Living abroad
Living abroad, perhaps for the very first time is challenging. As an upper year student you have accumulated massive personal experience by now in various areas of social life, living arrangement or personal finance (in other words making good /bad choices, smart/not so smart decisions.) You are most welcome to share your personal stories, struggles in order to help your freshman mentoree to act more responsibly, to get to know how things are managed here in Hungary socially, culturally and so forth. Try to be informative, practical, and most of all inquisitive about aspects of social life you can think of.Finding appropriate living arrangement:
International students can choose from two different alternatives. Living in university-provided dormitory or to live in privately arranged apartment in Budapest. When it comes to finding the perfect place (good location, right pricing, kind owners and perhaps perfect flat/roommates) is a challenge. It may not happen right away, as students tend to move and change locations a few times during their university years. Nothing replaces personal experiences when it comes to renting a home (for example in regard to lease agreements, finding repair services, criteria of perfect living arrangements, handling disputes among flatmates etc.) See the links below to get more ideas.
Establishing a new routine of living as an UNIVET student:
Equally important task for a freshman student to generate a new comfortable living for him/herself. This process could be helped by becoming more self-aware about what constitutes to an individual to feel comfortable in a foreign place. For example you can think of examples such as getting access to certain types of food he/she enjoys/needs, or living in a place that is nicely personalized to ease the transitioning from an old way of living to a new way of living. Studies show the more we are aware of our needs, the better choices we can make. See a general check list by clicking to this link.
You can achieve being inquisitive by proposing direct, but open ended questions accompanied by personal sharing such as: "what is a priority for you finding the right type of living arrangement? - Do you feel you are able to adequately study in your current apartment?" or in other areas "How do you find balance between "going out" and studying? Because when I was a first year student I found.... (for example: negative/positive experience)" etc.
We recommend you to touch on topics in rather live discussions, keep them talking/sharing than refer your mentoree to read online materials on their own as we find personal exchange of experiences much more effective and transformative, in a way building a sense of connectedness.
Some useful supplementary topics often pop up in discussions (in addition to your personal experience):
Finding a doctor, a dentist, medical help
Residency in Hungary
Additional materials