Things that make Hungary

Before I post some new pictures, I thought it might be fun to write a little something about the little things that make living here different. Whenever we post, we usually post the coolest pictures we can find and it might leave the impression that we are traveling around and seeing cool places all the time. We do get to see some cool things every now and then, however, most days are pretty typical (go to work, come home, eat dinner, play a game, get groceries, etc.) It feels like home to me except when I see things throughout the day that remind me that I am in a foreign country. I'll talk about a few of them.

1) The traffic lights

Most times, I love the traffic lights here. They are the standard Green, Yellow, and Red lights, but they have some cool features. 

a) They have a timer on them. So when you are waiting at a stop light, you know exactly how much time you have until it turns green. I usually read the news while I wait during the 30-60 seconds. Also, our car has a feature that when the car is stopped and I put it in neutral and let out the clutch, the engine shuts off. Then when I push in the clutch again, the engine starts back up. The timer lets me know if I have enough time to kill the engine. When the timer gets down to 2 seconds remaining, the red light turns to yellow and then when the timer turns 0, the light turns green. All of the cars start going at the same time, it is awesome. In America it is quite the opposite, "Oh, it's green....I better start driving I guess." 

b) They shut off at night. We usually go grocery shopping at night and the stop lights just have blinking yellow lights until morning. It is really nice to not have to stop when there aren't that many people out.

2) Greetings

In Hungarian, the word for hello is the same as the word for goodbye, szia. It is pronounced "see-a." So it works out nice for us, because when we say "see ya" we are actually saying "goodbye." One funny thing is that when people talk to us, the use the English word, hello, to say both hello and goodbye. I get a kick out of it every time a Hungarian is leaving, they say, "hello."

3) Random things

a) Grocery sacks are not free. They cost about $0.10 each. It is frustrating when we go to check out and realize that we forgot to brings our old bags with us. So we end up cramming stuff into as few bags as possible and hope they don't break.

b) Everybody smokes. I hate the smell of cigarette smoke and most people smoke over here, at least more than in the states.

c) Speeding tickets are expensive......

I received an email from the dealership where we are renting our car, and they informed me that I had received a "highway punishment." There are hidden cameras along the highway and if you aren't paying attention, they clock you speeding and the game is over. No police man at your window, and no talking yourself out of a ticket. I got clocked going 120 KPH in a 100 KPH zone (about the equivalent of going 72 in a 60) and my ticket is for 30,000 Forint (about $125). Not so exciting.

d) Everything takes longer than it should. 

Going to the post office is quite the ordeal when you don't speak Hungarian. I get a lot of "Man, you're an idiot" looks from people. But we've been able to manage and can usually find someone that speaks English.

Now for the pictures.....

This is the freeway between Kaposvar and Budapest. Everytime we come around the corner and see the bridge, I start tapping Josie's leg and saying, "Oooo, loook! Hurry get a picture!"

The bridge is at least 150 feet tall and looks even bigger in person.

Porsche behind us. Right after this picture, I changed lanes and it passes us at probably 105 MPH.

Old building by the Danube River in Budapest

Every street in Budapest is lined with building like this.

Heroes square in Budapest. (We had an Asian take the picture and frankly I'm a little surprised that it turned out fuzzy)

The base of the main statue. This horse has elk antlers strapped around its head. Evidently Hungarian kings were elk hunters. Reminded me of some of my dads old hunting pictures.

Random horse statue in Budapest

The country side.

Igal, Hungary on the way to Budapest. It's just a little village with little cottages surrounded with orchards and fields.

Most roads here are lined with trees, I love it. It will be fun to drive down these tree tunnels  in the summer.

Leaving work on Thursday March 14th after a blizzard.

Horse drawn wagon across the street from our apartment.

Vajdahunyad Castle

Jeff has had to go to a lot of meetings and sign contracts, etc, and it's all done in Budapest. I always go with him to "take notes" aka press the red record button on the computer. The meeting this time was with an accounting firm that manages the company's payroll, auditing, etc. We get water with a lemon slice in it every time we go--it's great.

