4 things I can’t do in Hungary that I could do in England

I can’t do any sort of online shopping….

I used to be an “online junky” I loved the easy, no fuss online way to buy absolutely anything I wanted…of course within reason. But it made me think how much I took it for granted in England, I could sit, search and send in front of my PC and have my items swiftly delivered the next day. All that changed when we moved to Hungary. We were busy furnishing our new home and we found it impossible to find any sort of, easy to follow, Hungarian online shopping presence. Added to that the language barrier issue well and truly hit home. Ahhh well, we have saved a ton of money and I came to the realisation that Hungarian people don’t really do as much online shopping as in the West. It is said they don’t trust purchases where they can’t personally inspect the item first. Those who do use internet shopping and have their parcels delivered use the “Cash on Delivery” system, something they do not do in England.

I can’t leave bread or meat out without eating it immediately…

Our family motto: “Eat it, Or Freeze it”!

An excellent motto. Cooking and eating Hungarian foods is very different from England. Not that there’s anything wrong it’s just different! Soon after our arrival in Hungary we bought fresh bread from the local bakery, sadly within one day it had become dry and hard. It happened again from a different bakery, I suddenly realised, obviously, there are fewer preservatives added to the bread here. We had similar issues with the meat, not keeping it for as long as expected. So as our motto goes – if we are not going to eat it that day it goes straight into the freezer. “Eat it, Or Freeze it”

I can’t browse around an English Bookshop…

I love the smell of books and book shops the actual feel of REAL books. I have lived with my Kindle by my side for the last few years, I left my book collection in England and do miss it. The opportunity to visit a bookshop, indulge in picking up a book and opening its pages and see English text. Or to be able to read the blurb on the back and make a judgement, to buy or not to buy? Of course, there are book shops here, perhaps in Budapest there is an English one to indulge my fantasy. I shall have to broaden my search horizons to Budapest.

Speaking English when negotiating…

Any sort of deal with a Hungarian…. you must speak Hungarian, if not, you may find you pay a higher price because you speak English! We have learnt this through expensive experience. Out in the countryside, the Hungarian people hold regular car boot sales, nobody speaks English, we paid over the odds for items we bought. Later we were advised, next time ONLY speak Hungarian and that advice came from a friendly Hungarian!

We love living in Hungary and have made some major lifestyle changes that we don’t regret. Every country lives a different way of life with lots of cultural differences. Every new experience that we learn from makes us wiser people and ready for the next time.

Do you live in a country with differences that you have noticed…which way of life do you prefer the old or the new? I would love to hear your views.