Post #119 24 February 2017

Gentlefolk,

Vera & I visited Hungary from 10 to 31 July 2016. This post describes our time there.

My father, Akos Olah, was Hungarian. He was born in 1912 in Kassa which was then in North-Eastern Hungary. In 1920 the family was forced to flee to Budapest when Austria-Hungary was split up after WW1 (Kassa became part of Slovakia and was renamed Kosice).

During WW2 he served in the Hungarian Artillery in an anti-aircraft unit protecting Budapest. Later he was an American prisoner-of-war in Bavaria and then his status changed to “Displaced Person”.  He met my mother (a German) and they had 3 children.  The situation in Germany looked hopeless, so together with hundreds of thousands of other “DPs”, they decided to try their luck in another country and arrived in Australia in January 1951.

Dad died of cancer in 1990. Although he had spent the largest chunk of his life in Australia he never lost his Hungarian-ness (is that a word?).  Dad was an only child and when he died we lost touch with that side of the family.

Vera and I made two short visits to Budapest in the 1980s when it was still part of the Soviet-bloc, and didn't like what we saw at that time.  But my curiosity about Hungary continued and we decided to spend 3 weeks there to have a good look at the country and culture.

We left Qingdao on Saturday 9 July 2016, on a direct flight to Frankfurt. Stayed overnight in a hotel at Frankfurt Airport, then on Sunday 10 July flew to Budapest.

We had seven days in Budapest, then went touring: first to Slovakia (Bratislava and Kosice), then a number of regional cities in Hungary: Debrecen; Gyula; Szeged; and Pecs; finally back to Budapest for another 4 days before we caught the train to Dresden.

Hungary – in summary

Area:  93,030 km2 (of which water represents 0.74%)

Population: 2016 estimate 9,830,485; population density 105.9/km2

Key dates in Hungarian history

895 AD	Foundation of Hungary (tribes united)
25 December 1000	Proclaimed a Christian (Catholic) Kingdom
29 August 1526	Battle of Mohács, defeated by Turks
2 September 1686	Liberation of Buda from Turks
15 March 1848	Revolution of 1848 (against Hapsburgs of Austria)
20 March 1867	Establishment of Austro-Hungarian Empire (Austria finally accepted Hungary as equal partner)
4 June 1920	Treaty of Trianon (following defeat in WW1 Hungary lost two-thirds of its former territory)
23 October 1989	Foundation of Third Republic (following 40 years of Communist Party rule)
1 May 2004	Joined the European Union

Impressions of Hungary

Of course you can’t really know a country in just 3 weeks, but here are some impressions we formed after 10 days in Budapest and 20 days travelling around:

Budapest, with a population of about 2 million (20% of the total), dominates every aspect of Hungary, socially, culturally, and economically. The second largest city is Debrecen with a population of only 250,000.

Budapest: grand, elegant, cosmopolitan. Lots of beautiful old buildings which have been renovated; lots of lovely churches; wonderful Parliament Building. Many “hot baths”.  The Danube is a major focal point (much more so than in Bratislava).

The Hungarian language (“Magyar”) is unique and difficult.  Our father taught some Hungarian to us kids as we were growing up and I thought that would be helpful. But after 3 weeks I could hardly string together a simple sentence. Tough.

There are relatively few Asians in Hungary, especially outside Budapest.  In Budapest we saw some Asian restaurants, and many “Thai Massage” establishments.

Budapest has lots of restaurants and cafes many with attractive outdoor seating; the set ‘lunch menus’ were good value; actually food prices seemed about half those in Australia. Pork is very popular.  There was an amazing selection of cakes and ice cream – Hungarians obviously have a sweet tooth.  Restaurants in Budapest add a 10% service charge, but not in other centres.

We didn’t see many public laundries or small hairdressers. Lots of money changers (much easier and better rates, than going to normal banks).

Public toilets have an entry fee – our daily challenge was to find alternatives so that we could avoid paying. Same in Germany.

Hungary still uses its own currency, the Forint. It is in the EU, but hasn’t adopted the Euro yet (unlike Slovakia, which uses Euro).

The Great Hungarian Plain covers the Eastern half the country; it is dead flat, with fertile soil and intensive agriculture. Lots of villages – but many seem in a state of decay (young people head for Budapest).

Most young people speak reasonable English. Many Hungarians both male and female smoke, including among the young. Many have tattoos.

