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Hungarian Ang?la

Sz?kesfeh?rv?r, HU (View on map)

Upon completion of `Us Europeans`, scheduled for 1 August 2008, I will have spoken to several thousands of young people living in the European Union. About their daily lives, their countries, their traditions and ambitions, their frustrations and hopes. Up until now, most of the articles have been related to a subject rather than a person. Starting from today, I will dedicate one article per country to just one single person ? as was by the way the original plan for the entire project. Today, I am presenting the first victim of this new practice: Ang?la from Sz?kesfeh?rv?r in Hungary.

Ang?la (27): `Me and my mother help each other out`

Ang?la is 27 years old. She currently works at the accountancy department of the national railway company in Budapest. Ang?la lives with her 70-year old mother in the same house where she grew up. Her mother is retired from her job as a facility manager in a frozen food factory. Ang?la`s father passed away three years ago at the age of 67.

Trips
`I was born and raised in Sz?kesfeh?rv?r. This is where I went to primary school, to secondary school and to college. When I went to university, I was already working for regional office of the railway company. I went to university in Budapest on Saturdays for lectures, but throughout the studies, I kept living at home. I wouldn`t want to rent a flat, it`s such a waste of money. I am trying to save some money so I can buy a flat of my own in the future. For now, I prefer to live with my mother. She is quite old and it`s better for us to live together and help each other out. My mother and I had to get used to carrying out the tasks that my father used to do, like cutting the grass, but it wasn`t as tough a job as we had always thought.`

`Since I started working for the railway company, I have become an active traveler. I have been to most European countries and I particularly like Mediterranean countries. The Nordic countries, Greece, Bulgaria and Montenegro are still missing on the list, but I am planning to get to Bulgaria and Greece soon.`

`Sometimes, I travel with my mum, although it seems that things always go wrong whenever we do. In recent years, my mother disappeared in the metro in Rome and she broke her arm when we were in Prague. The metro incident stressed me out quite a bit, but my mum was not bothered the least. Even though she does not speak any other language than Hungarian and could ask nobody for help. At another occasion, my mother`s Hungarian travel document was not accepted at the border. It reads `valid for life` in Hungarian, but which Italian border guard understand that. We asked the assistance of a fellow Hungarian on the same flight who explained the situation in Italian. Then, after many, many pleases, we were allowed into Italy.`

I also like hosting travelers in my house and listening to their adventures. In the last few years, I have had French people stay over. They were on a bike trip from France to China. Then I hosted one Slovenian and some German people. It`s a good way to improve my English, which is not very good at present. I speak a tiny bit of German too. I learnt it in school but forgot most of it.`

Childhood years
`I was quite a happy kid, although I don`t remember much of my childhood. I remember that my parents always had to work hard and I had no grandparents to take care of me. During summers, my parents used to send me to holiday camps across the country. All of them had different programs. I remember the handicraft ones and the one where I was weaving cloth.`

`I don`t remember any big problems we had as a family. I wouldn`t be able to say whether I missed having a brother or a sister, because I don`t know what it`s like to have one. I guess it`s like having a friend.`

`My parents only met when they were 38, so they are a lot older than I am. They had simple jobs and did not own any business or shops. They just worked and lived, like many of people of their age did. I never really talked to my parents a lot. If they had time to talk, they would rather talk to each other, while I would come home from school, say `hello` and go do something else. After my father died, I started to speak to my mum a little more. She gives me advice although we sometimes argue that I always do things the way I want to do them, while I say that she always tells me what to do.`

`My parents introduced me to church, even though religion was forbidden under communism. I now go every Sunday. I can choose the moment of the day, sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon or even in the evening. I believe that I will join my father in heaven, which helps me to miss him less in this life.`

Work and spare time
`I like new ideas and use internet to have access to them. I often visit the website Scrumble.com which lets you type a subject, after which it will present you websites related to that subject so you can check them out. I also use my Facebook account quite actively, and my profile on LastFM. I don`t have time to surf those pages at home, since the internet connection is not good enough. At home, I just check my mails.`

`When I was younger, I liked to make oil paintings and to collect precious stones. Nowadays, the job is taking much of my time. I prefer to take photos which is a lot quicker. I also recently joined a photo club, to which I also my two friends, so we may go there together.`

`Most of my childhood friends have moved away from Sz?kesfeh?rv?r and it has been difficult to stay in touch with them. My third friend is a colleague of work, with whom I used to travel to Budapest every day by train, until she bought a car. Now, I sometimes join her in the car, but I don`t know how many times I can do that without having to pay, while the train is for free.`

Future
`I like my current job, although it would be nice if it were a bit more diverse and challenging. It has been pretty much without changes for the last two years. I would like to keep working for the same company. It`s a big one, and there are plenty of jobs. However, I find it very hard to sell myself so it`s hard to convince someone else to give me a better job.`

`Still, I do see my future here in Hungary, while many other young people don`t. They go to Budapest or leave the country. I personally haven`t thought about it. I am not good enough at speaking foreign languages and I don`t want to do some simple job in another country just because I am not from there. Also, this is where my old mum lives and I do not want to leave her.`

`For as far as my personal future is concerned, I would like to have two kids, one boy and one girl, but it would be handy if I first found someone to marry. That would preferably be a man who has a goal in life and knows what he wants. It`d be nice if he were Hungarian, because otherwise it would be too complicated to talk. He would have to be catholic like I am, because I want to be able to marry in church. I would also like him to be older than I am, be tall and have dark hair. If possible, he wears a uniform to go to work, I like that a lot. He must be truthful, have a good sense of humour and we should have some common interest, so that we have something to talk about.`

`I don`t know how old I want to grow. Maybe 60, maybe 70.. I think it`s more important to live in good health. At the end of my life, I hope I can say that I had enough courage to do all the things that I wanted to do.`

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