I am Jami Beserock (Beszerák is the Hungarian spelling that is on my great-grandfather’s grave in Slovakia). My great-grandfather came to the US in the early 1900’s from Ungvar, Hungary (now Uzhhorod, Ukraine). My grandfather spoke fluent Hungarian but did not pass it down to the rest of the family. We found our Hungarian family late in life after my grandfather died. I am lucky to work at a university and have taken and retaken Hungarian several times (and also Czech to help when I am in Slovakia), though I’m still not fluent but I can communicate with my family. I currently have family in Budapest, Hungary, Kassa (Košice, Slovakia), and Nagykapos (Veľké Kapušany, Slovakia). Most of my family speaks little to no English at all. I was just in Budapest and Slovakia in May for almost 3 weeks. I have been to Hungary and Slovakia several times and hope to spend more time there after I retire in a few years. There is more to my story but too much to explain here. I think this is my third expo I’ve attended.
