My Life in Budapest- A Datasheet and Trip Report

As a lot of people have slowly found out. I decided to take an extended stay of 3 months in Budapest.

 I've been giving rave reviews of Budapest to everyone I know, and finally decide to move here for a couple months and see what kind of trouble I could get into.

Hopefully I get the time to make constant  updates. On day to day life.

To start off.. I have no job here. I'm living solely on saving. Aka I do nothing during the day, but brainstorm ideas to start a sort of business do "freelance" work for a couple dollars here and there.

This is just stream of conscience.. Im not really getting anywhere specific here....

Ill start with the  WHY.

Why did I come here?

2 years ago I planned to visit Austria.. but the plane ticket from where I was in Europe to Budapest was less than 20 dollars thanks to Ryanair. I planned to stay in Budapest a couple days and head to Vienna and travel around Austria.

A friend and I skipped the hostel and Couchsurfing route and rented apartment on Airbnb in a great location for pennies.

We spent 3 days in Budapest exploring the city and bar hopping with great success. I fell in love with how inexpensive the city was.. and how much friendlier and interesting it was compared to the western European countries ( Especially Germany) I had been to.

For the next couple years I researched cost of living and such in the city and found it was almost half that of my city back home.

Eventually I had a big block of time ( three months) and decided I would set up shop in Budapest.

I found a friend that had been to Budapest a year after me (after my recommendation) and we decided to find a great apartment and  just leave the States for a while. At the cost of burning a bit of our long earned savings...and not going straight into the job world. We are now here.

My impressions of Budapest...is that the city is awesome. They summers are warm/hot..people are always in the city.

Its just big enough that its possible to find a new place ever night for a long time... but its not big enough to get lost in the city. Its also small enough that you can become a familiar at places you frequent.

Budapest gets a fair amount of tourist..But luckily they aren't asshole tourist that shit in the streets.

I live on a busy street that is often filled with hostel goers...but also many Hungarians.

Public transportation is cheap and extremely on time.

People speak English at a percentage that makes it extremely manageable to live without knowing anything more than basic Hungarian phrases like yes, no thanks you..ect

And when I have a hard time understanding Hungarian...its not hard to make a local friend and have someone help you out

Hungarians are extremely welcoming on the outside.

Race doesn't seem to be a problem.. Ive found quite a few African living decently in the city. Even a couple small businesses.

In some countries I have been to.African minorities seem almost sketchy in their lifestyles.. but here.. I even see mixed couples walking though the city(if albeit rarely)

From what I've learned..Hungarians seem extremely curious about black people.

Many of my Hungarians friends..both guys and girls...joke that i'll have no trouble finding a wife here.. every other girl wants "cappuccino"  babies.

I can't say this is all hype.. I do extremely well with women here...but this is on top of my already great game.

Its not hard at all to hit up any of the malls or park,restaurant near Deak Ferenc an chat up some locals

Friendly and genuine..but what I've come to recognize.. is that Hungarians view complaining as a past time.

It seems like every facet of life can be complained about and Hungarians are often extremely stubborn.

Ive noticed this across the bored that Hungarians..once annoyed by something to the smallest bit...will let it build up and complain for the rest of the week about it.

Where I thought a lot of Hungarians were just making small talk that I didn't understand( not speaking the language)  Hungarians often make a lot of back handed compliments. But are self aware of their bitchiness.

Im not generalizing all Hungarians..cause I've met quite a few down to earth ones.... but they have told me some of the comments they hear when people don't realize they speak Hungarian.

Social circles play a big role in Hungarian society it seems.

In America..you can meet people quickly and superficially and whisk them off quickly.

Hungarians seem to care  little more of what people think of them and women stay in their groups much tighter than back home.

Their is a clear tier system.

If you aren't in the circle... you may never be let in fully.

You can get in temporarily but you might not get full benefits... in this sense.. it seems a little hard to make friends because as friendly as Hungarians are.. often I think they are a little suspicious of foreigners.

This isn't without reason though..

Historically.. Hungarians have been ran through by many different empires..and even now.

So many tourist roll in an out of Budapest, that girls are extremely suspect to dating a non hungarian.

People are extremely surprised and confused  to learn that Im living here... because most young hungarians have dreams of getting out. 

There is no gym culture here.

Gyms are extremely expensive...with the average  hungarian wage... gyms can be upwards of 15 percent of a person  income.

You can get gym memberships in america for average 30 dollars a month and in lots of places cheaper.

Gym memberships in Budapest are 50+ a month.  and anything cheaper puts strict limitations on your gym time.

The cheapest gym was about 25 dollars a month.. but i could only go before 3pm.

Which isnt  to horrible.. get your morning reps in... but for anyone that goes to work.. you wont be able to go to the gym.

And conssidering places like LA fitness,often  have state of the art weight rooms and machines.. with saunas, pools and hot tubs for 30 dollars a month.

I feel like im getting ripped off.. on top of that.. so many gyms looks like whole in the wall basement with no AC.

Im current paying 50 dollars a month for a place.. simply because they have equipment that looks like it can support weight.

But the gym is only about the size of my Average house..back home

The people that go to gyms are either making some decent catch...really dedicated...or porn stars.

The above ground gyms have lots of hot girls doing light cardio or working out with trainers.

I cant fathom why a 20s girl really needs a trainer..let alone who is paying her upwards of 100 dollar a month membership?

Last thing I have to say?

Why is Bacon so expensive?

I might not be looking so hard.. but Why is good bacon like 6 dollars a pack