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Rita Fischer

Rita Fischer didn't encounter big language barriers when she moved from Hungary to the United States. Though she spoke no English when she arrived in 1994, two years later she was attending college. She carried around a notebook and asked people what items were called and took note of how to pronounce them. She moved to Columbus in 1996. "I didn't expect to like Columbus as much as I do," she says. "People are just nice and very helpful."

She comes from the small village of Siofok, Hungary, an agricultural area where she grew up under communism. Schools there more strict and teachers were sometimes abusive. Freedoms and the quality of life improved after the fall of communism, she said. Hungarians now have more opportunities and can start their own businesses or determine occupations more easily.

Rita speaks to her son in Hungarian, and reads him books in both English and Hungarian.

Among the things she misses about her native land are its foods, crusty breads and rich desserts, and her family and native culture. In Hungary, she says, Christmas trees are put up the day before Christmas, and Santa Claus comes Dec. 6, leaving goodies or coal in childrens' shoes, depending on their behavior over the past year. Those who get goodies display them in windows for all the neighborhood to see. A long-standing Hungarian tradition takes place in Easter, when boys visit girls of their choice, dumping a bucket of cold water over the girl's head. The tradition has been softened in recent years, she says. Nowadays the boy sprays the girl with perfume, and she returns the favor with a painted egg. Sometimes the parents give the boy money.

She encourages people to visit Hungary, and not to miss Budapest, the capitol city where she lived for a few years. It's a beautiful city, more than 1,000 years old, complete with castles.