Doing Leonardo in Budapest Research report

Annastiina Kallius

Doing Leonardo in Budapest

Research report

April 2006.

Introduction

I worked in Artemisszió Foundation as an EVS volunteer from September 2005 until June 2006. One of my tasks as a volunteer was to conduct an “investigation” about the adaptation of a group of Leonardo participants who lived in Hungary for three months.

The methods of my investigation included personal non-formal interviews with each participant as well as participant observation as I spent a considerable amount of time with the group. Most of the interviews took place in cafés, restaurants etc. and the general atmosphere was relaxed and informal, especially because I also knew the participants well. The length of the interviews varied from half an hour to three hours, depending on the person. The questions revolved roughly around themes such as motives and expectations, prejudices, first impressions, first shocks when arriving in the country, “pros and cons” of Hungary, meeting other cultures and living in Hungary, what the participants were missing from their home countries, personal changes and feelings about going back home. This paper presents the results of these interviews and my observations over the three months while they were in Hungary.

1. About the Leonardo da Vinci Program

The Leonardo da Vinci is a vocational mobility program of the European Commission for young people. The slogan of the program is “lifelong learning” and this is promoted among other things by offering young people at various levels of their vocational training a possibility for doing an apprenticeship in another European country. The Leonardo program is one of the basic tools that Artemisszió Foundation has been using to reach its goals – to put the methods and approaches of cultural anthropology into practice and to promote intercultural communication and experiences.

The basic structure of a Leonardo project in Artemisszió is as follows.

- Airport pick-up of the participants and accompanying them to their accommodation (either in host families or in shared apartments)

- A three-day on-arrival training at the very beginning of the project

- Regular evaluation meetings and tutoring

- An intensive language course – either 60h of English and 20h of Hungarian or 80h of Hungarian, or 40 hours of English and 40 of Hungarian depending on the specific nature and objectives of the project

- Finding the work placements for the participants according to their field of training

- Cultural programs to help their integration into Hungarian reality

The group that Artemisszió hosted from September to December 2005 arrived just in time to see the warm autumn turn into winter in Budapest. The participants, altogether 15 people, were from Italy, Sweden and France. Eight of the participants were living in shared apartments, and the rest of the group stayed with host families. The participants were placed in apprenticeships in the fields of tourism, business, social work and culture. The group stayed in Budapest for three months.

2. Motives

For many of the participants this was the first time that they actually lived in another culture and for some even the first visit abroad.. I got to know the participants at the very beginning of their stay in Hungary and I was able to follow their project very closely. It was interesting to see how the excitement of the first days slowly melted into everyday life in Budapest.

The motives of the Leonardos are strongly based on gaining experience. Experience in various fields – working, traveling, and living in a foreign country, meeting people from other cultures. Some of the participants were especially after the working experience abroad – which is nowadays almost necessary for finding a good job. “In Italy, work experience abroad is necessary to get a good job.”

More personal motives of the Leonardos include among others gaining self-confidence and independence, acquiring or improving language skills and simply living alone in a foreign country. Those who wanted to become more independent definitely did so, through learning, clashes of cultures and simply living. “I do my laundry, I cook, I go shopping.”

For some, Leonardo was actually a way to get away from home – a good reason and way to travel and at the same time do something. “I didn’t have anything to do.” Some participants mentioned that even though the motives to do Leonardo and move to another country were quite strong, also the eagerness of getting away from their home countries was as strong or even stronger. It was interesting for me to see in practice the love-hate-relationship that so many participants had with their countries.

Perhaps the most interesting of all the motives of the participants was mentioned by an Italian participant – the “gut feeling.” The participant mentioned not knowing exactly why he wanted to do Leonardo or leave Italy, the only thing he could say was that he had a gut feeling and felt that this was the right thing to do. “I just wanted to come. Why not do it if you’re able to do it?”

But why did the participants choose the Leonardo program to do this? The answer I got was that the reputation of the program is good, and many participants consider it as a “comfortable” way to gain an experience abroad since basically everything is arranged but at the same time the participants can still learn a lot. Moreover, the program is more or less free of costs.

And why Leonardo in Hungary? One reason behind doing Leonardo in Hungary was the position of Hungary in Europe. Some of the participants wanted to see in reality a country that recently joined the European Union, others wanted to see it because they saw it as a country between the east and the west.

All the participants considered Leonardo as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that should not be missed. Definitely the strongest motive was to learn and experience another culture – in this case, the Hungarian one. It is interesting that even though this was the strongest motive of nearly all the participants, almost none of them actually attempted to do something for this at home. As a result, most of them arrived in Hungary without knowing nearly anything about the country and its culture.

3. Before coming

3.1. Why Hungary?

After all the interviews I felt that for many participants Hungary was only a secondary factor in doing the Leonardo. The most important thing for the majority of the participants was to do Leonardo somewhere, to gain an experience abroad instead of gaining an experience in Hungary. The reasons why the participants ended up in Hungary were various. Hungary, being situated between the east and the west was seen either as very interesting or not interesting at all. There was a rough division to this, based on where the participants came from.

