Day 1 of Orientation:
-Went on a tour around the city- IT IS SO LARGE AND HAS LOTS OF CUTE BRIDGES TO WALK AROUND!!! NIGHT CRUISE IS A MUST-DO
-The school provided us with guidance on how to get a Hungarian phone number (use Yettel service-HIGHLY RECOMMENDED-IT WORKS ALL AROUND EUROPE. I think I would have been lost many times around the city if I didn’t have available data, so I always advice my peers to get a good plan so they always rely on Google Maps if needed.
-Got familiar with public transport- it takes me an hour to get to classes , but the transport public is very good and reliable. The public transport is very smooth- there is this app called BudapestGo , where you get a monthly or 14 day pass, and they also provide student discounts for us. It is mandatory to have a pass and show the pass when entering a station.
-settled down into the apartment (the AIT program finds the accomodation for the prospecting students and they usually take care of things if the landlord is not responsive to students). The apartment felt very cozy and nice, and it helps having two roomates who are also AIT students. The location is super convienient as it is in the city center, close to shops, stores, and bookstores, and small coffee shops to study at when in a need of scenery change. Most of the things(but not AIT)are within a walking distance which is one of my favorite parts about this city.
The orientation was three days long, and as much as we all try to avoid ice-breakers, they did turn out to be helpful on name familiarity and getting to know each other. I had expected a big community, but was pleased with how small and diverse the program this year seemed. There are also five staff members that are always around their offices, during the class hours, and they also have been quite responsive outside office hours too. They are our “orientation buddies” or more so “to-go people” when we have any concern or question.