It is a quite mild day. Anna has invited two couples to dinner. Both of the wives were classmates of hers both in high school and college and I know them and their husbands well, as we frequently are invited to their house and occasionally go out together. I got up and dressed early as I had to stop at the office of the community to pay my monthly charges. I had planned to do that yesterday, but instead went to the Ókmány Iroda, which is sort of like the County Clerk in the USA, as I had received a registered letter advising me that it was absolutely essential that I come ASAP to Window #1. Fortunately---and this is most unusual---there was no one ahead of me when I arrived and the woman was overjoyed to see me. The problem arose from a complicated set of facts. When I applied for Hungarian citizenship, I had to submit a copy of my birth certificate, translated to Hungarian (of course!). About a month later I received a letter from the Belügyminiszterium (like the Home Office in Britain; it is the Ministry of the Interior, but we have no corresponding agency in the US ) advising me that the birth certificate I submitted was unacceptable because only those which bear both the name of the mother and father are accepted in Hungary. No problem; I got on the Internet and found the website for the State of New Jersey----yes, I was born in New Jersey--- and found that, for a special fee, they will provide that kind of birth certificate and send it by express mail, which I arranged for. When it arrived I had to have it translated to Hungarian (of course!), after which I mailed it to the Belügyminiszterium, foolishly thinking the matter fully settled. No indeed! Nothing is simple in Hungary. I was subsequently advised that there was nothing to prove that the birth certificate (which, I should point out, had the Great Seal of the State of New Jersey impressed upon it) was authentic, and that I should get the Embassy to certify that it was indeed authentic. Well, I called the Embassy and they advised me that they do not authenticate any documents, including those issued by the US Government itself; but they did have a suggestion: I could swear that the birth certificate was genuine before the US Consul-General, and he would place the Seal of the Embassy upon it, and that should suffice. Well, that sounded pretty good to me, so I followed their advice (but forgot and left my brand-new umbrella at the Embassy----but that is another story) and Lo and behold! they accepted it. Subsequently, they issued me a Hungarian Birth Certificate, which I can validly utter from now on, and this is where the problem arose. My original birth certificate was hand-written, in long-hand; and when the translator wrote down my mother's maiden name (the most important piece of identifying information for you after your own name), she read the T in Tucker as an L and thus officially recorded my mother's maiden name as Louise Lucker, which brought it into conflict with records for which I had submitted the information verbally. The official in the office I had to go to is the Tax Administrator. No, I do not pay taxes; but I do have to pay my health insurance premium in lieu of the payroll taxes that would be deducted from my wages and matched by my employer were I working. Anyway, the matter is all settled now----I think. And I hope. As you can see, this turned out to be quite a lengthy explanation as to why I had to pay my monthly charges today instead of yesterday.
I received my voting certificate for the March 9 referendum. Here we do not register to vote; all persons have a Personal Identity Card and a Residence Verification Card, so if there is to be an election and you are eligible, they automatically mail you a voting certificate, which you bring to the polling place----for this election it can be anywhere in the country----together with your Personal Identity Card and your Residence Verification Card. Naturally all citizens are eligible to vote in all elections; but permanent residents may vote in local elections (and even hold local office) only, which means they cannot vote for Members of Parliament or in national referenda. This is my first vote as a citizen, until now I voted only in local elections, since the last national elections were held in Spring 2006 and I did not become a citizen until June 2006.
FEBRUARY 28
Tuesday evening we attended a concertized performance of Wagner's Die Walkyrie. If you are not an opera buff, "concertized" means that it is only sung, not acted out with scenery. I had only once heard a Wagner composition performed by the Szeged Philharmonic, that being the Seigfreid Idyll, which is an orchestral prelude to the opera of the same name, so hearing a Wagnerian opera was an unaccustomed pleasure. Wagner is regularly performed in Budapest of course, and occasionally in Debrecen, but not in Szeged. As for the performance, it was simply superb! The hall was packed, the orchestra and singers were in rare form, and it was one of the most memorable evenings of recent years. It began at 6.00 instead of the customary 7.30; because of their length, Wagnerian operas tend to have earlier starting times. Anna's brother Lajos (Lou) went with us and had a seat so near our box that we could very easily see and even speak with him.
The weather continues very mild, like late April or even early May. Yesterday I rode my bicycle for the first time since late October, and today I walked to Ujvaros. I had to go to the doctor to get a new prescription, as I am about to run out of medication. When I arrived it appeared to me that SZTK (which is what we call the municipal health center---I do not know what the letters stand for)---it appeared to me, as I said, that it was closed, for I saw no one going in or out of the building, which is generally a beehive of activity, and in addition the door was covered with signs saying that this clinic and that had moved to such and such address, or to the hospital in most cases. The inside of the building was quiet, and when I reached the first floor (second in USA) I heard nothing. To my relief I found that there were indeed patients seated outside my doctor's office, and the doctor himself arrived minutes later. I have no idea for what purpose the building will be used once all the medical offices have moved elsewhere. It hardly seems suited for anything except offices, and there seems little need for more municipal office space. Afterward I went to the pharmacy, the lottery office, and then to a stationery store to purchase some greeting cards. It being still quite early and quite nice, I decided to walk to Ujvaros for dinner, and that is where I am now. I shall probably take the bus home, however, and perhaps stop off to visit Anna's brother on the way, since the bus stops at his apartment building.