The Swedish participants, who come from a very different culture and society, saw Hungary as exotic and interesting. The participants could choose between Germany, Britain and Hungary, and they all wanted to go to Hungary. Germany and Britain were seen as “western” and “boring.” The Swedish participants (like all the others) knew almost nothing about Hungary but they saw it as something attractive. On the other hand, during their stay here, exactly because of the cultural distance between the two cultures, these participants really felt the differences between the Central European, Mediterranean and the Northern-European cultures. And this was not always easy.

Also the French participants showed a great interest in coming to Hungary. They were very keen on learning Hungarian, and one them even mentioned learning Hungarian when we were talking about the motives of doing Leonardo.

Not only Hungary’s position in the European Union made it interesting for the participants, but Hungary’s situation in east-central Europe as well. One participant mentioned specifically, “I have a strong, strong attraction to eastern Europe. I was living in Romania and after that back in my country I did not feel so good, and I felt that in Hungary I would feel good.”

However, for many Italian participants Hungary was the very last choice for Leonardo and they ended up in Budapest because they did not have any other choice. Hungary seems not to have a lot of reputation in Italy, and the reputation it has very belittling and quite negative. Many participants’ image of Hungary was that of “an eastern country, so not so interesting.” For these participants Britain or Spain were more interesting countries to do Leonardo in.

“So do you think that ‘Eastern countries’ are not interesting?”

“Noo… well… I’d rather prefer…”

“ ’Western countries’?”

“Yeah, western countries.”

For the Italian participants who felt like this one reason was the English language. Generally, the majority of the Italian participants wanted to improve their language skills in English. This created problems because those who expected people to speak English in Hungary were mostly disappointed.

In general, whenever I asked the participants about their reasons for coming to Hungary (why exactly Hungary?) many became confused. Especially those who did not want to come to Hungary at the beginning, who thought it would be boring and that there would be nothing to do here. The main reason for their confusion was that while they were here, everybody found out how profoundly wrong they were.

3.2 What did they know?

Hungary is generally not a very well-known in Sweden, Italy and France. In fact, nobody or very few of the group knew anything about Hungary. It was even hard for the participants to remember what they had thought about the country, not to mention what they had known about it. The only thing everybody seemed to know was the fact that Hungary is relatively cheap compared to their own countries. Some had some consciousness about the situation of Gypsies in this society out of personal interest.

3.3. What did they hear?

Hungary does not seem to have a big reputation, and the reputation it has seems to be mostly ridiculous. Many participants said that they only heard that Hungary is boring, poor and Eastern. “People were asking in Italy why Hungary, it’s a very poor country and there is nothing in there, it’s boring and poor.” The rumors and stories the participants heard were mostly absurd and belittled the country or Hungarians. Some of these include for example that all

Hungarian people are extremely ugly (after realizing that this is totally false, “It was like a shock”) and warnings about the Hungarian guards. “They told me: don’t look guards in the eyes, and they also told me that the mafia was very well organized here. And I was thinking Oh my God, it sounds like a movie!!” (In Budapest, however, the participant did not have any unpleasant encounters with guards or the mafia.) Generally speaking, in the stories that the participants had heard before coming Hungary was portrayed as an Eastern and old-fashioned, country where people don’t speak English at all.

The stories with more positive connotations include the widespread fame of the thermal baths and, as mentioned by the Swedish participants, Hungary being a bit exiting or exotic. Also many mentioned having heard that the city of Budapest itself is very, very beautiful.

The overall majority of the participants did not want to believe these stories, as they had believed that personal experience tells better than stories. Everyone, even though some had quite negative ideas beforehand, wanted to come to Budapest and see for themselves. “For me it’s better to know and hear nothing and discover myself.”

3.4 What did they think?

Even though the participants tried consciously to push all their prejudices aside, of course there remained some – a vague image of what the country and Budapest could be like. They had the image that Hungary is more eastern, more conservative, more old-fashioned, less developed, not that “European,” poorer and more uninteresting than it actually turned out to be.

About the English language – some expected that nobody speaks English and some expected that everybody does. This seems to be dependent on where the participants came from. Those (mostly the Italians) to whom Hungary had been presented as an English-speaking destination were more or less expecting people to speak English, whereas the participants from France and Sweden were not expecting a high level of English at all.

The thought lingering on everyone’s mind was about living in an unknown place with a new culture, a new language and new people. For many this feeling of not knowing to what kind of a place they are going created a feeling of anxiety and fear. People were waiting for and at the same time worrying about meeting all the different people, whether it was easy to get friends in Hungary, how Hungarian culture was, how it was to work in a Hungarian environment, the mentality and habits of local people – the participants did not know what to expect and were therefore afraid that they would not be able to adapt to all that. Still, many of the participants mentioned that they were sure that as for the work placements and life in general, Artemisszió would take care of everything.

