My Favorite Thing

I know sometime in the past I have blogged about the grocery store experience here. 3 years later, it is still an ordeal, just not as bad as it used to be. I still must drive to the store, park in a garage (or drive to a way further store), have the right change to get a basket (trolley), take the elevator up with cart, do the shopping, remember to weigh fruit/veggies and put sticker on the bag, try to translate unfamiliar items, pay, nod and smile and say, "nem beszelek magyarul."  I must bag my own groceries, hoping that I remembered to bring bags. Then, it's back down the elevator, pay for parking, unload groceries, put cart back, get my money back from cart, and come home. This summer, I added 3 kids to that routine and let's just say I needed a nap by the time we got home and got it all unpacked.

So, it is Tesco to my rescue. A few months ago, they began a grocery delivery service. People, this is the best.thing.ever. Just now, while the 2 boys are napping, I sat here and did all my grocery shopping with just a few clicks. Tomorrow, in a 2 hour window I selected, a nice man will deliver all my groceries and bring them inside for me. He may not speak English, but that is a-ok. I don't have to drive, bring bags, wrestle squirmy children, or remember the right change.....thank you, Tesco!!!

Getting to Europe CHEAP

Every time we come home to visit, people tell us how much they really want to come visit Hungary, but they can't afford to make the trip.  We've helped a number of people get there, thanks to one of my favorite past times... letting credit card companies pay for the trip!

Here's the short version of this post...

1. Get some American Airlines credit cards that have large sign-up bonuses
2. Plan your trip between October 15 and March 15 (off-peak times)
3. Call American Airlines to book your trip using any of the One World Airlines (except perhaps British Airways).

By doing this, you can nearly travel for free.  So let me expand on each point.

1. Get some American Airlines credit cards that have large sign-up bonuses
1. Citibank regularly offers large sign-up bonuses on their credit cards.  For example, in the past 15 months or so, they offered a 75K mile sign-up bonus on credit cards after a certain amount of spend (e.g. spend 5 thousand dollars in 6 months or something similar).  
2. Citibank offers 2 different American Airlines personal cards (e.g. MasterCard and American Express).  You can apply and receive bonuses for both with a little bit of research.  Of course, you have to meet the minimum spend on both cards to get the bonus.
3. Citibank also offers a business card that most people can apply for and receive the bonus for.  I personally have never done this, but I know many that do.
2. Plan your trip between October 15 and March 15 (off-peak times)
1. American Airlines offers a 33% reduction in required miles to travel in coach between USA and Europe between October 15 and March 15.  Instead of the normal 60K miles that are required, it only takes 40K miles.
2. You can use any of the One World alliance airlines to get between the USA and Europe.  This includes American, British Airways (avoid them if you can as their taxes/fees are excessive compared to others), Finnair, Iberia, Malev, and S7 airlines.
3. Call American Airlines to book your trip using any of the One World Airlines (except perhaps British Airways).
1. Before you call, decide with everyone you might be travelling with when you want to travel, what the earliest/latest you can travel is, and any alternate cities you are willing to use.  The more flexible you are, the more likely they can find something.
2. Be prepared to be on the phone between 30 minutes and an hour.  Be patient and let the representative do their job
3. When the representative answers, tell them what you want to do, but that you have some flexibility.  I usually also tell them I am not interested in flying British Airways across the Atlantic due to their excessive fees/fuel surcharges.  This is good information because they regularly use British when booking these awards.  Avoiding them will save you between $200 and $400/ticket most likely.
4. The representative will likely try to get you from any gateway city (e.g. Dallas, Chicago, New York JFK, Miami are all common examples, but there may be some others) to another gateway city (e.g. London, Frankfurt, Madrid, Paris, etc.) first.  Once they have found that, they begin working on the domestic portions of your trip.
5. Believe it or not, sometimes the domestic portion is the harder to find availability on.  They do have the ability to request that award seats be opened up if they found the international portion, but not the domestic.  In my most recent booking, the seats were opened up.  I was surprised, but this may be reasonably common.
6. You may have to overnight somewhere.  For example, American flies direct from JFK to Budapest, but the flight time makes it hard to get there from Houston.  
7. You may have to change airports.  For example, most international flights leave from JFK, but a lot of domestic flights go to other New York-area airports.
8. You may have to fly out of a different airport than the city you live in.  For example, you can go Austin to JFK to Budapest all without overnighting somewhere.  That is much harder to do from Houston.
4. This seems like a lot of work, but let's assume you are a family of 4 -- you would need 160K miles to fly round-trip to Europe when booking through American Airlines.  If you applied for 2 personal cards with a 75K sign-up bonus, you could easily get 160K miles (2 cards * 75K bonus = 150K; to get the bonus, you might have to spend 5K USD on the card which also earns you points.  5K @ 2 cards = 10K miles.  150K bonus + 10K spend = 160K = enough miles for a family of 4 to travel to Europe during offpeak times).

