Back in Budapest

My life contains "dueling realities". I've just returned to Budapest from my home country. What a long, strange trip it's been. Now it's time to get podcastin' again. Click 'read more' for more.

Having just come back from the US, I am coming down from the weird state of suspended American animation that I usually find myself on trips home. Loves Park, Illinois is, indeed, worlds away from the cosmopolitan lifestyle we enjoy here in Budapest. My days back home consist of getting up, having some coffee, getting hypnotized by CNN, struggling to turn it off, doing a bit of virtual work on my laptop, catching a stray WIFI signal from the neighbor and sending it off.

Then, the rest of the day is spent hanging out with mom and fielding questions from my ailing grandmother. "Are you sure you don't want to live in the United States?" "Do you ever think you could be transferred to the United States?"

"Please," I beg, "don't ask me that question again! You already know the answer."

This time, my trip home was flavored by the never-ending media coverage of the financial crisis and the US presidential campaign. No one could ever accuse the present day of being boring, but I must say it is much more exciting living here in Budapest than it is in the US.

When people ask me why, most of the time I tell them that it is the European lifestyle that is so attractive to Americans who come from cities with little or no city center to speak of. "I don't have to drive," I tell them. "I literally see, almost every day, someone I have met over the years, walking around or on our excellent public transportation system."

While I was home my father graciously led my old friends from Beloit College and me around Rockford's downtown, which was fairly vibrant when I was a child. And although there are a few bars and restaurants that seem to be there to stay, on that balmy evening there was no one else accompanying us as we walked across the State Street bridge. That's just too lonely for me.

Every foreigner needs to go home once in a while to understand why they have chosen to live where they do. Of course every place has its good and bad points.

Most times it's the little things in Budapest that make living here so wonderful. How about getting up on this crisp, sunny autumnal morning and heading over to the cukrászda for a dupla kávé and fresh pogácsa? I wasn't born here, but it sure made me feel like I had returned home.

So get ready to hear about that and numerous other experiences, because Budacast is back. And we've got some exciting plans in store to get you, our listeners, more involved.

Stay tuned,

Uncle Drew