Next Stop Hungary / Prochain arrêt Hongrie

I haven't written for a while as I was busy with the start of the school year. Here is my impression and my understanding on how it works. School really starts at 6 or 7 years old before that kids  go to a preschool kindergarden (ovoda) where they have playing activities but they are being prepared to enter primary school in their year but they are not pushed too much to learn their letters etc... They can stay in the same school until they are 18 years old. Primary school lasts for 8 years usually but that's where it gets complicated. After 4 or 6 years kids can already change school and to a secondary school. The secondary school lasts for 4 years usually again depending on when the kid left primary school. There are 3 kinds of secondary schools: - Gimnazium ( equivalent to Grammar school or lycée général, they learn 2 foreign languages there) - Skakgimnazium (another option offering possibility to go to higher education after) - Szakkozepiskola ( more techn...

When I first came to Hungary I was a bit "worried " about the food the only Hungarian dish I knew was the Goulash and it was not my favourite. Since then I have tasted many other  delicious dishes. For the savoury dishes you will often have the paprika as the king of the dish. For desserts, you should try the traditional Hungarian crepe, the palacinta , or a slice of cake of Kremes or Dobos Torte. My next challenge is to learn how to prepare these dishes. I am lucky to have very cooks in my partner's family and I will share the experiment with you shortly.  ---- Quand je suis venue en Hongrie pour la première fois , j'étais un peu inquiète des la nourriture que j'allais trouver. Je ne connaissais que le Goulash et ce n'était pas mon plat préféré. Depuis j'ai à de nombreux plats délicieux… Pour les plats salés l'ingrédient roi est souvent le paprika. Pour les desserts , il faut gouter aux palacintas , la crêpe hongroise traditionnelle...

When you plan to stay in Hungary for more than 3 months you need to register with the authorities and you will obtain a permanent residence card. I have tried to find information online for the whole process and I have to say it is not straight forward and clear. It is not very clear which documents need to be provided etc... We decided to go directly to the   Bevándorlási és Menekültügyi Hivatal ( office of immigration and nationality)  http://www.bmbah.hu/index.php?lang=en When arriving onsite mid-morning we realised that there were a huge amount of people waiting to be attended to and that there was no chance I could be seen today to ask the questions I wanted about how to register. However there were screens showing that it was possible to register online on : https://enterhungary.gov.hu/eh/ I thought that would be the easiest way to register. The website is clear enough, once you have understood what your situation is (EE citizen, Outside EE ...

We arrived in Hungary by road from Austria with our own car. It is important to know that if you want to use the motorways in Hungary (which is highly advisable as the secondary roads are not always in the best state) you will need to purchase an electronic vignette. It can be purchased online or at a special stand just after the border. The vignette can be valid for 10 days, 1 month or 1 year and can be for the whole country or for a specific region depending on your needs Here is the website with all the information:  http://toll-charge.hu/articles/article/e-vignette-rates It is quite different from France with its peage system or the Netherlands with its high yearly road tax. If you arrive by plane, you will have a choice of option to reach your final destination: taxis, shuttle buses … We have often on our previous visits to Hungary rented cars with beerides :  https://beerides.com/en/ It was much cheaper than the usual rental car age...

14/08/2019 I have been in Hungary for 17 days now and I thought it would be helpful for others to share my experience as a new comer in the country. Before I start here is a bit about myself. I am French and I have lived in France , Malawi, UK   and Netherlands before coming to Hungary. My partner is Hungarian so I am also lucky to be able to know Hungarian people their culture and their food without having to make to much effort. I will talk about : The Language -  Hungarian is known to be one of the most difficult languages in the world…  The administration – the legal stuff you have to do to be registered in the country The cuisine - there are many traditional dishes that are worth discovering. Working - how to find a job and what is the work culture  Visiting - the tourist part Culture - the museums, the music… Any other subjects that I feel worth talking about …                 ...