Travel, Perspective, and a Train

Just a few decades ago Europe was divided. These divisions ran not only between East and West, but also between individual countries. People often had more distorted perceptions of other nationalities who only lived a few kilometers away.

During my journey to Ljubljana in the second class compartment of the Citadella express, I sat with Hungarian families Nigerian immigrants, and pair of Slovene collage students, who had never taken the train to their capital. The fields of Hungary gave way to dusk as we entered Slovenia. To my surprise the the train stopped. The Slovenian police boarded and began checking passports and ID cards. Both Hungary and Slovenia are members of the Schengen area, so I almost had left my passport in Budapest. As I handed over my documents for inspection it occurred to me how much greater freedom to travel is reshaping European attitudes and economics.

Before the fall of the iron curtain, passage between western Europe and the former eastern bloc was not an easy matter. Even in the satalite states of the USSR passage between countries was heavily restricted. Many residents of the DDR could only obtain authorization to go to Bulgaria on holiday, and few Poles could gain clearance for travel to what they referred to as the 'demoludy' or other Warsaw Pact countries.

Today, maintaining open borders is a nessesity for economic success. Even countries which do not participate in the Schengen area make crossing the border a simple task. Only Belarus and Russia still have serious visa requirements for entry by EU or American citizens.

This opening up of national borders has had the effect of allowing the free of exchange of knowledge and goods across national borders. It has also provided for the free exchange of human capital. Migration between Europe and other parts of the world has also become much more frequent. Despite this, many have elected to stay in their own countries, on the basis of national identity. Crossing a border in Schengen may have become easier, but Europe fortunately continues to be a union of individual, and independent countries.

As I sat on the train, I realized that I also had this ease of movement to thank for the broader perspective which I have gained through my own travels. Relaxation of travel and trade policy has not only spurred cultural and economic exchange, but also allowed me to see the potential for opportunity which these conditions have created in central-eastern Europe. I can only hope that more Americans choose to travel abroad, not to brashly visit an exotic locale, but instead to derive their own deeper meaning from the global environment in which the U.S. is situated.

On the way back from Slovenia it was light as the train passed through the Sava river gorge where my great-grandparents were born. I had been to the area before but had never seen it like this. Sheer forested hillsides of changing leaves sharply descended to a fast flowing emerald river. It was something I had only seen in landscape paintings. I stared in fascination at the latest gift my travels had given me until the train crossed into Hungary.

Ties of History and Faith

I barely ever went to church in California. Only on Christmas and Easter would I attend mass, hear the priest give a sermon on why most of the congregation should come the rest of the year, and then wait until the next of these holidays to return. However, while in Poland I began going to mass regularly and discovered that I actually liked it.

Once I got to Budapest, I saw a sign for the city’s Polish church. Since then I have made it a point to take the metro out to Budapest’s 10^th district every Sunday to attend Polish mass.

A few Sundays ago, the priest announced that this day was not only the first day of Blessed Pope John Paul II, but also was the 55^th anniversary of Hungary’s 1956 uprising against the Soviet regime. Understandably, this was a rather important day for both nations. The church had even planned the first communion of it’s Sunday school to coincide with it.

The mass began by blessing an image of the former Polish pope, and appealing to the the recently beatified pontiff. This only served to underscore to me the fact that while John Paul II is not yet a Saint, to many poles he might as well be already.

Of even more interest was the almost equal respect that the Polish speaking mass paid to the Hungarian October uprising. Like the Gdańsk shipyard uprising of the early 1970’s are regarded in Poland, this Budapest insurrection of similar import to the Hungarians. Throughout the mass the priest spoke of the importance of these events in building a good national foundation, and of the pope’s example in fostering solidarity between Christian and other peoples.

Judging by my experiences in America, mass was always about what people are doing wrong, but this one was an affirmation of what we have done right. Although it was about the past, it showed that their message still has relevance in the present day, and meaning for the future.

This experience exemplifies the sense of friendship between Poles and Magyars. While their cultures may be different, the journeys of faith and freedom that they have had to travel are strikingly similar. On that morning in mass it occurred to me that this manifestation would have been in keeping with the pope’s wishes. As one of my Friends from Kaliningrad put it: “Polak i Węgier, dwa bratanki.” Pole and Magyar, brothers in arms – and in faith.

Arts and Culture

During my first month in Budapest much of what I have learned about the Hungarian world view has been through their fine arts. My journey into the Magyar mentality began, as much does, in the Opera house. I had decided at the last minute attend the performance of a Hungarian opera entitled "Bank Ban" or The Viceroy Bank. Judging by the sheer number of dark themes, the opera was the darkest I have seen to date. It dealt with corruption, betrtrayal, rape, revenge, murder, infanticide, suicide, and plain simple death, in the space of just 3 hours. Unlike in many Slavic cultures there does not seem to be much glory in such suffering.

