I've never been to the ruined castle in my city. :)))) I've been by it a bunch of times, usually on my way to somewhere else. It's right by the river. I keep meaning to go. I've been to the museum, though.
Szeged, my city, was rebuilt in the late 19th century by Franz Ferdinand (who was loved and adored by the Hungarians, especially after this, but before that too), after a flood destroyed the city. Our main...circle street, boulevard is what the dictionary says but I'm not sure that means "a street which is in the shape of a ring that goes around the city", has six names, one for each of the cities that helped rebuild the flood (Vienna, Moscow, London, Paris, Brussels, Rome). Moscow didn't give money, actually, but a section of the street was renamed by the communists. :)
So, all of the architecture is in the Art Nouveau style. The whole city was rebuilt, with circle-streets and ray-streets, because Szeged is the Sun City (we get 2000 hours of sunlight a year, the most of any city in Hungary). But there are some older buildings left, churches mostly, and the ruined castle. My favourite is the church in King Mátyás (Mathias) square, built in the 15th century. It's pretty.
I like history a lot. There's so much of it here. March 15th is coming up, which is a national holiday, commemorating our uprising against the Hapsburgs (1848-9), which was put down. Franz Ferdinand was only 18 at the time. Thirty years later Franz Ferdinand's wife, Elizabeth, was sympathetic to the Hungarians and changed his mind, thus beginning our golden age. :) We have a lot of holidays celebrating uprisings that were put down. We celebrate 23rd October as well (1956).
North America has a lot of history too, but most of the history is that of the native Americans, who did not build castles.
I admire North America's optimism as well. Hungary could use some of it. Hungarians are happiest when they have something to complain about.
And you're right about our traditions keeping us back. Many of our traditions are beautiful, but it slows our progress and makes it harder to make changes for the good. Christianity, for example, seems very different in the Americas. In Hungary, it was surpressed during communism but most people are Roman Catholic by name, but a lot of things are just rote and ritual. In Serbia, Orthodoxy is a very important part of the culture and I've tried to learn about it as much as I can. I see people who are very religious and love going to their churches and listening to the chanting and looking at the icons and feel a very deep, personal connection with God -- yet, they've never read the Bible. It's interesting to me, because I don't understand it.
Hungary is my third country. I lived in the Carribean till I was three and a half, then I lived in the states with my parents, and I moved to Hungary alone when I was seventeen for a year abroad, but I liked it here, so I stayed and got my citizenship and have made a life for myself. My mother is Hungarian and my father is American. I've tried to make myself as Hungarian as possible and can usually pass as one when speaking. It gives me an odd view of things. I can see beyond the borders of Hungary, and I can see things about Hungary that those who have lived here their whole lives don't see or notice, because I have more to compare it to. I've been back to the states a few times, but I feel like a foreigner when I'm there, and get homesick for Hungary.
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Date: 2009-03-08 06:03 am (UTC)Szeged, my city, was rebuilt in the late 19th century by Franz Ferdinand (who was loved and adored by the Hungarians, especially after this, but before that too), after a flood destroyed the city. Our main...circle street, boulevard is what the dictionary says but I'm not sure that means "a street which is in the shape of a ring that goes around the city", has six names, one for each of the cities that helped rebuild the flood (Vienna, Moscow, London, Paris, Brussels, Rome). Moscow didn't give money, actually, but a section of the street was renamed by the communists. :)
So, all of the architecture is in the Art Nouveau style. The whole city was rebuilt, with circle-streets and ray-streets, because Szeged is the Sun City (we get 2000 hours of sunlight a year, the most of any city in Hungary). But there are some older buildings left, churches mostly, and the ruined castle. My favourite is the church in King Mátyás (Mathias) square, built in the 15th century. It's pretty.
I like history a lot. There's so much of it here. March 15th is coming up, which is a national holiday, commemorating our uprising against the Hapsburgs (1848-9), which was put down. Franz Ferdinand was only 18 at the time. Thirty years later Franz Ferdinand's wife, Elizabeth, was sympathetic to the Hungarians and changed his mind, thus beginning our golden age. :) We have a lot of holidays celebrating uprisings that were put down. We celebrate 23rd October as well (1956).
North America has a lot of history too, but most of the history is that of the native Americans, who did not build castles.
I admire North America's optimism as well. Hungary could use some of it. Hungarians are happiest when they have something to complain about.
And you're right about our traditions keeping us back. Many of our traditions are beautiful, but it slows our progress and makes it harder to make changes for the good. Christianity, for example, seems very different in the Americas. In Hungary, it was surpressed during communism but most people are Roman Catholic by name, but a lot of things are just rote and ritual. In Serbia, Orthodoxy is a very important part of the culture and I've tried to learn about it as much as I can. I see people who are very religious and love going to their churches and listening to the chanting and looking at the icons and feel a very deep, personal connection with God -- yet, they've never read the Bible. It's interesting to me, because I don't understand it.
Hungary is my third country. I lived in the Carribean till I was three and a half, then I lived in the states with my parents, and I moved to Hungary alone when I was seventeen for a year abroad, but I liked it here, so I stayed and got my citizenship and have made a life for myself. My mother is Hungarian and my father is American. I've tried to make myself as Hungarian as possible and can usually pass as one when speaking. It gives me an odd view of things. I can see beyond the borders of Hungary, and I can see things about Hungary that those who have lived here their whole lives don't see or notice, because I have more to compare it to. I've been back to the states a few times, but I feel like a foreigner when I'm there, and get homesick for Hungary.