Before the trip

I put pretty much the minimum effort when preparing for my trip. There're some obligatory things to do anyway.

Why Budapest?

Things that made me choose Budapest after I had decided to leave: I also considered Reykjavík, Prague, Dresden, Dublin and some other places. Not the States, though.

• It's cheap in Hungary
• Teaching in English or closely resembling English
• Good courses (on paper...)
• Reykjavík lost the subjective competition
• Easy to leave: a place in dorm guaranteed, free living and lunches. Or that's how it was before, when TUT and TUB had a bilateral exchange program. Anyway, one needn't worry about where to stay now either.
• Everyone is going to Germany or the States. It doesn't make sense to go to Hungary. This was the most important reason.

Applying

It was quite easy to apply for an exchange place, after I had decided where I want to go. Just filling some application forms. The only course that didn't have an English name on my transcript of records was the English language test. Apparently the language center couldn't translate it or something. One must also get a language certificate in English, and I almost missed it. I took the test just before the papers were sent to Budapest.The test itself was just a little conversation. Alan had almost filled the whole form after I had said "hello".

After some weeks they sent a letter of admission from Budapest. The letter mentioned about a tuition fee of 2500$. I thought it must be a mistake and forgot it for a month. When I went to the International Office to ask about it, they called to Budapest and the error was corrected. I received a new admission letter in a couple of days. That was pretty much the only help that the Int.Office offered or I asked for.

I couldn't see anywhere any instructions about getting a visa, it was just mentioned in the letter of admission. [The excellent survival guide tells more, but I didn't know about it at the moment.] I searched the web to find the Hungarian Embassy in Finland. I e-mailed them (in Finnish) and asked for the application papers. The papers arrived after a week with a note in English. Filling these papers was not so trivial. For example, the term "Address abroad" means the applicant's address in Finland. I could conclude this since I've taken some courses in mathematical logic. They would have asked for "Address in Hungary" had they meant that.

Before sending the application I e-mailed them (in English) to ask about the fee. They answered in Finnish. I payed in advance and enclosed the receipt to the application. Other required enclosures: photos, passport, copy of the TUB letter of admission, copy of a bank statement and a paper showing that I have a credit card. I hoped that the letter of admission would cover all the other certificates that were listed on the embassy web page. It did. It took exactly one week to get the visa, including shipments. It costed 220mk + 54mk of postal fees.

More Information

Klaus Anderson had been in Budapest in the spring 1999, and I e-mailed him some questions. I found out e.g.

• Electricity is 220V as in Finland and the plugs are normal.
• In half a year one learns the very basics of Hungarian.
• The living standards in Martos are, mildly put, low. There's kitchen but one needs one's own kitchenware. Sheets are on the house. There're washing machines and using them is cheap.
• There are three computers, but no SSH (outdated info)
• Living in Martos costs 150 marks/month. (outdated)
• Some courses have exams, some not. The exam may be oral.
• One doesn't have to wait until all the teachers have given the grades. The results will be sent to Finland later.
• The post is delivered in the lockers at the reception. A letter from Finland comes in 1-2 weeks.
• It's surprisingly cold in the winter. Martos is warm, though.
• The a priori study plan has next to no importance. A new one will be made in Budapest.

Finance & address

One must inform the student support board that one is leaving. The accommodation support for exchange students doesn't depend on the actual living costs but on the target country. For Hungary the support is 900mk /month. (Rent in Martos ca. 80mk /month.)

I didn't tell anyone that my address is changing. My brothers moved in my apartment in Tampere, so it didn't matter if my posts kept coming there. However, I could have made a temporary change of address to get my mail to Martos. It seemed to work fine with my room-mate Janne.

Tickets

I agreed with Janne Mäkipetäjä that we'll take the same flight on September 3rd. I went to the travel agency as soon as Janne had reserved his ticket, but the flight was already sold out. There would have been some places in the *)busyness class (5000mk+ ), but I wasn't that busy. I took the flight on the 6th of September.

*) I know how to spell it, stupid. Sorry 'bout that. I'm tired.

The last paragraph

A couple of weeks before leaving I contacted Hungary for the first time. I e-mailed to Eszter and made sure that I'll have a place to stay in Budapest. The answer came in a week:

Date:	Tue, 24 Aug 1999 18:44:56 GMT+100
Subject:	Re: Accommondation for exchange students?
Priority:	Normal
X-mailer:	Pmail v3.0 (R1a)
Message-ID:	<128568844E7@kalorgep.bme.hu>
Status:	RO

Jo estet!

> I'm going to study at BME the fall term 1999. I have heard that the
> ERASMUS/SOCRATES exchange students live in a dorm, and the cost is
> ca. 4000-6000ft/month. Is this true? Is the dorm far from the campus?
> Can I be sure that I'll have a place to stay when I arrive on
> september 6th?

Everything is true. The dorm is on campus, the address is 1111
Budapest Sztoczek u. 5-7. You will get your place when you arrive,
do not worry.

Yours,

Eszter Kiss

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