By Mimi Yao
This year, the newly established history club (RKNHS) hopes to spotlight members of the SAS community with unique cultural stories. In this interview, Esther Baumann shares the challenges and rewards of being part of three different cultures.
SAS is a proud host of bilingual speakers, multi-cultural families, and students and faculty from around the world. Esther Baumann, a new member of the SAS community who runs the academic support program at Flex, is a representative for all three of these identities.
Ms. Baumann was born and raised in Hungary, which she jokingly refers to as “the depressed nation.” She explained that Hungary has lost in two independence wars and both world wars, during which it has been conquered by powers such as the Ottoman Empire, Germany, and the Soviet Union.
“There’s this sort of feeling of doom in my country,” Ms. Baumann shared. “There are a lot of very sad poems and very sad music. Like our national anthem is a super sad song, and our best literature is always melancholic and depressed.”
Despite its war-riddled history, Hungary has maintained rich cultural traditions. Ms. Baumann fondly recalls eating Goulash, taking Turkish baths, and admiring Kalocsai, a European folklore embroidery. Like many other Hungarians, she sees these traditions not only as cultural tokens, but as a form of resilience.
Since starting a family with her American husband, SAS college counselor Mr. O’Brien, Ms. Baumann has learned to find the balance between preserving old traditions while also embracing new ones. She and her husband strive to model open-mindedness for their two children in their American-Hungarian household.
“It was always important to me that my kids would grow up to be bilingual and bicultural,” Ms. Baumann said. “For example, we celebrate American holidays like Christmas and Easter, but we keep all the usual Hungarian traditions.”
Ms. Baumann and Mr. O’Brien’s shared love for embracing new cultures also led them to China, and eventually, SAS.
“My husband and I have always been very interested in China,” Ms. Baumann remarked. “We [have] never visited before, but when we found out about this job opportunity for my husband, we thought it was perfect.”
She added that she had always hoped to live somewhere drastically different from Budapest, the city she grew up in. According to Ms. Baumann, one of the biggest differences she noticed is Shanghai’s significantly greater population size. Although adjusting to such differences was initially challenging, Ms. Baumann maintained a positive outlook on the changes she was facing.
“I think that the more culture I’m experiencing, the more enriched my life is,” she reflected. Ms. Baumann’s exploration of Hungarian, American, and Chinese cultural elements exemplifies the spirit of open-mindedness SAS hopes to instill in its students. We hope to see students exhibit a similar mindset by seeking opportunities to explore the unique amalgamation of cultures that make up our school community.