William Penn Life, 2013 (48. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

2013-08-01 / 8. szám

Tibor's Take with Tibor Check, Jr.

Gaining a fresh (and surprising) perspective during a familiar trip

A FEW WEEKS AGO, my entire family traveled in a circle across northwest Ohio and southwest Michigan. This familiar and comforting trip has been a family tradition from the time of my édes Nagyapa Cseh1. This annual excursion plays out nearly the same each time, with stops added or deleted based on the money and time available. No matter how short or long the sojourn, certain pit stops are mandatory if the trip is to be considered a success.

Before leaving Cleveland, we begin our travels with stops at either Tommy's or Farkas Pastry for krémés, rétes and pogácsa2 for the long road ahead. Then, it's off to the West Side Market and Dohár Meats where we get some

csirke kolbász3.

By the time we finish the food we bought in Cleveland, it's time to stop and purchase Lake Erie Yellow Perch filets at Port Clinton. Then, a short visit to the CMP Store at Camp Perry gives us a few minutes to peruse the latest inventory of military history items.

We lunch at Tony Packo's in the Birmingham section of Toledo. While on the "Hungarian side of Toledo" (as Maxwell Klinger once called it), we stop at the beautiful St. Stephen of Hungary Church, Takacs Meats for kolbász and hurka and The Toledo Magyar Club. While in the vicinity, we see what is new at Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's.

All this hard vacationing makes each of us have a hankering for more great Hungarian food. A short gander up to Southgate, Mich., offers our csálad4 the fabled cuisine of The Rhapsody restaurant. A dining experience such as this can only be rivaled by the finest folklore bistros in Hungary.

This year, our vacation was an overnighter, for an extra day was needed to visit to the colossal amusement park, Cedar Point. Along with thousands of other thrill ride enthusiasts, we entered the gates at 10:00 a.m. Around noon or so, I decided to take a short respite from the action, taking a seat by my parents under the shady limbs of a huge cedar tree. As we watched an endless stream of enthusiastic thrillseekers pass by, my apa and I noticed a lady holding an open umbrella as she

Correction________________________

In the July 2013 "Tibor's Take," the miniature white lace hat I referred to was actually handcrafted by Karen Vance, a member of Branch 249 Dayton, Ohio.

guided teenaged boys and girls in an almost regimental cadence. I thought it was odd that a person would have an umbrella open on such a beautiful day. My father noticed something else-that her umbrella was red, white and green. "Could this group be Mexican, Italian or Hungarian?" he wondered. "Why don't you meander over their way and see if you can detect the language being spoken."

I ambled about 30 yards to where they gathered in a loosely organized circle. I listened as the woman gave instructions, but I heard nothing definitive. I casually strolled around the group making sure that it did not appear I was eavesdropping. Two of the adolescents mentioned the word "forints." One rattled off numbers in Hungarian. They seemed to be confused about the value of an American $5 bill and its equivalent in forints.

Although my Hungarian is quite limited, I said to them, "tizenegy nula forints" (what I thought meant "1,100 forints").

The two young gents looked at me with jaws dropped and surprise in their eyes. In retrospect, I don't think my poor Hungarian translated well, but the mere sound of someone speaking Magyar was a surprise.

As they looked at me, I said in Magyar: "Amerikai Magyar vagyok. Sajnos nem beszélek Magyarul. Beszél Angolul?" ("I am an American-Hungarian. I am sorry, I don't speak Hungarian. Do you speak English?")

To my surprise, the lads replied: "Yes, we speak English. We are students studying your language."

Then, the lady toting the red, white and green umbrella came over to see why half her entourage was listening to me. I identified myself as Cseh Tibor. She identified herself as Lidia. Her mastery of our language was quite remarkable. As I spoke to Lidia, the students gathered around us and just listened. The usual preliminary questions surfaced: Where am I from? How old am I? Do I go to school? Where do I live?

Lidia then asked me a question about eating at the park. This was the first time she and the group had visited Cedar Point. They were dismayed by the high price of the food. I directed them to an all-you-can-eat restaurant that is situated close to the park entrance. I informed her the price is about the same as the other places in the park, but you can consume unlimited amounts of food and beverages. She thanked me and said: "We have so many rides to ride!" In an instant, the group was being lead off in the direction of the Gemini and Corkscrew.

As I returned to where my parents were sitting, I explained how the young people were Hungarians. My

6 0 August 2013 ° William Penn Life