The human being behind the lines or every long path begins with a first small step…
I was born in 1980 in Hungary. I grew up with four-legged friends and two-wheelers in a big village not far from Lake Balaton. In the Eighties there was not much life in villages behind the Iron Curtain. Riding the bike with friends, going to the music school or attending the library of the municipality was the only entertainment possibility for children. I could already write and read at the age of 5 years and as a little girl I was a true dreamer. So I perceived the library of our calm and sleepy village as a genuine oasis. I went there almost every day and swallowed the books and magazines like a little bookworm. I read preferably novels for children, fairytales, animal books as well as travel books. When reading I let my fantasy run free and dreamed that I would visit faraway countries one day and I would even experience the large Cape Buffalos in Africa…
On a grey and rainy November afternoon in 1990 when I ended up again in the library, I became aware of the article of one of my favourite children magazines, in which I discovered the address of Santa Claus. This press article said that Santa Claus was warmly welcoming letters from children in English or German and of course, he replied to these letters. I was totally fired up, because as a child Santa Claus and Christmas was always a special highlight of the year for me. I decided to send him a letter. At that time I had already learnt both English and German. Therefore I wrote him a letter in German. Obviously, my writing was very taciturn and in no case accurate…I set out in the saddle of my little “Csepel” bycicle which was painted pink in the garage of my grandfather to post this ominous letter secretly to Finnland. Then I waited for the answer very excitedly. Shortly before Christmas the miracle happened and a letter from Santa Claus arrived! My parents were very suprised that I spontaneously received a letter from Finnland and they could hardly wait until I came home from school. I told them everything and I was very happy about the fact that Santa Claus replied to my letter.
Since my German was of course not good at that time I couldn’t fully understand the lines of Santa Claus. Therefore I took the letter to school the next day and I showed it to my German teacher. He was very impressed about my action and read the letter for the whole class. Then he tranlsated the content of it and praised me in the presence of my classmates. He gave me even an extra five which was considered as best grade here in Hungary. Shortly after the system change it was quite unusual in my village to receive a letter from abroad. So my mail from Finnland attracted attention even at the post office and word got around that the little Julie received a letter from Santa Claus…and I floated in full euphoria! This letter was a milestone in my life. I experienced the enchanting magic of languages for the first time in real life as well as what it feels like to speak a foreign language and be able to communicate across the language and culture barriers despite the isolation of my mother tongue. The letter of Santa Claus “fairy kissed” me and motivated me enormously to learn German and English at the highest level. Of course, I haven’t even guessed at the age of 10 years that I was making a first small (and important) step towards my future on the way to the post office in the saddle of my pink bike…Translation became not only a profession for me, but much more. It is a vocation, a real passion…
But this is already history and the letter of Santa Claus is still a well protected piece of my treasury which you can read now if you desire to do so. Just click!
P.S. Unfortunately I still haven’t seen the African Cape Buffalos live, but I hope my dream will come true soon…
