My name is Tyler LeValley and I am a junior at Alabama majoring in marketing and minoring in international business. This semester I am studying abroad at Corvinus University in Budapest, Hungary. I have been living in Budapest for three weeks and have already had many amazing experiences and learning opportunities across Hungary and three other countries. I chose Budapest in particular due to its fascinating history, amazing architecture, and so I could have an opportunity to learn Hungarian, one of Europe’s strangest and most unique languages. Hungary is also very centrally located within Europe providing opportunities to easily travel to both Eastern and Western Europe. I have already taken advantage of this to travel to Vienna Austria, Prague Czechia, and Istanbul Turkey, each amazing and unique cities in their own rights.
Upon arriving in Budapest I was struck by several observations. First of all, the city’s public transport network is immense and efficient. Trams, buses, and a massive subway system snake all across the city and provide a cheap means of getting anywhere without a car. Cycling is also a popular option and cyclists have their own lanes and traffic lights throughout the city. Another observation I had was the apparent lack of zoning in the city meaning that commercial, residential, and office spaces often shared the same buildings and felt more evenly interspersed throughout the city compared to the United States. I was also surprised how prevalent English was throughout Budapest. Traffic signs, many advertisements, signs for restaurants and businesses, and the packaging of many products were all in English. English is also widely spoken especially amongst young people in the city making Budapest surprisingly accessible to foreigners.
From an academic perspective I have also noticed some interesting differences. The majority of my classes only meet once per week but last nearly three hours. These three hour classes are separated into two sections, a lecture, and an often smaller “practical” class, with a twenty minute break in between them. Although different, this scheduling system allows me to have four day weekends which are ideal for travel. In addition, most of my classes are heavily project based with the majority of my grades dependent upon only one or two projects with a much smaller percentage of the final grade reliant upon final exams.
Overall, I have had an amazing experience living in learning in Budapest so far and am excited to see what the rest of the semester will bring!