4. First impressions

The first impression is a crucial moment for the participants, for that is the moment when the plans and ideas become reality for the first time. It was very interesting to talk with them about their first impressions, because many became very confused and it was hard for them to recollect the feelings and events of the first moments – not to mention putting them together. When they started thinking about their first moments in Hungary, everyone suddenly got a strange glittering in their eyes and started to recollect things with a nostalgic tone.

In the airport the first impression was created by the staff of Artemisszió. “The first thing I saw in Hungary was Balázs.” This impression was very good for many of them were waiting for something strict and formal, “old grey guys in suits,” and then they met young and relaxed people who were making jokes with the participants and did not act like “an authority.” Despite this “informality” of the staff of Artemisszió, they took care of everything and knew what they were doing. In all, the impression was very warm and welcoming. The words the participants used to describe these moments and the staff of Artemisszió were “kind,” “friendly” and “open.” However, this was not the only first impression at the airport – one participant got an idea of Hungarian guys’ behavior already at the airport: “My first impression of Hungary and Hungarians? Well it was at the airport: a security guard flirting in the customs.”

Of the city the first impression was very, very good. For many people it was a huge, big and happy surprise how beautiful and interesting it was. “I’m gonna be here for three months – cool!” The crazy traffic, the warm weather, how one can read the history on the city itself. Often the first impression was also very strange – “I finally arrived in Budapest.” The city actually became reality. For some at the beginning the city even felt too big and scary, especially when realizing how far from the center or how much in the center one lives. “I knew that I’d be living in the middle of the city, but not THAT middle!” One of the participants was describing the horror-like feeling during the taxi ride from the airport to the house of the host family to the 11th district (the eleventh district is in the Buda-side, south-west, quite far from the centre). There were three participants in the taxi, and one was left in the center, in the 9th district, one right on the other side of the river in Buda, and then the taxi just goes on... and on... and on... “I was terrified, how far do I live! It wasn’t a nice first impression.”

5. Shocks

The next theme that we talked about in the interviews was the immediate, small cultural shocks that the participants faced when they moved to Hungary. These small, different things were the ones that often created the feeling of being a foreigner or being abroad. Looking at them from a larger perspective these shocks really depended on where the participants came from – the Swedish experienced more of them because Scandinavian countries are so much different.

5.1 Living

The first shocks, naturally, concern the living conditions – how one is used to live in one’s home. For those who were living in the shared apartments, the first difference was living with other people from very different cultures, thus having very different habits. The most common example was the eternal debate between the Italians and the Swedes whether or not to wear shoes inside the house. Luckily, compromises were often reached.

About the actual Hungarian houses and apartments, many things that are ordinary for many Hungarians, were very, very strange for the participants. The toilets were a very popular subject in this regard – whether or not the fact that there was no bide or that they were separated from the bathroom. “When you go to the toilet or bathroom you should be able to do whatever you want,” as one Italian participant phrased the problem. Also, the gas heating in the shower (with the flames) was something totally incomprehensible especially for the Swedes. This brings us to the next thing – the use of gas, which was especially weird for the Northern people. ”Before I’ve only seen or used gas in a Bunsen burner.” Also, the height of the rooms caused some bewilderment. “How can they clean it?” But the weirdest habit of all, for those who were living with Hungarians, was the way that Hungarian people made their beds. This was pondered again and again, as it was so unbelievably strange – pulling the sheets off in the morning and putting them back for the night, or the way the sheets are put on the bed or that there are no sheets at all, the mattresses are hard etc. “Bed is supposed to be THE BED, it’s sacred!”

5.2. The city

The shocks concerning the city often come from the fact that the prejudices people have about big cities clash with the reality or that sometimes they see the city in reality. For many it was a shock to merely realize that Budapest is a “real city” with its traffic, architecture and buildings – not just a vision in the head about what the capital of Hungary would look like. For some it was quite a shock how silent the city was (”in the street, the way people speak, more softly, slowly and quietly”) and for some how noisy it was. For some, it felt surprising how clean it was and for some how dirty it was. “There is dog-shit everywhere.” All in all, Budapest is full of contradictions in the way the participants see it and in what they see in it. One can see modern buildings right next to the very old ones, rich people walking past the homeless people. It is an international city still with surprisingly few people of color etc.

In practice, the participants were surprised by the number of homeless people, the polluted air and the traffic (”Yesterday I was nearly driven over by a tram”) but still they were also amazed by the beauty of the city. For some it was a shock how hot the weather is (“I was thinking, f--k it’s hot”) and for some it was too cold. The language was a shock, to actually hear it spoken. Other things mentioned include among others that it is surprisingly difficult to find bags for vacuum cleaners and that the guards actually do take their jobs too seriously.

