Budapest, Hungary: The Adventures of a University Student
by Melanie- Student at Corvinus, University of Budapest, Hungary
Part I
Starting on August 28th,
2012, I left Sacramento, California and headed towards Budapest, Hungary where
I will be studying for a school year. I flew from Sacramento to Washington D.C.
and that was a very interesting flight because it is a four hour flight over
the United States and I had a window seat…which was nice and the girl I was
sitting next to was super nice but the guy at the end (sitting next to her) was
kind of creepy and if I remember right, smelled. But besides that, I got an
hour of sleep or so, so that was definitely a nice touch. Haha
And let’s see, oh! I arrived at
Washington D.C. airport and waited for a couple hours but then learned that
United was having issues with their computer system so had to wait another
hour. And then finally, got onto the plane and was on my way to Budapest. The
flight took about 8 hours and loved the people who were sitting next to me. I
was sitting in one of the middle chairs as there were four people there. And on
either side of us were two people (by the windows I mean). The person to my
left was a girl who is teaching English in Turkey. She was a lot of fun to talk
to and I definitely learned a lot about wanting to teach English. I have been
thinking about going to a country to teach English but I’m not sure yet.
Depends on how I feel after being abroad for a year without being able to be
home and physically being around family and friends.
The guy to my immediate right was going
to Florence (if I remember right) to study there for a year for his Masters in
Architecture (or historical architecture or something like that). He was fun to
talk with as well because I learned about what he wanted to do, where he wanted
to work and what he was planning to do while being in Florence, France. And
then the guy sitting next to him was going to Poland for three weeks…why?
Working for the Department of Defense to dig up historical remains during WWII
and there was something else as well but I can’t remember what all it was. It
was really interesting to talk to him and made me want to work for the
Department of Defense just to be able to
travel…seriously. And everything is paid for.
So, after a long 8 hour flight, which I
think I got like 3 or 4 hours of sleep, arrived in Munich, Germany with about
two hours to wait until my flight to Budapest. It was really interesting
because I didn’t have to fill any paperwork out or anything; just had to go
through passport control and I was on my way to boarding the airplane. And that
flight was only about an hour or so…hour and a half maybe? I don’t remember. It
was a really long day. So I arrived in Budapest, Hungary August 29th,
2012 at around 12:30pm. And then I had to wait for my luggage (one big ass
bag), get a shuttle to my hostel and then go up two flights of stairs to the
third floor (they call it the 2nd floor since US 1st
floor is their ground floor. Yes confusing I know). So finally got settled in
the hostel Casa de la Musica in an all 10 girls dorm…which sucked. I hated the
hostel that first day because I was so new to the country and I really wanted
to go home. That night I met up with the other student from my University and
we talked about our fears and doubts which really did help me. We also had our
first pizzas here which were alright. They weren’t bad or anything but
definitely not the best that I’ve had here too. After that, went back to my hostel and was able to go to
sleep (even if it was freaking hot). The next day I was able to move into a
four, coed person’s dorm which made me happy as it was a lot better than living
in a room with nine other women (who I seriously think were all younger than
me). That morning, as I was eating breakfast (ate oatmeal that I had brought
with me as I didn’t know where to go to get food yet), I met a guy from Germany
and learned he was there on vacation with a friend. I also met three girls from
France, one girl from Germany and another from Portugal that I hung out with a
couple times and even went to my first club with (yes, I’m 23 and first time
ever been to a club and since there was a bar there, second time ever been to a
bar. Sad? Not for me haha).
Anyways on Thursday Aug. 30th,
the other person from my University and I went out exploring and I can’t for
the life of me remember what we did. Ahaha And I think Friday night (can’t
remember what I did during the day), I went out with the two German guys to a
place where they wanted to eat something and I was able to get to know them
better. They definitely were fun people to talk to and the younger one of the
two was very entertaining and kept telling me all these random facts about
Germany. Like the political situation and the red light district. Haha!
And then Saturday I was checking out an
apartment to see if I wanted to rent that place but I didn’t like it. It was
too small and there were some other things about it I also didn’t like. I was
also going to go on a bike tour with the two German guys I befriended and one
of the bar tenders from the hostel as she is a registered tour guide but then it
started raining. So the three of them moved it until Monday which I was totally
ok with. After that decision, the guys wanted to go to a mall so we walked to
the mall and hung out there during the afternoon. It was a lot of fun even if
it was muggy and sticky (damn humidity!). Then during that night, I went to
dinner with the four girls and met a guy from Holland (who spoke English
without any accent; weird!) and it was definitely an interesting adventure to
say the least. Haha! After dinner, they wanted to go to a club (yes, the first
one I ever been too) and so I just went with them as I have never been to one
before and wondered. It was…definitely an interesting experience to say the
least. I found out I like dancing to music where no one gives a shit that you
can’t dance worth shit. Haha! Because there are other people just like you;
sober and drunk. Didn’t so much like
it because of the company but it wasn’t too bad. There were two other times
after this that I liked better *nods head* Yup. Definitely a lot better. Had a
couple hot guys to be around *waggles brows*
Any ways, that next Monday, September 3,
I went on the bike tour to the Fisherman’s Bastion, Matthius church and Buda
Castle which was a lot of fun, even if it was super warm and my back was
sweating like crazy because I was carrying my back pack. But hey! A 1.5 liter
of water is important! Oh..and I got to carry a bike up quite a few stair
cases. Yes, that was loads of fun. And my butt hurt after sitting on the bike
seat because I’m used to bikes with more cushion. But in the end, the tour
guide was awesome (became friends with her and she’s helping me learn Hungarian
and what not) and told us about a lot of history of the different places that
we saw. Then…that night I had my first shot. Ever. It was of Palinka, famous
Hungarian liquor that anyone coming to any part of Hungary has to try. Really.
It’s awesome stuff. The next day though the two German guys left for home. I
was kind of bummed but I met two French guys later that night who were staying
in the same hostel room as me *waggles brows*
And let’s see, Tuesday I can’t remember
what I did. I think I went out and bought a phone with the guy who came with me
from my home university. And the two French guys left Wednesday morning but
came back Thursday. And then Wednesday I got the SIM card that I can use here
in Hungary and be able to call/text people here since the international rate
for my phone from the states would be really, really expensive. And Wednesday
afternoon, there was a tour of the Buda side that was put on by my school so it
was kind of nice being able to meet other students from my school considering I
had already heard about the information of the castle. Then Thursday night, I
met a Spanish guy and a Canadian boy (I’ll call him a boy because he was only
21 haha) and along with the two French guys we went to a bar. And there I
talked with the two French guys at the bar, Szimpla and then they wanted to
move onto a club called Instant Club (the Spanish and Canadian guy went back to
the hostel)…which I got to say was a lot more fun than the time I spent with
the girls at the other club. I really did enjoy myself though as the
night/morning wore on, the more tired I got and I wanted to come back to my
apartment and sleep…And yes, I got an apartment Thursday and was I happy!
I am now living in my apartment and
loving it.