Magyar News, 1991. szeptember-1992. augusztus (2. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1992-05-01 / 9. szám
HUNGARIAN WAS THE FIRST LANGUAGE I LEARNED One of the requirements for the Mary Katona Scholarship, given out by the American Hungarian Heritage Association, is an essay on an experience in the Hungarian community. This was written by one of our applicants. Although I am an American citizen, I have always been aware of my Hungarian heritage and it has always been important to me. I value the fact that I come from a unique background and culture, and I am grateful to my parents for teaching me to speak, read and write Hungarian brause I think it is important to keep alive theculture and traditions in a family, and knowing the language is only the first of many steps needed to reach this goal. Both of my parents are Hungarian. They came to theUnited States in 1972, justa few months before I was bom. Because my parents always spoke Hungarian at home, Hungarian was the first language I learned. When I was old enough (about four or five years old) my mother enrolled me in a Hungarian program for children nursery school-aged or older at Saint Stephens (Szent István) church in Manhattan. In this program, as well as from my mother, I learned many Hungarian songs and children’s stories. I was brought up with different stories and games than the children of American parents, and I think this definitely made me aware of my unique heritage and background. In this program, we also saw Hungarian movies every week, went to Hungarian picnics, had Hungarian luncheons, and every Christmas all of the children received candy and other treats from the Hungarian version of Santa Claus, Mikulás. I was in this program for quite a few years, and I think it was a very good experience for me. I have been to Hungary six times so far to visit relatives and to see where my parents grew up and lived for so long. When I was eleven years old, I went to Hungary for a month by myself to see my grandmothers and other relatives and to attend a Hungarian international summer camp for three weeks on Lake Balaton. This was a very good experience for me and I had a lot of fun. I met children from Hungary and from many other countries, mainly the United States. I had Hungarian lessons five times a week every morning, which involved grammar lessons, reading stories, and writing compositions, as well as learning Hungarian folk dances and songs. Since I was one of the few children there who knew both English and Hungarian fluently, I was “appointed” the translator for the Englishspeaking children who didn’t know Hungarian. We also went on hikes, field trips and ferry rides a few times. I feel very lucky to have been able to take part in this experience because I think I really saw and learned a lot, and I also enjoyed it very much. When I was about twelve years old, my uncle László Petri decided to start putting on Hungarian productions of Hungarian operettas in which his wife Marika Petri would be the primadonna. They started doing a few shows in Manhattan, and they have since traveled to New Jersey, Connecticut, Canada, and various other places to perform their operettas. Helping out behind the scenes, I met many visiting Hungarian singers and actors and I made friends with the kids from a Hungarian dance group from New Jersey who were also perform-ARE THE LIGHTS GOING OUT? Could you imagine G.E., two years after investing $150 million, would close 10 plants outof 11 in the Hungarian Tungstram Company. It is temporary for a few weeks. At this time nobody says anything of the future. Hungarians say thatG.E. just doesn’t have the market they were planning on, then the other side blames the tight monetary policy, the inflation and the overvalued Forint Many Hungarians remember the time after the war when inflation was so bad that nobody was able to read the numbers on the bills. Bills that changed daily, people only called them by the colors. But then the risk paid off and helped in the stabilizing process. Maybe today with western partners it is more of a risk and it could undermine the foreign investors’ willingness to put money into the Hungarian market. Though experts say that Hungary will be off shaky grounds by the end of the year, it is still a long way to go. Probably to straighten out wrinkles the chairman of G.E. tried in vain to visit József Antall Prime Minister. Maybe he should have stayed in America where Antall was honored just recently at the JFK Library. ing in the shows. By watching the shows, I was introduced to yet another form of Hungarian culture - the Hungarian theater. I enjoyed helping my uncle with his productions, but more importantly, I think it’s good that some people, such as my uncle, are making an extra effort to keep the Hungarian community together. I hope to visit Hungary again soon because I know that there is still so much there that I haven’t experienced. I am proud to be of Hungarian descent, and I plan to pass on the language and what knowledge I have of the culture to my children. Vanessa Fertály MOVIE It looks like nobody was able to work out a way to let the Hungarian community learn about a Hungarian movie playing in our area. Especially if there is no indication in the title about the country of origin. Who would think that a film where the leading lady is Glen Close, and it is about the Tanheuser opera, happening in Paris at the new Europe Opera, that it is actually a Hungarian production with a list of Hungarian names as long as a mile on the credit frames. The place that it was shot is B udapest and the Europe Opera is the Opera on Andrassy ut. And if you have ever been to the auditorium of the List Ferenc Music Academy you won’t mistake the concert hall in one of the scenes with anything else. It was an excellent film played at the York Theater in New Haven, and all the Hungarians who accidently stumbled on it found it very enjoyable. ROOFING SHINGLES LEADERS JOHN BOGNÁR ROOFING & SIDING 73 Melrose Avenue Bridgeport, CT 06605 (203) 579-4316 Free Estimates* Full Insurance GUTTERS SIDINGS Weekly Maintenance • Mowing • Design Work & Installation GREEN PERFECTION LANDSCAPING (Residential & Commercial) 11 Capabilities for all your horticultural needs. 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