The public transportation of Budapest was praised – even though it caused some shocks especially for those who came from smaller cities. The metro is easy to use even though the escalators are plenty, long and fast, (“In my hometown, we had one escalator”), the tram goes often (“We were so proud of ourselves when we took the tram for the first time.”) and the mere existence of trolley-buses. “They are cute”. “In Sweden there’s either the bus once an hour, your car or your bike”

5.3 Food & drink

When I started talking about the food Hungary with the participants, the reactions got a lot more intense and even the mere speed of speaking increased noticeably – which is not surprising, food being essential getting used to Hungarian cuisine cannot be avoided. Suddenly the participants seemed to have a lot more feelings on the subject. This was not pondering and thinking and analyzing oneself, but more a concrete subject that everybody had something to say about. Generally, Hungarian food was considered very good. “I’m getting fatter and fatter so obviously I like the food.” On the other hand, as often with people, it was easier to talk about the negative sides and often the participants tended to concentrate on the strange dishes and habits.

For the Italians it was difficult to get used to not having a sweet breakfast, and the Swedes missed their daily salad and went crazy when they realized that alcohol can be bought from the groceries. Some were deeply shocked by the habit of eating snacks (e. g. from Princess bakeries) between the meals and some were positively surprised by this. “The way how they eat, it’s strange.” A deep, deep shock for everyone was the way that in the shop the price-sticker is put on the bread itself. Not a single participant left this unmentioned. “It sucks.” “It’s stupid.” “It’s impossible to get it off.” In the supermarket, the Swedes were totally lost when the stuff they had bought could not be packed at the end of the cashier desk right into plastic bags. The French on the other hand were deeply shocked when they saw people drinking wine between the meals and even in bars. Someone even witnessed people eating the legs of chicken: “The legs, the LEGS!!” Putting lemon into the water – “It’s good, it’s good…” and the coffee-culture “It is actually served to the table!”

5.4. Hungarians

About Hungarian people the first impressions and shocks were nothing too extreme – when talking about this, the participants did not have a lot to say. Then again later, when talking about Hungarian people more deeply they had a lot to say. However, at this phase of the interview we were only covering the first feelings and impressions. These were basically that the Hungarian people were very kind and friendly.

5.5. Summary

“Everything, everything is so different.” All these little differences and cultural shocks – often at the beginning the participants were very eager to recollect them and give thought to them. After a while, though, they often started feeling different about them and nearly everybody said that these little things do not matter too much, that they are just little differences on the surface. However, there was one participant who mentioned that she does not want to get used to them, because she wants to “feel grateful” for them. Also, one Italian participant brought up the role of Budapest in this, saying that when she would compare Italy and a small Hungarian town she would probably find a lot more differences than when thinking about Budapest.

6. Talking about Hungary

In the next part of the interview, we started to get a little bit deeper. After going through motives, expectations, first impressions and immediate shocks we started talking about the actual experience and most of all – Hungary. Now the participants were really free to say anything they wanted, and the basic questions were only about what they like or dislike in Hungary, and the reasons for that. Many of the participants talked about material things, but others also started talking about something concerning the social structure, the people and their mentality or behavior. This was usually the longest part of the interview. Usually it was difficult to begin talking about positive and negative aspects of Hungary, but when the participants got started, they got more and more excited and wanted to talk a lot. In nearly all of the cases the participants only wanted to think and talk about the positive things, what is good in Hungary and what they especially enjoy. It was really hard for them to think about the negative things and sometimes I had to ask many times and in different ways.

The themes that came up were mostly Hungary and Hungarians, food, Hungary and the city.

6.1 Hungarians

“All the Hungarians that I know, they are crazy.” Usually the participants have a very, very good impression of Hungary. At the same time, many participants were asking me: Hungary or Budapest? For these two can be very different in several ways.

Talking about Hungarians with the participants was rather complicated for various reasons. First of all, how much the participants spent time with Hungarians varied quite a lot. Obviously those who were living in host families had a different view than those who were living in shared apartments. Some integrated well into their work placements and some did not, some had many Hungarian friends and some had only foreign ones, some had Hungarian boyfriends or previous connections with Hungarians etc.

At a superficial level, everybody described Hungarians in the same way. They said they loved them because Hungarians are kind, nice, warm, helpful, and friendly. Also many people mentioned that Hungarians are very easy-going and simple – simple meaning that they can be themselves honestly, they have no need for fancy words or style when there is no need for it and everything is more “real.” For instance one Italian participant mentioned how surprised and happy she was when she realized that in Hungary, in order to have a good time one can just go for a beer with friends and that’s it. “In Italy we have to go the disco, wear a lot of make up and buy Dolce & Gabbana jeans and then we can have a good time.” Then again, a couple of participants mentioned that Hungarians are hard-working and serious about their work – still they are balanced and can find the equilibrium between work and free time. Some mentioned that a lot of Hungarians go out every night, and in here it is also interesting to see the different groups of Hungarians that the participants got to know. Some participants mentioned the feeling of freedom that they have in Budapest which is also attributed to the fact that people don’t judge by the appearance – when one is not dressed according to the latest fashion or does not wear make-up when going to do the shopping, one feel like it is a problem. Also, Hungarians are a thousand times kinder and friendly and happier if one tries to speak even one word of Hungarian (even without success).

