"Getting to know your country, eh?"

Hungarian administration is infamous for inefficiency. So, every time I need to manage my life and get some document I am scared of what is going to happen way in advance. But this one time it was so bad that it was funny. It's a "must share" story.

There's a way to work for someone for a short period of time legally without signing a conract. You can get a small book called the Alkalmi Munkavállalói Könyv in which your employer needs to fill out a row every day you work for him/her. It's good for you because you can work legally and you can claim these days for your pension. It's good for your employer because if they check, there is a legal document saying that you do work there once in a while. It's not as good as working with someone who can give invoices because the employer still needs to pay taxes, in the form of buying stamps in a post office which they need to put in your little book. But at least they can also prove that they paid someone for doing this or that and they don't have missing money unaccounted for.

So, I went to the centre responsible for giving out these documents in my district. Interestingly, it was in another district, not even close by. Well, never mind, I thought, I have time anyway... I went there and I joined the queue. Note that this queue was for getting a number. In about 20 minutes I got to the desk.
"I'd like an Alkalmi Munkavállalói Könyv".
"Do you have a university degree?"
"Yes, I do."
"Have you worked a total of more than 200 days?"
"Not in Hungary but in the EU, yes."
"May I ask you how old you are?"
"23"
"I'm sorry, you'll need to go to the centre for young graduates. You can get it there."

So, I took the underground back to the centre of the city. Nice, old building, air co. Nice. Shorter queue. Only 10 minutes.
"I'd like an Alkalmi Munkavállalói Könyv."
"Do you have a degree?"
"Yes, I do."
"Have you worked a total of more than 200 days?"
"Not in Hungary but I've worked in the EU."
"More than 200 days?"
"Yes, I think so."
"Where's your diploma from?"
"The Netherlands."
"Have you asked for it to be naturalized?"
"Does it need to be naturalized?"
"Of course. Until then we cannot accept your degree... I'm sorry, we can't help you here. You need to go to your district's centre."
"That's where I'm coming from. They sent me here."
"In that case I'm very sorry that they don't know the law, but they need to give you the book."
"Isn't it the same book? Couldn't I just get it here?"
"It's the same, but you need to get it there."

Fantastic. I had my 45 minute journey back.

On the way there I called my mother and told her about the hassle. Her short and apt response was:
"Getting to know your country, eh?"
"Yeah, I guess..."

I figured this was going to take long, so I bought some pasteries and grapes in a foodstore and headed for the initial place. Queue. No way I was going to wait again. Went straight for the guy at the desk.
"Good afternoon, I was here about 2 hours ago and you sent me to the centre for young undergraduates, but they sent me back so could you please give me a number for getting an Alkalmi Munkavállalói Könyv."
One consultation with a colleague and one phone call later I got a number. Waiting. More waiting. Being grateful for being smart enough to buy food. My number!

The guy kept on insisting that he cannot give me a book because I cannot prove that I worked 200 days.
"Come back with your documents."
"Okay. They also told me to talk to this man (x) so could I?" (the boss)
"Sure, your number will be called again."

Half an hour later, at the office of the team coordinator:
"I'd like an Alkalmi Munkavállalói Könyv."
"Why would they send you here for that?"
So, I told him the story.
"Do you want state subsidies?"
"No."
"No allowances?"
"No."
"No money, you just came for the book?"
"All I want is a book, nothing more."

It took 10 minutes to get it...
Apparently, everybody thought I wanted money.

Sziget 2008!

So, I decided to go and it was great! I first explored the (N)GO tents and won 2 T-shirts, a stress-release ball and 3 pieces of fruit and collected some interesting handouts. I also accidentally managed to do some networking too. I was filling out a questionnaire at one of the tents when a guy dropped by the tent asking whether they have anything to do with education and saying that he's looking for students. I asked which uni he was from and it turned out to be Cambridge. Well, a place to be considered :) He gave me the name of a guy I could contact there.

