Being a typical bachelor’s student, who at this exact moment is supposed to be carefully studying for the upcoming Hungarian language exam, I naturally rather chose to procrastinate but at least in a seemingly healthy way – sorting out and fixing my thoughts and memories on the longest time I have ever spent outside Latvia. Very soon I am returning home for couple of weeks to continue my ways to three-month living in Iceland but that is totally different story. Therefore, back to the point where I shall collect some best pieces of my experiences in Hungary and other countries as diverse as they have been. To those, who read this but know neither the long nor short version of the story, some explanation, I guess, is needed. Actually it goes very simple. In September I came to Hungary to have my ERASMUS semester. Everything went fine but I was still super-convinced I will want to go home after 5 months as I have never left Latvia for more than a month before that. But of course, as some of you might have experienced, life likes to take different paths, many of which we do not realize immediately. So, one bright November morning, just 10 minutes before leaving for Budapest, out of nowhere a thought sneaked up to my mind saying „Hey, girl, I think you ought to stay here a bit more” so in the very moment I rushed to write to my international coordinator and applied to extend my studies. „Yes, just some extra paperwork but we think financing won’t be a problem for you”. Voila! Easy as that and so here I am after 8 months, not feeling exactly like home but also not like being abroad anymore in the land of Magyars. As for the question given in the title - I am sure every ERASMUS student, who comes to Hungary, has heard it uncountable times and already has generated fixed answer, all the same to fit for every case. According to me there are two versions of the answer. The short one is very straightforward: „No idea”. The long(er) one is a bit extended with some bits and peaces like „Because I like Eastern Europe so much” or something similar. Indeed, also other students, when being given this question, are quite sincere saying they had no clue what Hungary is about and I think this (kind of a) mystery is what actually makes this country worth giving a try. All I knew before was the name of the capital (which due to good geography teacher in high-school, I know is NOT Bucharest) and something about decent wine and palinka. Other than that, for me the whole country and Hungarians seemed as a blank page of dots where they need to be connected with lines otherwise the Picture is almost not apparent at all. It is there but you are the one, who need to be ready and willing to discover what’s actually beneath it.
Benedict Hill and its cross of Veszprém ©Malvīne Vernera
To cover these matters, I decided to give short 3 reasons to visit or not visit Hungary for people considering living/working/studying in here or simply being curious about it. Though, one must keep in mind that I do not live in Budapest but 120km south of it, town of Veszprém, located near Lake Balaton, which means that the environments here totally differs from the ones in the capital: Choose Hungary in case you:
- similarly as me prefer Eastern Europe rather than Western Europe. Although being quite advanced, Hungary still has this simplicity of life which always excites me more than the order and punctualities of the west. Undoubtedly, not everything is as great about economy or infrastructure here not to mention political situation but if you prefer things to be calm and people kind, this is what you most certainly get;
- need to get trough it CHEAP. Compared to other countries students from my university had chosen to go (Norway, Spain, Portugal, Italy, for instance) with the given scholarship here I live better than ever and it is very possible not only to get your own room and not to eat only pasta with ketchup but also to provide oneself with cultural life, make some savings and, as in my case, to travel quite a lot. As by now, during my ERASMUS I have visited 9 countries, some of them even three times, the closest being neighboring ones (Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Austria) and the furthest – Portugal. And even so, I still feel I could and should have traveled and explored even more! Even if you do not have as much finances as I have luckily been funded with, the solutions are numerous: hitch-hike, couchsurf, shop in second-hand, buy local, visit grandma’s of your Hungarian friends (they will feed you enough to survive for several weeks in advance) etc. All of that is more than possible on this part of Europe.
View over the city of Budapest. Sight worth seeing! ©Malvīne Vernera 
My sister – a happy tourist in Novi Sad during our latest trip to Serbia. (It rained 24/7 but still we managed to enjoy it as much as possible!) ©Malvīne Vernera
- like to challenge yourself with hard-core languages. If you happen to be one of ‘em crazy polyglots who for some reasons fancy picking the most random languages, Hungarian must be the one for you. Known to be one of Finno-Ugric languages yet still, being understood by neither Finns nor Estonians, I sometimes truly believe that this language by some misunderstanding simply appeared out of another galaxy and somehow there happened to be people insane enough to actually gain the knowledge and pass it on. Other than that – quite beautiful language and, in fact, not as difficult, if you really pay attention to studying it and what’s most important – use it on everyday basis. 2. Do not choose Hungary if:
- You are used to currency with small numbers and do not like to carry tons of coins with you. For the first couple of months Hungarian forints were responsible for some bit of my headache. When I first found out the dorms would cost 40 000 forints, I thought that someone’s fingers slipped when typing but that’s how it goes here. I think, still after 8 months I have no clue how much I pay each time since calculating such large numbers in head simply is not my strongest skill;
- You expect to have loud and active people around you 24/7. As mentioned, Hungarians are rather calm and pleasant people to be around but on everyday basis you will not see them rioting, dancing, singing or whatnot during a daytime. After a couple of beers, the situation might change, though..
- You expect to be surrounded by girls in bikini or half-naked dudes sunbathing. Although, from the perspective of Latvian, I have moved quite significant distance to the south, the weather here came as a surprise and sometimes contacting my friends and family back in Latvia it even seemed that the Baltic States enjoy more warmth and sun than Hungary. Besides, Hungary has not coast-line yet Lake Balaton is beautiful and warm enough in the summer (and even in autumn, if you have some cold Nordic blood rushing trough your veins).
Bike Trip to Balatonalmádi, spring 2014. ©Malvīne Vernera
So, all together what can I say – study abroad if possible and chose the way to spend this time according to your own goals and desires. Travel a lot if you want, stay in one place and party internationally if you prefer that. Or do both. As for now, I think I had my time here now it is the moment to move forward, to go back home, do everything and nothing with my friends, cuddle with my dogs and cats, do some work in garden, grab bunch of Latvian books with me and hit the road again as it is not even near to being fulfilled. Of course, enormous thanks goes to some particular people, who have helped me, who have created friendships, shared moments, accompanied my travels, given me a couch when I have needed it the most, introduced me with new perspectives etc. (I think you very well know, who you are!) as I hope (even more- I am sure) our paths will cross somehow sometime again!