Again, what the participants thought about Hungarians was very much dependent on where the participants came from. For the Swedes, Hungarians are very loud, straight-forward, open and make a lot of physical contact. For instance, kissing on the cheeks – “I NEVER do that. I never go forward with that.” What was very weird for the Swedish people was the way in which people behave in the offices – when somebody comes to work; they go around the whole office greeting everybody. In general the Swedish participants thought these things were either weird or good, and some mentioned that in their minds the Swedish are too reserved but then again they would never adopt being as open about the feelings, thoughts and emotions as Hungarians are.

The Italians often said quite the contrary. They thought that Hungarians were very deep and serious, taking life very seriously and talking calmly and quietly. They often said that this is a good thing, but then again when I asked what they did not like in Hungarians they said the same thing – that Hungarians should laugh a little bit more and should not take life so seriously.

Negative things about Hungarians included the fact that not many people speak English – this was the experience of almost all the participants. About daily things, some mentioned how slow people are, especially in the small shops. “Teesseeeeekk.” Also, those participants who had lived in big cities earlier were extremely annoyed by the way people behave in the escalator, standing in the middle, left and right instead of everybody on the right side. “Oh f--- I will never get used to that!”

A few Italian participants mentioned that Hungarians are very close to earth and nature. When I asked them to explain this, they based their opinions on the fact that Hungarians keep the public spaces and the streets of Budapest clean, and that they do recycling. Then, on the other hand the Swedish participants were of the opinion that it is almost impossible to recycle in Hungary and that Hungarians are not familiar with that at all.

When speaking about Hungarians at a level deeper than just their behavior and mentality in everyday things, the thoughts of the participants started to get really interesting. Of course, everybody had a different kind of relationship with Hungarians. As mentioned above, everybody was saying that Hungarians are very kind, nice, friendly etc. but when we really started to talk about Hungarians they had something else to say. “People are open and closed at the same time, it’s so weird.” Many said that below this nice and friendly surface, it is very difficult to get a connection with people. When one meets them, they are very friendly and in a way open and willing to make friends – then, however, after a while there appears a wall and one realizes that the people are keeping a lot to themselves. Therefore some were of the opinion that it is rather difficult to make good Hungarian friends. “They show only one side and the other they keep for themselves – I would like to see both.”

Something that all the female participants had something to say about were the Hungarian guys, their mentality and behavior. Unfortunately for the Hungarian guys, apart from one participant who had a Hungarian boyfriend, these comments were of a very negative tone. The participants were saying that in the nightlife Hungarian guys are often extremely pushy and come too close without thinking it might not be acceptable. “Oh, my hobby is to grab your a-s.” On the other hand, some got the impression of Hungarian men that they are often very conservative and do not appreciate women with career and independence.

“There is something about the green of the eyes of people in here. It’s very common here. I have never seen it before, this kind of green. Typical kind of green in their eyes, it’s like the grass, I would call it the Hungarian green.”

6.2. The Hungarian language

“I have a problem with the language but I like it.” Roughly the participants were divided between those who liked Hungarian and thought that the language was musical and beautiful, and those who thought it was ugly, monotonic and rough. Many of the participants liked to describe the language as “a challenge.” Everyone said that it is extremely hard to learn it and many used the word impossible – “This f---ing language is impossible to learn.”

6.3. The city

“You have everything here.” It could be said that the city is the best friend of the Leonardo participants. When I asked the participants about the city, the feeling suddenly changed into something completely different – with a glow in their eyes they started going through their favorite places and in general they started wondering about the city.

For everybody, Budapest is incredibly beautiful (even though for many participants this is totally dependent on the weather). The mere size of it affects feelings, and a few participants said that this is maybe one reason why they feel like “here you can have a private life.” This means that when going out, people do not judge you and you do not have to worry about how you look. Also, going in the stream of the city, one sees new faces all the time. (This is why the point when one starts bumping into familiar people on the street is extremely strange, and suddenly the city feels like it is shrinking). On the other hand, sometimes the non-stop flow of people can create a kind of anxious feeling and one just wants to go somewhere private, silent – especially those who come from small towns or villages. The participants also liked the way how all the cultures melt together and one can meet people from everywhere. But then again some of them were wondering about the fact that there are relatively few people of color in Budapest. Most participants felt the atmosphere in the city friendly, even in the middle of all the hurry. The size, the speed, the hurry – for some participants after a few months it was enough and even though they loved it, they realized that this way of life is not for them. “I miss the space, the green…I’m a small city girl.”

