Tick It Before You Kick It

Going to Medical School and Moving Abroad to Budapest

• Alexandra Lauren | The Bucket List Mermaid • Season 1 • Episode 17

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Check out the show notes 👉 here for all of my resources for Budapest and moving abroad!

🩺What happens when you move halfway across the world to attend medical school in a city brimming with history and culture? 

🇭🇺In this episode of Tick It Before You Kick It.  I, Alexandra, share my riveting adventure of relocating to Budapest, Hungary. 

💖From the distinct, enchanting vibes of Buda and Pest to the budget-friendly lifestyle and cultural abundance, you'll uncover why this city has stolen my heart. 

🩻I also provide a sneak peek into my life at Semmelweis University, spotlighting famous local attractions like the therapeutic spas, the poignant iron shoes memorial, and even quirky spots and hidden gems. If you've ever dreamed of starting anew in a foreign city, my journey might just inspire you.

📃But it wasn't all smooth sailing. I recount the nerve-wracking ordeal of obtaining a student visa, complete with long lines, confusing paperwork, and the challenge of mastering Hungarian. 

🎢Despite these hurdles, the emotional rollercoaster led to a deep appreciation for Budapest's charm and vibrancy. 

Whether you're considering a move yourself or just curious about life in one of Europe's most magical cities, tune in for practical tips and heartfelt stories. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review—we've got more exciting adventures coming your way next week!

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Alexandra:

Oh my gosh, I just remembered another one Koso nom se pen. That's thank you very much. Oh my god, I remembered two things. Woo, I'm on fire.

Alexandra:

Hey there, adventurers, it's Alexandra with Take it Before you Kick it, the podcast that talks about everything that you need to do on your adventure bucket list, as well as travel stories. This week we're going to be talking about something that is very near and dear and personal to my heart, which is moving abroad and living in Budapest, hungary Now. Budapest is nestled along the banks of the Danube River and it's known for its stunning architecture, its rich history and its cultural scene. In this episode, we're gonna be talking about why I moved there, why I loved it, where I lived, and maybe some practical tips for navigating the city, finding a place to live, and the local customs and traditions. So, whether you're considering a permanent move or maybe just curious about what it's like to actually move to this beautiful city, join us as we uncover the unique charm and hidden gems of Budapest. Also, before we start, it is a highly debated topic of whether it is pronounced Budapest or Budapest. Personally, I prefer Budapest that's just how I heard it being pronounced more in the city. So for this episode. I normally say Budapest, but I've heard it both ways. If somebody has an opinion on this, please leave a comment on the show notes, because I wanna hear about it. So let's talk about when I moved to Budapest, why I moved to Budapest and, yeah, just my general thoughts on it.

Alexandra:

So I ended up moving to Budapest when I was accepted into one of the medical schools there and I know you're thinking, wow, that's like a really weird place to go to medical school. But if you haven't listened to the previous episodes, I was told to get a big girl job. But I really just wanted to travel. So I thought that this would help with my nomadic drive a little bit. Plus, I just loved living in other countries. I just wanted to, wanted to go live in other countries and explore, and medical school was not the route for that. But you know what? That is not the point of this episode. Anyway, I moved there for medical school. I ended up going to a school called Semmelweis. It was a pretty prestigious medical school in Eastern Europe. I applied to a couple other medical schools, both in the US as well as here, and just kind of decided that that was the adventure that I wanted to go for, as I said, my first clue to how this medical journey would pan out for me it wasn't about the school itself, it was about the city and the area that I cared about. So that should have been my first clue and I said okay, I'll move to Hungary, cool.

Alexandra:

But why did I choose Budapest? And here was the reason. I was absolutely in love with the vibe of the city. It was bustling, it was kind of like a city, but then you went over to the Buda side and it was really nice and they had all these spas.

Alexandra:

We also need to talk about the cost of living. It was like one of the least cost of living that I had in all of Europe. I mean, I used to live in Cambridge and that was okay, but every time I went to London it was like I had to sell a kidney to eat a meal. But here it was great. Everything is cheap. I got groceries for an actual reasonable price, the public transportation was not expensive at all and on top of it, it's right on the Danube. The location is amazing, the culture is amazing, the food was amazing, like the Hungarian goulash, oh my gosh. Absolutely. So it was just a perfect place for me to move.