Even more interesting, was the attitude that Hungarians have to the production itself. The following evening I accompanied my landlady, a pianist, to a performance of the National Philharmonic. We took the tramwaj to the venue, along with one of her friends, a violinist in the concert. Instead of focusing on the Magyar national opera company's many strengths, he baselessly complained that it was inferior to Vienna's. Having seen both companies preform, it is my experience that, euro for euro, the opposite is true. They also told me that Magyar National Opera was in talks with Placido Domingo to bring the opera I had seen to LA, but that such talks were halted when LA Opera ran out of money. While they did bitterly complain about such mis-fortunates, it is important to note that the also warmly joked that exporting the opera was unnecessary as LA, in the person of myself, had come to them.

At the concert, one of the featured pieces was a suite from Bartok's ballet "The Miraculous Mandarin." Among other things, it dealt with the suffering of city-dwellers, through the main character of a whore, during the industrial revolution. During the intermission we discussed the present day implications of the piece. I pointed out that the subject matter and music, while avant-garde when it was premiered, fails to raise an eyebrow in the present day. This points to the increased callousness of man. My landlady agreed, but pointed out that, within the story, what positives there are remain timeless.

It seems to me that the Hungarians take a long term view when it comes to their philosophy of life. While the world inevitably gets worse over time, within those negatives one can always find reason to make life worth living. As I responded while the lights dimmed for the second movement "The more things change, the more they stay the same" Ironically, this is this mentality from which Hungary draws it's comfort.

Visiting Parliament

Two years ago I spent a week visiting Budapest as a tourist. Unfortunately, during this short amount of time I did not have a chance to take the tour of Budapest's famous parliament building. Last weekend, I had some time to finally take the tour.

It is not a easy matter to get on one of the guided tours of the building. It is still Hungary's functioning parliament and because of security concerns, finally gaining admittance to the building can involve hours of waiting. I decided to take the tour in Spanish because I did not have to wait quite so long for the next available tour. Even then I walked around the city for about 3 hours until the time that tour was to begin, but the wait was well worth it. Here are a few of the factual highlights:

• When the Hungarian parliament was built over 100 years ago, it was one of the most advanced in the world, featuring electricity, central heating and in the summer months, air conditioning. This was accomplished by blowing air over several tons of ice which had to be brought in every day.
• The parliament is the third largest in the world, after the buildings in Argentina and Romania. Like Romania's Palace of Parliament ( see earlier posts) all the materials used to build it are domestic products.
• The main rotunda houses the crown jewels of Hungary, they are rumored to be 1000 years old and used in the coronation of St. Stephen, Hungary's first king. The Hungarian state apparently will not allow the carbon dating of the crown to confirm this.
• Currently Hungary has a uni-camiral legislature. However at the time of the parliament's construction the country had dominion over Slovakia and Serbia, necessitating two houses of parliament. The quarters of the lower house are still used and are not open to visitors. Those of the upper house feature elaborate brass cigar holders outside the entrance to the chambers. They were numbered so that your cigar could be changed while parliament was in session.
• You can now rent the upper house's chambers for private functions. It costs many thousands of euros per hour.

While the tour was shorter than I expected. I found the building itself to be beautiful, and the tour informative, although a bit comedic. When some Argentinians in the group volunteered in their accent that the largest parliament in the world was in fact in Romania. The guide responded first by joking "Hey, We're speaking Spanish here!" proving a laugh from all present, including the Argentinians.

The Rudeness Factor

Last weekend, while I was walking around Budapest with my friend, we got into a discussion about the attitude of the people in Budapest. She had just finished eating at a restaurant and told me that the waiter was downright rude to her and the rest of the people she was eating with. He did not smile and grumbled under his breath in Magyar as he took their orders. When my friend asked him if they had done somthing to offend him, or if he was having a bad day, he was evasive of her questions, and refused to respond with anything but a confused "no."

This incident illuminates some of the major differences between the Western and Eastern European attitudes toward the service industry. Most Eastern European cultures do not understand or feel obligated to follow the Western adage of "service with a smile." Many of the Slavic cultures with which I am familiar regard stoicisim in higher standing, choosing instead to serve customers with a professional air of emotional neutrality. This lack of manufactured friendliness is often misinterpreted by westerners as "rudeness."

The waiter's grumbling was, in my experience, unprofessional by any standard of measurement. This type of attitude does seem alarmingly common in the fast-paced metropolis of Budapest, which I have heard spoken of as the New York of the East. In other former Soviet Bloc countires, from Romania to Albania, my business was greated with compotent service.
While my specific knowledge of Hungarian culture is not as complete as that of some other Eastern European countries, I am relatively sure that his was not the only cultural infraction committed here. I did not feel it necessary to inform my friend that her questions as to the details of her server's day were likely to have been considered just as impertinent by the waiter as his grumbling was to them. He was just getting paid to serve food; how dare a total stranger start asking him about his personal life?

Even being born and raised in the Western world, the idea of false friendliness on the part of company representatives has never made sense to me. As this entire set of behavior is mandated by the employers of these workers, such displays of welcoming emotion are meaningless. The experience of my friend shows that outright rudeness is always negative in any culture. However, I still believe that the West has much to learn from the East in this case. It is not fair to require employees to project a attitude of joy regarding mundane tasks, nor is it necessary for the customers to respond as if they believe it is genuine.