The only Black Man in Hungary

Even when the policemen stopped me to check my papers, they were more polite and intrigued by me, than anything else. I should add here that of all the 15 towns I have visited in Hungary over the years, this is the only one where I have been stopped by the police. There was a genuine interest in me, my culture, and where I was from, and I tried to correct as many misconceptions as possible.

I AM not the only black man in Hungary. That would be too much pressure.

I have lived in this lovely country for more than 10 years now. I came here originally as a student, and now I work here. This would be an unpopular opinion, but I like it here. There is a certain beauty to the people and environment here, but I will openly admit that it is an acquired taste. I like the people, I am used to the food, I love to travel and see the hidden gems off the beaten tourist track, and I love the easy-going way of life here.

Now like I mentioned earlier, I am not the only black man in Hungary: not even close, but I am the only black man in the city where I live.

With a population of about 15000 people, BERRETYOUJFALU (good luck pronouncing that correctly) is a town in the northwestern region of Hungary. It has no mall, it has three supermarkets, it has an open-air marketplace, it has a lake flowing next to it, and that’s pretty much it. It has no respectable nightlife to speak of, and it is generally a very quiet situation. I’ve lived here for almost two years.

The story of how I came to discover and live here is an article in itself, but having lived here for this amount of time, I have adapted, and I even have a taste for the pace of life here. It was quite weird in the beginning. As expected, there was a lot of staring at the big man who had brought racial diversity to their community, and even the police stopped me a couple of times to verify my identity.

Moving here from a city with a lot more traffic and general motion, it took some getting used to the lower noise level, even during their variety of rush hour, which comes mostly from vehicles just passing through on their way to a different destination.

For the first time I had to deal head-on with the challenges of speaking Hungarian, because previously, I could get away with the fractured variety and a pinch of common English phrases. Here, there was no hiding place.

However, the people were nice to me. Not nice in the way that they wanted to become BFFs or have my babies (I did receive this offer once, though), but in a cordial and polite manner that suggested that, while they understood that I wasn’t from these parts, I was welcome to their community. They would offer me the same manner of service which they would to anyone else, and if I asked for anything, they were willing to help me out. The feedback that was given to my girlfriend was that I was a sweet and friendly guy, with a nice smile. This, of course was pre-Covid, before masks hid our smiles and beards.

Even when the policemen stopped me to check my papers, they were more polite and intrigued by me, than anything else. I should add here that of all the 15 towns I have visited in Hungary over the years, this is the only one where I have been stopped by the police. There was a genuine interest in me, my culture, and where I was from, and I tried to correct as many misconceptions as possible.

NOW the town is used to me. I miss the attention. They hardly stare at me, they even barely acknowledge me in public, I even made a friend of one of the policemen who assured me that if I was ever in any sort of trouble, I should call him, and he would sort me out. What a nice friend to have, and help that, hopefully, I will never need.

Coming from a city where there were more than 700 Nigerians alone, it was very unusual, and a bit unnerving sometimes, because I felt like I would be truly alone here, and the movie Get Out didn’t help matters at all.

I like it here. Maybe settle down, get married, have lovely cappuchino babies, who would learn to speak Hungarian, Ibo and English, buy a comfortable house here (houses are comparatively cheap in these areas), and integrate more and more into the community. Who knows?

Let’s see what decisions influence my life in this place, but for now, I say it with all certainty: I like it here, and I like being the only black guy here.

Ike Ononiwu, writes from Debrecen, north-eastern region of Hungary. He can be reached at [email protected]