Possibly a double whammy effect of been Hungarian and Jewish.
My partner is Hungarian and they put an emphasis on rigorous education across the board that we (in the UK or at least my part of it) don't.
Outside of the upper middle-class and above there is a strong streak of anti-intellectualism in England (I can't speak for the other member countries of the UK) and certainly the case in the working class schools I was educated in, you'd get bullied for been the class swot basically.
My partner is Hungarian and they put an emphasis on rigorous education across the board that we (in the UK or at least my part of it) don't.
Outside of the upper middle-class and above there is a strong streak of anti-intellectualism in England (I can't speak for the other member countries of the UK) and certainly the case in the working class schools I was educated in, you'd get bullied for been the class swot basically.