Hello Stranger! Welcome to Hungary101: Intro to the Land of Ruin Pubs and Thermal Baths Course. It will be the best class you will ever take, you’re going to learn a lot, and pass with flying colours as failing is nearly impossible. Of course there might be challenges along the way, but fun challenges. So get ready to leave your comfort zone behind and make yourself ready to spend a few magnificent months in this weird and wonderful environment, visit a million cliché landmarks, meet tons of people, have random nights, and figure out which night bus takes you home before sunrise.
The city and its people
So what to expect when coming to Budapest? No skyscrapers, for sure. It is just not that kind of city. We like to mix it up though: Budapest’s diverse architecture spans from Roman ruins to award-winning contemporary buildings, with plenty in-between.
Oh, and the inhabitants are the same, all kinds of different, strange and mysteriously interesting. See those pensioners on public transport in rush hour with their shopping trolleys? No one knows why they are on their way the same time when people are going to work, but they demand you give up your seat to them. See that pigeon that is on the other side of the pavement one second, and barely fly over your head the next? We have no idea why they don’t fear humankind. See that cute little baby in the carriage who just smiled at you? They will scream the next minute, then laugh again, then move on and grow up and have a life full of unexpected twists and turns, and you might cross paths with them again sometime later in life, but now… Now back to the residents of Budapest.
We, Hungarians can be a bit woeful. No wonder, history has been awfully unkind to us. Hence, Gloomy Sunday, the unofficial suicide anthem is originated in Hungary. But we’re proud too: we invented a bunch of things we like to take pride in, we have produced 13 Nobel laureates to date – more per capita than the likes of Finland, Spain, Canada and Australia – bagging every category except peace, and Hungary has won more Olympic medals than any other existing nation that has never hosted the Games and has the second highest all time number of gold medals per capita of any nation behind only Finland. So there’s that. Good luck with trying to figure us out.
The language
Let’s not forget our beautiful language which is like no other. Literally. It is thought to be one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn. It has a very complex grammar with pronunciation that sounds funny, strange or like alien speech to different individuals. You can barely find any similarities or opportunities for comparison to other languages, and there are no shortcuts to understand Hungarian. The reason behind it is that Hungarian has nothing to do with the great Indo-European family of languages: it belongs to the Finno-Ugric group. Another thing worth to mention when it comes to our language is the ability to swear for a few minutes straight, with one breath, not using the same word. It’s debatable whether this is an advantage or not, but it is definitely a curiosity.
Fortunately, we don’t take it personal if you decide not to dive into the wonders of the Hungarian language, and English is widely spoken, especially in tourist oriented places and among younger folks. Of course it never hurts to memorise a few key phrases, so here’s a short list:
Szia! – Hi/hello!
Jó reggelt! – Good morning!
Jó napot! – Good afternoon! (formal hello)
Jó estét! – Good evening!
Jó éjt! – Good night!
Viszlát/Szia! – Goodbye!
Köszönöm/köszi – Thank you/thanks
Szívesen – You’re welcome
Bocsi/Bocsánat – Sorry
Elnézést (kérek) – Excuse me
Nem beszélek magyarul. – I don’t speak Hungarian.
Nem értem. – I don’t understand.
You can ask someone how they are saying ‘Hogy vagy?’, but Hungarians really don’t do that. It’s not like we don’t care just… okay, sometimes we really don’t care.
Surviving in Budapest
When you first move to Budapest you might diagnose yourself with culture shock. That’s totally fine, don’t worry, you will get over it. In a few weeks you will be just like the locals: praying not to run into a ticket inspector on the tram, limiting the discussion in the grocery store to ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ and drinking pálinka like you were born to do so.
Want to assimilate as much as you can? The best you can do is acting like Hungarians do. And the best part of that is food. Without going into too much details, let’s say that Hungarian cuisine is spicy, rich and hearty, but all in all really delicious. If you are looking for traditional Hungarian goods straight from the producer you should visit the many markets of Budapest (especially if you’re into Hungarikums). Most recommended is the Great Market Hall at Fővám square, right next to the main building of Corvinus University. It’s not just a beautiful building and a popular tourist attraction, but you can also find diners on the first level if you only have a few minutes to spare during lunch time. Otherwise, an ordinary Hungarian goes to supermarkets, like every mortal human being. Aldi, Lidl, Spar, CBA and Tesco are the fastest and most cost effective way to get your everyday goods in here as well as everywhere else around Europe. It’s not that fancy, but heck, when you can get a bottle of wine in Aldi for 600 HUF (circa 2€) you don’t complain.
We also don’t want to lie to you. It is a well-known fact that people gain weight during their exchange period. But is there any better place to get fat than in Hungary? We let you decide, but wait with the answer until you tried lángos. And kürtős kalács. Oh and töltött káposzta, don’t forget about that either.
Did it occur to you yet what you should pack? Of course it did. Well, climate-wise Hungary is continental, which means that the weather is very changeable, but generally we have four seasons, with warm (and mostly dry) summers and cold (and sometimes snowy) winters. Average annual temperature is 9.7 °C (49.5 °F). Average high temperature in the summer is 23 to 28 °C (73 to 82 °F) and temperature can climb up above 35 °C on the hottest days in July-August. Average low temperature in the winter is −3 to −7 °C (27 to 19 °F) and temperature might drop below −10 °C on the coldest days (probably won’t happen nowadays becuase of the global warming though). Distribution and frequency of rainfall are unpredictable due to the continental climate of the country. So after these lots of numbers, we let you know that winter will be cold, so bring your winter coat.
Now you know where to buy your groceries and how to prepare for the weather. What else do you need to survive in Budapest? Move around the city. Buy your ticket or monthly pass for public transport. It’s not expensive (contrarily to the penalty if you are caught without a valid ticket by the not-so-nice inspectors) and the route system is quite developed, with metro, tram, bus and trolley bus lines. Metros and trams run until about midnight and restart at around 5am (except for tram 6 which is 24/7), but a comprehensive system of night buses operates, so you can get home anytime by public transport without calling a taxi in which the driver might accidentally overcharges you (especially that Uber is banned in Hungary).
Budapest is also a great starting point for travels. If you’re interested in exploring the inlands, good news that the Hungarian train network is pretty developed (even if delays are often, oops) and all lines go through Budapest, so the capital is a good place to start. It would be too long to list all the places ought to be visited, so we advise you to join ESN Corvinus to the several day trips we plan to organize during the upcoming semester to Hungarian cities or ask your tandem partner, maybe they know some hidden gems as well.
Given Budapest’s location, in the heart of Europe, the city is an ideal spot for a base from which you can plan trips to the surrounding countries. Vienna, Bratislava, Prague and Ljubljana seem like obvious choices and if you dream bigger, you can also reach further destination with our ESNcard partners, Flixbus and RyanAir.
As you noticed we humbly mentioned ESN Corvinus in the previous paragraphs. It happened because we want you to know that we are here to help and spend time with you, so you will never be left alone, not on our watch. Because you can read a lot about and prepare for hours, days, even weeks for the life in Budapest, but to survive you will need people. And if we’re sure in one thing, is this: you will find your people.
Good luck!
Cover Photo by Arvydas Venckus on Unsplash
Budapest Insider 