hello from Hungary

Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
GaRp58

GaRp58

Super Friend
Neighbor
Joined
Feb 4, 2021
Messages
43
Location
my BOL
Hi folks, just joined today, will be reading and watching. Got an invite from Amish and decided to take a look.
Ex-military /78-85/ been living in Europe for 42 years now after leaving the Army and had to decide to go back to the US alone or stay here with my lovely Hungarian wife who did not want to go the States for a third time and lose or leave everything we had built up here. So, we live at our BOL in Hungary now. I have trained Boy Scouts and Explorers on survival since the ideas started in the early 70's, lived off the land with a backpack from CA to TX for 9 months, trained my soldiers in survival and had a survival camp in Germany till 2013. Wrote a book full of survival notes and drawings for my children to read and my learnings to not be lost from 45 years of survival. Just enjoying the rest of my health, my house and garden here and hope to live as long and healthy as possible. We will start a survival camp next summer with some acquaintences here and the Explorers nearby. Hello to Amish, Live Free, GP
 
A warm welcome from Alaska!
 
Hungary was a free nation but under socialistic rule till 1956 and students started rioting against the corrupt rulers...they in turn called on russian help and bloody revolution started. Many were killed attacking tanks with molotov cocktails and bare hands. The Chechloslovakia rulers just opened the borders and let the russians roll through...only to be trampled themselves in 1968 and come under the control of the WARSAW PACT through the Cold War...everybody who wore glasses, teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers and anyone with a big name were incarcerated, incinerated or FLED THE LAND...
My wifes family were large land owners before WWI and her great grandfather was a Graf. After Hitler forced Hungary to send soldiers to fight Stalin and the germans lost the war, her family lost all titles, land and possessions. She would still be a rich little princess if they had been on the other side in the war. Hungary was second in size only to Poland before and now it is only larger than Luxemburg and has the weakest monetary system in all of Europe.
In my village alone, there are around 400 empty houses and farms since the older are dying and the younger are looking for better lives in the rest of the EU Union. The prices range from around $3000 for older and small houses, up to aroung $45,000 for newer and renovated houses, turnkey...
 
GaRp58 said:
Hungary was a free nation but under socialistic rule till 1956 and students started rioting against the corrupt rulers...they in turn called on russian help and bloody revolution started. Many were killed attacking tanks with molotov cocktails and bare hands. The Chechloslovakia rulers just opened the borders and let the russians roll through...only to be trampled themselves in 1968 and come under the control of the WARSAW PACT through the Cold War...everybody who wore glasses, teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers and anyone with a big name were incarcerated, incinerated or FLED THE LAND...
My wifes family were large land owners before WWI and her great grandfather was a Graf. After Hitler forced Hungary to send soldiers to fight Stalin and the germans lost the war, her family lost all titles, land and possessions. She would still be a rich little princess if they had been on the other side in the war. Hungary was second in size only to Poland before and now it is only larger than Luxemburg and has the weakest monetary system in all of Europe.
In my village alone, there are around 400 empty houses and farms since the older are dying and the younger are looking for better lives in the rest of the EU Union. The prices range from around $3000 for older and small houses, up to aroung $45,000 for newer and renovated houses, turnkey...
Click to expand...


WOW on second thought, maybe thats not a good idea. I'd thought it was holding its own but that was an old article I read.
 
Don't get the wrong idea, it is great to live here, no lockdown, only in certain places mask, the cops are very respectful and friendly, you can walk into the Mayor office and talk anytime, if you need help, the city will get you some firewood in winter or food if you are short this month. Retired people pay no taxes, healthcare, bus fares, train fares, wheel chairs, electric roller chairs or entry fees to the zoo, opera, movies or museums...they paid all their lives and now they do not any more!! Our monthly electric, gas and water, home insurance and such all costs about $65.00. The house is insured against EVERYTHING and for the triple of that for which I paid for it and double that which I invested to renovate...own garden, water well and chickens soon...just what the doctor prescribed...GP
 
Since Hungary joined the European Union, the prices of food, gas and materials has tripled. Jobs and pay have gone to crap. Those experienced with metal, wood, roofing, concrete, tiling, truckers and especially the medical profession have all moved west for more money. The president just raised the medical professions wages 300% (!!!) over the next 6 months in gradual steps just to get them to stay here. We used to be able to sleep overnight and eat (bed and breakfast) for less than $5.00, get a beer for $0.50 and a hamburger or pizza for one dollar. NOW, we pay the same price as elsewhere in Europe, but the locals only earn a fifth of the wages like the rest of the EU. Some live on about $500.00 a month with 2-3 kids. One neighbor works at the local prison for less than $800.00 a month. They do not have a lot, but they are still getting along.
 
Very much so. But they know how to survive, garden, butcher, fish, hunt with a pellet gun and ask the neighbor for help. We always try to buy from the locals on Wed. and Sat. when they have a fleamarket and food market with fresh fruit and veggies, eggs, meat, smoked things and fresh joghurt or milk direct from the cow only filtered and cooled just like old times or with the AMISH.....GP
 
backlash said:
Welcome aboard. It is always interesting to hear the life experiences of people outside of America.
I worked with a guy that fled from Hungary years ago and his stories were amazing.
Click to expand...
According to what he told me every male is conscripted into the military. You do a couple of years then they send you home. Then one day a letter shows up and you have to go back to the army. That happens until you serve 6 years. He said the army was worse than prison.
He was notified there was a registered letter at the post office and he knew it was his recall to the army. So he sold everything he owned and bought 2 large diamonds and came to America because he did not want to go back to the army.
 
Welcome.

My dad's side of the family is from that area. Grandpa was in the Romanian calvary at the start of WW2 but they moved back into Hungary and then Austria where my dad was born. They came to the US in 1957.

Stories told of the old country were quite entertaining. Farmer once crawled into a stack of hay with his shotgun to keep kids from stealing apples from his orchard. He fell asleep so grandpa and a friend got 2 bean poles and carried the whole stack 1/2 mile down the road then took the poles and went back to get some apples.

There was a tradition that if you wanted to court someone you planted a tree in the yard. Apparently grandpa had such a bad reputation that by the time he got permission to court grandma he had virtually planted a forest.
 
Well good morning America...after a good nights sleep, the chickens are kackeling, the rooster crowed at 4 am and the coffee is smelling good. I still use an old percolator from the 60's and the plug is made of porcelain. My wife told me her granddad used to make his own moonshine and would hold his nose as he drank some...nobody knew OR understood the thing, only the direct family.
He claimed that if he could SMELL the goodness, it made his MOUTH WATER and he did not want to drink it DILUTED WITH ANYTHING!!
We are allowed to make up to 50 liters of moonshine here legally for personal use. Terrible fines if you make more or sell it tho.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top