Of course, there are other ways to make this happen, but this is one of the cheapest I have found.  Citibank regularly runs good sign-up bonuses.  American has the cheapest options to Europe.  If you absolutely have to use a different airline alliance, most of the principles above will apply also, but it will cost you more miles and it may be harder to earn those miles.

Questions? Leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer.

O Christmas Tree

Yesterday, we decided to search for a Christmas tree. A little early, yes, but we will go back to the US for Christmas and we wanted to enjoy our Christmas decorations for a few weeks.  We have seen artificial trees at a few places, but I kind of wanted a real one. So, we headed to a nursery we were familiar with to see if they had any in stock. Side note - in Hungarian, plant nurseries are called fa iskola, or tree school. I love that.  We arrived at the nursery and found someone that spoke a little English. He led us to a place where there were several rows of trees. But, they were tiny. Like, 3-4 feet tiny. Not exactly what I had in mind.  In the moment, we were trying to get all the information we could and I asked the stupid American question of the day..."Is this normal?"

 In addition to the small size, the trees gave a new definition to "live tree". They all had their root balls still attached. What??? What is that about?? We proceeded to ask the next stupid question of the day.  "What if we just want to throw it away after Christmas?" The nice salesmen were very patient with our ignorance. Apparently here, or at least at that nursery (we have yet to verify this with anyone else), people don't throw the trees away. What a waste that is. Instead, you plant them in a pot until Christmas, and then afterwards you can plant them in your garden. Next year, you can dig it back up and use it again! 2 for the price of one!

At that moment, I was ready to leave and go get a fake one, but Larry thought we should have the full Hungarian Christmas tree experience. So, we picked out the tallest one (about 4 feet). The nice men potted it for us and got it all ready (which doubled the price, maybe we got the special ignorant American deal). They shoved the poor tree in the back of my SUV and off we went.

We got home and had to use a dolly to get it up the stairs. It is super heavy.

We found a little spot for it and let the kids decorate it. They had loads of fun. Cade really appreciates that I have placed all of these shiny balls out for his enjoyment. He is a brilliant child, already experimenting to see which ones bounce, which ones roll, and which ones shatter.  

 It certainly won't win any "most beautiful tree" contests, but it has character. And we laughed. And we made memories. And that is more important than having a 10 foot tree.

Fall!

Before our Houston trip, the temperature here was beginning to drop and the leaves were changing colors. After only being gone for 10 days, it was amazing to come back to leaves of all different colors. Fall had truly arrived, and now we are on a quick downhill slide to winter.
                                        

The leaves have been dropping like crazy, and I think I am the only one who deliberately swept leaves from outside our gate onto our driveway and into the yard so the kids could jump in them and enjoy them. I also made a "things they should tell you when you move here" observation.  I noticed the sidewalk in front of our house was the only one covered with leaves - apparently you are supposed to sweep your sidewalk. Who knew?

We enjoyed our leaf frolicking for about an hour right after Chelsea got off the bus - notice it is already getting dark at 4 pm in these pics.  The kids loved jumping and sliding and throwing the leaves. So fun!

 We will enjoy the leaves for another week or two, then it should be snow time! We can't wait!

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Larry isn't a big soda drinker, but he does like Dr. Pepper. He was quite excited the first time he found Dr. Pepper in Budapest. Now you can find it at many gas stations and specialty stores, but it is typically only sold by the 20 oz bottle and is roughly $2 a bottle. Occasionally, he brings home a few, but not very often. 