All the participants consider the city quite safe, and they did not feel scared or threatened even when walking home alone at night. For many, this was quite a surprise.

The best thing in the city for many is that there are many possibilities – one can do anything, anytime. “Oh to which one of these 29 cinemas do I want to go…” One never gets bored and finds new places or things all the time – something old, strange, beautiful, historical… “You have whatever you want, whenever you want” The public transportation works well (“The transportation is perfect!”) and in the center the distances are not too far to walk either.

Everyone has some kind of a relationship with the river. “And I think the best thing that I live with is, that every day I get to cross the bridge and see the view – the Castle, the Danube, the Chain Bridge. I will never get used to it; I will never get fed up with it.” Everyone who has ever lived in Budapest knows how essential the Danube is for the city, and even though the river might be dirty and brown, all the participants loved it. Along the river another thing is the bridges – and nearly all the participant had a favorite bridge. After the participants had been in Hungary for two months, I was once talking with a girl living in Attila út near Tabán, who every time when going home had to cross the Erzébet híd. When I asked what your favorite bridge is, without any hesitation she answered “my bridge of course.” Especially at night people are fascinated by the bridges, and many mentioned how they had to convince themselves that they actually live in this city every time they crossed the river in the dark. “The river affects your attitude of living – flowing, going forward. When you see it every day, it makes you think.“

What are the favorite places of the participants? The list is endless, but after the river and the bridges were mentioned the Fishermen’s bastion, Budafok, the baths, the Chinese Market and the shopping malls (“Mammut is better than Westend”), the Kerepesi graveyard, market places like Gáray Piac, the bars and pubs and strange places like Tűzraktár and Szimpla, the smaller streets in the city and the places that are not over-populated with tourists – where there is the “real” feeling of the city and also the city center.

Still Budapest is far from perfect, and the participants always had also something negative to say, even if it required a bit of thinking. First of all, the pollution and the air, which in some grey mornings feels suffocating and impossible to breath. The city in general is quite dirty, old and not in a good condition, pickpockets are not rare and the traffic is crazy. (Once I myself was in a car of a friend, and for a while I was wondering why he cannot drive. After a while a realized that there was nothing wrong with his driving, I was just so used to the crazy traffic that it felt weird when somebody was driving like a normal person.)

In a nutshell, it could be said that the strength of Budapest lies in the fact that the participants simply feel good in the city. They have a strange feeling of freedom and happiness, and they just simply feel good. Why so, no idea, it is hard to put a finger on the reasons – it’s impossible to separate what is good and what is bad. The overall feeling is good, and that is the only thing that matters.

6.4. On Hungary

Living in Hungary - what is so good about it? Not surprisingly, for many one of the best things in it was not being in France, Italy or Sweden. Secondly, living independently in another country sometimes was difficult for the participants but in the end it was very good. Most of the participants enjoyed the work placements, spending time in a Hungarian work environment – even though sometimes it was very strange or they did not have any work to do. The Leonardo group itself was sometimes full of conflicts but after these were overcome the participants really enjoyed it, and after the project many have mentioned how much they missed the group. Otherwise, in Hungary – what do the participants have something to say about? The society, first of all, for all the poverty that one sees in the streets is often very shocking, but many said that when considering what the country has been through they think that Hungary is rather developed. Then again the prejudices that lie deep in the society, e. g. against Gypsies and colored people were something very strange for many participants – in this way, many saw, Hungary is still very undeveloped. Also, the participants found many nationalistic Hungarians which they really do not like too much – it is quite hard to react to this nationalism in any way and it often creates a very uncomfortable feeling. The participants find the minorities and their cultures extremely interesting and fascinating – especially that of the Gypsies. Many of them for instance “discovered” Gypsy music here. Of Hungarian culture, one of the participants fell in love with Hungarian folk dances, and a few (including myself) in the history. What else? “The color of the leaves on trees, they are different than in Italy. Sometimes you can see very nice colors.”

7. Identity

The next topic of the interview was the “cultural” identity of the participants. How did it feel to be Swedish, French or Italian in the middle of Hungary and how did they feel about their own cultures? Was it stronger, or did it lose importance? What the participants thought was very much dependent on two things – first of all where they came from (the French often said very similar things etc.) and secondly their intercultural background. The participants were very divided in the matter of identity – for some their stay in Hungary strengthened their national identity, whereas some participants did not think nationality was important at all. Some of the participants were very confused about what “being Italian” even meant, and did not come to a clear conclusion in their thoughts – for a few this was one of the first times they actually were thinking of their national identity. “Maybe it seems like I’m a real Italian – I love pasta and pizza. I don’t know.” A few participants openly admitted that it was very hard or impossible not to compare everything to their own culture. “I’m always unconsciously comparing everything to the Swedish way.”

