The Park Library

Dispatches from Budapest

By Barbara Semonche

OUR FLAT

We are renting an apartment from an academic couple, the Boreczskys. As with us, they have a Fulbright Fellowship but to the U.S. at Rutgers University. This one-bedroom flat is on the third floor of a historic building and without an elevator so we climb the 71 steps up/down several times daily as a necessary part of our fitness regime. It is large by Budapest standards (about 150 sq. meters) and comes equipped with such appliance luxuries as a dishwasher and clothes washer/drier. The huge apartment windows are just as important for us. When milder weather arrives we can enjoy the vista the balcony provides overlooking the famed Gellert Hotel outdoor thermal baths & spa.

Our flat is centrally located for our needs. It is a short hike up/down the hill to the tram stop and then a short ride to the famous Central Market across the Freedom Bridge over Danube River. Jack's classes are just four tram stops to Pazmany Peter University; my trips to The Freedom Forum's Center for Independent Journalism Library is just three tram stops and a short walk away. To get to the Fulbright Commission requires changing transport twice because it is a bit further from our flat.

TRANSPORTATION

Living in a city is different from visiting it. In Budapest everything seems to take longer. That's especially true for us because we don't have a car. Curiously, that is an advantage. Relying upon trams, trollies, buses, and the metro (underground) for transportation permits Jack and me close, personal, and challenging experiences in this city of two million people. First, the people are uniformly polite to obvious strangers without any knowledge of their language. Extraordinary! Second, learning to read the street maps (in Hungarian), and the various transportation maps as well is critical. We travel with both the pocket sized ones and the larger, more detailed ones. Third, since rarely do we travel from one site to another without using at least two and mostly three forms of transport we have to hone a sharp sense of direction. We've had to backtrack a few times at large transport intersections. Finally, the great advantage of this public transport is that it is so cheap and convenient. A transport pass (bring a small color photo of yourself) is purchased from a central ticket agency. It lasts one month and can be renewed. That's good for us because we'll be here for four months.

LATITUDE & TIME

Jack estimates that Budapest is about the same latitude as northern Maine and/or New Brunswick, CA. (Any of you in range of this email, please feel free to correct us.) In the meantime, Charlie Campo and other friends and colleagues in that neck of the woods, we can commiserate with you all weather wise. We are not in embrace of North Carolina's gentle breezes and mild temps anymore. Until Daylight Savings Time sets in, we are 6 hours ahead of the U.S. clocks.

SHOPPING

Like the citizens here we don't venture from our flat daily without our shopping bags. Everyone, men, women, children goes marketing daily. The markets don't provide bags so we bring our own. Bags typically are plastic, fabric, or leather, but not paper. Paper bags are scarce; in fact all paper products are in short supply. We act accordingly and save every bag we get our hands on. Now shopping carts are another story. They are available, but they are not free; one slips a small coin into a chain that unlocks one from the rest of the pack. [Note: you get the coin back when you return the cart to its rightful place. Smart, no?] These carts don't go outside. Perhaps that is why there are no balky wheels. Traveling on public transport with heavy bags of provisions requires strength and planning. We've discovered that it is wiser to go to market more frequently and carry less than over burden ourselves.

Looking for familiar products is a challenge, but we've been successful with the basics. And no one can quibble with the prices. They are bargains compared with U.S. prices. And the exchange rate is favorable with the U.S. dollar. There is a variety of stores, supermarkets, pastry shops (we found one selling sweet rolls with poppy seed filling), flower stalls (begonias, primroses, jonquils, calla lilies, and much more), beauty salons (but no barber shops so far), and street vendors of various types.

LANGUAGE

Jack's colleagues who study Eastern /Middle European history confess that learning Hungarian is difficult at best. No one seems to know the exact origin of Magyar, but it is speculated that it is related to the Uralic, specifically the Finno-Ugric branch of language. Regrettably we have not studied Hungarian, but are building, slowly, an understanding of the language used in menus, food stores and directional signs. That is to say, we can recognize and frequently understand the meaning of these words, but we cannot converse nor even pronounce the language. The good news is that the students and librarians we've met speak English (also American) very well and are usually skilled in German and other middle European languages. Thus, we teach in English. However, we do consult a comprehensive two-volume Magyar-Angol / Angol Magyar dictionary. (BTW, so far we've not found a translation for low-fat in Hungarian.) Web site for Magyar?

