Hungary in Transition

By Mary Magoulick

The last two weeks of May 2004 three GC&SU faculty members, J.J. Arias (Economics), Sandra Godwin (Government & Sociology), and Mary Magoulick (English, Speech & Journalism) joined 20 other faculty members from the University System of Georgia in participating in a faculty development seminar in Hungary. We began our stay in Eger, a small city northeast of Budapest in the wine-growing region of the country. The famous red wine they make – Bikavér – translates as “bull's blood.” Eger was at its height in the Baroque era, which still shows in attractive buildings and streets. My first impression of this college town was that it was much more advanced than I expected. I could tell little or no difference from Western Europe, and not until that thought occurred did I realize I had been expecting the former Soviet Satellite State to be different. Eger has many streets of cobblestone, and the buildings are painted interesting colors. Geraniums, Iris, and other flowers bloomed the whole time we were there. On our drives through the countryside we often saw locals tending their gardens in front of immaculate houses with interesting wrought iron gates.

Eger has an old castle/fortress on a hill in town. We visited it during a walking tour of the town our first full day there. The fort now houses a number of museums, and is most famous for the battle staged from there that held off the Turkish aggressors for years before succumbing (this was the only significant success against the Turkish invasion). Encyclopedia.com explains of Eger: “One of the first Magyar settlements in E central Europe, Eger was made (11th cent.) a bishopric by St. Stephen. It was destroyed (13th cent.) by the Tatars, rebuilt and fortified, and captured in 1596 by the Turks, who held it for nearly 150 years. Francis II Rakoczy used the fortress in his fight against the Hapsburgs, who had it razed. In 1814, Eger became an archiepiscopal see; the many churches subsequently built have earned it the name ‘Rome of Hungary.’ The city's notable structures include a 16th-century minaret, an 18th-century archiepiscopal palace, a 19th-century cathedral, and the ruins of a medieval fortress.”[i]

A typical house in the countryside Outside of Eszterházi Károly College Building

We stayed in a nice hotel (“Hotel Eger”) where we enjoyed single rooms with television and air conditioning. There were three TV channels in English (and one in French, several in German, and a few in Hungarian). Our rooms were comfortable and functional with clean lines. There was also a very nice swimming pool area with saunas, steam room, ice room, light room, aroma therapy room, hot tubs, and so on. The hot tub was not very hot, but this was clearly a luxury hotel. We ate most meals at our hotel as part of the program – in a luxurious dining room in the old part of the joined buildings. There was a big city park just behind our hotel – with a fountain and tree lined paths. Many cafes and wine bars were enjoyed all around the city in the evenings. We were provided with access to computers (with internet) in one of the campus buildings just down the street from our hotel.

Mary and Sandra in the park adjacent to our hotel Street Scene in Eger

Our program included meetings and presentations at Eszterházi Károly Teachers’ Training College. The focus of our seminar was “Hungary in Transition” (from former Soviet Satellite to new European Union member). One of the first days there we had a lecture from a history professor about how things were in the Soviet era and why they are much better now. He painted Ronald Reagan as the greatest hero of all time. When asked about how women's roles have changed recently (more women are staying home), he said, “Women should never have been doing those jobs [they were doing during the Soviet era]. So they are happy to stay home.” Overall, it seemed that Hungarians think highly of America and Americans (much more so than in Western Europe). But not as many people speak English there. We got a crash course in the Hungarian language early on – but most of us could say little beyond good day – “jó napot” or “szia” (for hello or goodbye and pronounced exactly like “see ya”), thank you – “Köszönöm” – and a few other words. None of the words are really anything like other Western languages (except for new words having to do with technology or recent products of the West).

Our hosts arranged lectures for us from faculty members from American studies, telecommunications, sociology, political science, physical education, biology, history, and other areas. The day we walked uphill to the natural sciences department, we heard from two lecturers, one who tried to convince us that there are no more environmental problems in Hungary. In response to questions about toxic wastes that had been dumped in Hungary during the Soviet era, he claimed that they have cleaned everything up in a few short years since the Soviets left, and no new companies ever do anything bad. But the second scientist who spoke to us seemed more honest. He admitted there is pollution in Hungary and that it’s a significant problem. Most of the lecturers spoke to us in English (many have studied in the States); though if they spoke in Hungarian, our hosts translated for us.

We also saw several attractive features in the main college building, including a beautiful library, an astronomy museum, modern television studios, and one day, a “camera obscura” – at the very top of the main college building – many flights up. It’s an 18th century device that shows real-time images of the town (in color and live) with a kind of periscope that projects the images onto a white table. They said it was an amusement for the wealthy citizens of Eger. It’s still amusing.

One highlight was the day we went to see school children in their classes at a school near the center of town. We watched an English lesson with 6^th graders and then a music lesson with 4^th graders who sang several folk songs for us. They were very eager and excited to have us in their classroom. The halls of the school were decorated with art made by the children (grade through high school), and included some beautiful examples of fine art.