The Italian participants were the most numerous in the group, they were altogether eight. Some of them were really happy that there were so many Italians, some felt a bit annoyed by it (e. g. the way they were able to speak Italian all the time and thus not practice their English) and a few totally disliked the large number of Italians. Like all the foreigners, many mentioned that they simply cannot avoid their nationality popping up in conversations. “Every time that I introduce myself, olasz vagyok.” Many of the Italians were very proud of being Italian and they were happy to tell about their country, share knowledge and answer questions. One participant even mentioned that when people accuse Italians of being too loud and noisy, she does not feel ashamed but, instead, very proud. Some of the Italian group felt much more strongly about being Italian during their stay in Hungary. Some mentioned that the feeling is not about being Italian but a foreigner, and many said that they have a love-hate relationship with Italy. “I’m very Italian. It’s in my blood and in the milk that I drank. I know that I do it my way. I know that there is something Italian in that because I was born there, I grew up there. I learned to be, to live, to move my eyes like that. To laugh, the way of being, not taking things so seriously. It comes spontaneously.”

Out of the fifteen participants three were French. For these three being French was not that big of a deal – they just simply were French and that’s it. They said that very, very often they face stereotypes about French people and did not quite know how to react, because for them it was certainly not clear what French is. “People always tell me, you are so French. I don’t know what it means, being French.” One participant was saying how she really does not know whether or not to be happy or proud or ashamed about being French and that it is very weird to meet new people who have stereotypes about the French. “It’s funny to see if you stick to that image or not.” Two of the French participants were saying hat in Hungary they feel more French in some way because continuously people tell them that they are French. Also because of the French accent when speaking English - “When I open my mouth everybody knows that I’m French.”

The third nationality represented in the group was the Swedish. There were four Swedish participants, and even though their cultural shocks in Hungary were rather strong, they did not pay too much attention or importance to their Swedish national identity. The participants admitted feeling Swedish very strongly sometimes but that it did not matter too much; it just means that they grew up in the North. One of the participants, though, said that she feels very, very Swedish in Hungary. On the other hand she said that this is probably connected to the fact that she was missing Sweden enormously and never quite adapted to Hungary. One of the Swedish participants pointed out how irrelevant it is to say that she is Swedish, it’s more about being a foreigner in Hungary. Especially because usually the participants spent a lot of time with groups where people come from all over the world – in these kinds of groups it does not really matter where one comes from, just that it is not Hungary.

There were quite a few participants whose cultural background was already mixed, Swedish-Finnish, Australian-Swedish or Algerian-French. For these participants the cultural and national identity was already one big mess, and especially in Hungary. All three said that back home they often felt more or less like a foreigner, but here, on the other hand, they felt more French or Swedish. “Here I’m a French, but with Algerian habits.” Or, as one of the participants phrased it, “I’m not Swedish. But I’m not Australian either. In general my national identity is a big mess, but that’s a good thing!”

8. Changes

Most of the participants were sure that the experience in Hungary changed them in one way or another, or that during their time in Hungary they had developed as people. Moreover, most of them were recognizing these changes in themselves and accordingly were either happy or a bit worried. On the other hand there were the participants who thought that they either did not change at all or that they themselves are not able to recognize the changes. This is because, as they said, one is just living in the moment or because one simply cannot tell and is expecting people back home to tell.

“So if we think about change. Do you feel like you’ve changed during your time here?”

“Well, now I’m an alcoholic. And a cigarette addict. That’s true. But I never drink alone, so it’s okay. People are always telling me that I’m crazy but I don’t feel crazy, I’m normal! … But I feel freer than ever. I deserve it.” Almost all the participants were sure that they gained more independence and self-confidence during their stay. This was also what many hoped to accomplish during their stay, and often the participants were talking about reaching this goal with a smile on their face. The factors helping in this were, according to the participants, the city and being a part of an international group. Other changes include becoming less narrow-minded, learning not to hold on to prejudices (especially about Hungary), motivation to help people grow (because of a work placement in the social field), becoming more serious and laughing less (not being more sad, just being able to face the serious side of life as well), becoming more curious, respecting people more (especially different kinds of people), becoming proud of oneself, becoming more open, more outgoing, knowing oneself more, feeling free and being able to take more responsibility. “I’m proud of what I am now. Maybe too much.”

One of the participants said that after realizing and experiencing how hard it can be for foreigners to adapt to a different country, she wants to help foreigners back home to do that: hook up with them, introduce them to people and to try to help them integrate in general.

9. Going back

“I don’t want to.” Almost all of the participants wanted to prolong their stay in Budapest, or postpone going back home even though many missed home to a certain extent. Almost all were planning one way or another to stay longer or come back later, to get a job etc. Still they were (usually) quite realistic about how difficult it could be, and admitted that if they stayed it would not be the same anymore, for the project will be over.

Generally the participants were feeling very bad about it, avoiding to think about it, or just trying to live in the moment. When we were talking about going home, however, many started really thinking about it and picturing in their minds how bad they are going to feel on the airplane, and how at home the first few weeks are going to be great but then they will start feeling down.