MARCH 5
It is much cooler now, somewhere in the mid-40s. Hillary Clinton reminds me of Floyd Patterson, if you remember him. (If you do not, he was heavyweight champion after Marciano retired and before Ali became champion.) He was small for a heavyweight and did not take a punch very well, so he was always getting knocked down and seemed on the verge of losing; but he had this way of getting up and mounting a counter-attack, frequently knocking the other guy out, until he came across Sonny Liston---another story. Well, Hillary has been on the verge of being finished off several times in this primary race, but Obama obviously does not have Liston's punch, and she keeps getting up and, what do you know, it's a close race all over again. That is what just happened in Texas and Ohio. The point can be made that Obama has not carried (except for Illinois) any of the large industrial states that comprise the Democratic bastion in a national election: New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Florida, Massachusetts, Ohio, California, In fact he has been badly outgunned in almost all of them. Most of the states where he has won are states the Democrats are very unlikely to win in November, barring a Rooseveltian Landslide, which is something we could use. And in that case, Alex Brooks could probably sweep to victory in them just as easily, and probably your house cat as well. Mind you, I am not trying to knock Obama, only trying to view his successes critically. I mean, unless it's a gift, you look closely when someone hands you a hundred dollar bill. If you don't, please tell me where your store is located and I'll send you lots of business.
Aside from politics, it is pig-slaughter here for us. I have just returned from the slaughterhouse with a trunk and back-seat full of pork products and the women are inside doing what has to be done to it. I know nothing about these things. In the past my contribution consisted of watching occasionally and drinking palinka, which, if you remember, is a local home-made brandy very much favored by Hungarians. Today I am not drinking, however, as I am driving, and the law is very, very strict about drinking and driving, and I am not sufficiently sure they would make an exception for someone in his upper 70s. This is one of those weeks when very little is happening: no concerts, no sporting events except for the basketball game Saturday evening, and only the referendum on Sunday to spark interest. Of course everyone knows the outcome. The Government's proposals will be soundly rejected; the only question is whether or not a sufficient number of persons (50% of registered voters) will participate in the election. In any case, the Government, not being bound by the result, will implement their program anyway; and then next year, the Opposition will start a campaign for another referendum on the identical questions, with the same result---the Government's proposals will be rejected, but the Government will continue their implementation, and the only recourse is for the electorate to vote for Opposition candidates in the elections that must be held in Spring 2010.
MARCH 11
Well, the election is over and the results are as expected: the proposed fees for health and higher education were all soundly defeated by margins of at least 4 to 1. In a shift, the Government, through the Prime Minister, announced that it would honor the results of the referendum and abolish the objectionable fees; but it would not replace the revenue lost from the abolition of the fees with increased budget support, meaning that a Yes vote amounted to a vote for underfunded health and higher education services, since the government will not make up the difference. Until about 80% of the ballots were counted, it was not certain that the participation would reach the required 50% + 1 level in order to make the whole thing valid, and as it is, only 51.8% of voters participated, notwithstanding vigorous campaigning by the Opposition to bring out the vote. Of course the best strategy of the Government would have been to encourage their supporters to NOT VOTE; but obviously there would have been problems with taking such a position.
The weather is quite Spring-like since Sunday. Last evening Anna and I went to a concert at the Conservatory----a recital actually, by a young pianist from Kecskemét. The Conservatory is only about ten minutes or so, maybe fifteen, from here, so we walked, it was such a pleasant evening. Our friend, Dr. Dombiné Dr. Kemény Erzsebet (remember: it means she is married to a man with a doctoral degree, and she herself has one as well), arrived late---no surprise, and afterward we had a brief conversation with the Dean of the Conservatory, who invited us to attend a series of competitions to be held later this month. He said that he had met me before, but I have no memory of it, I have a horrible memory for faces.
MARCH 19
Last evening we attended a performance of Schubert's Great C Major Symphony No. 9, only here it is identified as No. 7. Gyüdi Sándor conducted and it was a very stirring performance. Later this season there will be a performance of a Bruckner symphony, also favorites of ours and also monumental works.
