Downturn and election

So, a few major things have happened recently. First, after the Head of Hungary's Central Bank had claimed that the economy was fine a few weeks ago, Hungary became the recipient of $25B in aid from the IMF, EU and World Bank. Since I've been here, the Hungarian Forint (HUF) has lost 1/5 of its value. Hungarians who took out loans in foreign currencies (Euros, Swiss Francs) are now having a hard time paying them back. Thankfully, my co-workers and I are fine as our salary is denominated in Euros and converted to HUF each month. It's easy to note the dollar's resurgence (and the cheaper cost of living) when it costs less than $10 at the grocery store for fabric softener, laundry detergent, cheese, tomato sauce and strawberry jam. All of this has led to numerous Hungary vs. Iceland vs. the US comparisons being sent around the office, my favorite of which is here.

Also, I'm not even sure where to start about the election, except that I'm thrilled. On election night, the US Embassy and American Chamber of Commerce hosted a massive event (1300+ people) complete with a speech by the American ambassador, national anthems by the Hungarian Air Force band, live news feeds from the US, free food, etc. I went with a co-worker, but quickly ran into other people from the Hash club, Hungary for Obama and other co-workers. There were more Obama supporters than McCain supporters, but the split was more even than you might think due to the high number of business/embassy people present. I stayed until ~2am Budapest time and then went to sleep until a 5am phone call from Chicago woke me up just in time to see the speeches. I can't tell Meri, Anna and Louis how much I appreciated that. I teared up when Obama said: And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in theforgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. Just got an email that Hungary for Obama is going to keep going strong, and we've got a meeting on Sunday to figure out our next steps.

Most people at work found a time to ask me what I thought about the election results. I've used the opportunity to ask them what they think as well, and everyone has been glad about Obama. People have been amazed that in the course of Obama's lifetime, the US had gone from being a place with segregated water fountains to one in which he could be elected by a majority of its people. Going in, we took an office poll, and 100% of respondents thought Obama would win. Additionally, people have been surprised that there was such hoopla over watching the election results. In Hungary, people (a) don't feel the need for minute-by-minute updates on their national elections and (b) aren't as open about their political opinions - in the past an open declaration of your political leanings could cause big problems.