For a few participants the experience gave the sparkle to start traveling and seeing the world. “I think now I need two or three years to travel and see other things. If I would settle down to Italy now I wouldn’t feel good.” Thus, Hungary gave many participants “a push” to travel more and take part in other projects. As mentioned earlier, almost everybody wanted to stay longer in Hungary but the second best option to many was to go somewhere else, see another country, learn another language etc.

Also, for many going back home meant a time to make important decisions about life – working, studying, settling down etc. Also a few mentioned being afraid that the personal development they got during their stay here would in a way or another “disappear.” Still, a few mentioned that even though they don’t want to go home and would like to stay they know that it is necessary and needed for the balance of mind. “I don’t want to lose myself in traveling.”

10. Conclusion and summary

As the Leonardo is a very personal experience, varying from participant to participant, it is very difficult to define it as successful or unsuccessful. However, as mentioned in the beginning, one of the slogans of the Leonardo program is “lifelong learning” and this is something that definitely took place during the program. Not only the participants, but also for Artemisszió Foundation, myself and everybody who was in any way connected to the project.

Evaluating the Leonardo can be done at various levels. First, at the individual level looking at the participants personally. When comparing the expectations of the participants to what they had experienced in the end, it could definitely be said that the Leonardo was a success. The experiences and feelings and changes that the participants went through varied from person to person, but nobody was left untouched. In the beginning many said they wanted to gain self-confidence, independence and they wanted to learn. In most cases this definitely happened, for some in a bigger scale than others. Some participants clearly reached some of the goals they had in the beginning, but in some cases not. For some this was the first “international experience” and for some not, and naturally the past experiences affected a lot the personal experience of the participants in Leonardo. Also it can be evaluated from the professional point of view, as Leonardo is a vocational project. This was not, however, a topic in the interviews.

The other levels or viewpoints from which to analyze and evaluate the Leonardo include looking at it from the point of view of the individual, of the Artemisszió Foundation and in the end of the official standards of the European Union.

For the Artemisszió Foundation, the success of the project can be evaluated by reflecting it to the goals and targets of the Foundation. As mentioned in the beginning, for Artemisszió the Leonardo is a tool to reach its goal: to promote intercultural learning, using anthropology as a method. The focus of this research is very subjective and personal, investigating more the personal experience of the participants. I dare to say that when considering Artemisszió’s goals, the project was definitely a success, as intercultural learning was definitely what the participants went through. How they felt about themselves in a foreign country, how they developed and whatever life-skills they gained during the project, all this is a success to Artemisszió. Also, for the European Union, I consider the project a success. One of the most important things about the project when considering the level of the EU was that through this intercultural experience the Union actually “got a face”. Often when a citizen of the EU thinks about the Union, the image of the EU is not the people but the suits in Brussels. Everybody who had any connection with this project experienced personally that in fact the European Union is all about the people and their interactions over the cultural boundaries.

About the weaknesses of this research and how it could be improved in the future. This research is very much on a personal level, and focuses on the participants as individuals instead of a group. Therefore I did not analyze the actual group so much, but I want to make it clear that the group spent a considerable time together, and in the future when conducting a research like this more focus could be put to the actual group. I will not evaluate or analyze the functioning of the actual group, as in the interviews there was no focus put on it. Shortly it could only be said that in spite of a few exceptions, the participants at least on a superficial level got along well and in general had a good time – naturally not everybody integrated in the same way and there were also a lot of personal clashes, deeper than just the ones arising from cultural differences.

A few words also about my own contribution to this paper. I stayed in Hungary for nine months and saw three Leonardo-groups coming. The group that I made the interviews with was the first group I met, and at the time I did not know much about the program and learned alongside with the participants. Now, after nine months and three groups I would perhaps choose another focus or ask other questions if I was to do the same research again. Questions about the group, about how the participants will utilize the experience in the future (or will they), about the period in Leonardo when life became everyday-life… Also, the interviews were made after approximately a month’s stay in Hungary. It would be interesting to talk with the participants about more or less the same topics after more time spent in Budapest. As far as I see it, the tone of nearly all the participants and of this research in general is very positive. For a deeper and more critical tone perhaps more time spent in the country would be needed. I myself came to Hungary at the same time as the group, and at the time of the interviews found myself agreeing with a lot of what they said. Now, after nine months, I would dare to say that I would have a much deeper view to the same questions, with the same positive tone and enthusiasm but also much more criticism.

Surely there is some strength in this research as well, and I would see it as a good reading e. g. for participants who are going to come to Hungary as Leonardos but do not yet quite know what to expect. Moreover also for the group, this research can be of a personal value, for many of them can clearly recognize their own voice and experience in the text. For myself, having no education in anthropology at all conducting this research was a great chance for learning the process of it and moreover of adapting to another country and the international experience.

“Each experience changes you and gives you something to take back to your own culture.”