Hungarian superstitions and how a foreigner sees them

Every culture has their fair share of conspiracy theories stemming from times long forgotten, a local legend if you will, practices that are still in place. As someone looking into a new culture, there are some that are new, some that have stayed the same, and some that are similar with slight changes.

The first superstition or conspiracy theory that I absolutely adore is that if you step on the back of someone’s shoe, you are going to be at their wedding – mostly because the idea that you will be important enough for someone to invite you to their special day is quite the validation. Moreover, it makes filtering out friends so much easier, and, well, at least you will get free food sometime in the future, which is as good a reason as any.

Now, my culture has nothing like this, probably because our guest lists for weddings already include everyone we have ever met – we do not need superstition to aid us in our wedding-hosting endeavours, we do it just fine all on our own.

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Another one that I have come across a lot is making eye contact while clinking glasses or having to endure seven years of bad sex. A harsh consequence, to be sure. However, in our culture, we have a variation of this, where you should not put your drink down after saying cheers unless you have taken a sip of the drink first, or you should prepare for seven years of bad sex. I am not quite sure what the superstition and the consequence have to do with one another and how they are connected, but that is a conversation for another day and a completely different can of worms.

Rest assured, someone did point out to me recently that bad sex is still sex, so I guess there is a silver lining in every situation. So, the next time someone steps on your heel, just know that you are going to buy them dinner sometime in the future, and if you step on someone’s heel, do not apologise – say thank you because chances are, you are going to be at their wedding, saying ‘cheers, mate!’ – hopefully maintaining eye contact.

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