A twist in the tale: Moving to Budapest, Hungary

Well, I haven't written in a while and there's a reason for that. I have moved to Budapest.

On 1st August, 2015, I got a letter stating that I have received a scholarship to study Masters in Economics at Corvinus University of Budapest. So, I quit my job, packed my bags and moved to Budapest in a month.

I landed in Budapest on 2nd September and for the past few days, I've just been busy settling down.

Got a room on the top floor of my dorm. I wake up to this view every morning.

So over the past 2 months (almost), I have done the following:

1. Quit my job, applied for Visa and did a bunch of other formalities
2. Watched Poets of the Fall perform live in Bangalore, India
3. Packed my bags
4. Flew to Budapest (My first International Flight EVER)
5. Did a bunch of formalities here
6. Watched US Open, EPL Gameweek 5 (which sucked for my FPL team by the way)
7. Had a weekend trip to Holókõ and Eger

The events mentioned above are in chronological order and while I have done a bunch of other things, these are the topics that I think have enough content that I could write a separate post on each of them (even though I may or may not do so).

Anyway, I decided to write this post on Budapest. I've been here for about two weeks now and I just feel I should write a few things that you should know if you ever plan to travel here or move here to live. Many of the points are specific to Indian readers as I'll be comparing things between New Delhi and Budapest, but other points are likely to be generic.

Cost of Living

To be honest, the cost of living is pretty much the same as New Delhi. There will be some things that are probably cheaper in Budapest (Alcohol and Non vegetarian food) and there are things that will be cheaper in Delhi (electronics, Converse All Stars). Overall, the cost of living is pretty much the same as Delhi.

Pooping Situation

So this point is specific to my readers in the Indian Subcontinent. Here, people don't clean their poop with water like us. This is the single BIGGEST culture shock that I received when I arrived here. There are no hand showers or the water jets that you find in India (or wherever you're from in the Indian Subcontinent). You won't even find a tap and a water mug in the pooping slot! I would personally suggest that you pack a mug or get used to cleaning your poop with just toilet paper. 

Best time to travel

This depends on what kind of weather you would like. If you are someone like me who doesn't like it when it gets too cold, I would suggest August-September to be the ideal time. It's not too hot (25-30 degree Celsius) and there is drizzling from time to time with a cool breeze. 

If you wish to see the snow, come to town around January end. Although this isn't exactly a place where you can experience a butt load of snow. 

Things you should learn in Hungarian

So Budapest is a fairly global city in the sense that you will find people who will speak English in most major tourist and shopping places. Even if you don't, the Hungarians are really helpful and someone or the other who knows English will step up and help you out. Despite this, you really need to know a few things in Hungarian. The following is a list of things you should know. I'm not writing down the Hungarian translations though. You should figure it out yourself. 

1. Greetings: Hi, Bye, Goodmorning, Thank you etc. 
2. Counting: You definitely need to learn how to count. Atleast till 100. It's not that difficult. 
3. Common Words: street, square (like Madison Square, not the shape), entry, exit, days of the week etc. The more the better

Just make sure you can spell these words like the Hungarians do and not the way you would normally do if the words were in English. In Hungarian, the alphabets are pronounced differently. From my experience, I've realised a few things:

1. Wherever you see "sz" in a word, it is supposed to be pronounce it like "s" in English. For example, Kristina of English becomes Krisztina in Hungarian. 
2. Whenever you see "s" in a word, it is supposed to be pronounced like "sh" in English. 
3. When there is "cs" in a word, it is supposed to be pronounced like "ch" in English. For example, Lenchi becomes Lencsy (a really, really cute girl on my dorm floor). 

There are many more. The point is that consult Google translate (translate.google.com). 

Getting a Phone number

So if you're an Indian, you're going to find the call tariffs and the connection schemes extremely expensive. Especially if you've had a corporate plan (Rs. 399 - 1 GB 3G Data, 600 minutes local/STD, 300 SMS local/STD and unlimited within the Corporate plan members). Even the call tariffs are insane. They're roughly Rs. 10 per minute on local calls within Hungary. 

My advice: Get a Vodafone Prepaid. For roughly 1000 Rupees (4000 Ft), you get 1GB 4G Data for a month, 100 local minutes or sms and unlimited calling between other Vodafone pre-paid users and Vodafone users on some sort of premium contract. It's not an amazing offer by Indian standards but it'll get the work done. No extra charge for roaming within EU. So you don't need to get a new number every time you cross a border. Unless of course, you're headed outside EU. 

Also, you just need your passport to get a new sim card. So don't worry about needing any other documents. 

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I will be writing more about things to do (after I do them once) and places to see in Hungary and around Europe as I travel. That said, I'm not converting this into a pure "Travel Blog". I'm sure there are millions of them and even though it seems really cool when you read and hear about people doing amazing trips, I'm going to give you a reality check right now and tell you that it's not. The amount of formalities and shit that you need to do will literally ruin your "vacation".

Anyway, I'll be writing more about life in Europe and also about the things I'll be learning as part of my curriculum here in Budapest. I'll leave you with a few pictures around my dorm and campus. Cheers!

There's a pedestrian road parallel to the river. Evening runs have never been more beautiful. 

These are my University buildings: Corvinus University of Budapest

View from the window

P.S.  - Hungarian women are extremely beautiful and I mean really, really beautiful. Like jaw-dropping beautiful.