The Árkád and A Word on Homogenous Culture

I think I have been here long enough to get some idea of how ubiquitous American culture is in this country, and probably others as well.   American music is frequently heard playing in restaurants and shops, and folks I talk to are well acquainted with American movies and movie stars.  They watch American TV shows – and talk about liking Sex in The City.  Do you imagine that they really believe Americans are like those depicted in these shows?  What really strikes me is not so much the presence of American cultural objects – Homer Simpson on the side of a car; Mickey Mouse on a t-shirt – but the absence of Hungarian ones.  I did not notice this quite so much until I began to look for some small items to take back to the states as gifts.  I was having a very difficult time finding anything that is uniquely Hungarian to take back – despite being immersed in a very rich cultural world of sights and tastes.  Beside Hungarian food and drink items that could travel - paprika or palinka – I am having a hard time.  I don’t mean souvenir spoons and plates and coffee cups with a Hungarian flag on them, but normal items that people, not tourists, would use.  When I tried to find a t-shirt or baby clothes with Hungarian written on it, I was stuck by the fact that almost everything was in English.  How can that be?  So many people here do not even speak English, but they are buying clothing stamped with English words.  Even the Christmas ornaments in town are blazoned with “Merry Christmas” not Boldog Karácsonyt.  I pointed this out to my friend, Ági.  After awhile, she, too, began looking for clothing with Hungarian words and remarked that she had not realized that everything was in English.  Well, most of this stuff is now produced in China or Thailand – and I guess these cheaply produced mass market goods are not translated into each country’s native language.  So, I am wondering, if all over the world these goods with English words are in every store.  We are all buying the same products – there is nothing unique about them.  The Árkád (mall) here is like any other mall in any town in the world.  It has the same type of shops, a food court, escalators, an information desk, a parking garage.  You walk in and you are immediately at home.  It is now decorated for Christmas and all the shops are selling Christmas items.  They even have special kiosks in the middle of the mall that have opened in the last few weeks – selling Christmas gift items.  It’s just like the Oak Park Mall at home. Only they are not selling Hickory Farms, they are selling Belgium chocolates.  Here is a video of Christmas (not Karacsonyt) at the mall – the young dancers are dancing and pantomiming to “All I Want for Christmas”   Can you see the decorations in the mall are quite like home – EXCEPT, it did seem out of place to have a gingerbread house with a witch outside (Hansel & Gretel?) in the Christmas setting.  I don’t know that I have seen that in America – at least not connected to Christmas.  It would be more like Santa’s toy shop or elves.