“Nobody likes it here” she said. I was sitting across from Laura at lunch in the SSG cafeteria. Throughout the day I had been going around asking kids about their plans after they graduate. My original intentions were to specifically ask about college. While it may be practically a given that a kid will attend college after high school in the US, I have learned recently that the same future is not as implied in Europe. So when I asked around 10 kids what they were doing after they graduate I was surprised to hear that nine of them will go abroad and have no intention of returning. These conversations quickly transpired into understanding Hungarian society, the economy, and political climate.
“We all love each other in [SSG],” said Laura, “but everyone outside is frustrated. No one has money and the government isn’t doing anything. This is the saddest country to be born in.” I was absolutely dumbfounded. I have met kids from Europe, Asia, South America, and Israel. Not a single one has ever been so negative about the very country that they were born and raised in. Nevertheless, her response was not uncommon. In fact just the opposite. Another girl said that all the nice streets that our tour guide takes us down are just a front. “The elections are fake. The economy is fake. Politicians are corrupt only want to listen to the people that pay them,” another one said.
It’s extremely apparent that Hungarian society is depressed. Not just the Jewish population (while they may not be directly oppressed by their government, they still face extreme anti semitism) but an entire generation of young people who simply do not want to be Hungarian. For example, Laura already has plans to go to Norway for higher education, after two years of which, her family plans on fully immigrating to Norway. She has no plans of returning. Other kids simply want to escape. Not because they want to, but because they have to. They understand the reality that they have no future here.
On a happier note: this afternoon we are going to a summer camp for a Shabbaton. None of the kids have ever experienced a Shabbaton so it should be an experience to remember.
To be continued…
