my mothership (the UK) to see my folks without being quarantined there and then cannot get back in! 

Only last week I received the following advice from the FCO (UK foreign ministry) with my highlighting:

"UK nationals (including those holding Hungarian Permanent Residence Card or a Registration Certificate and Address Card) who wish to enter Hungary for exceptional reasons, or transit through Hungary, must submit an application for exemption on the official website of the Hungarian Police by completing an electronic form here.

The form is currently only available in Hungarian and must be completed in Hungarian. The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade recommend applications are submitted at least a few days before the planned travel day, clearly stating the justification for the exemption application. The form sets out more details about the type of exceptional circumstances in which the authorities may allow entry. Anyone entering Hungary following this application route will undergo a medical check. If you show no symptom of COVID-19, you still need to follow a 14 day quarantine rule If you show signs of COVID-19, entry will be rejected."

Having a residence or registration card seems to mean nothing!  It's really strange because HU passport holders (and there are lots in the UK - about 250K of them supposedly) can come and go as they wish here but foreigners who are here more than there cannot.  It's just incoherent.

COVID19 entry from countries of the EU:

EU COVID19 entry checker

Hungary is open to all EU but not to UK citizens without having applied online for a permit. 

Entry seems to be based entirely on nationality, not where you are living or arriving from regardless of residency. 

Very bizarre.

fluffy2560 wrote:

COVID19 entry from countries of the EU:

EU COVID19 entry checker

Hungary is open to all EU but not to UK citizens without having applied online for a permit. 

Entry seems to be based entirely on nationality, not where you are living or arriving from regardless of residency. 

Very bizarre.

This is a not entirely correct as I said, I know lots of people (UK citizens) going to Hungary without any trouble and without asking for permission because they are resident in Austria (Austria is a low-risk country)

I really do not understand how Covid-19 works, massive in US, Brazil and some other countries, but for whatever reason continental Europe seems to be quite fine. I did not see any feasible explanation yet. However quite some of the readers/contributors of this forum are at a "risky" age  I think (including my wife and me (also health considerations)). I personally think (as mentioned earlier) that mid-August things will explode (current German and Danish increase came as a bit of surprise to me).

Of course economy has to thrive, but not at all cost. I personally think best to stay in voluntary quarantaine until the vaccine is there. (I know many or even most will disagree with me).

Even if I am a bit older, my scenario would be constraints to those who are 45+ and let the rest of society enjoy their lives (and work where possible (protection of those people who are vulnerable should be at the top of the list (admittedly I do not know people who died yet, but I know some who were in hospital or strict quarantaine (health issues further down the road are to be expected I think)).

I received comments on stocking up massively, however right now nobody minds and supermarkets and others are even quite happy. (30 liters of whisky, 300 packages of cigarettes, 100 liters of wine, 30 kg of meat (vegetables and fruits out of own garden (largely)). All in all if worse comes to worse (I hope I will be proven wrong) we can survive easily until early next year. (provided electricity, water and gas still work).

My family and friends are welcome to visit after the vaccine, but suddenly being stuck is not good for either.

cdw057 wrote:

I really do not understand how Covid-19 works, massive in US, Brazil and some other countries, but for whatever reason continental Europe seems to be quite fine.

Countries (and those USA states) on the upswing often have populations, governments and political leaders in denial who are antipathetic about expert views and professionals in general, and specially about the COVID virus specifically. So such creates a top down set of actions that increase the potential for spreading of disease.

Regarding Europe -- All is not good, as Sweden and its lax regulations are now becoming a problem...

And parts of Germany are back in lockdown....

Also, younger people are now becoming the most affected....

COVID is complicated for experts to understand. Politics makes it worse if not impossible to deal with effectively.