Our AIESEC Experiences Abroad: Hungray

23/3-28/3
Budapest, Szetendre, Pecs, Godollo

Jaq was the friend who picked me up at the train station. He was the alumnus of AIESEC and planning to go to Asia soon. I knew him through Yip Lam, an AIESECer who went to exchange in Budapest in the winter break. Jaq was very passionate about Chinese culture and currently learning Mandarin. Once I arrived, he took care of me a lot. If he comes to Hong Kong later, I would like to treat him as well as he treated me. He told me a lot of interesting things/stories when we walked around the city. We also shared economic, political thought with each other. Hungarians had really a long history since the large empire they possessed before. Owing to the Second World War, it lost 2/3 land which later developed into different countries. Jaq was very friendly as he always hanged out with trainees. He had also hosted trainees before, but due to the opposition of his family, he did not do so this time. He had also been to Sri Lanka for MT for one year, so he had no problem in dealing with Asian culture. All in all, I deeply appreciated the hospitality shown by him and treasured all the good time spent with him.

Budapest

When I firstly arrived, I was a little bit shocked because I have finally gone back to big city. Buildings were not very tall, but streets were narrower with more modern transport facilities. I needed to re adapt to live here, perhaps because I stayed in Romania for three weeks already.

The first thing I had to adapt was the transportation. A variety of transportation methods like trams, buses, subway, suburban railways were available with high quality. It was much more convenient than in Romania. They were all well connected with each other, which made travelling very easy. Once you got a map, you can travel to the place you want by a weekly pass.

The second thing I had to adapt was about food. Fast food shops such as McDonald, Burger King were very visible. Turkish fast food existed everywhere too. Surprisingly, lots of Chinese fast food shops were available here. But Jaq told me that some of them were owned by Vietnamese instead of Chinese. I had not tried lots of fast food, but street food like Langos, Gyros. It was not like in Romania, when you felt hungry, you don not know where you should go to eat.

The third thing I had to adapt was that I was not so unique as in Romania. More Chinese, Japanese and Asian faces appeared on the streets. No people were staring at me. I thought one of the reasons was that there were lots of tourists visiting Budapest. I listened some of them speak Cantonese too!

The forth thing was that I went back to Lonely Plant travel style. Since there were not lots of people I knew or I can interact with, it reminded me when I firstly arrived in Bucharest. By the way, I missed the time I had enjoyed in Brasov, Cluj and Iasi. Somehow it was people who can add colour to your exchange journey. Beautiful places were not absent, but it lacked the interaction and communication with people.

Attractions

Budapest was definitely a place that you cannot miss in Eastern Europe. Architectures were so beautiful. Even when you were walking on the street, you will discover some nice buildings when you looked up. The attractions you cannot miss:
The Parliament; Buda Castle; Fisherman Bastron; the statue of liberty; Szent Istvan Bazilika; Hero’s Square and Danube River at night.

I was lucky enough to have really nice weather when I was in Hungary. Nice photos were not hard to capture. I loved the Szent Istvan Bazilika and the hill where the statue of liberty located most. The large Cathedral was so breathtaking both externally and internally. Hero’s Square was also magnificent with all the sculptures and metals. A bird view can be seen from the hill, where you can see the whole Budapest. Simply words cannot describe the beauty I had seen, so please visit Budapest if you come to CEE.

Szentendre

It was a little town located at the north of Budapest. It was a very convenient place where you can take a ride on rural railway called HEV. The Danube River Bends can be seen clearly there. Old Serbian Church, art galleries and souvenirs’ shops were the characteristics of this small town. Tourists were not absent from this place, where you would not be lost at all.

Godollo

Another small town was located at the East of the city. Although there were fewer tourist attractions, you won’t be disappointed if you go there in summer time. The city had three nice parks. Imagine that you are walking along the park that is full of green trees and flower blossoms, you will know how beautiful of this small town. The main attraction was Royal Palace of Queen Elizabeth, which was one of the largest summer residences in Europe. It was crucial to Hungary because it signified the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Traditional dressing, furniture, vases and plates were exhibited inside the palace. I felt like embedding in the western culture of the Empire.

Pecs

Located in the south west of Hungary, Pecs took me 3 hours to reach by train. It was the European Cultural Capital in 2010, which will have several cultural events taking place this year. Owing to this reason, most of the places were under renovation, including two main plazas. You can simply visit the whole town on foot in 3 hours. Pecs was a cozy, relaxing town that also included large cathedral and a Turkish temple. Buildings were just magnificent and awesome. The four-towned Church decorated with sculptures and paintings was a must see attraction while the Turkish Temple remained its own style among the Hungarian architecture. Loads of restaurants were not absent from the streets. Tourists would not get bored in visiting this small appealing town.

Funny things

I had gone with Jaq to his LC election, which was originally intended to go for the party afterwards. However, the election was extended, so I cannot enjoy the nightlife of Budapest. Even with my presence, the election was conducted in Hungarian. Maybe they were not cultural sensitive enough. But I could still observe the facial expression and gesture, which were quite funny. Before announcing the result, the candidate was invited to do some tasks. The funniest thing was about the announcement of the result. The candidate needed to change her cloth and got outside of the election plenary. If she/he is elected, people will open champagne and spill over him/her. It was so exciting especially under such cold weather. Perhaps we should start such tradition in our LC too.