Hungary is located in the cross-roads of Europe and that shows in the people.  It was difficult to identify a typical Hungarian – such a mix.  I thought there would be more black-haired people, but actually the predominant colour seemed to be brown with a good smattering of black and blond.

We enjoyed the three weeks in Hungary and can recommend it as a holiday destination.  Prices of accommodation and food are reasonable, there are lots of interesting things to see and do, and personal safety is good.

Here are some photos of our time in  Budapest. I'll do a separate post with photos of Slovakia and other parts of Hungary.

Our friend Denes Hunkar met us on arrival and took us to the Kalvin Apartments in Ulloi Ut, near Kalvin Ter (Square).  The next morning we visited the famous old Central Market which was not far away. 

Lots of money changers everywhere.  We found they were more convenient and better rates than normal banks. 

Having just come from China, the Bank of China office caught our eye.

The magnificent Parliament Building on the banks of the Danube. We did a tour of the Building - most impressive.

We took a local ferry up the Danube - much less expensive than a commercial tour.

Lots of luxurious tourist boats were anchored along the Danube.  The trip from Amsterdam to Budapest has become very popular.

The grand old Opera House on Andrassy Boulevard. We did a tour of this marvellous old building.

Later we went to a performance of the musical "Billy Elliot" in the Opera House. We sat up "in the gods" but the tickets were a reasonable $15 each. Wonderful acoustics and atmosphere.

This lovely old cafe was more than 100 years old. Elegant.

The bridge near the Central Market was being renovated - a great place for young people to party at night.

Wonderful St Mathias Cathedral in Buda.

The "House of Terror" Museum tells the story of the Communist Party's repressive secret police.

Heroes Square at the end of Andrassy Boulevard celebrates the founding of Hungary by Arpad and the seven tribes.

The Agriculture Museum had an interesting section on fauna and floral.

Subway Line #1, under Andrassy Ut. Hungarians are very proud that this was the first subway in Europe (after New York).

Dinner with friends Denes & Ildiko Hunkar. We met them in Singapore in 1994. Denes was at the Hungarian Embassy and I was at the Australian.  We were very fortunate to have such wonderful 'guides' to show us around. They have two lovely daughters, Anita who lives in Vienna and Dori who lives in Dubai.

Typical food - pork is very popular. One of the dishes we had with Denes & Ildiko.

The Hungarians are very good at making desserts - a huge variety, all delicious.

The restaurant we went to with Denes & Ildiko featured a traditional gypsy band. Hungarians love music.

Denes managed to find the apartment block where my father grew up and took us there. 

We managed to look inside the front entrance of the apartment block where my father grew up. It's been renovated - must have been quite grand 100 years ago.

We went to the St Lukas Baths. There are lots of hot springs in Hungary (the first one was established by the Romans 2,000 years ago) and going to a hot bath seems to be a national past time.

We spent an afternoon exploring Margaret Island, a wonderful leisure centre in the Danube.

Our favorite Hungarian restaurant was near the Central Market. This musician entertained diners on a kind of zither.  Good food, good atmosphere and good music.

The Rossmann Pharmacy/Chemist chain had shops everywhere in Budapest.

This girl's lovely blond-reddish hair caught my eye. 

The Maccas outlet on Vaci Ut, the main pedestrian shopping street in Pest. It opened just before our short visit to Budapest in the summer of 1989.  It was the first McDonalds and attracted big crowds of young people all curious about this icon of the West. Still popular.

We found the high school my father attended back in the 1920s: the Piarista Catholic School founded in 1717.  It went through hard times under the Communists, but has now had a revival to its former glory.

Budapest University's Law Faculty.  My father did his undergraduate law degree here (and then his PhD in Szeged).

Magnificent St Stephen's Cathedral.  I started going to church again in Budapest, not for religion, but for the wonderful organ music played during mass.  These huge organs (we saw one with 900 pipes!) sounded incredible in these old churches.

After mass in St Stephen's Cathedral everyone went to the front for group blessings by the priest - a nice touch.

Denes and Ildiko Hunkar took us for a day visit to famous Lake Balaton. It is the largest lake in Europe, about 70 km long and more than one km wide.  Many people have holiday houses/apartments here; very busy in summer.

Sailing is very popular on Lake Balaton - my father often spoke about sailing here.

Afternoon coffee & cake on a terrace overlooking Lake Balaton - beautiful.

