Sziasztok from Budapest!

I have been in Budapest for around 2 weeks now, and I am just now settling in. There are compromises about where my AIT (Aquincum Institute of Technology)-selected apartment is. It happens to be about an hour commute to and from school, but the apartment is in the middle of the city, where all the action is going on. I chose to do the optional Survival Hungarian language course run by Babilon, because my advisor did mention the language being relatively hard.

Public transport here in Budapest is amazing. I bought a monthly pass, and I can go pretty much anywhere in Budapest using the tram, trolley, bus, or the metro. There are so many cool places to see here, and I will hopefully be traveling to most of them.

I will say I am confident enough to say simple interactive words with the Hungarian locals, such as thank you (köszönöm), hello (szia), goodbye (viszlát), and sorry (bocsánat). I definitely can’t hold a complete conversation, but it isn’t too bad, because it seems like Hungarians love it when you try to speak their (hard) language, and most people in Budapest do speak English.

Orientation weekend has just finished (I know, orientation on a weekend; oof), so tomorrow I will go to my first 2 real classes: Cryptography and Mobile Software Development. I know; it looks scary, but I have high hopes!