Experience report
E-mail: bieke_kooijmans@hotmail.com
Study Program: Bachelor Human Resource Management
Exchange semester: Fall
Academic year: 4th year of bachelor
Host University: ELTE Budapest
Country: Hungary
General information about the school
I did my exchange with ELTE university in Budapest. I am studying Human Resource
Management, but I chose to do some of my minor courses in Social Psychology abroad. I
decided to go to ELTE, because they offer a broad program of psychology courses, including
courses in intercultural psychology, which seemed very interesting to me. At the end, I was
very happy that I chose some of the intercultural psychology courses. Because besides the
educational theories and knowledge of the professors, the different cultural backgrounds of all
students resulted in interesting discussions. My faculty was called the Faculty of Psychology
and Education, and is located in the city centre. All faculties of ELTE are on a different
location, but most of them are close to the city centre. Most courses are offered to both
international and Hungarian students, but are often only taken by international students
because the level of the average Hungarian student is not really high. However, the level of
English of the Hungarian teachers at ELTE is quite good. Like in the Netherlands, there is a
difference between lectures and practical’s. Some lectures are with a lot of people in a big
room, and you only have to listen to the teacher. While the practical’s are more interactive,
and in small groups. During my semester some lectures were more handled as practical’s, due
to a lack of enrolments. I have to say that I really liked this, because you get to know your
classmates very well and you have to engage in deep discussions. This is very interesting
because of the cultural differences of your classmates, but also very good for your English
fluency.
Practical information
With the registration to ELTE everything was arranged very quickly. Maybe the information
and availability of certain courses can be a bit deficient beforehand. But during the first
introduction days everything will be explained. Sometimes certain information can arrive a bit
late, but after that everything is clear. So you have to be a bit more patient sometimes.
However, you can always go to the international office and they are very willing to help you.
At ELTE, international students are assigned a mentor, who can also help you with some
practical information about the university and its procedures, but also about the city.
I did not have language problems with my faculty, because everything was arranged in
English. But when you go out of the faculty, and ask for example the receptionist for a favour,
she cannot speak English at all. I was really surprised by the fact that even a lot of Hungarian
students are not able to have a conversation in English. However, because Budapest is a very
touristic city, you will survive with only English. I did not do the Hungarian language course
because I already had to do 8 courses, but a lot of people found it really hard. Of course it is
nice to know some basic Hungarian.
There is a possibility to stay in the university dormitory, but I strongly recommend to find an
accommodation by yourself. The dormitory seems to be quite far out of the city centre, and it
is not really difficult to find a nice apartment together with other students in the city centre of
Budapest for around €300-€400 per month. I found my roommates and apartment beforehand
via facebook, but there are also a lot of students who are looking for a place after arrival. I
preferred to have a accommodation in advance, just to be sure.
Budapest is not really expensive when you look at the living costs. As I mentioned for a rent
of €300-€400 per month, you can get a nice and spacious apartment in the city centre of
Budapest. Furthermore, as a student you can buy a monthly transportation card for €12 and a
monthly prepaid card for your phone with internet for €14. I was also really surprised by the
prices of dinner and drinks in restaurants and bars. For €5-€8 you have a nice main course in a
restaurant, and the average price of 0.5L beer is around €1,50. I did not have to buy books for
my study, because all readings were published online.
The introduction week at ELTE started the first week of September. I arrived in Budapest one
week before, to see the highlights of the city and to get to know some people. The
introduction week is a mixture of some formal registration procedures and nice activities to
get to know each other. In this week you have to subscribe for your courses, but after you still
have another week to try some courses and to decide on your final courses. In October there
was an autumn break, which I used to make some trips. The official exam period was from
14th of December till the 31th of January. For most courses I could choose between 4 exam
dates in this period. I finished all my exams before the Christmas break, so I was free in
January.
There are a lot of social activities organized by ESN, the Erasmus Student Network.
Especially in the first weeks it is really nice to join, because it is a good way to meet new
people. In my experience, you have a lot of contact with other Erasmus students, because
everyone wants to have fun and meet new people. However, I only knew some Hungarian
students from my courses, but there is a kind of separation between Erasmus and Hungarian
students. Another activity that I would strongly recommend is to make some trips. First it is
nice to see some other cities in Hungary, like Pecs, Szeged or Balaton. You cannot compare
these cities with Budapest, because they are not as big and vivid, but it’s nice to see a bit more
of Hungary. Besides cities in Hungary, I visited Krakau in Poland, Prague in the Czech
Republic, and Ljubljana and Bled in Slovenia. All atmospheric and beautiful cities!
