Living in Hungary - why?
 

Ok to clarify I'm Hungarian so I don't have the outsider's perspective. I just can't help wondering why, in this political climate would anyone decide to live in Hungary? Honestly curious

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Ok, I'll bite!

- As opposed to brexit Britain! :lol:

NB: we came here when brexit was an unthinkable nightmare (or fantasy, depending on your viewpoint!).

Seriously though, as regards "political climate" you may be asking the wrong group.

​​​​​​Ex pats come for many reasons, our biggest consideration, having worked here prior to immigrating, was "the people", "society" (define as you wish!), life here, for us, is very easy & pleasant - but then we are retired & fortunate enough to live in an expat "bubble". We love it here, warts & all!

Reading some previous entries on this forum I sometimes do wonder why some of the British expats continue to live here!

Disclaimer!
Others may respond here to point out that, due to living in Budapest, we don't really live in Hungary!

Hopefully Peter (our very long term resident) may be along later to give you a fuller response!

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

thank you, that at least gives an explanation. Hungarians (me included) are fleeing Orban's regime by the ten thousands, and honestly it surprises me that there is any traffic at all in the opposite direction

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Okay, I will also bite. I moved here as a retiree and get ask this question by some of the Hungarians in my village.

We moved here to live in the expat bubble also and because our pension money goes a long way here, much further than at home. The country is beautiful, food is great and the people are friendly that we have encountered. We bought an old derelict farm house to renovate in a small village near Kaposvar. What we bought here for the money we spent would not even buy a buildable lot back home in most places. Our village reminds me so much of home back in the 1960's...that being rural and a slow pace of life and friendly neighbors. We love it here.

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Perhaps you are not aware of the National Statistical Office's report that more Hungarians returned last year than left, for the first time in years!

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

i suspect many of those moving to Hungary from the Disunited Kingdom are ill-informed about Mr Orban and the other politicos there

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Not so sure about that - he gets enough publicity from the British media, particularly from the "liberal" press & most of it unflattering!

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Tabloid readers are not exposed to this. Or Tabloid-tv consumers.

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

We're not all tabloid consumers! I suspect that most expats here are better informed than that!

ETA: There may also be tabloid readers (& others, not from the UK) who move here because of Mr Orban's policies!

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

We moved/retired some years ago and I for one the "expats bubble" was not on my agenda. I am not a "heard/sheep follower" "clique member" "narrow minded" "I'm alright Jack" "look at what we've got (house/car) " "take note of what I was in the past, got loads a monaaayy !!!) :))) kind of person/people,never impressed me. We love it here, we have our genuine friends who care and like wise, satisfied and content. Language can be a bummer, but I/we have got most of our paperwork/documents etc etc by ourselves and the rest through friends. Beautiful country and compared to UK life is great. Big up no real complaints.

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Seems a bit strong! Do you think many expats here fit into that category?

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Answer is not strong at all, will not comment in my view of others here in Hungary, its my opinion!! as you have "opinions", lived here long enough and formed my opinions, what you think/believe is yours within your personality/opinions. Everyone is different, have a free right to voice beliefs/opinions, oh and I am not politically correct :)) left all that in my work environment (mostly), I speak as I see, not popular with politically correct cor, I am happy in my own skin.

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Calm down, chill out!

Of course you are entitled to your opinions. Nobody denied that!

So, OP, we may be a small bunch on here but you can't say we're boring!

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

:lol: i can see that

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

I saw the wave of Brit migration into Bulgaria in the period 2000-2009. Most of those moving there were quite definitely tabloid readers ! Maybe the settlers coming to Hungary are posher !

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

:lol: :thumbsup:

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Bulgaria is still quite popular and you'll find many German pensioners moving there. Mainly because of pensioner poverty, but I doubt those moving to Hungary are posher LOL.
The reasons are the same and most only look at 2 factors (more house for your money and cheap food). After a while people focus on other things and then the political situation might make them leave again. According to Stern from 2016: 10.000 moved to Hungary in the last 10 years and 7900 returned again.
Rund 10.000 Deutsche sind in den vergangenen zehn Jahren nach Ungarn ausgewandert, 7900 sind wieder zurückgekehrt.

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Problem can arise for couples moving. What happens after the death of one of them ? Typically in Bulgaria people in this situation choose to socialise with other "expats". Main lubricant to mixing is The Demon Drink. In my village base in rural Bulgaria I always kept an eye and an ear open for these folk. When i heard or spotted them I would zoom off in the other direction.