Last week, his fortune changed. He happened to see the Dr. Pepper truck driving around. He got the number off the truck and called the guy. Laci (pronounced Latsi) begin exchanging e-mails with us in broken English. Larry used his negotiating skills and today, we had 50 bottles of Dr Pepper delivered to our house. Mr. Laci threw in 2 cans for free.

So, fellow expats, if you get a craving for Dr. Pepper, we will make you a deal!

The Runaround

Since we arrived back in July, my voice mail on my cell phone has not worked. Today, I got brave enough to go to a T-Mobile store by myself and try to get it fixed. In the past, I have experienced nothing but frustration at T-mobile stores here.  Several friends recommended one store in particular that usually has English speaking staff. I went there, hit the English button on the menu, took a number, and waited my turn. When my number came up, I approached the counter, gave the standard "Jo napot kivanok" greeting, and proceeded to ask, "Beszel angolul?" I got the answer I am accustomed to getting, the shrug of the shoulders and the "Sajnos, nem."  Fabulous. I think she thought I would leave, but I didn't. She looked around for someone who spoke English, but no one did, or at least claimed not to. We did some sign language and another customer helped a little. In the end, I left and voice mail still doesn't work. I came home and thought I had  a break through. I found a customer service number on-line and called it. I got an English menu to choose from and an English customer service guy. Yay! I explained the situation and what I needed. His answer? Oh, you have to take your phone and your documents to a store and they can help you.

I guess I will live without voice mail for a while longer!

What's it Worth?

We have been here almost a year now, so for the most part we have adapted to products we can get locally and we have learned to do without our beloved American staples of cereal, boxed mixes, etc. We do a have a few international stores that import American products.  They are pretty pricey, so we have do decide how bad we want something before we give in.

Last week was my birthday and though there are fabulous desserts in Budapest, I really just wanted a good ole American Betty Crocker cake and frosting from the jar. I brought some cake mixes back from the US this summer, but no frosting. I took a trip to Snack Box, the closest international store, and they had just the frosting I wanted. In the US, it would probably cost a dollar.  Here?  Seven dollars. But totally worth it!

Other delicacies?
Marshmallows - $5
Corn Tortillas - $5
Haagen Daz - $12/pint (we made that mistake once!)
Brownie mix - $10
Lucky Charms - $17!!

Surprise Inside

Going to the grocery store is always an adventure. Easier than it was, yes, but some things are still a challenge to decipher. Today's mystery item:

 Its was a carton of grapes. Giant grapes, but grapes nonetheless. It was next to some black grapes. Grapes are sometimes hard to find, so even though I was sure these weren't seedless, I bought them anyway. The package said szilva. Sounded familiar. Grapes.

We got home and I washed a few and cut them to give them to the kids. Hmmm.....maybe not a grape. Took a bite. A plum! Instead of giant grapes, we have midget plums.

 Grape = szolo. Plum = szilva.

Lesson learned.

Day 2 of Driver's Ed

Today was day 2 of drivers ed. 7 more hours of sitting and listening and staring at pictures of signs and intersections. Now that I know how much I don't know about driving here, it is a wonder we have made it thus far. There are blue signs and red signs and black signs and arrows and yellow stripes and ....it's all a blur. I do know you can't overtake (pass) a guy pushing a wheelbarrow in a railroad crossing. This is valuable information, people.

We did meet Mr. Translator (Mr. T for short), who will translate for our exam. He will sit across from us at a table and we will sit next to the examiner. We learned how to, ahem, communicate with him on some questions. If the question involves a picture, he cannot see the picture so our communication may be a little, ahem, hindered. The pictures are the hardest part, so I am a little nervous I may be seeing Mr. T more than once. We probably have a month before we can actually get a test date, so hopefully all of this info will stay in my brain for that long!

Here are a few example questions, in case you want to see if you could pass.

1. If your brake light comes on in your car, what is the problem?
2. Daily, what are the 5 things you need to check on your car before driving?
3. What liquid do you add to your car battery and, how full does it need to be?
4. If you are turning, do you have to yield the right of way (give priority) to someone crossing the street? (Note: the answer is different, depending on whether the pedestrian is on the street you are turning from or the street you are turning on to)
5. Can you pass a motorcycle without changing lanes?  What if the motorcyle has a side car?

Answers another day.  Enjoy!

