Hungary – UTS Global Exchange

So i’ve been in Budapest now for roughly 2 and a half weeks, and it’s been a pretty intense few weeks. I’ve found a flat right in the heart of Budapest, just near the main railway station. Its a cosy 3 bedroom apartment and takes 8 minutes on the tram to get to uni (which makes the 8.15 starts slightly more bareable). I live with a german guy and a french girl, who are great to live with. They are both very different from the majority of french and german people on exchange who seem to almost exclusively hang out and live with people from their home country, luckily for me this isn’t an option as i’m the only Australian on Exchange at BME

The orientation program was organised by the Exchange Student Network (ESN), made up of hungarian students known as “mentors”. It went for a week, and it was awesome. Each day or night there was a different event, where you put into a different group and were forced to meet other people, and do activities such as Tour the campus, pub crawl, drinking games, city rally and a welcome party. The week finished off with a camp at Lake Baliton, which was a smaller town a few hours from Budapest, where we did more activities, explored the city and did some swimming. It was an awesome week, i meet loads of people, its safe to say a few beverages were consumed in this week.

My mexican friend Pato enjoying the mini train ride

One of the major difference between Sydney and Budapest is the price of things, Budapest is soooo cheap! A pint of beer costs around $1.50, you can get kebabs on pretty much every corner for about $2.5, you can get sandwiches from uni for $2 (so its not even worth your time to pack a lunch) and rent is about half what I pay in Sydney. So far i have no idea how much i’ve been spending because roughly 1AUD = 200 Forent, but i’m getting used to it.

University is reasonably similar to Australia, where you have lectures and tutorials although my classes are quite small. Also their online resources are pretty much non-existent, so that could be interesting. I’m also taking a Hungarian Beginners Course, which is actually a very difficult language, and the elderly hungarian woman who teaches us is very impatient 😦
So far i’m absolutely loving this city, and excited for the next few months!

Luke Rowntree

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Jo Napot Kivanok,

Simply, Budapest is an amazing city and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to travel on exchange. Firstly, the university here is very accommodating, with a large exchange program they provide constant assistance if required, as well as organising a diverse range of events to participate in, including traditional Hungarian dinners and weekly pub evening to trips to Prague, Krakow and a Croatian sailing weekend. The university classes are quite different to UTS, being a more formal, conservative style of education, which sometimes can be frustrating but is, for the most part, relaxed and enjoyable. I would definitely encourage any future students of BME to undertake the Hungarian Beginners course as it is very helpful with getting around the city, and the locals appreciate the effort.

Budapest itself is an incredibly beautiful city, especially along the Danube, with Buda Castle and the Hungarian parliament on opposite sides. The weather is pretty cold in winter, though not too bad, but during spring it is very comfortable and the city begins to open up. Budapest also has a great nightlife, and whilst some places can be too tourist-filled, there are a lot of very cool bars and ruin pubs with no shortage for choice. Ruin pubs are the unique aspect of the nightlife in Budapest and are always worth exploring. Budapest is also a very inexpensive city, when compared to Sydney, which makes living here very enjoyable. A lot of money can be saved whilst living in Budapest, creating opportunities to travel to the surrounding cities both inside and outside of Hungary. Also important to note, that the average price of a beer is 300 HUF, or $1.50. I can’t stress enough how amazing the prices of things are here!

Whilst I hadn’t originally chosen to study in Budapest, I would advise any future exchange students who are looking for a relaxed, cheap, fun city with a great nightlife and exchange program to consider Budapest.

Isaac Harrisson 11690967

Category: Hungary

Budapest Living

Szia from Budapest