Mark Adamsbaum

Mark Adamsbaum is an actor and English teacher. He lives most of the year in Budapest but returns to his native New York City every summer to play golf and softball in Central Park. Réka Lengyel is a native of Budapest. She studied psychology, dance and literature at university before finally receiving a degree in art history. After spending several years in Australia and Boston, she settled down in her hometown. She currently works as a freelance writer - contributing articles about art, wine and cultural events - and part-time bartender in an Irish pub. True story: Several days after moving to a new flat in Budapest, Reka's and my upstairs neighbor, a lovely 80-year-old woman, leaned out of her window, smiled, and called to me: "Pussy! Pussy! Pussy!" Momentarily taken aback at the thought of what she might be offering, I suddenly realized she was saying "Puszi!" the Hungarian word for "kiss," pronounced the same way. Breathing a sign of relief, I shakily waved back, relieved that I wasn't going to be chased around the house Benny Hill style by an aging paramour. And I immediately knew I needed a better knowledge of Hungarian, and so do you, because you never know when you'll be in Budapest, and when an attractive suitor purrs: "Mindig ilyen szexis vagy?" you'll really want to know what he or she is saying.