Then I met up with David Eekhof (UC). He was there with friends; a very nice bunch of people. I spent the rest of the day with them. And those we've seen were:

Presidents of the United States - nice concert to start with, good atmosphere

the performance of a clown - since David and co couldn't fully enjoy Kispál és a Borz (understandably, the band's main strength is their lyrics and the lyrics are in Hungarian) we set out to explore the part of the Sziget that is more theater and performance oriented. We saw the performance of a clown, an absolutely crazy guy, very good at improvization and including the audience in the act, and also quite funny.

the performance of Vietnamese puppeteers - amazing show, we only saw the last 20 minutes but that time I spent by thinking about how they can coordinate the puppets so well...

Kaiser Chiefs - yay! Their concert started a bit slowly and there was little interaction between them and the audience but they got really good. A slip of the tongue - Bucharest instead of Budapest - was a tricky moment of the concert, but they made up for it. They played loads of songs we had been listening to at AC, so sometimes I just closed my eyes and tried to picture our living room and the people, with the music playing in the background... Hmm...

Jamiroquai - well, he was the one I really wanted to see. After the almost compulsory bathroom and drink break we arrived slightly late and our group wasn't really up for moving closer. After a while I didn't mind that too much because at least we had quite some space to dance around instead of being squashed into the crowd like sardines in a tincan. He was good and gorgeous!

Modeselector - I didn't know that my favorite club, A38, was going to have a tent at the Sziget, but as it turned out, they had one, and the night I was there they had a great DJ "on board". It was hot inside, we were sweaty, but the guy was great and we were dancing our hearts out!

Kraak & Smaak - there's no way to miss out on a Dutch concert if you are with Dutchies, and I was planning on going anyway. By the time we got there, the concert was almost over, but still, we got a good impression of it. They were really good. I loved that the tent was full of Dutchies. (Maybe I secretly miss them a bit.) At the end of the concert, I, of course, joined the crowd chanting "Holland".

some drum&bass place - the last stop for me during the night. I was getting tired and my stomach wasn't doing too well either, so I decided to call it a day/night and go home.

All in all, a great day/evening/night and it was absolutely worth it! Definitely not the last time of being a Szigeter.

Finding a job...

... would be easier if that was the only thing I would be doing, but actually, it's not, even though it is the only meaningful thing I'm doing nowadays. I submitted 5 or 6 applications so far but no answers yet. I had an interview with a language school and with a job agency. I just hope that I'll find something starting in September. I still don't know whether I'll get any money from being aroud and helping out at the university. I don't think they do either. I should drop a mail to Mihály; maybe he has news.

So, yeah, browsing online job descriptions and preparing at least 6 different versions of my CV is not exactly the most appealing thing one can do during the summer. Not that I have anything else important to do, but still. In the meantime, I'm dancing, watching streaming movies online (hail the Asians, love you forever for putting every single movie online!), watching series online (again, thank you, dear Asian friends), trying to follow the news, downloading music, once in a while meeting up with people. I saw Gábor (1st yr Hungarian at UC) on Sunday at the Corvintető and I spent some time with the extended family on my father's side on Saturday. My little brother was there; he'll soon be 4! When they arrived he was really sleepy and timid but in half an hour he was the most energetic kid I've seen. And I was his target... Of course, I'm not around too often. So, we played. He was the dog and I was the cat and he ate me. Then he was the T-rex and I was a Triceratops, we fought and he ate me. Is there a power issue here? He also has something with undressing people, he really enjoys doing that. I have to admit that after two hours I was tired enough to try to pass him back to his parents, but he didn't seem to like it. He's very cute. It's very hard to resist him. My sister manages, she actually hits him, then he hits back and there is my 16-year old sister and my 4-year-old brother literally fighting at the table... Hmm, family love.

I'm wondering whether I should go to the Sziget. I think I might go on Thursday to see Jamiroquai and to look around. Maybe I can collect some plastic bottles again and get a bag from the environmentalists :) A couple of UC-ers should also be around. David Eekhof and Bram are certainly here. I'd like to see them.