16 again

This is probably the most exciting weekend we have ever had in Budapest. We are taking Hungarian Driver's Ed. It doesn't get any more exciting than that!!  As we understand it, in the past the law stated that you had to get your license after a year of being here. No one really cared though, and the few people who tried to take the test failed it. We have been told that most Hungarians don't even pass the test. Recently, the law changed and states that you must have your license after 6 months. It is enforced more, and we know someone who had their car papers revoked because she didn't have her Hungarian license. Other people have gotten pulled over many times and never had a problem. You just never know.

I was all for let's just wait and see what happens, but I lost the battle. So, this weekend we are hosting driver's ed at our house.  It is more fun since there were several of us doing it together, but today it still felt like we were 16 all over again! At one point, we had to go through 100 slides and state who had the right of way and in what order amongst 3 vehicles. My brain shut down at about number 55. The actual exam is oral with a translator since we do not speak Hungarian. Tomorrow, the exam translator will be here.  The teacher said that we can discuss "how to communicate with him". We are hoping that means what we think it means!

So what is the process for getting a license?
1. Submit your US drivers license and college diploma to be translated.
2. Wait to get permission to take the class.
3. Take driver's ed
4. Take the written test, except it is oral with a translator since we don't speak Hungarian. There are about 55 questions.
5. Take a driving test, no matter that we have been here for almost a year and haven't had a wreck! Shouldn't that count for something?
6. Along the way, pay a lot of fees to a lot of people.
7. Get a medical exam.
8. If you pass, surrender your US license. They say that they mail it back to TX or wherever it was issued, and you will get it back when you return. I'm not thinking that will happen.

We will be eligible to take our written (oral) test in a few weeks....we'll let you know if we pass!

Back to Reality

A week ago today we left Houston and came back to Budapest.  Houston was a great - so much to do and so many people to see. It was like a month long party!  We loved staying with my parents and I am so thankful to have parents that enjoy having us there for so long and that we enjoy being with for so long. But, the party is over and we had to get back to reality.  The travel itself is always challenging, but we are getting used to it. On the flights, Chelsea is excellent and entertains herself well. Cade falls somewhere between excellent and get me off this plane now.

We came home to a refrigerator full of fresh berries, cut watermelon, fruit parfaits, and a yummy chicken dinner. We have the best housekeeper and she was so sweet to have all of that ready for us.  While we were gone, she also cleaned out all the drawers, cleaned out and reorganized the garage, organized all of Larry's ties by color, washed the couch cushions...did I mention we love her?!! I spent the first few days back unpacking and putting everything away.  I think we set a new record - all suitcases were put away in the first 2 days back - that has never happened before!! The kids were so happy to play with all their old toys and Cade's new birthday loot. Lots of trucks around here now!

Before we left Budapest, I was used to all the "systems" and had a routine. Funny how quickly you forget...and how quickly the culture shock comes crashing back down when you return.  Today, I finally went to the grocery store for the first time since being back.  On the way out this morning, I remembered why going to the store is such a pain....first, I had no change. You have to have the right coin in order to get a shopping cart. Second, you have to remember to take your own bags, or pay for them at the store. Third, the shopping carts have no seat belts for little people, therefore Cade constantly tries to climb out. There are no fun car baskets here!  Fourth, the baskets are all wheel drive, so they go all sorts of directions and are challenging to maneuver, especially with a kid halfway out.  Lastly, you have to bag your own groceries. So, Cade is climbing out, I am trying to put put groceries in bags without losing a kid, I don't have enough bags, I'm holding up the line, my cart is overflowing.......you get the idea. Fun times!

The housekeeper and the grocery store...these are the opposites that embody our life here. The ease and fabulousness of having great household help, and the frustration of how challenging simple tasks can be.  Just like anywhere, there is the good and the bad.   Our goal is to enjoy the good and learn to be content with the frustrations that come up along the way.

Coming to America

We are so happy to be in the good ole USA! We all flew down last Saturday. It is such a long day, but worth it once we are here.  We continued our tradition with a trip to Walmart in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Walmart is a fabulous place and I would've hugged it if I could have. Larry was returning to Budapest the next day, so we stocked up on groceries to fill his empty suitcases - peanut butter, salsa, barbeque sauce, cereal, muffin mix, cake mix, salad dressing, spices...so fun. After church and Mexican food, we had to take Larry back to the airport - we were sad he couldn't stay and play with us, but thankful he helped me make the trip with the kids. He will join us in a few weeks.