It rained on our last day in Budapest,so we went to the Hungarian History Museum, not far from where we were staying on Ulloi Ut - wonderful old building.  We were lucky with the weather: little rain and not too hot.  People had warned us about visiting Hungary in July, but actually the days were mostly comfortable - although airconditioning certainly helped for sleeping at night.

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We had 10 days exploring Budapest and only scratched the surface. We'd like to return and spend more time in that impressive city. The "Old City" in Buda and Pest is lovely and not too large.

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We also visited Slovakia (Bratislava and Kosice) and then other regional cities in Hungary - the next post will feature photos on those centres.

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That's it for this post.

Keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
Canberra, Australia
24 February 2017

(Actually, we are currently visiting our daughter and her family in Brisbane, Queensland)

Post #118 14 February 2017

Memories of China

(All dollars are US$ )

What are our main take-aways after 6 years living and teaching in China (one year in Dongying, 5 years in Qingdao)? 

It’s actually surprisingly hard to put into words.  This is an extraordinary country – first we were overwhelmed by everything and then slowly absorbed by the new environment.

I believe that we were always on the periphery of society, never really part of it.  To really integrate is difficult and at the very minimum needs fluency in reading, writing and speaking the language.  Vera became quite proficient in speaking Mandarin and that enabled her to get closer to locals and their way of life than I did.

I have tried to list those things we will miss, and those things we won’t miss – see below – as a way to describing our feelings.

(1) What we will miss

The challenge & excitement of teaching and the rewards of seeing progress

Students reading/reciting aloud in corridors and class rooms

Students respectful and polite; good-looking, healthy, eager kids

Students calling out greetings (particularly Vera in Dongying)

No tipping

Bus fare $0.15 across town; $0.60 for a large bottle of beer; $2 for a haircut

Cheap meals ($2 max) in campus canteens, and also outside; delicious food

Going out for dinner on Sunday night with colleagues & friends

‘Monday night @ the movies’ in our apartment with Vera’s cooking, to watch Better call Saul and Game of Thrones

Friendly people, little violence

Apartment – easy living; great view of Tang Dao Wan Bay; biking around the Bay

The China Daily newspaper, my ‘window on China’

Friends: teaching colleagues, other staff, some students, others.

(2) What we will NOT miss

Cold wind in winter (the wind chill factor can bring the temperature down to minus 20 or lower)

Pollution: air and water

Crowds everywhere, especially during holidays

Lack of discipline/courtesy by drivers

Littering; smoking; spitting

Smelly toilets / squat toilets

Cheating in exams

Questions about age and salary

No queuing, always trying to push in

No access to English language TV

People speaking loudly on their mobile phones.

Differences China – Australia

The cultures are hugely different in almost every aspect.  Here are some which spring to mind:

Food. Chinese LOVE food; eat out a lot; always take photos of the food they are eating; normally eat early and go to bed early; use chopsticks; love pork; drink hot water/tea

Workers: work hard, long hours; competitive environment; construction workers work in all conditions and seven days; finish projects quickly; have few holidays; banks open on Saturdays and even Sundays

Students: respectful and keen to learn; want top marks; lots of lectures; all live on campus; conform – very little individuality but they are all different; love long, hot showers once or twice a week; gyms becoming popular (fit, healthy bodies); girls wear short-shorts in summer; girls with long black hair; everyone has a smart-phone; boys love computer games and watching NBA basketball; singing (choirs) popular; studying Marxism is compulsory but disliked (“boring”);

Alcohol:  love to drink, especially men (and smoke, although that is declining); they seem to be happy drunks; there is little violence in Chinese society;

History: very much part of every-day living, they know all the famous historical figures; seem to have a much stronger sense of history than young Australians; strong family ties

Buildings: almost everyone lives in high-rise apartment buildings; buildings usually face South to utilise the sun; most buildings have solar panels on the roof;  

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Well, that's it for this post.  I know there is much much more to say about China, but my brain refuses to do more tonight.

Tomorrow we start driving north, to Brisbane (about 1,300 km) to visit our daughter and her family.   I'll try to do some posts on our European holiday last July - August, but not sure if I'll have the time or the inclination. Let's see.  

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Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

Canberra, Australia

14 February 2017  

Post #117 12 February 2017

Gentlefolk,

We finally left China on Saturday 9 July 2016.  The last few weeks were a bit crazy with so many farewells. Vera did an incredible job organising the move, particularly the packing. She was exhausted by the end and glad to finally get on the plane out.

Here are photos of some of the people with whom we met in the last week.

Wu Qian and her son Alex.  She was my "Liaison Teacher" this last semester, and a great help.

