Groceries

Things you wouldn’t know unless you visit Hungary or read this blog:

When you go into a grocery store take a cart or basket. Those who do not are thought to be stealing things. That brings up the culture of cheating here. It’s in the schools, it’s in business, and it’s famously in government. Cheating amongst students it rampant I hear. While I have not witnessed it myself, (editors note: this entry was written 24 hours ago. In that time, I did see two girls creating tiny cheat sheets. They were doing this out in the open like they were simply preparing for a test) I have been told by a number of people (all American) that the students will help each other cheat without regard for ethics, or the devaluation of the grades themselves. Students strive to earn “5’s,” the equivalent of an “A,” however, the grades are not nearly as important as the score they receive on the graduation exam. This is an especially powerful exam. It dictates all four year’s of the high school’s curriculum. The exam is created by the Ministry of Education and is standard across the country. The closest we would have to this is the SAT or ACT, but this one tests in specific subject areas like history, physics, biology, and mathematics. Material that could be on the exam is in the curriculum, and everything else is excluded from the student’s four years of high school. Finally, a student’s performance on the exam determines the university s/he can attend. So, when it comes to routine tests, quizzes and homework in high school, the students have little reason not to help each other cheat, because there is no grade competition. However, most students understand the importance of performing well on the graduation exam, so the effort put into memorizing historical information is amazing. But, as I’ve mentioned before, I question their critical thinking skills, because I have not seen this being taught. I would like to observe some science classes to see if the material is presented in an exploratory fashion, or if the students are lectured to. I would guess the latter is true.


Prices are much less here for nearly everything (except gas). A movie ticket is about 800 HUF ($3.70) and in one of the local theaters here, they are showing four movies: Memoirs of a Geisha and another one are in English with Hungarian sub-titles; Big Mama’s House and another one are in Hungarian with no sub-titles (I can only imagine what the characters in Big Mama’s House seem like when they have Hungarian voices; it’s almost worth the price of admission to me).

I went grocery shopping Wednesday and walked through the wine section: Bottles of quality Hungarian Merlots and Cabernets ranged from 800 to 3200 HUF ($3.70 - $14.60). The best come from the eastern Hungarian village (everything, except Budapest, is called a village here) of Eger (AYDJ-ehr). I’ve been told Eger’s Boars Blood vineyard makes a nice wine (1600 HUF – $7.30). Like many things in Hungary (and elsewhere I would guess) the strange name is born out of some local historical legend.

I wanted to give you a chance to see an average grocery trip for me. These are the items I bought Wednesday evening at "CBA," (the grocery store with my dad's initials for a name). Other grocery stores in Szolnok include Coop, pronounced "cope" ("COOP" is actually the Hungarian term for a supository, and when the students hear us Americans mispronounce the store name they erupt with laughter. When I asked, they said "COOP" is what your mother puts, ahem, in there, when you are sick), Cora, and Tesco. Sunday, Chad and I will go to Tesco: it's like a Wal-Mart and has everything. It's the only grocery store open on Sunday.



As you can see by the photo (click it to enlarge), I have purchased very American items. In total, this trip cost me 3200 HUF ($14.50). The conditioner was the most expensive item (almost $3).