Hungarian Rotary Exchange Student Offers East Texans a Lesson in Freedom

Above Photo: Balazs “Bali” Kiss, a Rotary exchange student from Hungary, spent the 1994–95 school year in Mt. Vernon, experiencing East Texas life and American freedoms firsthand.

 

Rotary Exchange Student From Hungary Visits East Texas

Rotary Exchange Student From Hungary Speaks at Local Rotary Meeting

Originally published in The East Texas Journal, February 1995
By John DeWitt, Journal Columnist

It was my mistake.

I went public with the idea that they should invite me to the next meeting.

The envelope that crossed the editor’s desk landed squarely on my bulletin board and took root. The thumbtack and note addressed to me probably helped.

So, always ready to please higher authority—I am married, after all—I found myself accepting another meeting invitation.

I ate a nutritious lunch at the place with the yellow half circles and walked through the meeting room door wearing the same practiced smile I wore last time.

Fortunately, meetings had not changed during the month since my last encounter with one. In fact, meetings have changed very little since someone invented the microphone.

Everything progressed as planned. Every cog in the meeting machine turned at the appointed time. Long ago, someone apparently decided that meetings should last one hour. That hour should include three segments: eating and the call to order, old and new business, and finally the program.

I sailed through the first two segments without difficulty. Eventually, someone kicked my chair, and I awoke for the final segment.

Rotary Exchange Student From Hungary Shares His Experience

I have never visited a communist country. However, I spent part of my youth in a country that later became communist. That is as close as I have personally come.

Balazs “Bali” Kiss is a 16-year-old student from Hungary. He is spending a year in Mt. Vernon through the Rotary Youth Exchange program.

I have had the good fortune to meet and talk with this young man during his stay here. I remain impressed by his intelligence, literacy, and poise. Yet I am saddened by what I see as the absence of some of the simple joys of being young, male, and free.

For much of the twentieth century, Hungary lived under outside domination and communist rule. The 1956 Hungarian Revolution sought greater freedom but was crushed when Soviet forces entered Budapest. The struggle remained an important memory for many Hungarians.

No one living today can remember a time when a foreign army occupied the United States. Many Hungarians, however, grew up with memories of occupation, political control, or government restrictions. Bali belongs to a generation that witnessed the dramatic changes that followed the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.

Freedom Through the Eyes of a Rotary Exchange Student From Hungary

Bali was not allowed to speak extensively about his country during the program. Instead, a professionally produced video presentation spoke for him.

The narration rivaled Hollywood. The scenery was beautiful. The people appeared happy. However, when it ended, the audience knew little more about Bali than before the program began.

He answered questions afterward. Still, what questions of consequence can arise from a 20-minute video?

During my conversations with Bali, he has expressed concern that freedoms won at great cost could slowly disappear as familiar political figures regain influence under different names.

Those observations are his own. Nevertheless, they reflect the uncertainty many Eastern Europeans faced during the years following the collapse of communist governments.

East Texas Life Leaves a Lasting Impression

Over the past several months, Bali has lived with a close-knit family west of Mt. Vernon.

He bagged his first squirrel. He helped a couple of doves molt early. He walked through the woods carrying a gun and a fishing pole without fear of the police or the army.

He traveled where he wanted without seeking government permission.

Within two days, he became a fairly capable horseman. During his first ride, he stayed aboard a gelding determined to throw him. On the second ride, Bali took control.

I expect he will have a trophy saddle by June.

I have watched him enjoy a performance by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. I have also heard him enjoy country music on the drive there and back.

Most of all, he continually marvels at his right in this country to speak openly with adults and attend adult functions—even meetings.

He is in love with East Texas. More importantly, he is in love with America.

Why the Rotary Exchange Student From Hungary Matters

We, I think, have let him down.

The Rotary exchange program is supposed to be a two-way avenue. Students from around the world receive a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live in our corner of Texas and fall in love with it.

Likewise, our young people have an equally remarkable opportunity to spend a year abroad and experience firsthand the customs, cultures, and traditions that make each nation unique.

Do we take advantage of that opportunity?

Of course not.

Year after year, the call goes out, and there are few takers.

Shame on us.

Someone once said that a freedom unused is a freedom eventually lost. I hope that never happens here.

A Farewell to Balazs Kiss

Well, I hope I have attended my last meeting.

Balazs Kiss, I wish you luck.

I wish you every freedom and opportunity that we in this country were fortunate enough to inherit.

And I wish you would learn to ride with a shorter rein.