Furthermore, I was positively surprised by the beautiful nature of Slovenia. All these cities are
easily to visit because there are a lot of busses going there, and you can buy bus tickets for
only €30 to €50 euros.
I did not really experience a culture shock while I was on exchange. The biggest difference
between the Hungarian culture and the Dutch culture is that in the Netherlands people are
more punctual, and activities and other procedures are better planned and organized. For
example, Hungarian teachers and students are or just in time for a lecture, or a few minutes
late. While in the Netherlands we are used to be around 5 minutes early, so the lecture can
start at the exact time. I realized that a lot of my norms and values are connected to this Dutch
punctuality, so in the beginning I was really annoyed by this attitude, but I got used to it very
quickly. However, because I lived in the centre of a big city in Hungary, i don’t think this is a
very good representation of the Hungarian culture. I would like to learn more about the
differences in the way of life between people in the cities, and people in rural areas in
Hungary. I know there is still a lot of poverty in Hungary, and i did not really see this with my
own eyes.
I think my exchange experience affected me both in a cultural and social point of view. In the
beginning you arrive on your own in a big, unknown city. So you have to be very
independent, but also very active and open to new activities and new people. You are alone,
and you have to create a whole social world around you. But also because you get in touch
with so many people with different cultural backgrounds, you become so much more aware of
the differences and similarities of people. I am often wondering why we cannot live with that
open and interested attitude towards other people in daily life. Everyone is captured in his
own groups and own connections, while there are so many interesting people with who you
can be in contact. This is the most important lesson for me, that I learned during my exchange
period, to be more open and not only to the steady and secure connections you’ve already
build.
Academic information
There is a broad program of courses in English at ELTE, so all courses I followed where
taught in English. As I mentioned before I took some courses in social psychology because I
needed the credits for my minor. But as extra courses I chose some courses in intercultural
psychology. This is not directly linked to my field of study, but for sure very interesting and
integratable to HRM. The academic level is lower than at Tilburg University. The readings
and other material could be more or less the same, but the examination is less severe. The
lectures are more based on theories and readings, and have a written final exam at the end for
which you really have to study. But for some of the practicals you have to do an oral exam or
an essay, so you only have to know some background information. The teachers also wanted
to know how you could use the information of their course in your field of study, and your
opinion and view on certain topics. So in comparison to Tilburg University the lectures and
examination was a bit more practical. It looked like there was no official rating system, so
they did not make a big difference between sufficient or good work.
Here you can see an overview of my courses:
Course
Social psychology 2
Exam
3 midterms
or final exam
ECTS
3
Social psychology 2
practical
Culture: definitions
and dimensions
Participation
and essay
Essay and
oral exam
3
Minority and majority
identity
Oral exam
and
homework
Essays and
presentation
4
Presentation,
essay and
final exam
3
Prejudices and
Ideologies
Cultural and crosscultural psychology 2
3
3
Comments
Lecture, 3 midterms multiple choice on
computer, if you passed these midterms, you did
not have to do the final exam.
Practical
Introduction into cultural anthropology, at the
end you had to write an essay, and an oral
exam about this essay and some basics
Course about social identity and intergroup
relations. Not so much homework, and oral
exam about basic material.
For this course you have to write a lot of essays
(weekly), and at the end a presentation.
Interesting topics.
Course about gender studies. Presentation
about an article, free choice of topic for essay,
multiple choice final exam about powerpoints.
Minorities in society
Culture and society
Presentation
and final
exam
2 midterms
or final exam
3
Course about minorities in different countries in
Europe. A bit political, but very interesting.
3
Lecture. 2 midterms, if you pass these, you do
not have to do the final exam.
Overall, I would really recommend you to go on exchange! To improve you social skills,
English skills, cultural awareness and your independency. Besides that, Budapest is a great
city to go to as an exchange student, because it is very vivid, there are a lot of other students,
and it is a good place to travel to other countries. ELTE is a good university, and for me
everything was arranged perfectly.