In Hungary, I miss my hometown, Idrija, the most

Interview with Anej Cergol, plant manager at Hidria Bausch in Hungary

Anej Cergol noticed Hidria's internal job opportunity about a year ago. He decided rather quickly to accept a new challenge and move from Slovenia to Hungary.

"When you go abroad, far from home and all your friends, you have to deal with everything by yourself. In every situation, in the face of every problem, you have to cope with it as best as possible. This is how you learn the most in a business environment. Until now, I have never regretted moving."

Hungarian is considered one of the most difficult languages in the world. Despite the difficulty, the language is already very familiar to Anej today.

"I started learning the basics even before moving, as it was simply necessary. I could only help myself with English at work, and even there only in offices, not in production. It was quite a challenge. If I wanted to change something, I always had to ask another person. In the beginning, I also helped myself a lot with Google Translate," Anej says.

"Fortunately, Hungarians, unlike Slovenians, speak a fairly unified language. The dialects are not so distinct. But in Hungarian there are sometimes three or four different words that have the same meaning. You may learn one of these words yourself and hear another that you don’t understand. The same word can be a noun at one time and a verb at another time, so you can understand the meaning only from the context."

Anej joined Hidria's team while still at school, in 2011. "At that time, it was still possible for me to work in the production of Hidria Alutec as a fifteen-year-old. During the summer, I earned around eight hundred euros and bought a Tomos Youngster motorcycle. That was the only goal and I thought it was great," he recalls.

When he was deciding on his studies at the end of his high school years, the manager suggested that he should consider metallurgy.

"It was a great experience," says Anej: "I was able to directly use the acquired knowledge in practice, which is very rare. I had the advantage we had most of our study obligations in the afternoon. Every day, from six to three, I could work in Hidria, and spend the afternoons at the faculty."

After completing his studies, he initially got a job at Hidria Alutec in Spodnja Idrija, and now he has been working at Hidria Bausch in Hungary for more than a year. The decision to take a new step was taken very quickly, when he noticed an internal job opportunity and said to himself:

"I'm going to face new challenges!"

What were Anej’s first impressions after moving to Hungary? "I didn't know Hidria's Hungarian company very well. I had two days to see the production, and a week later I had already moved in," he says.

When Anej moved, the support of his parents came in very handy. He was also warmly welcomed by his new colleagues.

What does Anej miss the most in Hungary?

"I miss my hometown. Sometimes I look out the window and there is no hill anywhere. Young people sometimes say: "I just want to get out of Idrija, where nothing is happening!" But once you're out, you miss Idrija a lot."

When he says he's going home, he means his parents' home in Idrija for the time being. "I don't know where my home will be in the future. I'll see how it goes. For now, we have agreed that I will stay in Hungary for another two years. But considering that I have a girlfriend, friends, job and good colleagues in Hungary, I am in no hurry to return to Slovenia," Anej concludes.

Author: Helena Pregelj / Photos: Robert Zabukovec, Matej Tratnik & Anej Cergol's personal archive