Spring 2017, Issue I

Greetings from Budapest!

We send you warm greetings from a still cold Budapest, but we hope spring is just around the corner. Spring 2017 students have arrived safely, begun their classes and they are settling in to enjoy a great semester in Hungary. This semester we have 47 students—an all-time record for the Budapest program—and we are certainly very happy and proud to have such a big group. The first week was very busy with orientation, getting to know the city, set up internship opportunities, beginning to learn more about Hungarian culture, and finalizing course registrations.

We all braved chilly air as we toured the city during orientation. We went to see the most important places and learnt to use the city’s public transportation system.

We finished the first day of orientation with an opening group dinner where students enjoyed tasting different kinds of Hungarian food.

Navigating the city and its public transportation first appeared to be a daunting task but, after the Scavenger Hunt assignment, students felt more comfortable.  Students were divided into small groups and had to find places, significant landmarks, and even some food item. Students enjoyed all the sights, marveled the magnificent panorama of Budapest, and were able to get to know each other.

Students are already enjoying various cultural events in addition to exploring the city on their own. Last weekend there was a festival featuring and promoting a special Hungarian breed pig, called mangalica. There were all kinds of food made from mangalica meat, plus arts and craft, and music. What way to celebrate the end of the first week of classes!

Best regards,

Elizabeth Simon, Resident Director

Judit Fekete, Resident Coordinator

Dóra Kovács, Program Coordinator