Alexandra:

The only bad part oh okay, I shouldn't say bad, I'll say difficult part about moving there was, you know, the language was very hard and as a part of my medical school classes, I actually had to take Hungarian and to this day I I can say like hello, and it's literally Sia. And one thing that I didn't really know before I moved there, but once I did move there I realized that there is so much to do in Budapest other than the spas. I feel like that is definitely what people come for, and I totally agree. Personally, my favorites is the Gellert, and I'm not even going to try to pronounce the other one, because I'm going to get made fun of and I don't know how to pronounce anything because I'm American. I'm sorry, but it starts with an S, it's like Shen-yen-yen-y. It's like Shen-yen-y. That one's good too, and then there's a couple other ones that are very good as well. So that was great.

Alexandra:

But what I didn't realize is that there is so much to do in this city, from seeing churches to going to local cat cafes, to even seeing the iron shoes that are a memorial to World War Two and the Holocaust. I mean, there's so much history that has happened here and it's just so beautiful to see it all. I mean even just going and exploring the parks on the Buda side. Also, if you're wondering what I'm actually talking about, the city is actually separated by the Danube and there is the Buda side, which is the older part of the city. It's more. It involves more hills. It is where all the major tourist areas on Buddha Hill are, which I actually did a photo shoot there. I wrote an entire article about it. I'll link it in the show notes. And then you go over to the Pest side and that side is more city. It's more traditional European buildings. I personally lived on this side because my school was on this side, but I definitely knew people who commuted from Buda and also I did look it up.

Alexandra:

It was because all these major European capitals were merging to make them more powerful. So it actually started off as two cities and they merged it to make the Hungarian capital more powerful. The more you know, and sprinkled in there is like Heroes Square. There's some castles. The Parliament Building is like something out of a dream, taking river cruises, like I took a booze cruise down there and I thought I was going to be given a glass of wine and they just like brought three bottles. So they really just know how to entertain people here, and I had some really amazing restaurants there too. There was a Greek place that I loved.

Alexandra:

The New York Cafe is like one of my favorite places. I know it's so touristy and the Hungarian people hate it. They think it's so stupid that you would pay 10 euros for a coffee. However, I love it. It's like having tea inside of the Beauty and the Beast castle and it's actually voted the most beautiful cafe in the world, and it did not disappoint. Or even just walking around. There's so much to do in Budapest so I initially just moved there because it was an adventure, but I stayed because it was just an amazing city.

Alexandra:

I also went to go see Phantom of the Opera and it was all in Hungarian and, if you didn't know, I'm a theater nerd, so I still knew every single word, but it was really fun to see. I also rode around on a bright blue scooter that my med school friends termed Aqua. They named my scooter Aqua, and so I would just run around on a blue scooter just everywhere. It was great Me and my red hair crying over med school in one of the most underrated European cities. Also, I have to say, another thing that I did was I went on a ghost vampire tour throughout the city and it was so interesting.

Alexandra:

It was like an epidemic, like they'd be, like he's a vampire. No, he's a vampire. He's sick with vampirism, oh, and he's waking from the dead, like it was like a sickness, and people would accuse people of being a vampire. He's sick with vampirism, oh, and he's waking from the dead, like it was like a sickness, and people would accuse people of being a vampire. That's just something I don't get in the Colorado mountains. Like, how cool and, as always, shameless plug.

Alexandra:

I have an article on all of this. I have a general Budapest bucket list. I have a crazy hidden gems Budapest bucket list and then I also have a guide for the spas. So if you are going to Budapest, check it out. Now let's talk about practical tips for actually moving there, finding housing. So I ended up getting a long-term Airbnb for me and my cat. I know you heard that right, I took my cat. I'll do another episode on that because that was quite an adventure.

