Hertzler Outpost

Ford Windstar bulbs

One of the problems with owning an exotic car, a 1995 Ford Windstar in our case, is finding replacement parts. Most must come from the U.S., and they take a while to get here. Sure, a Windstar isn’t quite an “exotic,” but the difference is moot when you can’t find cheap parts. Our front headlight recently went out, so until we get it replaced we have this anxiety about being pulled over by the rend?rség (police) and having our car papers yanked because of our non-compliant, non-functioning headlights. Maybe we’ll just run with our brights on all the time. Annoying is better than walking.

4 wheel-drive shopping carts

It was four months living here before I made it into the grocery store with a shopping cart. The first problem was remembering that the cart pickup was near the car out in the parking lot, not near the shopping mall door. The second problem was leaving the house with the right coins to get a cart.

See the yellow circle highlight in the picture? That is the coin deposit device, and it ensures you are motivated to return the cart to the corral. This is brilliant! Why pay some kid minimum wage to shlep all the carts back into place? Let everyone put their own carts back. Enterprising panhandlers will often do it for you, too.

Unfortunately, those little devices consumed all the brilliance of this cart’s designer. By the time he got to the wheels, all his good ideas had vanished. Indeed, even his basic logic was gone.

All four wheels rotate on these things, rendering them nearly impossible to control. If you find yourself shopping with slippery shoes or high heels, (I have never found myself shopping with high heels, but I have heard it happens) your back will do all the work instead. At the end of the check-out process, the only thing you want to do is go home, lie down, and remember your tennis shoes next time.

There is another cultural norm here that involves shopping carts, too. Rather than push these things wherever people go in the store, they leave their cart at the head of the aisle and fill it up from there. That way the Zamboni machines have to dodge their cart, and not the other way around!

It is always nice when currency exchange rates go in our favor. Tonight I paid the rent, in cash as always, $50 less than last month. The dollar strengthened against the euro (and thus against the Hungarian Forint, too) because of the stalemated German election results earlier in September.

Our neighbor, Diane, has an affinity for antique furniture not unlike those who can’t turn away a stray kitten. Recently we helped her find a home, ours, for an antique chest that needed some extra love. It sat in the basement all summer until we hosed it out and wiped off the spider webs last month. The original (?) coat of red paint looked worn and full of character, but in the end Cathy and I concluded that neither of us would sleep under a blanket that came out of THAT chest unless it got looking better than it was.

Sandor is the mystical pine furniture guru that lives in a town south of Budapest, Dunaföldvár. He speaks no English and only comes to Budapest occasionally, so making a connection with him was pretty esoteric. Today one of the enlightened ones offered to take us to Sandor, so we followed obediently.

His store didn’t look like much from the street, but inside his courtyard were treasures from the past; wood utensils, cabinets, farm machinery, and even an old sleigh. He has a small warehouse full of refinished, antique pine furniture, all waiting for their owners to retrieve them, and we added to his collection.

Kill the wood worms, replace the four worm-eaten feet, strip off the old paint, and put a coat of wax on the outside; that was our request. My only regret is that I didn’t take a picture of it before we left.

Sandor was wonderful. I see why everyone takes things to him. He does good work, and he’s friendly. While we were there he invited us in, introduced us to his daughter and her boyfriend, and showed us pictures and video of a house remodeling job he’s doing in Szentendre. We’re already looking forward to the return trip to pick up our refinished chest!

(Click here or click the photo above to see more pictures from around his shop.)

Bills here fall into the category of what seems normal now, but back when we first arrived, they seemed pretty wacky.

First of all, compared to the volume of mail we received in the U.S., usually measured in units of pounds per day, we get hardly any mail here and even fewer bills. This is a good thing.

The few bills we dispatch can be paid in one of two ways: bank transfer or the post office bank. Since we get paid in dollars, moving money into a Forint bank account to do the first option would be expensive. Therefore we pay bills at the post office, and that is whacked. Or at least it was for the first few months here. If paying bills from my desk at home was a pain, going to post office here is worse!

Only now I’m used to it, and I don’t really mind.

Buying groceries here in Hungary is different in many ways than grocery shopping in the U.S., but probably one of the most unique things are the Zamboni machines. They don’t condition ice, instead they clean the floors in constant, random motion. They drive around perpetually like an indoor street sweeper. At some point during any trip to the market you’ll have to dodge one, and then you’ll have to avoid slipping on the wet tiles left in their wake. But, hey, our floors are clean!