Dinner with Liu Hong Fei(Carson) and Song Cai Yun. We met Carson in 2011 through Barbara Crammer. He was Vice Dean of English  at the Linyi Campus of Li Gong University.  Excellent spoken English. We met his daughter Liu Si Hui (Julie) who is doing a Masters in Special Education at University of Texas. Carson and Song Laoshi married recently (which we found interesting as Carson was a devout Christian while Song was a lecturer of Marxism; both now retired).

Vera having lunch with "Xiao Li".  She was from the US came to UPC learnt Chinese and is completing a degree in Petroleum Engineering. Amazing girl.

My favorite dish for lunch was Ma La Tang, prepared by Tao Cheng Yang. Great cook!

Dinner with Liu Li Na and her husband Dr Sun Gang Yun.  He was hoping to spend a year with this lady at UNSW, Duntroon.  But it didn't work out and in the end he went to a university in Scotland.

The manager of the Post Office on campus.  Vera got to know him, and he was very helpful in packing and dispatching our eight boxes to Canberra.  Fortunately Zhang Wei Shan helped by taking out boxes to the PO in his car.  It was a near-run thing, but luckily the Manager gave us special treatment (all parcels must be packed under his supervision).

On our last night in Huangdao, we were invited to dinner by Prof Liu Bao, his wife Wang Jun Hong, and friend Dr Shi Tian Ming (John).  We had many wonderful dinners with Prof Liu and his wife and their daughter Liu Si Qi. They were generous and kind to us, good friends.

Vera with Wang Jun Hong. 

Some of the dishes for dinner with Prof Liu at teh Blue Horizon Hotel. Always delicious. We'll miss Chinese food.

Finally the day of departure arrived; our last morning in Huangdao, Saturday 9 July 2017.  It started foggy, but then cleared up (see photo below).

The lovely view from our apartment, looking across Tang Dao Wan Bay. Started foggy, but then cleared for a last look at the gorgeous view. 

Group from the International Office came to say goodbye, from left: Jiang Da Sen (& his wife); Vera; Wu Ke Hua; Li Zhi Wei (Lena); Wang Ling (Olivia); me.

With Wu Ke Hua, Deputy Director of the International Office.  A most impressive lady. She was always very helpful to me.

We became friendly with a student, Li Zhi Wei (Lena). She was the girlfriend of Yu Ya Qi (Romulus) who was in one of my classes.  A few weeks later Lena went to London to do a Masters degree (majoring in art management).

Vera and Wang Ling (Olivia). She met us when we first arrived to work at UPC, way back in August 2009.  We became good friends. Olivia insisted on accompanying us to the airport to see us off.; she was there at the start of our China adventure, and  wanted to be there at the end too.

Another photo with Olivia.  She is a lovely person. We often had lunch or dinner with Olivia and her husband, Kong Ling Peng (David) either at a restaurant or at their apartment.  They have a cute daughter, Kong Yi Lin (Ella).

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Our teaching careers in China came to a close when we flew to Europe on 9 July 2016. We went on the direct Qingdao - Frankfurt flight by Lufthansa; left at 1pm and arrived in Frankfurt at 7pm the same day.

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Our stay in China has been a very worthwhile experience, but all good things come to an end eventually.  We’d already exceeded Shandong’s “5 Year Rule” (although the International Office offered to try to get an extension); but more importantly, I’ll turn 70 in August and we reckon that’s a good time to head back home.

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Well that's it for now folks.

Next I'm hoping to do posts on our time in Europe.

Keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

Canberra, Australia

Sunday 12 February 2017

Post #116 11 February 2017

Gentlefolk

I’m finally getting back to my blog, after an absence of 7 months.

It’s been busy.  On 9 July 2016 we flew from Qingdao to Frankfurt and then on to Budapest. We had 3 weeks in Hungary, followed by a month in Germany; ten days in Hong Kong, then flew to Brisbane; a week with Jen & Tom and the boys, then drove to Canberra, arriving on 23 September.

Settling down to life in Canberra took longer and was more traumatic than expected.  Reverse culture shock and all that. But now we’ve adjusted and things are more settled.

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself.  I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

This post contains the News Summary for June 2016.  

While I was based in China, I compiled a monthly summary of news items, with a focus on news on China.  

Previously I split the Monthly New Summary into two parts: Domestic (about China) and International.  But I didn’t have time to keep detailed records in June because we were getting ready to leave China so this time I will just have one consolidated list.