Alexandra:

But this was in the 7th district, which is known as, like, the party district or the Jewish Quarter, and this place is filled with these things called ruin bars, where they re-established old buildings into bars, and it's known for its restaurants and its nightlife, and I know it sounds a little annoying to live there, but it was actually surprisingly quiet and I was around so many things and it's centrally located, so I had no problem there. I think if I were to go again without the constraints and public transportation to my school in mind because I basically lived there I would probably go more towards the 5th and the 6th district or, honestly, I would probably live on the Buda side and just commute to the Pest side, because they had some wonderful housing opportunity on that Buda side Literally anywhere. Bonus points if you're on the river. Now let's talk about something that was a pretty big stressor in my time in Budapest, which was the visa. Oh boy, this was so fun when I previously lived in the UK.

Alexandra:

There was an entire three to four month process and I had to send my passport places, I had to fill out documents and I had my visa well, at least the stamp in my passport when I got to the country and then as soon as I got to the country and then, as soon as I got into the country, I got the actual physical proof once I gave my fingerprints and went to the police and stuff like that. But here they basically told me to use my typical American, you can stay there for 180 days within 180 day period and just show up and hope for the best. And I told them. I said I'm going to a very lengthy, extensive school program here. This is not for fun and I need to make sure I get a visa. And they just were like good luck.

Alexandra:

So after I arrived, there was mass confusion with all of us students because it was generally the same procedure no matter what country you came from, with a little bit of changes here and there depending on which country you were from. So all of us were just sitting here in this confused huddle of what to do. And I finally figured out where to even go for the visa, like online, and I got all the documents and I actually ended up having my Airbnb host translate most of the documents, because the translation in English wasn't enough to understand what they actually wanted me to say, like they would give me options and then just give me a bunch of options in Hungarian. That made no sense and I would talk to my host in Hungarian, which shout out to her she was a gem. The English responses didn't even make sense, so I didn't even know which one to put. So then I would keep sending it and they'd be like no, that's wrong.

Alexandra:

So finally I got to the point where I could go in and they opened around eight, but they closed at 12 and I couldn't make a reservation. So I just had to show up. And again all of us were talking about this, because all of us were in the same boat and complaining, and basically you had to show up in the middle of the night, wait there in the road for hours until they opened and just hope that you got in. And so I had to take an entire day off, and if you are in med school, you know that taking a day off from classes is equal to death. So I was already stressed out about that.

Alexandra:

I waited at about 2am in the rain. It rained the entire time and I waited there for about four hours and then finally, once I got in, it was another hour and they went. They took my picture and she was like Okay, I hope we get it to you. And again I'm like I'm in med school, I'm not here on vacation, so like I need this visa, and she just said good luck.

Alexandra:

So I waited and I waited, and I waited and I panicked and I sent emails and finally it got to the point where I was panicking in the university offices saying I don't know what to do and was talking to professors about it and everyone's advice was literally to just stay in the country illegally until I got my visa and I just thought to myself can I please not do that? I'm down for adventurous things, but I'm not down for stupid things and I would kind of like to stay in school. So it actually got to the point where I had to emergency leave. It was two days before my 180 days was up and I had to pack up the entire Airbnb and my cat to leave Europe because my visa didn't come and it literally came on the last day. So I got lucky, kind of. However, the entire process and lack of communication caused so much stress and so many tears. I think my blood pressure doubled between that and med school.

Alexandra:

Budapest and Hungary great Visa systems, not great. Loved it, hated that. I would hope that other countries have a different kind of process for getting visas out there. However, if you do have experience with this, I would love to hear about it, if you do want to contact me, because I'm just very curious on how other Eastern European countries maybe handle this. And I remember I was talking to one of the older students that was in her like third year and she said that she had to go wait in that line every single year and I actually went to the bathroom and cried and I'm strong enough now that I can admit that.

Alexandra:

Now, other challenges that people have asked me about previously is you know, were there any other hurdles such as homesickness and language barriers and other things like that? And while I definitely I do get homesick because I love my family here and I dealt with homesickness a lot when I first left and moved abroad at 18. And I think that of course, I missed my family. I think that the whole med school route was hard in itself, so I think that made me miss my family more. However, I think that Budapest itself made up for it, because I truly loved the city. I just loved the atmosphere of it. I can't really describe how I just fit in there. I really liked it there for sure.