Children in a 4^th grade music class in Eger Artwork in the school hallway

We also enjoyed a number of field trips to the countryside around Eger. The first weekend we saw the Hortobagy National Park and “museum” – about folk culture. There were interpreters who dressed in costume and rode horses in dramatic ways – said to be “Hungarian cowboys.” For instance one man rode standing up on the back of two horses, but was controlling a team of four horses. He circled our wagons (we took a ride out to the field where they were). Others got their horses to lie down (I guess it helped them hide from enemies). They also cracked a lot of whips very dramatically. There was folk art for sale near the car park. For instance you could buy whips, ceramics, lace, embroidery, cooking utensils – like big pots and wooden spoons for making goulash.

Another day we visited Bukk National Park, a place of mountains, trout streams and waterfalls. They arranged a lunch for us that started with a strong shot of liquor and progressed to cooking trout over a long stone trough of hot coals. The trout was on one stick and was moistened while being cooked with pig fat (literally in a big chunk) on another stick. I assume the trout was from breeding ponds we passed on our walk down the hill along the stream. On the way up the mountain we took a train with hundreds of Hungarian school children. The lunch providers also poured us wine dramatically from an interesting contraption, a glass bulb with a long glass tube attached. The man operating it held his finger over the open tube and removed his finger once he had the spout positioned, to let the wine shoot directly into our glasses. He was practiced enough to aim correctly. He also shot wine directly into some people's mouths (he offered this only to men; though a few women who asked were obliged).

Cowboy at Hortobagy National Park Waterfalls in the Bukk Hills

One evening we drove to some Turkish baths on the outskirts of town, where we soaked in naturally hot mineral water and sipped cold beer under the stars (Sandra spotted Corona among the choices and most of us drank that). A huge thunderstorm opened up on us, but not until we had enjoyed the experience for a good half hour. We visited other outdoor sights as well, including lakes, mountains, forests, and caves. Hungary is very green and lovely, and Hungarians seem very proud of their beautiful natural environment.

We also visited a resort town for a few days and drove by former Soviet industrial cities where the factories are now mostly closed and decaying in the fields, leaving many people there destitute in their concrete block apartment buildings. One day we visited a national palace outside Budapest. Another day we drove to a large cliff outcropping and walked through the caves therein. This was on the border with Slovakia, a border we crossed briefly; but it was hard to see any difference from Hungary, except for the language (in fact that part of Slovakia was once part of Hungary).

Our last few days in the country we stayed in Budapest, the capital. Our hotel was a tourist chain (Ibex) near the airport. Budapest is a vibrant, modern city. We took the subway into various sites of interest. One of our Hungarian hosts offered a guided tour of Pest; the city is divided by the Danube River into two halves – Buda and Pest – and be aware that “s” is pronounced “sh” in Hungarian – so it’s pronounced “Pesht” or “Budapesht.” We started our walking tour at St. Stephen’s Cathedral, a huge, ornate Baroque building that holds the mummified fist of St. Stephen in its reliquary (which we saw). We also walked by the opera, had coffee and pastries at a nice café, strolled down a wide, tree-lined boulevard lined with many beautiful buildings to “Hero’s Square,” and visited several museums, including the fine arts museum and the ethnography/folklore museum (especially noteworthy).

Although it rained hard that afternoon and evening, most of us continued to wander the streets, visiting cafés and watching the nightlife as long as our aching feet held us up. Some of us found a vegetarian restaurant for dinner, then stopped at a cool, post-modern café where we had a towering chocolate confection for dessert, and then stopped for coffee at an open-air café with loud music and a big screen TV along a vibrant, crowded street.

Gates of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Pest Sandra, Mary, and J.J. before Soviet Era Statue

Our last day there (a Sunday) we took the “Sickle and Hammer” tour of Budapest, through a local tour company. We saw a Soviet style apartment (in one of those giant sets of huge concrete block apartment complexes). It was small and full of propaganda. We learned that the kitchen was purposely made to be extremely small, for instance, in order to forestall people from gathering for meals where they might complain or plot against the government. From this kitchen, our guide mixed up and offered us a drink that a member of our group dubbed “Commie Kool-aid” (it was a sweet, colored powder mixed with water). We then visited Statue Park – where many of the Soviet era statues that were torn down in the early 90’s were later erected outside of town. It’s a surreal but very interesting place. We heard that one statue of Lenin in a main square was decaying badly, so a new statue was made to replace it, but the switch was done secretly in the middle of the night, to hide or deny the fact that the original statue had decayed in the first place, thus removing any stain of decay that might be attached to Lenin himself.

We came back with a much better appreciation of Eastern/Central Europe, the former Soviet world, and the culture of Hungary. We will use what we learned in classes and research.

Hungary in Transition -- Faculty Development Seminary -- May 2004 (University System of Georgia)

By Mary Magoulick