Anna's brother's wife arrived from New York this past Saturday and stays until the day after Easter. We gave a small dinner-party for them and her parents at a restaurant in town Monday, and today we have dinner at the Katonas, which was intended to be the dinner party, except that today was not suitable for her parents. Since this is Anna's dinner-party, she just left to help with the cooking, whereas I am staying, composing this, and will take a later bus. (It should be apparent to you by now that I am at Anna's and not at home). I want to go down and check the height of the Tisza, as the water level was quite high when I drove on the river-drive last week, such that I suspect that the drive is closed to traffic by now, as it customarily is every spring, when the Tisza tends to flood. It is sunny outside but somewhat cool the past several days. Anna's cousin---it always means the cousin from Budapest with the daughter married to the Austrian man; she has no other surviving cousin except one who lives in Hódmezővásárhely but whom we rarely see---is supposed to visit sometime over the weekend, we do not know for certain which day it will be at this point, though it appears that Sunday is more likely. As usual, this means that I am expected to attend. I like Sari and her husband very much, but I do not go up to Budapest when Anna visits them, I just find it hard to work up the necessary level of enthusiasm to take the trip, even though it is only about two hours by train to where they live, which is the station after the Airport, the first station in Budapest.
MARCH 27
Well, Easter has come and gone and the weather----yes, that!!!!!----is really strange. Tuesday I was with Anna to our weekly meeting of the language club. It was a pleasant day when I left home that morning, so I wore only a sweater under a jacket. By evening, however, it was quite unpleasant, so much so that I decided to take the train home rather than the bus---both leave from the identical location---because the bus, although it drops me closer to home, does so at a place where there is no shelter, and if it began to rain during the trip, I would have to wait in the unprotected outdoors for a taxi. The train, however, goes to a station where it is possible to wait indoors for a taxi. When I arrived to my town, however, it was not raining and did not appear that it would, so I walked home, swiftly because it was quite windy in addition to being quite cool. Today I am in Szeged again, at Anna's, as we attend a concert this evening. It was, again, quite pleasant when I left home; but this time I wore a cashmere overcoat, which was a good idea because by the time I got to Szeged---I left for Szeged in mid-afternoon---it was quite cool. Since the location of the concert is really too close to take the bus, we shall walk there and back. But because it will be late evening---the concert does not begin until 8.00---it will undoubtedly be even more unpleasant, even if it is not raining.
Anna's cousin came with her husband and son, and we had a quite nice time. Earlier in the day I had gone by to see her brother, as his wife was leaving the following morning for New York and I wanted to see her before she left as she will not return for a visit until June. I did not think to ask when in June, as Anna and I go away with friends to spend a week in Keszthely on Lake Balaton, after which Anna will go to USA.
APRIL 5
Just when I know that global warming is changing everything I learn that this year will be cooler because of the effects of La Nina, which is circulating cold-water currents where warm-water currents usually go. It has reached the point where even a simple thing like the weather is becoming much too complicated to understand. The big news here, however, is not the sudden spate of cool weather, but the frigidity that has come into the relationship of MSZP, the main government party, and SZDSZ, its coalition partner. Or used-to-be-coalition-partner.The coalition is no more, but the government is still in power as a minority government, because the SZDSZ has simply pulled its ministers out of the Cabinet, but will still vote with the government on questions on which both parties agree, which is most things. What they do not agree on is who should be Minister of Health---it used to be Agnes Something, an SZDSZ, but the Prime Minister said that she simply had to go---and certain features of the proposed health insurance plan that I am not going to explain simply because I do not understand them well enough to give you a straight account. The Main Opposition (FIDESZ: Alliance of Young Democrats) would like nothing better than to have the government fall and early elections (something which has never happened in our brief experiment with democratic rule), as they are ahead in the polls by an incredible 49 points. Suffice it to say that it ain't gonna happen, because the last thing SZDSZ wants is a FIDESZ victory. How do you like your education on the intricacies of Hungarian politics?
Turning to another subject, what on earth has happened to Federer? Here it is mid-April and he has yet to even reach the finals of a single tournament this year. How, you ask, can he retain his Numero Uno ranking in the face of this performance? Look, I only read the news, I don't make it. I was a bit disappointed that Roddick lost so badly to Davidenko---have I spelled his name correctly---for while his game is solid, it is not marked by a feature that guarantees a rescue when he gets into trouble, such as a huge serve, or punishing backhand passing shots. My disappointment is assuaged somewhat by noting that Lleyton Hewitt has fallen way, way down in the rankings; I think he was 21st when I last looked. For some reason I never liked Hewitt. Well, I know why: when he was seeded 3rd in Wimbledon, which put him in the same draw with Federer, which meant he was unlikely to reach the finals, he complained that he should have been seeded Number Two, which would have put him in a different draw and increased his chances of reaching the finals. He persisted in his complaint even when told that the rankings were based upon performance in tournaments on grass, which is what Wimbledon is played on, whereas his ATP ranking was based on all tournaments played in. To my mind, it is the sort of thing you say over a drink with a friend, you don't go out of your way to criticize the seedings to the press. Now you may say that this is hardly enough reason for me to dislike him so, but that is just the way I am.
This marks the end of this blog.