When accused of being "an English Pensioner" I would claim to be a harmless itinerant Gypsy horse thief from Albania.

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

You ain't seen nothin' yet! Wait till the rest of the mob join in!

Discerning, Scot47, discerning!

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Absolutely, so far we have managed to avoid all British expats!

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

why would you do that (avoid other Brits)?

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

If I wanted to mix with the Brits I would have stayed in the UK!

The only time I came across any Brits (in bulk & ignoring passing tourists) was at a brexit orientated "town hall" meeting back in January - I found the experience quite depressing (& passed on the next one)!

ETA: With apologies to Peter, who was also there!

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

likewise, with the only difference that wherever I go in Scotland, even the most remote corner, guaranteed I'll find some Hungarians there. London is the 3rd biggest Hungarian city. We colonized the UK

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Popping in from Spain. Avoiding other Brits is often due to wishing to live with the people of the country that you have chosen to live in. Living within a British enclave is not for everyone. When my husband and I were buying here one of the questions that we asked the estate agent was whether there were any Brits in the town that we had selected, she apologised and stated that there were none and did not understand why we were happy about this situation. For us it was of great importance whereas for others it is imperative that they live with other Brits. Each to their own.

Rosemary

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

funny that. Whenever there is a group pf people mixed of Hungarians and Scots, as a rule I prefer to hang out with the latter

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Same experience here in Spain. Going to the Brexit meeting confirmed to me that the decision to live in a "Spanish" town with no Brits was correct even though now I am a widow the reasoning still stands firm.

Rosemary

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

:goodpost: spot on!

Now some will ask why I am participating in this forum! I joined BE two years ago to try & get info on Brexit, as I am still a British citizen (& some years off being eligible for Hungarian citizenship) and UK taxpayer & therefore subject to the shenanigans of the UK! Despite my antipathy towards Brits in bulk, there are some great people, other expats, on here with whom I enjoy corresponding!

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Ah, but you are talking about the Scots - a small & very select subset of the "Brits"! :lol:

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

I find it more interesting how people know if someone is British or not and are they then actually racists? Of course you can hear some accents but do they avoid anyone who speaks English?
I have a work colleague who is originally from India, has a British passport and now lives in the Republic of Ireland but unless he would be walking around with a Union Jack, I have no idea how people would know:rofl:

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Slightly bizarre attempt at finding something that simply isn't there!

"Avoiding Brits" usually means avoiding groups / enclaves / communities of ex pat Brits, not shunning individual Brits on sight, sound or contact. We have Brits living in our street (including the Ambassador & his Wife) who we pass the time of day with - if we happen to see them, we don't cross the road to avoid them!

Your last sentence doesn't make sense - how would they know what?

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Shouldn't you be staying in Hungary and fight for change? I always wonder what will happen in the long run to countries if people run away instead of trying to better things.

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

No sense of humour today? Now you say Avoiding Brits" usually means avoiding groups / enclaves / communities of ex pat Brits, not shunning individual Brits on sight, sound or contact.
How would you know if a person is British?

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

You say "now you say", seemingly implying that I have changed my tune - which I haven't.

If a group (or other) has the word "British" in its title that's usually a pretty good indicator.

Brits are often easy to spot - Hungarians spot us a mile off!

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Well first you said you managed to avoid all British expats, so that sounded like you avoided anyone with a British passport.
Of course you can also recognize a German, as they wear Jack Wolfskin:-) but how would a Hungarian spot if someone is from the Isle of Man or is actually from Dublin?

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

People migrate for lot of reasons with lifestyle and economic being close to the top of the list. Sometimes people are invited by the host country, think the Windrush generation, the 10 pound pomms to Australia, the Sváb invited to Hungary to repopulate after the wars (1700s) and more recently Angela Merkel open invitation to migrate to Germany.

We came to Hungary in 1994/5 for lifestyle and economic reasons, we wanted to farm and could not afford to do this in the UK. We looked at several options and the fact that SWMBO was Hungarian and had family here featured heavily in the choice. IMO those who move for only economic reasons will be the most likely to go back, I suspect pensioners who move to get a better (cheaper) lifestyle feature high on the list of migration failures.

