Hello!

This is a message from the AFS Budapest Chapter. If you got this letter, it means that you are going to be hosted in or near the city of Budapest. We are looking forward to meeting you! Please familiarise yourself with the contents of this letter!

Budapest and Pest county

Budapest Chapter is the biggest chapter in Hungary; it consists of the capital city Budapest and the towns and villages in the county of Pest. If you would like to learn more about Pest County and the capital, you can look them up on Wikipedia.

The map of Pest County with the borders of Budapest in the centre.

Chapter Assembly

This is a monthly event organised on Saturdays in Budapest. You are required to attend these events, as they are an important part of your exchange. During chapter assemblies, you will have the opportunity to meet the other exchangers and the volunteers of the AFS Budapest Chapter and learn about Hungarian culture.

Chapter Excursions

This is a monthly event after (or before) the Chapter Assembly; attending it is not compulsory. These events usually include travelling, museums, exhibitions, sightseeing, hikes, or other free-time activities. We invite not just the exchangers but the volunteers and the host families as well. These programmes usually cost some money; we will try to give you an estimate beforehand.

Financial Matters

The official currency of the country is Hungarian Forints, with the abbreviation HUF or Ft. Considering that 1 € is about 380–400 Forints, you will probably find the prices high. In Hungary, you can pay by card almost everywhere, though keep in mind that only Mastercard and Visa cards are widely accepted. We would recommend getting a Mastercard or Visa card before your exchange, or even better, a multi-currency account like Revolut (Junior) or Wise; more on that later.

Student Card

You will receive an A4 document from your school stating that you are a student. This document expires about every 3 months. We will refer to this document as a student "card" because Hungarian students receive a plastic card, but you are only going to get a sheet of paper since you will spend less than 12 months in the Hungarian educational system. This document is required for public transport tickets and passes with student discounts, and you should get it as soon as possible. If you have problems getting it from your school, please contact us!

Public Transport

During your exchange, you will likely use public transport to get to your school from home, and you will need to buy a pass from the right vendor. Since May, we have „Vármegyebérlet" county passes and „Országbérlet" country passes, which are valid for most trains and buses in the county or the whole country; for some trains, a supplementary ticket might be needed. A very important thing to keep in mind is that these passes are NOT valid for local public transport, so they cannot be used in the city of Budapest on vehicles operated by BKK and other local buses running only inside towns and cities. If you need help, ask your host family first!

AFS will only pay for the monthly pass needed to travel to your school from your home and for the tickets that you used to get to orientations. During the first month, adult passes are accepted, but after that, we can only accept student passes. (If you buy a BKK pass, make sure to buy the one that is for pupils.) The payment will happen at chapter assemblies; you will be required to fill out an online form with the types and prices of the passes you have one week before and bring them to the event. To not waste time on financial administration, the chapter management would prefer if you had a Revolut (Junior) or Wise account, and we would transfer the money using that. The advantage of this solution is that it is a lot faster than using cash and coins and does not cost money. Please try to arrive with either a Revolut (Junior) or a Wise account!

WhatsApp Group

We created a WhatsApp group for you; please join by clicking here. AFS Hungary primarily uses WhatsApp, so make sure you have an account. Feel free to start getting to know each other in the group chat.

 

We are looking forward to meeting you!

Dávid