When I arrived to Budapest, my first impression of Hungary was just great. I liked everything. I felt hospitality everywhere, beginning from airport and finishing with the receptionist from the Residence Hall.

I first arrived in Hungary when I was 7 years old. The biggest shock for me was that people were not talking the same language than me. But, on the whole, I found this country welcoming even if it was quite different from my homeland.

My very first impression was not exclusively positive, it was however based on my very first Hungarian cab ride from the Budapest airport to Király utca. At first, all I saw was old, spooky houses. To be perfectly honest, my first thought was “when is the next flight back to Sweden”. But then we entered the city and my breath was literally taken away.

Hungary is the first European country that I visited. Budapest is a wonderful city with a huge number of interesting places, architecture monuments. My first days in Budapest were very eventful, because I wanted to go all over the city, to see everything.

When I came to Hungary it was in the wintertime everything was covered by major gloomy colors and the trees only showed their branches without leaves it was so boring, however, I started to fall in love with the cold weather. When wintertime had gone and the spring is turning round back, it is so magnificent!

I must emphasize that I did my BA (Hon) in Business Studies (BABS) degree in IBS too and graduated in 2006 already. Hence, I do have some previous experience of Hungary and IBS. After graduation I moved back to my native Finland. I surely see a positive improvement compared to what I experienced in 2002 when first starting in IBS. 

I was in Budapest five years ago, so I knew the city a little bit and that was also the reason why I chose Budapest for my Erasmus. As I arrived here the first thing that caught my eyes was that the people here in Budapest are so friendly and helpful. In the streets I always ask the people if they speak English and with the most of them it is not a problem to speak in English.