The kids and I have had a fun week of spending time with family, having lots of play dates, swimming, and shopping. And shopping. And shopping. So fun. We love the USA!

What's for Dinner?

With Carey and the kids in Houston, I'm living like a bachelor for a while.  I enjoyed 2 rows of Double Stuff Oreos for dinner last night (truly a classic meal - highly recommended!).  I don't recall seeing Frosted Flakes in Hungary, but I understand from my father-in-law that even stale Frosted Flakes, combined with Juicy Fruit can make an acceptable dinner when living away from your wife for a while.

Well tonight, I came home from work to a wonderful meal my wife had arranged, even though she isn't here.  In fact, it even came with a menu!

We are thankful to have a lady come help us keep the house clean twice/week.  Without the kids here, that isn't very necessary.  So Carey arranged for her to check on my grocery supplies and fix me a meal that I can reheat when I get home.  How cool is that?

While Ildi certainly can't replace Carey and the kids, I certainly enjoy having her around!

Christmas in May

We were all sad that Larry got to go to the US without us this week, and we were so happy to see him when he returned!

Chelsea wrote him a book, The Story of Daddy, about all of our activities while he was gone.

We knew there was lots to look forward to when he returned. He took an empty suitcase and it was quite full on the way back! Christmas is May is..... chocolate chips, barbeque sauce, marshmallows, salsa, peanut butter, brownie mix, kids shoes from Target, Lucky Charms, ranch packets, taco seasoning, syrup, and more.....

He was also able to bring back Chelsea's birthday gift from us...and the airline didn't even charge him the over-sized bag fee!
Happy day in our house!!

Hoarders

Before we moved, I went on a buying spree. I guess I was worried that Budapest wouldn't have such things as diapers, wipes, toothpaste, etc. Or maybe it was that there is comfort in the familiar, even in the small things.

6 months later, we just now ran out of diapers and wipes. We still have 11 tubes of toothpaste, 6 things of deodorant, 7 bottles of contact solution, and a few bottles of children's Tylenol, etc.

Apparently hoarding is Larry's love language, as he is so happy to have such a stockpile. I am glad to know the secret to marital bliss!

Hungarian Hair

Sorry for the tiny picture - bad quality because it was off the phone.
I finally gave in and got my hair cut here. I couldn't stand it any longer, and it certainly wasn't going to make it till we go back to Texas in June! I called A-List, a place many of the ex-pats go, and just took the appointment they gave me. I decided to take Chelsea and get hers cut as well. My appointment was with a guy named Joseph. He was nice enough, but didn't speak much English. The receptionist at the salon asked me what I wanted and then translated. I was feeling brave and basically said he could do whatever he wanted with my hair and Chelsea's. He kept cutting, and cutting, and cutting.....I was a little afraid! Finally he was finished, and I was really happy with the result. Unfortunately, since then I haven't been able to make it look anywhere close to the same! Oh well.
Chelsea has a cute new bob. She woke up the next morning and said, "It didn't grow back yet!"

Milan Day 5 - Coming Home

We had a super early flight back to Budapest last Tuesday morning. At the last minute, we decided to change hotels for the last night in order to sleep at the airport hotel and not have to get up at 3:30 am. Good choice. Long line at Lufthansa, but at least this time there was a line. An airport employee spotted the stroller and whisked us away to our own personal check in counter...nice!!! Maybe there is a benefit to dragging the kids across Europe!

We enjoyed a smooth flight and were actually glad to be back in Hungary. Strangely enough, we were happy to hear Hungarian again. Something about saying koszonom and bocsanot feels like home.

Normally, coming home from vacation pretty much throws you back into reality. There is laundry to do, groceries to buy, and suitcases to put away. We have improved, but in the past there were times our suitcases remained unemptied for embarrassingly long periods of time. Before we moved in October, we discovered a suitcase in the closet that had been left untouched since a trip in July! Oops!!

