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If you are not sure about your Erasmus direction yet and you are searching for a good opportunity, I can offer you my university city, Pécs (Hungary). All the students and foreigners who are studying there love the city and also the country. I understand all of you if you ask me: WHY?
main building of the faculty
Now I am an Erasmus student of the UEK, but originally I am at my 5th year of university at Hungary, so soon I need to finish my studies. But you still have to opportunity to choose the best place for Erasmus.
University of Pécs is one of the biggest universities in Hungary. The faculty of economics is one of the best in the country. The English programme is validated by the Middlesex University London. So alltogether the education is good, but honestly not so difficult for the Erasmus students J (lucky you!). So everybody can choose which is important for him/her, the studies or just getting the credits.The city itself is not so big if we need to compare with Kraków. There are about 160 000 inhabitants and the city was the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2010, so it is the cultural center of the southern region.
usual pic from the the main square when there is something happening
But I think for a future student there are some more important issues that should be answered.
- Prices: Generally the prices in Hungary are similar or a bit cheaper than in Poland. This is one of the biggest reasons why the foreigners love the country. It is beautiful and cheap. You can buy and do whatever you want. If I want to change the currency to zloty you can buy a beer around 3,5 pln in students’ pubs, a menu for lunch around 10, a pizza for 10, but there is a beer factory in the city where you can get some student discounts.
- Accommodation: Erasmus students are able to get dormitory (it was renewed in 2008). All they are in the same dorm and the price is around 180 pln per month. But if you prefer the flat, the prices are vacillating (from 200- till 900 pln), depends on the room sharing and the location.
- Travelling: Pécs is close to several popular tourist places. Easy to travel to Budapest (Hungarian capital), Zagreb (Croatian capital), Balaton lake (biggest lake of central Europe), wine region of Villány, etc. But if somebody do not prefer to travel a lot, the city is also offering a couple of opportunities (museums, exhibitions, zoo)
- For me the sport is very important and I am the leader of the sport club of the economic faculty. You can do some sport in our faculty (handball, basketball, volleyball, football, running) or in the university sport hall and almost all of them are for free. There is a wide range of opportunities from the ballgames through swimming, hiking (the city is situated at the right next to the hill called Mecsek) till laserwars. There are also some tournaments for university students, where everybody can form a new team or join to another one.
the two volleyball teams of the faculty of economic (inculding me)
- I can’t tell you exactly how many foreign students are in the city, but there are parties organized directly for them so there should be a lot. And one more good news for you: I don’t know why but the Hungarian girls and the boys really like the foreign students. So it is not so difficult to build up a “good” connection with them.
students’ life and students’ carneval in october
One more advice: Poland was a really good decision to spend my Erasmus time, because of the prices. Sorry to say, but it is really important in all the part of the foreign studies (party, travel, life). So believe me and lets choose a not so expensive one! You have more options to do because of it.
I can give you a couple of other info about the country, the city, the university, the life there, etc., but because everybody is interested in different things, it is difficult to make the topic narrow. I leave you my email address and do not hesitate to write, if you have any questions or you will come to my town. I will be at home after my lovely Krakow Erasmus time from the middle of February.
I wish a good Erasmus for all of you! This will be the best time of your life, I am sure of that!
Bence
baszerb@gmail.com