1.) Each day, before the first lesson when students initially arrive to class, the girls double kiss each other, and the boys shake hands. Every day – they greet each other and wish them a good day.
2.) The Hungarian “Bon Appetit” – any time people see you eating anything they wish you a good meal. “Jo étvágyat” If I’m eating a candy bar – “Jo étvágyat Carla” When I’m eating a sandwich “Jo étvágyat Carla” From the clerks at McDonald’s as they give me my food “Jo étvágyat” The lunch lady as she hands me a Diet Coke “Jo étvágyat” Strangers at the bus station as I’m eating pasta and have a cat in a cage sitting next to me “Jo étvágyat.” I like this tradition. They always ask me how we say that in English, and I have to reply that we don’t do things like that in the USA. We borrow the French “Bon Appetit” but we don’t say it with any consistency.
3.) Chocolate – I love chocolate, and I have grown to appreciate chocolate more since I got here. It’s like a Hungarian food group – it’s wonderful. The thing I love most is that any time a Hungarian opens a chocolate bar they immediately break apart the chunks and offer you a small piece of chocolate. Before they eat the chocolate that is rightfully theirs, they offer other people pieces.
4.) Respect for teachers. Each time I approach a doorway, students either pause and let me go first, or hold the door open. Several times they rush ahead to get the door for me - perhaps it’s a respect for adults thing, but I enjoy it.
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2 comments:
I wish you could send that memo to the entire US! We really do lack common courtesy!
Hi honey,
That is what first drew me to your dad. He was the most courteous, kindest and thoughtful man I had ever dated. That impressed me!
MOM
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