Welcome to Hungary - May you never come back

Got into Ferihegy 2 airport yesterday morning from Beijing, flying with Hainan Airlines. This was a full flight and we were jammed together like tuna fish in a can; so it was very nice to finally arrive and get off the plane. But it was not that easy. We were on the plane for another ten minutes before they let us off, sweating and itching after the 10.5 hour flight. But even when the aircraft's door opened we could only proceed in an extremely slow pace, inching our way through the aisle with our hand luggage.

The next step was lining up in one of those tubes, whatever they are called, connecting the terminal with the plane. In mid-air, literally. I have never had to line up there and had no idea what was going on. Apparently, before stepping onto the terminal, border guards were checking everyone's passport, perhaps in preparation for the real passport control which was coming up in a few steps. The border guards were quite perplexed that the Chinese deboarding the plane did not speak neither Hungarian nor English. Why would they, most of them were going further to Munich, they just made the unfortunate decision to fly through Budapest. Of course, the frustrated border guards did not refrain showing their frustration and were anything but polite.

Then came the real passport control, then luggage claim. And then, just when I thought I was free to go, came customs control. There were a dozen customs officers going through everyone's luggage piece by piece. That is to say, everyone's who was Chinese. Those who did not notice the unwritten rule that they had to stand behind some invisible line were yelled at such ferociousness that made everyone be immediately aware that this country used to be behind the Iron Curtain. One of the bolder Hungarians actually did make a comment saying, "What, are we back to the Rakossy regime?"

But there we were waiting in line at 5:30 am as the Hungarian border guards methodically analyzed every package of vacuum-wrapped peanuts and soy bean paste the Chinese had in their luggage. The terrified foreigners waited in silence.

I have always thought that in a country that relies on tourism to such an extent, the airport should be made a lot more friendly than Ferihegy Airport in Budapest. People should feel that they are welcome here and not that they will be hunted down and robbed. Taxis ripping tourists off should be eliminated; normal exchange rates enforced; friendly staff with language skills hired, etc.