One more point. Computer keyboards are configured differently here. Undoubtedly it is because of the many and varied characters with "embellishments." I discovered this when I was using a local computer (not the laptop we brought with us) and couldn't sign on to my email service because the special characters were located in different places. One of the sharp-eyed lab attendants clued me in. What it means is that when I'm typing on a Hungarian computer I must remember where the special characters are on the U.S. keyboards so that they will display properly. I was particularly confused by the location of the parentheses "( )" and the forward slash " / ".

INTERNET CONNECTION

It took a week and several phone calls to Hungary's state-owned Internet service provider, Matev, to find a techie who could help us. The tip we got was to call after 11:00 p.m. when one would most likely get an English-speaking Net guru. We finally got our modem working. It turned out that we had to enter a string of code that negated the initial dial tone. Hmmmm. There is a flat monthly fee, but no per-minute charges if you use the Net after 6:00 pm weekdays and after 4:00 p.m. weekends. Web pages load somewhat more slowly compared to what we are accustomed.

The number of Internet Users compared to the population ration in Hungary is less than in most West-European countries, but rates in the top three among ex-Communist countries. According to leading Hungarian Web site INDEX, Internet access in Hungary is among the most expensive in the World. While there are a few other ISPs in Hungary, Matev owns the lion's share of the business and dictates the costs.

ENTERTAINMENT

Opera ("Cosi Fan Tutti")? Certainly. Dress circle? That will be $6.50. How about the ballet ("Sylvia"). Balcony? Sure, that will be $4.00. Piano recital at the Liszt Academy of Music? Free! What about the opening concert at the historic King Mathias Church? $5.00. Entrance to the Vasarely Museum? About 80 cents. These were all impressive performances in beautiful venues with gifted artists. All this during our first month in Budapest. More is ahead.

FOOD

Hungarians love to dine. And with good reason. Menus include game (venison, boar, duck), pork (but no barbecue), turkey, fish (perch, carp, salmon) prepared in all manner of styles. Our favorite is a Sporozo just down the street from our flat where for a modest sum we can eat our fill of pork and dumplings. The Hungarian wines (especially the reds from Bock, Vyland) are really enjoyable. "Bulls Blood" is not a particularly appealing name for a rather nice, light wine. Since we are not big on dessert wines, we've not tried the famous Tokay wine. We have, however, taken full advantage of the desserts: crepes filled with chocolate ganache swimming in a pond of dark chocolate covered with a cloud of whipped cream and a dusting of finely chopped toasted walnuts. The strudel in not bad either. As for daily food shopping, we can find the basics. I prepared mostly one-pot oven casseroles of potatoes and vegetables with a bit of port or chicken in broth or pasta with red sauce. A few things are a challenge to find. Parmesan cheese, for example. Real maple syrup for another. Peanut butter, real vanilla flavoring, and on-fat buttermilk are some of the other staples that I've taken for granted in U.S. markets. There are some grand restaurants here. One is the famous Gundel. Jack and I enjoyed a luscious champagne brunch there early on. One of our favorite meals was at Lou/Lou's where a French-trained Hungarian chef did marvelous things with duck in Arabica sauce.

WEATHER

This is January/February and so cold (below 32 degrees), windy (Chicago style), wet, even snowy weather is to be expected. Traveling without a car takes preparation. Such as always carrying brollys and dressing in several layers and wearing sensible shoes. Mass transit here (trams, trolleys, busses and subways) are reliable, fast, and cheap, but occasionally they are crowded and there are lines. That means standing a lot and walking even more. BTW, there are cars here, rather a lot of them, but since parking spaces are at a premium, drivers go over the curbs and park on the sidewalks! No one is impolite about it, but one has to keep a sharp eye fore and aft when strolling the boulevards.

I'm told that rain is rather normal in Budapest. Perhaps it is because we are so close to the Danube and we are located in what is known as the Carpathian Basin. Curiously, the rainiest month is May. Both Jack and I have found the buildings a bit overheated during all this cold weather. I wonder what Spring will be like. Haven't seen much in the way of air conditioners so I'm relieved that we'll be back hone by early June.

BUILDINGS/ARCHITECTURE

Budapest is really 3 cities: Buda, Pest, and Obuda. The historic district is in the Buda site' commerce, governmental institutions, and universities are located largely on the Pest side. Obuda has the Aquinicum, ruins of an ancient Roman City. We've seen some really lovely restorations of Art Nouveau style buildings in both Buda and Pest. The National Opera House (Pest) is a treasure. The Parliament (Pest) is gorgeous with its carmine-colored dome and white spires. The Hotel Gellert (Buda) is famous for its thermal baths. We pass it on our way to work or shop daily.

