Experience report
Name: Mandy Deben
E-mail: mandy_deben@hotmail.com
Exchange semester: Spring Semester
Academic year: 2014/2015
Host University: Corvinus University Budapest
Country: Hungary
TOPIC: Admission, arrival, housing
How was your arrival organized? Did someone pick you up from the airport/station? Was an
orientation or introduction activity organized? How was accommodation organized? Does the
university provide you with accommodation? What kind of accommodation does the university
provide? Did you have to book your accommodation in advance or did you have to search for a place
to live after you arrived?
When I arrived in Budapest I took an airport shuttle to my accommodation. It costs around 8 euro’s,
so it’s not expensive. The airport shuttle is a small taxi-bus that brings you to your apartment or
hostel. The university organized an introduction day and ESN organized a hostel week and a
welcome party. The hostel week was organized to meet new people and to find flat mates. When I
came in Budapest I didn’t had an apartment yet, but I found one within a few days. It is really easy to
find a room, because there are more rooms then students. I visited a few apartments and I think it is
better to see the apartments first, before paying for them.
The university send some emails with optional rooms and they also offer a dormitory, but I’m not sure
if there are also international students in the dorms.
TOPIC: Location of university/city
Please describe the city you lived in. Where is the university located in the city? What is the best
place to go to eat/drink/dance/do sports/etc.? What are interesting things to see and do in your host
city? What was different than in Tilburg?
Budapest is a really beautiful city. The city is big and there is a lot to see. The university is located in
the center of the city, next to the Danube and the Market Hall.
Eat:
There are a lot of places with delicious food, there are restaurants with Hungarian, Italian, Greek,
Mexican, Indian and Asian food, and a lot more. My favorite restaurants were Trattoria Venezia, an
Italian restaurant and Iguana, a Mexican restaurant.
Drink/going out:
For drinks you can go to Ankert, Kuplung, Szimpla.
For going out it is nice to go to Morrison’s 2 (mainly on Monday’s), Instant (here are a lot of
international students, but also tourists), Ötkert, Hello Baby, Traffic, Fogashaz, Doboz, Alcatraz and a
lot more. If you like R&B music, you can go to the Peaches & Cream.
Sports:
Going to the gym seems to be quite expensive in Budapest. The university has also some sport
facilities, but it is not as well-organized as in Tilburg.
Sightseeing:
- Heroes square
- City park
- Danube
- Gellert hill
- Jewish area, including synagogue
- Parliament
- Market hall
- Basilica
- Fisherman’s Bastion
- Bathhouses (Széchenyi is the biggest and most famous)
- Opera house
- Margaret Island
and there is much more to see.
I would recommend to do an escape room in Budapest as well. Escape rooms are recently in the
Netherlands as well, but it was invented by Hungarians. There are around 80 escape rooms in
Budapest, but different levels of difficulty and different themes.
The most remarkable difference between Tilburg and Budapest is the public transport. In Budapest
there are a lot of busses, trams and metro’s. The metro is running every 5 minutes and the tram even
more often. The busses are driving every 10 minutes. The night transport is also surprisingly good
organized. I lived close to the university, and even in the middle of the night there were a lot of busses
I could take to go home.
TOPIC: Academics
Which courses did you take and why? Which courses would you recommend? What did the courses
add to your program at Tilburg University? How does the university compare to Tilburg University
concerning the level of the courses, use of extra material, level of English, workload, etc.? Overall,
were you happy with your academic achievements during your exchange? Please describe the
campus of your host university.
I followed courses for 24 ECTS in total.
1. Social and demographic problems (6 ECTS)
2. Foundations of psychology (6 ECTS)
3. Personality types and team dynamics (6 ECTS)
4. Professional communication skills (3 ECTS)
5. Media communication (3 ECTS)
I would recommend ‘Personality types and team dynamics’. It was a really interesting course about
the influence of different personality types in a team. The teacher is an American and the course was
really interactive. I also would recommend ‘Foundations of psychology’, although it is an intensive
course. It is interesting if you like psychology. The teacher doesn’t use slides, so it’s a bit old-fashion.
The course ‘Social and demographic problems’ sounded really interesting, but the teacher’s English
was bad and therefore the content was more at a primary school level. The other two courses were
okay if you are interested in those topics.
The workload is a bit lower than in Tilburg. I think I actually had to do more presentations than in
Tilburg. The content is easier and most presentations don’t require much preparation, so the workload
is lower. The exams are also way easier at Corvinus.
I was happy with most of my courses. Some courses were really useful, but the exams were not really
representative for the whole content. At Corvinus there are a lot of courses for just 3 ECTS. So it is
normal for the regular students to have 10 courses in one semester.
The campus is nice. Corvinus University has three different buildings. The main building is really old
and beautiful. An other quite old building is just for computer courses. The last building is the new
building. It looks more like a fancy parliament than a university. The advantage of the new building is
that the classrooms are really bright and quite big. The classrooms in de main building are really
small. The main hall in the main building is really beautiful and sometimes there is a party in the
university. It is really cool to see the university changing into a party venue.
TOPIC: Social life
Which social activities organized by the university or students? Did you have contact with local
students? Did you have contact with other exchange students? How did you get along with the local
students and other exchange students? Did you travel to other places/countries during your
exchange?
Most social activities were organized by ESN. The university organized a kind of tour in the university
and two times a party in de main building. ESN organized two pub crawls, the hostel week,
sightseeing tours, a day to the bathhouse, the welcome party, fresh camp, different travels (to
Slovenia and to Croatia), a beer pong event, a quiz night and lots of other activities. The first week
they organized a lot, so it is really easy to meet a lot of people in your first few days. The university
also helps you by giving you a tandem partner. This is a local student who can help you with all
questions about the university, the city or other questions. I didn’t had contact with mine, but I know a
lot of people really liked to hang out with their tandem partners.