Today is Trash Day in Budaörs

Twice a year all the houses here burp out semi-valuable refuse for anyone to pick through and cart off.

It’s a great system. If you think your unwanted stuff has any value, the scavengers will either confirm or refute that view.

After sitting out on the curb for several days, the garbage trucks come along and haul away what is left. By then if no one wanted it, it’s trash.

Yesterday I walked outside with a partially working toaster and a plastic trash bin. They never even made it onto the pavement. I just handed them to the family going through this pile.

Budapest Half Marathon

Csilla, Matt, and I ran the Budapest Half Marathon this morning. It is much more fun doing a race with friends! Csilla speaks Hungarian, too, so I wasn’t lost like last year.

If you were a fast Hungarian (finished the race in less than 90 minutes), Nike gave you a nice, red running shirt. If you were a fast foreigner you got nothing but the race shirt. I was neither, so my race shirt will have to do.

My net time this year, 1:35:46, was faster than last year, so I accomplished my goal. That’s me below, in the sunglasses, just before the finish line.

Tomorrow morning Tom and I are off to Kiev to meet Alex.

Red Bull Plane Under Chain Bridge

This morning, early, Matt Jackson and I did a long run together to downtown Budapest in preparation for the Budapest Half Marathon. It’s St. Istvan’s Day today, so the Chain Bridge was closed. We were dissapointed because it’s normally designated pedestrians-only on summer Saturdays. Our dissapointment was gone 30 seconds later as we saw the Red Bull stunt plane zoom under the Chain Bridge. Yes, under! We had our own private airshow for the next ten minutes, as five other planes flew the same obstacle course between the Chain Bridge and Margaret Bridge. Check out these pictures of the event.

One of the Red Bull pilots, Peter Besenyei, practices in Budaors, just across the field from our house, so we get regular airshows during the spring. But this one beat them all!

Click a picture to see a larger view.

St Matthews Cathedral – Budapest
Originally uploaded by squarejer.

This was one of the tour stops today for Jessica and Diane, our visiting guests. We topped the day off with dinner at the Adler where we also practiced our Hungarian with favorite waiter, Akos.

This picture is interesting probably only to me, as it is the first one at St. Matthew’s where I found a camera stand that allowed me to take a sharp picture (before compression) of the inside.

new socks
Originally uploaded by squarejer.

Before dinner tonight I modeled my new socks. I got them a couple days ago at Tesco on sale; 5 pairs for 200 Forint (about 1 US Dollar). Don’t confuse them with executive socks, they are not. Rather, they are low-cut dark athletic socks, de rigueur for the European male.

Not only does this mark a transition for me toward assimilation into the local culture, but it marks a reduction on the list of things “I’ll never do.” While I’m not exactly mowing the lawn in these socks (Line #5 on The List: “Never mow the lawn in black executive socks”), it’s close enough that I’ve had to scratch that taboo from the list.

“Oh NO!” was Cathy’s reaction when I came to the dinner table.

“DAAAD” was Andrew’s. (Said with the sad resignation of a Jr. Higher who must reconcile himself to the possibility that DAAAD might enter his world in such attire).

But I was vindicated by Audrey.

“What’s wrong with sandals?” was her honest assessment. (Ok, Audrey. You can take the car out anytime when you’re old enough to drive. Maybe even before then.)

Well, this was an occasion that needed a photo.

That’s when Annie got involved. Once she saw the camera, I couldn’t keep her away. I ruined her to it a few weeks ago when I used it to run her around the back yard chasing the flash-focus light. Now whenever she sees the camera she starts looking for the light!

Hungarian flag
Originally uploaded by squarejer.

Today Hungary commemorates their Revolution of 1848 against the Habsburgs. Everything is closed and the day seems to mark the beginning of Spring.

It is interesting to note that Hungary celebrates two revolution days; March 15 and October 23. Three revolutions occurred on these two dates, only one of which was ultimately successful. The successful one, on which Hungary gained their current independence, was declared on October 23, 1989. The other two began on March 15, 1848 and October 23, 1956.

I demonstrated my lack of Hungarianess by going in to the office and working all day. I figure that would be like a European working on the 4th of July in America.

