Notes on Hungarian Culture & History

While walking around Budapest, we come to notice some common fashion trends, the winter-wear, in particular. Hungarians tend to wear rather bland clothing. Their jackets are either neutral or dark in color; the only time you will see Hungarians wearing bright colors is if they are trucking around in their 1980's style full-body snowsuits. It is always easy for us to find two particular students on our trip; one has a bright yellow jacket while another has a tall, red hat.

There are also obvious by gender differences in dress; men do have different styles than women. I know, weird.

So, college-aged men wear the "swishy" winter jackets that we're used to, jeans, and brown or black shoes. While men older than this wear a leather jacket and a billed hat with furred edges. But by no means do they wear hats that are all made of fur; nothing close to those Russian style hats.

The women's styles split the population into differing age groups. The females that are our age wear skinny jeans tightly tucked underneath their knee-high boots. They either wear baggy hats or beanies, often with a crocheted flower attached and a long pea coat. Not too different is the clothing for middle aged women. Long down coats and a billed hat is the uniform for middle aged women. Their pants are typically not tucked into their boots. Lastly come the women over the age of 65. As if it is a coming of age tradition, these women wear full length fur coats. If they can't afford those, they have hats which are nothing but fur. (As pictured) It seems as if some women save money their entire lives to have enough to purchase a fur coat as such.

These are just simple observations by someone who knows little about fashion. We wish there were more pictures, but it can be rather awkward to just take pictures of strangers. When the opportunity arises, we will take and add more photos. I hope you enjoy what is here.

Now back to the strike. I know, you are all wondering how it's going. Well, don't worry, it's over now. We hopped on the tram to class this morning and smiled the whole way there.

Our cultural event this afternoon lasted much longer than expected today. We had the opportunity to watch and discuss A Hidember (The Bridgeman) with Andras, husband of our language teacher Erika. This Hungarian film (with English subtitles) tells the life story of Count Szechenyi Istvan, a 19th century Hungarian aristocrat. Szechenyi seems to be remembered most for his opposition to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his initiation of the construction of the first official bridge connecting Buda and Pest. The bridge (Lanchid, or the Chain Bridge) was completed in 1849 - almost 30 years before the unification of the two cities. Before its opening, the Danube had to be crossed by boat or an unreliable pontoon bridge, limiting travel between Buda and Pest. Szechenyi however, dreamed of a permanent bridge that would be accessible to all Hungarian people.

The Szechenyi Chain Bridge is still around today, but not in its original form. Stone lion statues were added to the ends of the bridge in 1852. It's rumored that their sculptor was mocked so much for the lions not having tongues that he jumped off the bridge into the Danube in shame.
For the record, the lions do indeed have tongues... they're just not visible while standing in front of the lions and looking up at them. Later on during World War II, the bridge was damaged by the Germans and had to be rebuilt in 1949 in its original form.

A Hidember certainly enlightened us with the significance to names that we see all over Budapest. Szechenyi himself can be found on the otezer (5000) forint bill, has a thermal bath and metro stop with his namesake, and has statues and even a memorial museum in Budapest. It's no wonder he is referred to as the 'greatest Hungarian!'

The film also gave us a little insight into historical figures Kossuth Lajos, Wesselenyi Miklos, and Batthyany Lajos. These three men also have either metro or tram stops (and squares or streets) named after them... it seems that Hungarians have a consistent way of commemorating their political heroes! We certainly can now recognize the meaning behind the names we see everywhere, adding a whole new depth to the city. At the very least, it was interesting to learn so much about transportation on the day that the trams finally returned to us!

Plans for our free weekend coming up are forming, as a large group went to dinner tonight to plan their upcoming excursion to Vienna. Destinations being considered by other students are Croatia, London, and Amsterdam, with a few students opting to remain in Budapest and continue to explore all that this city has to offer.

P.S. A Slovakian snowman.