Assja Tietz at the city hall of Dabas, Hungary

1. Before Internship

After my study abroad semester in Australia last year I knew that there are a lot of experiences you can only make in a foreign country. For me it was absolutely clear that the exchange semester wasn’t my last stay in a different culture.

When one of my professors introduced me to the AIESEC program, its opportunities and advantages I was curious and saw a unique chance for me. I hadn’t expected to go to a foreign country that soon again but I was very spontaneous and let not slip this opportunity. The decision wasn’t easy because at the same time I had the chance to do an internship in Germany. Now I can say that it was the right decision to go abroad again.

However, 2 weeks after the conversation with my professor I spend the entire weekend with looking for internship place in the AIESEC database. I spend even more hours to write applications to AIESEC local committees in the different countries. Fortunately, the local committee (LC) in Budapest reacted very fast to my application. The LC forwarded my CV and my cover letter to the internship placement and 6 weeks later I started to work in Hungary. I still can’t believe that everything was organised within 2 months. Already these 2 months were challenging sometimes because I had to clarify things that are no problems in Germany. I learned a lot in that time and I took it as a good preparation for my stay in the small city of Dabas, Hungary.

2. Accomodation

My accommodation was provided by my host company. As I did an internship for a local self-government I had the chance to stay in one of their cultural centres. To live in an old mansion is something special because it is a historic building. Often cultural events took part in the mansion so I could see some Hungarian traditions. Unfortunately, I stayed in this old, huge house alone.

3. Tasks of the intern

The internship was focused on tourism and so it was my task to create flyers for tourists in German and in English. I made brochures for different target groups like school children or families. I also wrote articles for the internet page of the city. In order to do all this I had to get to know the city, its people and the traditions very well. Colleagues showed me the cultural centres of the city, the schools, kindergartens, retirement homes, seniors clubs, and the local radio and TV stations. I was also invited to most city events and I could visit a beekeeper, a horse riding farm and a paint ball court.

After I knew the city a little better I wrote a sports and leisure time concept. On my last days I developed a bike tour through the city along all cultural sights.

4. Social Environment

Due to the language barrier it was not easy to get in touch with people in such a small city. I figured out very quick that people know the German or the English language very well but they are afraid of speaking.

Additional to that at lot of place shut down during the summer school holidays. Actually, I had planed to do sports or even try traditional Hungarian dancing but all classes stopped during summer.

It took me a while before I met people who wanted to speak English and to spend the evenings together.

5. Recommendations

Hungary is a very beautiful country with very nice people. If you are interested in the traditional Hungarian way of life a small city is the best place to live. You gain insight the culture and you are invited to people’s homes.

If you are more interested in the modern Hungarian way of living I can highly recommend staying in Budapest. It is an exciting city with a lot of museums, theatres, cafés and clubs. Most people there speak English. To keep in touch with the student life is not a problem there and you can even meet a lot of international people. In my opinion Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities especially at night and I could never get enough of the amazing atmosphere. At the end of my internship sometimes I felt sad that I could only be there on the weekends.

But it was also great to see the nice landscape of the countryside. I can highly recommend journeys to the north in the direction of Slovakia and to the Balaton Lake.