BASICS - The Rough Guide to Budapest - page 51

French “ tu ” is to use the second person), but with their elders or in the more formal settings
of work or school they would use the formal mode, talking to people in the third person, until
invited to use the informal mode. So “ Hogy vagy ?” is the informal “how are you?”, “ Hogy
van ?” is the formal - and then to be awfully polite, talking to someone's granny for instance,
you can say “ Hogy tetszik lenni ?” (literally, “How does it please you to be?”).
Whenintroducedtosomeoneyoushakehandsandsayyourname.Youwouldusually shake
hands when meeting people, though between friends, kissing on both cheeks is the norm -
between men, too. Some older men still bow to kiss a woman's hand - but it looks rather
affected when anyone else does it, so it is best not to try. You will hear an echo of this social
convention in the greeting “ Csókolom ”, which means “I kiss [your hand]”. Adults will say it
to elderly ladies and children will say this to adults - responding in kind is an easy error to
make and will provoke much laughter.
The formal salutation - to say hello or goodbye - is “ Jó napot ” (or “ Jó reggelt ” before 9am)
while with friends “ Szia ”, “ Szervusz ” or even “ Helló ” is normal. For more on language see
section on Hungarian .
A sense of social formality is preserved in other ways too. When visiting someone at home,
taking flowers is always acceptable: there are many complex rules and codes in flower-giv-
ing that you need not worry about - but do take an odd number of flowers (not 13, though).
Two other useful points when visiting: it is common to take off your shoes when you go into
people's houses; and if eating at someone's house it is customary to compliment the host(ess)
on the food early on after the first couple of mouthfuls.
Smoking is pretty universal in Budapest - though in someone's home, of course, it is polite
to ask if it is permitted. The smoking ban in restaurants and bars is strictly enforced, but this
does not apply to attached terraces and in gardens, where everyone lights up at will. Smoking
is also banned on all public transport.
Religion
The majority of the Hungarian population is officially Roman Catholic , with the remainder
comprising Calvinists, smaller numbers of Lutherans and Jews and even smaller groups such
as Serb and Greek Orthodox. The 2012 constitution declared Hungary to be a “Christian”
country, though official recognition initially left out Methodists, among others.
Churches may prohibit sightseeing during services and charge for entry. Visitors are expec-
ted to wear “decorous” dress - that is, no shorts or sleeveless tops. Several churches offer
services in English: Anglican: 10.30am on the first Sunday of the month XII, Eötvös út 35
in Buda, and the other Sundays at VII, Almássy utca 6 in Pest 06 20 269-5161, anglic-
anbudapest.com ; Baptist: Sunday 10.30am, International Baptist Church, II, Törökvész út