These news items were sourced from the China Daily newspaper 1 – 25 June 2016.  The events/items included are not necessarily the headlines, but rather things which caught my eye, events like Gordie Howe's passing (he was a legend of professional ice hockey) and the Brexit vote.

Actual events sometimes occurred a day or two before they appeared in the China Daily newspaper. 

Currency shown is US$, and the exchange rate used this month is US$1 = Yuan 6.6.

Remember: the China Daily is a government newspaper whose main purpose in life is to make the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese Government look good.  But if one strips away the propaganda, there is still quite a lot of interesting stuff in the paper. 

Events which made the news in China in June 2016

June 1	Celebrations to mark the 35th anniversary of the founding of the China Daily. CD now has 5million followers on Facebook (ironic, because FB is blocked in China, but that doesn’t stop them from utilising it as a communication tool outside China).
	The Chinese Govt released an Action Plan to combat soil pollution (estimates that about 20% of agricultural land is contaminated).
	Hainan National Airlines (HNA) bought 13% of Virgin Australia for $114m.
2	The Yuan continues to ease, now US$1 = yuan 6.6.
3	UN Peacekeepers were attacked in Mali; one Chinese soldier died.
	A 36 year old single-mother in Nanjing was caught stealing a chicken drumstick for her sick daughter.  The case went viral; public donations quickly exceeded Y400,000.
	Lenovo announced a net loss of $128m in the 12 months to March.
	China Minmetals merged with China Metallurgical Corporation; combined workforce of 240,000 and combined annual sales of $65 billion.
	The 57 km Gothard Base Tunnel opened in Switzerland.
4	Alibaba’s turnover passed Wal Mart’s to become the world’s leading retailer.
	Sales of Passenger Motor Vehicles in China in 2015 totalled 24.6 million units.
	China’s first High Speed Rail Line (Beijing to Tianjin) opened in 2008.  Now the network covers more than 16,000 km (20,000 km projected for 2020).
6	The annual US-China Dialogue started in Beijing. 400 Americans participated.
	Today is the end of Ramadan, the end of the Muslim fasting month.
	American boxer, Mohamed Ali (Cassius Clay), died aged 74.
7	Chinese company Suning paid $306 million for 70% of Inter-Milan football team.
	9.4 million students sat the National College Entrance Exam (Gao Kao) 7&8 June.
	Merger of COSCO and China Shipping.
	Novak Djokovic won the French Mens Singles and Maguruza won the Womens Singles. Djokovic’s earning from tennis competitions passed $100 million.
9	Dragon Boat Festival (Duan Wu) today.
	Hillary Clinton won the California Democratic Primary and was confirmed as the candidate of the Democratic Party in November’s Presidential election.
11	Famous ice hockey player, Gordie Howe, died aged 88.  He played 32 seasons in the NHL (finally retired when he was 52 years old).
13	American Omar Mateen, 29, shot and killed 49 in a gay club in Orlando, Florida.
15	663,000 foreigners live in China; have permits to stay for at least 6 months.
16	Official opening of Shanghai Disney; 50 million visitors expected annually.
	China’s coal output was down 8% in the first 5months of 2016 (compared to same period in 2015).
20	New govt regulation means that TV channels can show a maximum of 2 foreign-adapted shows during prime time (7.30 – 10.30pm).
21	The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors in game 7 to win the NBA championships.  It was the first time a team had come back from 1-3 down. LeBron James was named MVP of the Finals.
24	Britons voted 52-48% to leave the EU (Brexit).  Voter turn-out was 72%. Turmoil.
	The Solar Impulse plane flew from New York to Seville, Spain; 6,700 km in 71 hours.
25	Heavy rain, floods, tornado, devastate parts of China.

This is the last monthly News Summary based on the China Daily. While I occasionally look at the CD website, I certainly don’t follow it as carefully as I did in Qingdao. Pity, because there’s not much detailed coverage of China in the local media.

Will I do monthly News Summaries in the future?  I don’t know.  Let’s see how things work out in the next few weeks.  For the moment, there is lots to catch up on.

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Now that I’ve taken the first step to reactivate the blog, I hope to catch up over the next few weeks.  We are going up to Brisbane shortly to see the Roberts family, and then later up to Hong Kong to see the new baby.  So lot’s still happening, but let’s see how many posts I can do to come up-to-date.

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Best wishes to you all, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

Canberra, Australia

11 February 2017