Coming home from this trip was quite different. A few months ago, after I had a minor breakdown about not even being able to clean right because I can't read the directions on cleaning products, we hired the best housekeeper in the world. She comes two days a week and solved all my cleaning woes. I cannot complain about laundry anymore, either. She does ALL our laundry, folds it with military precision, and puts it all away. She also does all the ironing. It is rather fabulous. This time, coming back from vacation was a continuation of the vacation. She had gone to the grocery store for me and stocked the fridge. She came over once we were home and did all the laundry from the trip and put it all away. The ultimate was when I opened my dresser drawers and found she had taken everything out and refolded everything perfectly!! It was the perfect ending to a great vacation!

A Day in the Life

Next week, it will be 5 months since I got on a plane with my little family and flew to a place I'd never been. I have a vivid memory of buckling my seat belt on the plane and thinking, "What in the world have we done?" At that moment, if I could have hit the rewind button, I probably would have. We were moving across the world to a place with a different language. A different culture. A different history.

Larry told me Budapest was beautiful. Repeatedly, people I encountered on the journey told me it was beautiful. I was ready for beautiful! We got off the plane on a cold day in Budapest. Someone drove us to our hotel. Nothing I saw was beautiful. I kept waiting for beautiful around every corner. But instead, all I saw was old, dirty, and ugly. I was scared to admit it, scared that I had put my hopes into a beautiful city and something had gone wrong! That was my first bit of culture shock. There would be much more to come!

Now, 5 months later, I can see the beauty here. It isn't Hawaii beautiful, but it is pretty nonetheless. We have been through the initial phases of culture shock - from feeling like we are on a vacation, to realizing this is our new home, to wishing this wasn't our new home, to now settling in and enjoying the experience. There are things I don't think I will ever get used to, but now we (usually) just laugh and say, this is Hungary.

My daily routine is now much the same as it was before - Mondays are for grocery shopping, Tuesdays are play group with Cade, Wednesdays are open, Thursdays are a mommy and me singing thing with Cade, Fridays are activities at Chelsea's school and Hungarian class. Grocery shopping and running errands are still challenging, but I am figuring it out and making progress. We finally decided on a church and are looking forward to getting more plugged in there. I have some friends and am so thankful for that! Thank you to all who have prayed for us. God has been faithful to answer those prayers and we look forward to what He has in store for us here.

In other news, my laptop has officially died. Sad. Thankfully we did a back up before it died, but our latest pics are all on it. I will post all of those once Larry does the recovery, etc.

Do you want feathers with that?

We are making progress in our language lessons. S-L-O-W progress, but progress nonetheless. We have learned words for basic fruits, vegetables, drinks, etc. We have learned to say, "I don't understand." and "I don't speak Hungarian." Very important words in my world! My mouth still can't pronounce certain sounds correctly, especially the letter -gy that seems to appear in almost all words, but I am trying.

We thought we had mastered the word for chicken. Several times, most recently this weekend, we have tried to order a chicken sandwich. We get one of two responses - ignored or laughed at. Last night we had a Hungarian lesson and we asked the teacher to correct our pronunciation of chicken, thinking that was the problem. Larry said the word and she laughed.

What you are asking for, she said, is a whole, live chicken on a sandwich.

Oh. That explains a lot!

Learning Our ABC's

It's back to Kindergarten for Larry and I. We began Hungarian lessons this week! We have a teacher that is coming to our house twice a week after the kids go to bed. She is very nice and patient and will gear the lessons toward what vocabulary we are interested in learning. When we began, she asked what words we already knew. At this point, our vocabulary consists of about 3 words - igen (yes), nem (no), and kosonom (thank you). We have a long way to go!

Our lesson began with the ABC's. There are 44 letters in the Hungarian alphabet. Our brains quickly were on overload as we tried to learn the letters and their sounds. We have to train our brains to remember that "s" makes the sh sound and "j" makes the y sound. "C" makes the s sound and "cs" makes the ch sound. Our eyes were pretty glazed over after an hour! We did learn a few new words and I am practicing them this week. If we can learn a little bit each week, we will be far better off than we are now!

Since she will gear the lessons to what we want to learn, we think we'll be providing examples of things we will find useful. For example, next week I plan to show her some McDonald's coupons we have. If we went to McDonald's, I assume ordering at the drive-thru would be quite challenging. Not that we eat there, of course.....