Round 1: September 2012

Winner - Nourddine Hajhouj

Nourddine Hajhouj hails from Morocco and has been in Hungary for almost four years. he is a financial  auditor and trainer in one of the biggest multinationals in Budapest. It's not numbers though, but acting, that claims his passion; he's no stranger to the stage having performed in many plays (drama, comedy...). Nourddine started speaking in public when he was 9 years old and hasn't stopped. Perhaps the Gift of the Gab is just the stage he's been looking for.

Round 1 Competitors

 As a red-headed stepchild of re-invention, Don Lindsay has seen service as a journalist, salesman, DJ and blogger in diverse global corners such as Glasgow, Chicago, Cape Cod and, currently, Budapest. A one-time youth cricket international (literally once), he spends way too much time watching football and yelling at bar TVs. Music, reading and food are other waste-of-pastimes, but there’s no arguing his culinary skills massively outweigh a Lilliputian command of Hungarian.

It's been fifteen years since Gretchen Meddaugh fell in love with Budapest and their on-again, off-again relationship is currently on.  Gretchen refuses to commit, though, until she sees the rink (a rollerskating rink being one thing Budapest hasn't got).   A retired schoolmarm, she needs to realize that she's getting on in years and can't really afford to be so picky. You try telling her that, though.

Bea Bincze is Hungarian. She was born in Saturdayplace (Szombathely) and has lived in Budapest since her college years. She is a finance professional with management, process improvement, training and consulting experience. Bea is also active in volunteering, having different leadership roles in the Budapest Toastmasters Club and also in the All Nations Lions Club. She enjoys reading and spending time with her family.
Bea is ready to step out of her comfort zone, in the last few months she played football with her 9 year old son, Richard.  After supporting her fellow toastmasters in the last GOTG series, she has decided to try herself out this year.

September 26th is Mark Weston's birthday. And what better way to celebrate than to take to the stage. Mark has lived in Budapest for 20 years apart from one year he spent in Africa in 2005. A Manchester boy, he spent some 20 years as a Finance Director of many businesses and was able to retire from fulltime work in 2006. He now owns an estate agency in Budapest where he has some 45 people working. He himself works maybe 2 hours a day and tries to split his time between what he wants to do and what he has to do. He's given many business public speeches and has worked on many tough Boards of Director. Recently he took part in two musical drama events through Dramaworks here in Budapest. Happy birthday, Mark!