Alexandra:

The language good luck If you're an English speaker. I know that some people picked it up more than others, and if you are a natural linguist, I think you will pick it up a little bit faster. I believe it is the second hardest language to learn in the world for English speakers and the first hardest European language to learn, and I can definitely attest for that. I'm pretty good at French. I've learned some Italian and Spanish here and there, and whenever I would go to the place, like whenever I would go to Belgium or France or any Francophone country I would learn so much within three days. I would learn more in three days than I learned in an entire semester of French back in high school or college.

Alexandra:

And I figured that moving to Hungary would be kind of like that, where I would just naturally learn the language over time. And my first clue that this wasn't the case was I was at the orientation and I was talking to the older level med school students and I asked them I said oh my gosh, you've lived here for four years. Are you fluent in Hungarian? And every single one of them said no. Every single one was like I know no Hungarian. And I thought that this was weird, especially for students that are maybe a little bit more academically inclined. So this was my first clue, and then I started learning Hungarian, and that was my second clue. So if you are Hungarian, I just want to give you a massive, massive shout out, because your language is so beautiful and it's so difficult to learn.

Alexandra:

Another question that I got a lot was how I made friends in Budapest, and my answer is Cambridge was a different story. I had a very tight knit group of friends in Cambridge and people were so nice and you made friends all the time because you were going out and in pubs. This was not the case here, and I think that's just due to my school situation, because I was living, breathing, sleeping, bathing and existing in medicine. So I made some really, really lifelong good friends there, but they were all in the school. I also became very good friends with my Airbnb host because we would talk all the time and she loves traveling and I like still talk to her to this day and throughout all of the visa shenanigans, because she was there holding my hand every step of the way. So I definitely made friends with her, but other than that, I was just studying the entire time.

Alexandra:

However, I think if you're just there as an expat or you're a digital nomad, I think it would be very easy to make friends in the city, and also, I went back after I quit med school there again and I, like, made friends in a ruined bar, so it's super easy if you are actually taking the time to be social and get out. Me personally, I was a med school hermit, so I did not make many friends while I was there. However, the nightlife in Budapest is amazing, the culture in Budapest is amazing and the people there are generally very, very friendly. I personally never had an issue with anybody there, maybe a little bit of a language barrier sometimes, but most of the time they spoke English or I knew Basic Hungarian to get by. Don't ask me to do it now. Oh my gosh. I just remember now, kosovo, kosovo, I'm safe in that's. Thank you very much. Oh my god. I remember two things. Woo, I'm on fire.

Alexandra:

Now I know that moving abroad to a different country can be very scary, and especially if you do have visa issues, like I did. However, I do not regret going. I had an amazing time in Budapest. I made some amazing friends in school that were like some of my best friends within three months, and the city itself is just filled with so much vibrancy and so much culture that I would recommend it. I know it's kind of underrated, like people are like, oh, budapest, like okay, but I'd rather go to London. No, it's so underrated, there's so much to do there and it's so cheap. So if you're looking for maybe a little bit more of a hidden gem city that's maybe not as popular tourist destination and has some spas, then this is the place for you.

Alexandra:

But I just want to hear your comments. Would you move there? Go there, definitely. Don't forget to reach out to me on thebucketlistmermaidcom or at the bucket list mermaid, on all the social handles, and if you are considering even just visiting Budapest, don't forget to check out those bucket lists that I'll link in the show notes so that you can get some ideas, because I did, especially near the end when I was preparing to quit and I just like gave up hope on med school and just started exploring the city actually and not just sitting in a dark room studying.

Alexandra:

When I actually started exploring, I saw some really cool things and I also went back later to explore more. So. So this is your sign to go to Budapest. Check off some of those things and let me know how it goes. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. If you do have any questions about Budapest, I will try to answer them to the best of my ability. Again, love this city. It would always have a place in my heart, for sure. If you did like this episode, don't forget to leave me a review or subscribe on your favorite podcasting channel, and we will see you next week for more adventures.