Some of the grand houses constructed at the turn of the century have been refitted for multiple family living. Signs of age and deterioration are evident. Detrius from downed structures is considerable. Graffiti is apparent in many places. This is a country working hard to overcome years of neglect. Hungary will make it but it will take time, money, and will, but isn't that the case with many large, aging metropolises? In the last decade of the 15th century, an Italian was supposed to have coined this phrase, "Europe has three pearls of cities: Venice on the Water, Buda on the Hill, and Florence on the Plain." Lovely sentiment. Just wish I could verify the quote. More importantly, I hope that the future of Budapest will outshine its past.

OUR TEACHING ASSIGNMENTS

Jack's Fulbright Fellowship is with Pazmany Peter School of Law. He teaches one undergrad class (14 students) in U.S. Constitutional Law and History that meets every Tuesday from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. He also has a graduate seminar in American Legal Thought schedules for Friday's from noon until 2:00. I usually accompany his to his classes and sit in. The staff and faculty there have been most cordial and helpful. He has an office with a computer. The students are sharp, intellectually curious, and skilled with English.

I've met with the Freedom Forum folks (Dora Eke, the Librarian, and Ilona Moricz, the Deputy Director. We've had a couple of session with Nexis. Com and are scheduling a 4-session course on databases, Internet, and information management, ethics, trends and issues for Hungarian news librarians. We'll start on March 6 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. and continue each Tuesday until the end of March.

AMSTERDAM

I've just received an invitation to be the guest speaker for the Dutch Documentalist Society. My old friend and newspaper colleague, Otto Spronk in Amsterdam, called to say he has arranged for a grant to pay my expenses for a two-day stay there during the first week in May. Besides the speaking engagement, Otto has arranged for us to lunch at the American Embassy in Amsterdam and for full access to all the documentalists' centers in the area. (Note bene: documentalists is the term used by many European countries to describe newspaper librarians/researchers and those who work primarily with "pieces of paper", documents, manuscripts, etc, in special, usually private, collections. Librarians, on the other hand, describe those professionals who work primarily with books, typically in academic or public libraries.. Of course, many media libraries have collections not only with "pieces of paper" (documents) but books, CDs, databases and the whole arsenal of materials necessary for investigative research. Regardless of this distinction, I'm looking forward to meeting our Dutch colleagues in media. It has been 18 years since last I was in the Netherlands. That was when I first met Otto and toured his "documentation center" at the de Volkskrant newspaper, one of Amsterdam's largest media organizations. BTW, Jack will accompany me.

MEDIA

I've been collecting information about the media here in Hungary primarily from English-language publications. Primary among them is weeklies The Budapest Sun http://ww.budapestsun.com and Budapest Business Journal http://www.bbj.hu as well as the daily Hungary Today (a subsidiary of BBJ) which abstracts business and economic information published from six major Hungarian dailies plus three wire services: MIT, Bloomberg, and Econews.

News Briefs

New World Publishing Inc., the publisher of the weekly Budapest Business Journal is launching a new real estate portal in Hungarian, Czech, and Polish languages. The site will offer real estate info on all these markets plus Germany. The website content will be assembled by BBJ's news staff.

Another portal is not doing so well, eEurope Media is reported to selling its entertainment portal viaNovo.hu, with a registered user database of 60,000 because of negative global investor sentiment toward Internet companies.

Internet content provider Index.hu attracted 42% of all online advertising revenue in Hungary last year, a market totaling FT 1.59 billion. (Note: the exchange rate between the Hungarian forint and the U.S. dollar is about 290 FTs to $1.00.) However, the online advertising market is still below 1% of the overall advertising business in Hungary.

A Hungarian version of Elle magazine will debut in September 2001.

Lang Publishing and Holding Rt recently raised the capital from the Dutch Salina Investment B.V. to buy publishing company Geomedia Rt giving Lang the right to publish 17 trade papers.

Major telecommunication companies in Hungary include Matav (state owned), Westel, Pannon and PanTel. They are competing for block of 3.5 GHz frequeny. This frequency in intended to be used as a cell-based fixed network.

Mobile service provider Pannon GSM opened its first internet store. Pannon expects to sell about 2% to 2.5% of its products online. About 10% of Hungarians use the Internet, but only 1% buys products online.

Mobile phone penetration in Hungary grew 1.3% to 31.3% by January 2001. Westel Mobil RT's share rose to 53%. Figures are collected from Hungary's Communications Supervision (HiF).

Special Libraries Assoc.