After I was done freaking out about the teeny parking spots that Jeff somehow pulled in and out of, we drove through Budapest...and this is what we spied:

VAJDAHUNYAD CASTLE

Entrance

Inside the gates (left to right): Katolilcus Templom, a nice Park, Josie, Museum, Castle

This castle has a bunch of architectural styles: Romanesque, Baroque, Gothic, and Renaissance. It was built for an Exhibition that celebrated 1000 years of Hungary since the Hungarian Conquest of the Carpathian Basin...or so Wikipedia says. We couldn't find out for ourselves when we were there--everything was Hungarian.

Agricultural Museum (which was closed, but we're definitely going again)

"Statue of Anonymus" a poet.
I thought he looked like a Ring Wraith or something 

Temple

Inside the temple

Our Apartment

Here are before and after pictures of our apartment. It's very nice compared to others we've seen--with a bakery and mini grocery store just around the corner! We feel a lot more at home, and are having fun.

+ Rug, couch pillows, blinds

+ Lamps, bedding

+ Washer, drying rack, towels, rug, mirror, shelves,
shower curtain, and ingenious shower holder

- T.V. + Random things we had in our suitcases that we
are using for decoration. ie: games, movies, books,
 jewelry, plants, chapstick, etc.

+ New refrigerator, new oven, new table, rug, dishes...

...and microwave!

View outside our apartment window

Settled In by Josie

Yes! We have our own apartment. We've been cooking our own meals, which has been awesome; we don't have to guess what's on the menu or whether it's anything like it is in America. Actually, we have to do that in the grocery store, too...but we do much better without any pressure from the waiters. Recently we've had Jeff's delicious omelets and I made a vegetable soup tonight—without any instructions at all! Just wingin' it. I'm sure you mothers do it all the time, but try to remember what it was like when you were first married. I wouldn't have said anything about it if it hadn't been delicious and one of the best soups I've ever made :) But that's not saying much...

Jeff loves houseplants, so we bought a few

Then we were out of bread so we walked around the corner, past the pub, into the little bakery in our complex. And Jeff picked out a dessert pastry. I need to learn how to make some Hungarian foods. When I made cookies for the English class, a lady there kissed my cheeks (still awkward, but they think hugs are awkward—so to each their own), and said something like, "you cake very good." Yes, my cookies were delicious. Even though instead of normal sugar I bought crystalized, and they DO NOT HAVE brown sugar over here...among lots of other things. We really miss Wal Mart. I'm going to have to get creative.

One of our many trips to the grocery store

I have been reading a ton lately, while Jeff is gone at work. And I've had some fun writing a few paragraphs of a new story each day. Then the next day I read it and delete it. I'm still having problems being confident in my writing. But heck--I could blog all day long! We haven't for the past week just because we still don't have Internet here. Jeff has to bring his work modem and computer home at night to do stuff for school, work, etc. By the way, I'm starting an online class next week. It won't keep me crazy busy yet, but I'm excited for next semester when I will finish my degree!

When we were buying appliances at a store, the girl that spoke a little English there was very chatty with us. She asked me if I had any girlfriends, then wanted my number so we could go get "coffee or someting." She really just wants to improve her English by talking with an American. Some people that come to the English classes have been coming for 6 years! They like the practice they get by talking with English-speaking missionaries. It really has helped them to learn or keep up with the language. There’s an English teacher that goes just so she can learn things that aren’t in the books. Our landlord, Zultan, is going to Los Angeles to visit a friend in a couple of months. He laughed and said, "I'll be in America before you will be!" I didn't think it was very funny. He's also the one who gave us wine when we first moved in. When we told him we didn't drink wine, he asked, "Do you eat?" Hahaha anyway. Funny people.

