Hungary From an American Point of View
by Currently I am on a year long exchange in Hungary. The culture here is quite different and the language is one of the hardest in the world. Just for the sake of those who are interested in hearing the differences between certain cultures, I created this article.
Tradition
When I talk about tradition I will mainly speak about holidays.
Nameday: Since Hungary is a mostly Catholic nation, Hungarians label certain days for saints and certain characters in the bible. If you have the same name as this person, then this is your nameday. Namedays are sort of celebrated as minibirthdays.
Christmas: Christmas in Hungary is usually celebrated on two separate days. Since St. Nickolaus’s nameday is on the 6th of December, he bring small presents and chocolates on that day. But as for the 25th, baby Jesus or an angel brings presents to the good little girls and boys, not Santa.
Easter: For Easter the boys are supposed to sprinkle the girls and then the girl will give them sweets and decorated eggs in return. The fathers will also sprinkle their daughters and give them treats as well.
Independence Day: There are many independence days in Hungary because Hungary was invaded by many different nations. They were invaded by the Mongolians, Turkish, Austrians, Germans, and Russians so they have an Independence Day for each of these times.
Communication
Communication can be classified by two things, spoken language and body language.
Spoken language: The spoken language of Hungary is refereed to as “Magyarul” by Hungarians, but other countries refer to it as some variation of Hungarian. Hungarian is classified as one of the hardest languages in the the world. The setup of this language differs from any other European language, unlike most of the others who are relatively similar. Hungarian is a free language, meaning that you can usually put the words in any order you want and have the meaning usually stay the same. The language also has many suffixes to put on the ending of the word. Asztal means table, while Asztalon means on the table.
Body language: As a boy, when I walk in the room it is customary to shake every other mans hand when entering a room. You also give ‘puszi’ or two kisses on each side of the cheek to the females and very close male friends. Also, any personal direct action must be carried out with eye contact. So when clinking glasses or shaking hands you must keep eye contact or you will come off as rude.
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