St. Stephan’s Day

20^th of August is the celebration of the foundation of the Hungarian state. This is our 4^th of July. We also call it St. Stephen’s Day, remembering Stephen I, who was our first King in 1000 and who became a saint in 1083 by Pope Gregory VII. This is our biggest national holidays and traditional 'New Bread blessing’ from the first harvest. As it should be we celebrate with a daylong festivals, water parade on the Danube, breath taking air shows, procession with ‘Holy-Right’ and magnificent firework at night.

Celebration with long distance

Although the big day is coming up soon it’s really a messy feeling to be a Hungarian – ‘Magyar’ these days. Thousands of people are struggling with survival, future seems to be hopeless for youngsters and elder’s dreams slowly turn into shame. Thanks for the immigration wave our population is getting smaller and smaller. In fact the latest news is the constant’s population drop from 10 million people down to around 7 million. Decreasing populations are not just bad for the country or the Hungarian economy it also affects families life as well.

They are being torn apart, and what makes this decision more painful is they have no choices left. No matter if you are a mother of five kids, you leave the country and need to send the money home. Are trying to start a life, but your fiancé just got a job at aboard? Or maybe you have to leave your elder parents behind? Yup! No time for sorrow the money is out there, outside of Hungary.

So where do I belong, really? Here in this foreign country where I live or back home where my heart is? And what can you do on a Day like that? Celebrate from a long distance I guess! Sending a postcard takes a couple of days and using the phone can reach be expensive to talk to relatives. Thank God, technology helps us a lot. You can write an email or instant message on the Facebook instead. Diversity of communications today is extensive. These technologies make keeping in touch easier and also cost less. And if you really miss someone you can talk on Skype for free although it cannot replace a loving touch.

For me it’s no different this year, we are going to watch the fireworks together on a web cam.

 

Worst floods of all time is here in Budapest

‘Europe's second longest river is set to hit unprecedented levels in the capital Budapest in the next few days.’ – According to BBC news.  Yup. Danube is going to reach record levels this weekend in Budapest. Although it happens every year - the banks of river are closed for a couple of week – this time it can be worst of all time.

‘Central Europe's worst river floods in over a decade have already devastated large areas and forced mass evacuations in parts of Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. Budapest was expected to be worst hit on Monday, with forecasters predicting the river will rise to as high as 9 meters (29.5 ft) higher than the last record set in 2006.’ – According to CNN.

In Hungary most of our news is about evacuations and damage. All local transportation is blocked, and roads to the capital are blocked. The Hungarian Prime minister spent the night at a military barrack in the flooded city of Győr. He’s been trying to calm the nation as it becomes a national disaster. He said everything is under control and military is ready to help with the worst. Interesting that he also denied recent news about leaking dams.

Personally I can say is that every minute another new record has been reached and what is the first time was shocking now it just becoming scary.

Interestingly enough that many communities including Gypsies who never contribute to anything are volunteering to help sandbag our dams.

So sad, that only disasters – like this – can bring the nation together.

The new Hungarian Revolution

March 15th represents of the biggest Hungarian anniversaries.  In 1848-49, the Hungarian revolution was followed by the revolutionary war in Europe, however only Hungary was successful at resisting invasion. This day is also special since the famous Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi’s, wrote the Hungarian national anthem from one of his poems. The song rumbles the Hungarian consciousness to this day.

“On your feet, Magyar, the homeland call

The time is here now or never!’

As a proud Hungarian we also have to listen to the doctrine forced upon us from our countries President that our freedom still exist. So our hero’s efforts was not wasted. That’s fine, as we got used to our leaders who provide the voice of our national symbol, and let the politicians interpreted the ideology.  

You know we are a smart nation, and have access to news, through twitter, facebook, and so many other real time news feeds, and we watch in horror how the EU states are not happy with the Hungarian political direction. As an outsiders view point, Hungary is collapsing, much like Greece, and Italy. We were warned by the German government to work and restore ourselves, and think about the next steps to being part of a financial connected world. It’s not hard to picture a future where Hungary is kicked out from the EU. It’s a very confusing time, and as a nation we wonder where are the Heroes of our great nation?

Another confusing dilemma comes to the Hungarian market place is the introduction of the smartphone revolution. A growing number of web services such as Facebook, Twitter, the many music sharing services, Map sites, weather app services, and so many more connected activities have invaded Hungary in force, like a new revolutionary war.. This time the information is invading the hearts and minds of the new generation, they become impossible to avoid. So what direction to move, as none of the manufacturers really care about a small market like Hungary. So let’s look at the current dominant devices on the market.

Use a Google Android phone or Apple iPhone? Is this a national dilemma?  

Selecting a device in Hungary

Right now the iPhone is an expensive premium product, and costs more than an average salary for most. It really pushes itself out of the regular people’s hands.

This leaves the android devices, but which one?  It does not help that our local carriers have not done a good job to teach us about the android line up. All the options. So how can we get into a good smartphone, ensure we have all the options, and spend as little as we can?

Interesting fact that women costumer had a more serious role for the purchase of smartphone success than men. Of course we have! – so stay tuned, as I look at what carriers are doing around Budapest.

So which should I choose? Freedom? Life style? Expensive or cheap? Check out this great chart at http://android-devices.net/