James Magennis - Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest, Hungary

Erasmus Study 2022/23

“I met the love of my life and if I can do this I can do anything I need to get where I want in life.”

The first day memories

I can remember the first time I made my way to the campus on the metro and the bus looking around seeing if I could spot any other potential students looking as lost as I was on my journey. I made it to the campus where we were given a tour and student cards and then went on a hike. I spoke with a few different people along the way from all over Europe finding out what they were studying and why they had chosen Budapest. It was a great initiation into the Erasmus program there.

Experiencing a new culture

The food was different also just trying new things and not knowing what some things are and buying something just to take it home and realize it is completely different, as a friend of mine did mistaking sour cream for yogurt and had it with her morning oats.

All in all, it is the same as most cities: people are busy and have places to be and things to do so the day-to-day life is structured and direct, but traveling out of the city showed me a calmer part of the country which was quite relaxing.

Challenges

A few challenges I faced were finding my way around the city, and to overcome this I simply went out for walks on my free days with no direction in mind and saw what I could find. It did not take long before I mostly knew my way around.

Another challenge was fighting the urge to shut myself away from the world in my apartment as sometimes I felt a bit overwhelmed by the massive change I had undertaken but I feel I was able to achieve a good balance of peaceful/relaxing time and socializing.

Making friends

I had a great time making friends in the first semester and got to know some really interesting people with who I got quite close to along the way, sadly they only stayed the first semester and we had to part ways.

During the second semester, I found it more emotionally difficult to make friends with the new incoming students. I also changed departments so it was a whole new selection of students.

Seeing the world

Whilst in Hungary I travelled to Lake Balaton with some friends and we rented an Air B&B together it was great fun and a nice time away with them before saying goodbye.

Another time I travelled to Berlin to visit some friends. To get to Berlin I took a night train because it was only 20 Euro. If you love trains and have company - it is an amazing trip and you get to see so much of the country but 16 hours each way was not something I am keen to repeat.

Advice

The only thing I can say to students who are considering whether or not to study or work abroad is to do it - there is no point rushing to the end of university, you are here to learn and experience life. Taking a year to live and breathe a different life has opened new doors and windows in my career and to have this experience is something I will never look back on with regret.