Business School Budapest, Hungary

Winter is slowly beginning here in the capital, and it is time to say goodbye to autumn. Actually, I hate autumn, but this one here in Budapest was special. The sun was shining nearly every day, I did endless coffee walks and drank one or two Aperol Spritz in my favourite café.

Yesterday (November 19th) I had my first written exam in my economics class, it was an online multiple-choice exam that was really difficult. Because it was online, I also instantly got the result – which in my opinion is curse and blessing at the same time. Luckily, I passed, but I might retake it, this is easily possible here. Slowly, exam period is starting for me. Because of my double degree I have quite a few exams compared to others and have to take them quite seriously. But of course, in the end, I will also get an additional bachelor’s degree. (I do not want to argue here that others are not taking their exams seriously, but for the majority it is not particularly bad if they do not pass an exam in their semester abroad).

Yesterday the Christmas market (or rather markets) opened here in Budapest. After yesterday’s exam I met some friends for hot wine there. The Christmas market is really beautiful, but not comparable to a real German Christmas market. The greasy and meat-based food choices did not suit me personally, but to be fair I have to say that I live a vegetarian lifestyle and am generally not a fan of Hungarian cuisine. Nevertheless, I will enjoy the Christmas market in the upcoming weeks and hope to get into the Christmas spirit a bit.

Christmas time is once again marked by Covid this year which makes me really sad and thoughtful. Yesterday Austria announced a (for now) two-week lockdown. Actually, we wanted to go to the Christmas market in Vienna one of these days, because it is supposed to be especially beautiful. From Germany, one also exclusively hears Covid news of rising numbers, possible compulsory vaccination, etc.

Here in Hungary the situation is definitely getting worse, by now there are obligations to wear masks everywhere and especially on the Christmas markets they are strictly checking vaccination certificates. The government’s credo apparently is to keep everything open and not go into lockdown again. I really hope it stays like this. I am thankful that I can live this “unrestrictedly” here, but at the same time I have a lot of respect for the situation. More and more of my friends are getting infected right now, which for me personally means: socialise less and be careful!

I wish the situation will calm down again soon and we can all live a more or less normal life again.