Here are a few Hungarian words we have enjoyed lately:

Oszibarack (oo-zee-bar-at-sk) = Peach

Kosonom (coo-sun-um) = Thank you

Yo = Good

Igen (ee-gan) = Yes

Nem (nam) = No

That's about all I know so far :)

Settled In by Jeff

Hello again. Life in Kaposvar is going really well. I feel like we are adjusting well to our new surroundings and I enjoy all of the little challenges of living here. Communicating is very hard and I have to use hand signals a lot. We are learning some Hungarian, but knowing how to say yes and thank you are only helpful some of the time. It feels normal living here until I hear someone talk or I walk into a store. It's not like America where you just go to Walmart and 30 minutes later leave with everything you need and then some. The stores don't have a lot of things that we consider necessities and shopping takes a long time. Some items are extremely inexpensive while others are ridiculously marked up. For example, we bought a box of 15 kiwis for $2, but a bathroom towel costs $15. The big store here, TESCO, only had one type of pillow and its big enough to double as a raft. All in all, I am really enjoying this adventure and know that I will miss it when it ends. I will just give a brief overview of the last couple of weeks and I'll let Josie give you a tour of our new apartment.

Our humongous pillows that make our bed look really small.

Our tub didn't have a shower and/or curtain so we bought a curtain and a suction cupped toilet paper roll holder and made it work. 

We have moved into our apartment after almost three weeks of hotel life and we like being settled. We had a little fridge in our hotel room, but we got sick of eating yogurt and bread every night for dinner and so we found little cafes that we could eat at. We found two cafes within walking distance and luckily their menus had English translations. I found a really good soup called Goulash. It has potatoes, carrots, meat, and dough dumplings. It was just nice to have a warm meal. The other cafe is right across from the church and we ate there 4 nights in a row! They had pizzas, pastas, desserts, chicken, and mashed potatoes. We each got a side, a meal, a drink, and split a dessert for $14. How could we not eat there 4 nights in a row? We even ate there on Valentines night.

This looks way more fancy than it cost.

Our cheap meals.

We were at a nice little hotel in downtown Kaposvar and really liked our time there. All of the workers were very nice to us and talked with us quite a bit. Some mornings we were the only guests and so the hotel workers would wait for us to come down for breakfast and then talk with us as we ate.

This is where we would sit and talk and we ate some mornings.

The hotel breakfast we became very familiar with.

Our new apartment is about 3 miles from "down town" Kaposvar and is about a ten minute drive to the worksite. We live on the ground level and have a parking spot about 15 feet from our door. We've spent the last week stocking our shelves and buying the necessary items to fill our house. It seems like every night we went from store to store getting things we would need. One night we went to the same store 3-4 times. But, we seem to have everything we need now and are pretty content. 

The snow comes lightly and melts quickly.

Our Car

As far as church goes, the branch is going well and we still wish we could communicate better. We did attend a baptism this last Saturday that was held at a local school swimming pool. All of the members seem really close. Josie has been asked to make refreshments for the weekly English classes taught by the missionaries. We missed two weeks ago because we were getting appliances and food and simply forgot. But, last week we went and attended the advanced class that is taught by a senior couple from St. George, the Colledges. They had us introduce ourselves and we got to know the four Hungarians in that class. Sister Colledge taught a lesson about Heavenly Father's creations and it was really fun. Josie made M&M cookies and they were a big hit. The branch doesn't have very many active priesthood holders and so they are utilizing us Americans. I have been asked to serve in the Elders quorum as a counselor to the Elder's quorum President, Elder Nabrotsky, and to assist the ward clerk. I'm looking forward to serving and getting to know the members better.

Josie walking into church.

Where Sacrament meeting is held. 

As for work, we finally got all of our office furniture on Monday and it is nice to have my own desk and have room to work. I handle all things money and whatever else needs to be done. Today I met with a Hungarian doctor with our translator to see if the doctor could help us obtain work permits and then I met with the owner of a Ford dealership to get some details about a van for a family coming from Idaho next week. I like it so far and it is definitely stretching me. I just hope that I can be beneficial.

Those containers just right of the building are where I work. 

An old train at the sugar factory.

This is by far the biggest drill I have ever seen. It is easily 75ft tall.  A subcontractor is using it to  drill the foundation piles.