I had a lot of contact with other exchange students. I lived together with 5 other girls; two from France,
one from Poland, one from South Korea and one from the United States. At the introduction day they
told us that most international students are from France and Germany. But there are also a lot of
students from the Netherlands, Italy and the United States. I met people from all over the world.
People from Mexico, Kazakhstan, China, Russia, Canada and a lot of other countries. I really loved
the international environment and I didn’t hang out with Dutch students much.
I travelled to four different places: Prague, Milan, Slovenia and Beograd.
Prague:
I travelled to Prague with a small group. It is a really beautiful city. It is super touristic. I was there in
February and it was quite cold, but it was still crowded. The city centre is way smaller than the city
centre in Budapest. It is nice to do a free walking tour, because the guides take you to all the small
areas.
Milan:
The city is really modern and there are not that much touristic activities. Milan is most famous for
expensive shopping area. I liked walking down the streets and listening to the street musicians in the
sunshine.
Slovenia:
Slovenia is a really beautiful country. I loved going there. I went there by train and the whole way is
just an amazing view with lots of mountains and rivers. I would recommend to go to the Lake of Bled
and to some caves (they have a lot). Ljubljana is quite small, so I wouldn’t spend much time in the city
itself. I’ve also been in Maribor. That’s a small city with a lot of students, so it’s nice to spend one
night there.
Beograd:
Beograd is a beautiful city and there are not that many tourists. The prices are quite the same as in
Budapest, so for us that means it’s very cheap. They have a kind of old castle where you have a nice
view over the city. I would recommend to go to a theatre. I went to a ballet in Beograd and the small,
old theatre is a nice place to visit.
TOPIC: Living costs
How did you finance your exchange period, apart from the grant you received from Tilburg University?
What were your living expenses abroad like compared to Tilburg? What did you spend most of your
money on? What would you advice future students to spend their money on? Please outline your
approximate monthly budget whilst on exchange: housing, food, textbooks, etc.
I saved some money before I went to Budapest. It’s a cheap city, but you still can spend a lot of
money by going out and travel a lot. I got my grant from Tilburg University, my monthly money from
government, a compensation for not using public transport in the Netherlands and I got some money
from my parents. I spend most money on travels and in restaurants. Because it’s so cheap to eat in
restaurants, it’s really tempting to do this at least once a week.
My approximate monthly costs:
Housing: 350
Food (including restaurants): 200
Drinks/going out: 100
Textbooks: 0
Travels: 150
I didn’t had to buy books. Most teachers publish some articles in the online system, a kind of
blackboard.
TOPIC: Culture
Did you experience culture shock while on exchange? How would you compare your host culture to
your own culture? What did you learn about your own culture while on exchange? What was different
about your host culture than you expected? What did you like and not like about your host culture? Do
you feel you learned a lot about your host culture, and if not, what would you like to learn more? How
would you describe your host countries culture? If you travelled to other cities/countries during your
exchange, were they different than your host city/country, and how?
I didn’t experience a culture shock. The culture is not so different in Budapest then in Amsterdam for
example. It is just a huge, touristic city. The only thing that is different is that most people don’t speak
English. Furthermore they like to eat different. Hungarian people eat a lot of meat and paprika. The
Hungarian people don’t speak English well and therefore might seem a bit unfriendly and sometimes
even rude. In Budapest there are the same shops, restaurants, movies and music then in our country,
so there are way more similarities than differences. The culture in other places I’ve seen was okay. In
Prague I was a bit shocked that people are allowed to smoke in a lot of restaurants. And in Slovenia I
was surprised how well the people spoke English.
TOPIC: Personal development
What did you learn from the people you met during your exchange? Would you do things differently if
you had the chance, and what would you do differently? What was your best experience, and what
was your worst experience? What will you remember for ever about your exchange period? What was
the most important lesson you learned about yourself during your exchange period?
I learned a lot from the people I met. Some simple things, like the names of all the vegetables in
English or introducing myself in a few different languages. But I also learned something more about
the censorship in China. Next to specific things I also learned that it’s interesting to work with people
from different countries. The borders are so meaningless and it is so easy to communicate with
everyone. I think I wouldn’t change a thing if I had the chance to do this semester all over again. The
best thing I’ve done was definitely just go there, without having a room. While looking for a room and
for roommates I met most people. Afterwards I still have contact with my roommates in Budapest. I
think good roommates will definitely make your semester abroad even better. I will always remember
the people I’ve met, they parties I went to and the beautiful places I’ve seen.
The most important lesson I’ve learned is to be more confident (all people always said that Dutch
people speak English really well) and to be more open for different views. Sometimes when you work
with people from different nationalities you have to think ‘out of the box’.
TOPIC: Tips for future students
Would you recommend an exchange period? Would you recommend your host university? What
should prospective students bring with them/leave behind? What preparation is required for going on
exchange to this destination? Was there anything you should have done in preparation that you didn’t
do?
I would definitely recommend everyone to go on an exchange. Abroad you can learn a lot. I’ve met so
many amazing people and I had a lot of fun. I would also recommend my host university. Education is
a little different than in Tilburg. Classes are longer and more interactive. The ESN group organizes a
lot and there are around 500 exchange students every semester. So you won’t be alone. You don’t
need to bring any specific things. Most important is a camera, so you can make a lot of pictures of the
city and everyone you’ll meet. I didn’t do much in preparation and I would recommend everyone to do
the same. Budapest has a lot of student rooms, so don’t be afraid to go there without much
preparation. You will find a room easily and you can choose your roommates.