September 22, 2010: First time at Hungarian Competitive Bridge

September 22, 2010: Not too much to report today. At lunch with Gabor and Laci, I asked what taxes are like in Hungary. Gabor said that since relatively few people are employed (2 million all together out of 10 million people), those who do work are required to pay taxes for all. This amounts to 35% to 40% of a teacher's salary! Granted health care coverage is covered by the government, but looking at the prices of things here, I'd say that many of the foods are the same price as in the states. For example, I've seen eggs selling for 30 forints each (~13.5 cents each), Coca Cola is 350 forints for 2 liters (~ $1.50), a small bar of soap is 150 forints (~67 cents), etc. At these prices, I don't see how a Hungarian teacher can afford to pay 35% to 40% in taxes and be able to "live". However, Gabor and Laci hold hope that with the new government that just came into power things will change. We'll see.

Well, I had a very early dinner today (It's now 3:45 p.m.) since I have to catch the bus soon to go play bridge. For your reference, I live in northeast Budapest and the game is in the southwest. I have a Google map that I printed out this morning indicating where to go: "Look for the two story house on the corner of the street somewhere on Ecsed utca" – unfortunately Ecsed utca is several blocks long and has many corners along it. This could be an interesting day for finding out where to go!


Later: The bus trip downtown was the same one I had taken before. However, since I had a nice window seat this time, I could look out the window at all the beautiful stately homes that line Thokoly ut. Each home is a work of art with unique sculptures, gargoyles, and arches that has seen better days. Given a little paint here and there, Thokoly ut could be as fashionable as Adrassy ut – even more so. In fact I noted that the Romanian embassy is on Thokoly ut, so maybe there's a focus on fixing up this beautiful street. At any rate, it sure is a pleasure living in such a beautiful city where so many stately homes line the streets and have not been torn down in favor of new construction.

I arrived at Ecsed utca with plenty of time to spare – seven minutes! I walked the length of the three block street and as feared, every corner had two story houses on them. The neighborhood looked like a fine middle class area judging from the houses on it. The people who walked the street seemed to be middle aged and definitely people working in jobs that are professional. Fortunately I had Dienes's phone number so I called him and he told me the exact address which was not even one minute away from where I called him. I arrived in a room of around 24 tables where people were ready to play bridge. The atmosphere was exactly like the bridge clubs I've played at in the US. Even the card boxes and bidding cards were similar to those in the States except that the words for the suits were in French instead of English. I met Dienes who introduced me to the partner he had arranged for me. Fortunately I had brought my bridge bidding convention card with me and my partner and I discussed all the conventions we're familiar with. I was very pleased (and relieved) to see that she plays most of the same conventions I play. She's a regular player, playing a couple of times a week at this club and has done so for many years. Since we were a bit early, we decided to play a hand "for fun". I was dealt a beautiful 19 point hand with six beautiful spades, three aces all together, and a king and two queens. I immediately told them I wanted to play the hand for real. Good thing we didn't because the opposing team went on to five diamonds which I doubled and they made the contract!!! Such is the game of bridge. We played from around 5:45 to 9:00 playing two hands at each table against many partners who could speak English. The people were very friendly and were serious players, but not so serious that we couldn't still joke. As for the results of our playing, I'd say I played comparably to when I play in the States. The good news is that I learned some new things from this lady who suggested things we could do differently. She was very easy and fun to play with and didn't seem to mind that I'm still a beginning player (although when I told her I was a beginner, she said "No beginner could know all the conventions you have on your convention card!")


After the game, Dienes, my partner, and I drove off in Dienes's car and they dropped me at the bus station in Buda. I told Dienes that if he ever needed a partner for anyone, I would be very happy to play and he said he had my number and would call. In the meantime, I'll be playing with Ruth's dentist's friend next Tuesday at another location in Obuda, just north of Buda. We'll see how that goes. At any rate, I had a fantastic time exercising my brain again.

Considering how far away Buda is from my apartment in Ujpalota, it was nice to see that the bus taking me home goes directly from Buda to my apartment – no bus changes! I arrived home in a relatively short time. Now to get to bed and rest before teaching a fairly easy day tomorrow. I'll also be seeing the doctor tomorrow. A new adventure. Then Kati promised that they plan on moving some more of the furniture to my house. I've been living here are several weeks with minimal stuff, so it'll be nice to have a place that's more of a home.