Integration doesn’t happen! Every city had (has) its china town, Italian quarter, Jewish quarter etc. Here villages are still known as ‘Sváb villages’ that have their own characteristics and where some still speak German today. My mother-in-Law only spoke German until she was 3 years old. The UK is no different, I remember in my youth Brixton (South London) being almost a no go area for white people. So I am not surprised that expats congregate together. IMO Merkel’s open invitation to migrants is going to cause trouble. They won’t integrate any more than other migrants have in the past and as far as I can see there is a majority of young men 25 – 35 which is going to cause a demographic imbalance that sooner or later will bite back. Also having spoken to a couple of people teaching the migrants a number are illiterate in their own language so when will they be ‘useful to Germany’?

To get to the point of this thread, why Hungary, well, apart from SWMBOs family connections which eased the decision about Hungary, once we got here there was / is lots that keeps us here, climate, the people, the opportunity we found to build our dream, the fact that our kids (2) could go to the school on the bus safely on their own, (and the public transport is affordable and works, try saying that about the UK). The education system is better than the UK, (my son got into the top 30 in the national physics competition at the age of 14 err...not sure they even have such things in the UK), both got to Uni and tipped out with engineering degrees (one with honours) and without debt, I doubt that would happened in the UK. The health service, we have never needed to hand over ‘brown envelops’, and have always been seen properly with acceptable wait times for specialists and a walk in GP service. And yes we have integrated, admittedly easier because SWMBO in Hungarian but both kids (now 30+) have married Hungarians with no thought of leaving but have taken the decision to bring up their children bilingual. I also find that people, including the young, are more respectful here, in fact respect is built into the grammar of the language.

The politics of Hungary is IMO often misrepresented. It is family centred and orientated, which reflects the views of much of the population. Orban is not (IMO) a racist as often portrayed rather he is pro-Hungarian. This annoys several in Brussels who don’t like his stand on migration. Merkel opened the gates to Germany, Hungary has kept her gates shut, well not shut, refugees are still allowed in if they follow the rules but few want to stay, they just want to get to Western Europe. And whilst on the subject of letting people in, Hungary gets criticised but we don’t here too much criticism of the UK about the migrant camps at Calais.

Many of the recent policies of the government have been aimed at encouraging Hungarians abroad to return to reverse the brain drain, (when was the brain drain news in the UK 60s/70s??) and to encourage young families. Hungary has had a falling population recently, but then if you take away the migrant population of W. Europe then you will see the same there.

All in all I like it here with no plans to move!

Brain dump over!

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

As you say, there are many reasons why people move but you had the big advantage of coming from a wealthier country, so many things seemed more affordable. It's all about location too and even I can remember that in Jersey (Channel Islands) kids went to school safely. Merkel let people in because of Germany's history and she thought that letting more people in would solve the pension crisis (That's another problem). People from wealthier countries are now looking for less crowded places and the people from less crowded places just want to go to the city where they can find work.

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

I think the OP​​​'s point "thousands of Hungarians are fleeing Orban's regime" is rather overdramatic, though in fairness if she has been watching the BBC (for example) in the last few years I can understand why she might think this! Indeed even DW, usually
​​​​​​very balanced in its reporting, was waxing almost hysterical about Hungary very recently.
​​​​​
Many Hungarians I know of only leave for a year or 3 for reasons of personal advancement or experience, returning in due course. More importantly the National Statistical Office has reported a recent upsurge in long term Hungarian expats returning to Hungary as well as a reduction in net emigration to the positive (for Hungary).So long as the economy continues to progress (> 5% growth in Q1 2019) then Orbán will continue to retain significant support, aided further by his "Hungary & Hungarians first policies".

It is interesting (& encouraging) to note that Momentum polled 50% more votes in the recent election than Jobbik.

No, I said I avoided Brit expats, not people with British passports - not the same thing, as well you know. I shall ignore your last sentence as it is pointless!

:goodpost: as always!

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

Well then everything is pointless. What is a British Expat? A person who lives outside their native country like yourself:confused:.
If you'd say you don't go to British pubs and rather go to a local that's fine.

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

The trees, all the wonderful trees!

Re: Living in Hungary - why?
 

I forgot to add on my post that I have, over the few years, found "certain" peoples response to questions I have asked very factual and helpful. Also some folk add relevant information to help others to live here, others text posts with no substance just waffle probably to get their post numbers up :).
By the way we have been notified that a new law is in place that you cannot cut your grass with machines from 9pm to 8am any day, and cutting grass on a Sunday is banned, also on a Sunday using any noisy machinery such as saws/angle grinders that may upset the neighbours, any factual confirmation/views on that, other views, pointless!.:)