But we took the day off yesterday (also celebrated by most people as an add-on holiday) and went down to City Park as a family. We wanted to go to the Zoo, but the line to get in was too long, so we walked around in the nice weather for a bit then went home.

I just got a call from my mechanic. He said he needs another 10,000 Forint ($50) to bribe the mechanical inspection official to pass my car. The alternative is buying a new door (>$1000 and a one-month shipping delay) to replace the one I smashed last July – and getting the van re-fitted for European headlight standards, something the previous owner of the car just told me could cost “thousands.”

My certificate of inspection expires in 2 weeks. Hungarian police regularly inspect car papers. Just last Sunday night I was pulled over (and given a alcohol breath test which I passed of course!) The Seelys avoided having their car being impounded for an expired mechanical inspection only by the good graces of the police officer who caught them and Valerie’s tears. Our other friends, the Olsons, weren’t so fortunate. Last week they lost their car due to an expired mechanical inspection. It will be at least a month before they get their car back. (Yes, someone here needs to start telling the new families about this when they arrive!)

Do I:

a. get really angry. Well, this already happened.
b. bribe the inspection official. I am quite certain this is illegal in the EU.
c. spend $2000 to get the car into compliance and take public transportation while we wait for parts
d. buy a new car
e. ride public transportation for the next 18 months.
f. none of the above
g. pray and expect God to provide some unseen solution.

Ice Skating City Park – Budapest

Originally uploaded by squarejer.

It’s a Christmas Eve tradition for our American community to go ice skating, so we joined our friends and had a bunch of fun this morning.

Return to Szecheny Bath House

Yesterday after work I went back to the Szecheny Bath House with a few friends. My first visit to this place, a half marathon race event, was marked by confusion. This visit was marked by satisfaction! My friend, Dave, had been here and knew how to get around. We started out in the outdoor hot pool (shown here), went to the sauna, on to a mineral pool, and then back out to the outdoor pool. Very relaxing. If you are in Budapest, and you have time, I’d recommend a trip to the spa!

If you want to read more about spas in Hungary, the site where I got this photo from, www.spasbudapest.com, has lots of good photos and information.

(Photo is from the gallery at www.spasbudapest.com)

The Adler Restaurant

Our favorite restaurant, The Adler. We went there last Saturday with our friends, the Sponslers. It’s just a 10 minute walk from our house, and they have the best dessert and cappucino around. All the waiters know us there and are very patient with our bad Hungarian. And they all speak English anyway, so we’re off the hook.

This is the lobby of the sixth floor of the hotel at Club Tihány on Lake Balaton, the location of the next New Life Eastern Europe (Campus Crusade) staff conference. On Tuesday a group of us visited to check it out and start planning the conference. It’s a beautiful place; the preferred resort location for all of Hungary and much of Europe. It was gorgeous. Too bad we can’t have our staff conference there right now. Instead we’ll do it in January when the lake is frozen, the leaves are gone, and the prices are down.

No rain, overcast, not too hot. A good day for a race. Results are posted here.

Running in Budapest was not too different than running in Orlando, except that I couldn’t really talk with anyone during the race. Even more difficult were the pre-race arrangements.

All runners were invited to change in the Széchenyi Bath House in City Park, but I did it wrong. Instead of going in the free entrance (marked “Women’s changing area”) which was intended for all racers, I paid 1900 Forint to go in the normal entrance for men. At first I felt like a stupid foreigner when it was clear I was the only race participant in that area, but then I realized I had unwittingly outfoxed the other 4500 runners. Instead of waiting in line for 20 minutes for the stinky port-o-lets, I had my own clean private restroom! And after the race I had my own shower and nearly private changing room – well worth the price!

Found a great running place this morning; Margaret Island. It has a rubber-surface running track around the whole island; 5350 meters by their measurement. This will be a good speed-training location as I get ready for the Budapest Half Marathon September 5.

Yesterday I had to drive my collision-damaged car downtown to the insurance company. On my way there I experienced my personal driving nightmare; getting stuck in the middle of traffic with nowhere to go. I pulled into a left turn lane (rare in this city of no left turns) only to find it ended with no place to turn left. Three different streets full of cars stared back at me from three different directions. The driver behind me leaned on his horn, threw up his arms, squealed his tires out and around me, and I sat there stuck in the middle of a moving intersection with nowhere to go. I had pulled past the traffic lights, so I couldn’t see those either.

I finally escaped without any further car damage and without any further energy for a few hours.