Celifornia.com blog

We are getting close to a public election in Hungary, which is about Hospital and Tuition fees. The current government introduced these so far unheard and unexperienced fees to the Hungarian nations, and this created a controversial situation here. I am not going to note my political views, nor will I share which way I am going to vote, I just want to introdce the topic and the system, as far as I know it.

This is the Notation for my voting place and time I got in the mail yesterday, I thought I would post it up. (Sorry for the crappy scan) For the rest of the story, read on below.

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Hi,

So, we are just through Valentine’s Day, and I must stay, I was quite impressed. To begin with, on the day of the 14th, I had some important things to do at work, and I went home later than usual, I left office at 8PM. I almost forgot what day it was, and I will explain later why, but I saw a few men walking with roses, so I quickly got back on track, and went to look for some Chocolates for my wife. I didn’t find what I was looking for, but after all, we are in Hungary, and luxurious items are not yet present in shops. I rushed home, and while going in to our house, I almost hit my wife in the face with the door, as she was standing right in the entrance-way with this in her hands:

Read on….
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I was looking through my old pictures from Japan, and I found a couple of great shots I thought of sharing. These were taken on a ferry off the shore of Nagasaki, we were visiting my wife’s grandparents. I was holding my niece, and to be honest I already forgot this occassion, but now that I think back, this was the first time she felt comfortable with me, being with me. Since then, we grew to be friends, and we play a lot whenever I am in Japan. Looking at the picture more, I can imagine myself being the father , although the child doesn’t quite fit a “usual” Hungarian child’s appearance, however as my wife is Japanese, I guess our children will look kind of like my niece does, as the Asian blood is stronger, and overtakes the weak European blood

Anyways, here is the picture, and if you are interested, you find another few if you read on:

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…we had this bitterly cold weekend. The sun was still shining during the day, and temperatures went above 5C, but the nights were way below freezing. At home, we have lots of windows, and as the sun was heating up the large surface glasses, we ended up turning down the heat throughout the days, but outside was crazy cold with the strong winds.

This was the weather reported by a weather service on the iPhone saturday morning:

And a picture my dad took on Sunday morning at Lake Balaton.

These are grass and other plants by the lake shore, and as the strong wind blew the water out of the lake, it got frozen all around the vegetation. Quite a shot I must say. For a full size version (still small though), click here.

Cheers

So I was on a business trip to Debrecen, a city in East Hungary. I like going there, it brings back memories, as I was a High School student there for 4 years, with a stay-in dormitory living.

I was in a rush just going and coming delivering some laptops, but as it usually is, I had some urgent phonecalls coming in requiring my attention and assistance. Mostly everything I do requires internet, so on my way out of the city, I stopped at a local shopping center called Malompark, and I found a cafe there. I got on my laptop quickly to fix the issues, and had this cup of cappuccino. I thought it looked quite impressive for a small, not too special cafe. Sorry for the bad quality pic, it was taken with the iPhone, as usual.

Cheers

Hi,

I guess the title puzzles you… no wonder, it is a puzzle to me too. Anyhow, the story is the following:
In old days, or maybe even now, smaller villages and towns were giving away titles to people who kept a tidy household and a neat garden. “Tiszta Udvar, Rendes Ház” literally means Clean Garden, Tidy Hose. This title usually was won if there were nice flowers in the front yard, no rusted out old Lada, Trabant, or any other ex-communist made cars, etc. I remember as a child, I often visited to villages with my parents, and we were counting these titles with my sister. If I sat on the left of the car, I would count them on the left side, and she would count the ones on the right. To be honest, I don’t pay much attention to these signs, and I have a feeling that this is long gone with the old system, but I may be wrong.

The funny thing about the picture my father just sent to me, is that he found one of these signs in a village around the Lake Balaton, and from the state of the sign I am guessing it doesn’t really belong there anymore, but I will let you decide, have a look at the picture,

Cheers

Link to Full Size Image

Hi All, I am sorry to say, but the blog still haven’t picked up its wanna-be phase, so please bare with me for a while more. There are just so much going on with my life and work right now, that I cannot find the time. I will write about it more, when things settle down. Check back soon please, Cheers
Ben