On 5 September the University opened the 2022/2023 Academic Year with an Orientation Week for international students. The orientation of exchange and full-time scholarship holders were held separately, after which all students could join the afternoon programs regardless their study programs.
The Orientation Week took place on 5-9 September. New international students took part in various events organized by the International Office. The newcomers received all information about registration and administration on the first day while they had a variety of activities throughout the whole week.
On the first day, the Director of International Relations, Dr. Gábor Szalai opened the Orientation Week with a short introduction of the staff present:
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Dr. Judit Nagy, Vice-Dean for International Affairs at
Ms. Mónika Szuhai, Student Contact Office (exchange and full-time students)
Ms. Edina Magyar, Student Contact Office (overseas students)
Faculty of Law
Mr. Sándor Orovecz, Student Contact Office
International Office
Ms. Virág Zombory, International coordinator for incoming exchange students
Mrs. Rozália Pólya-Kiss, International coordinator for incoming full-time scholarship holders
After the introduction, Ms. Virág Zombory held a presentation on administrative tasks and university requirements, as well as about the locations of the faculties and contact persons. She also taught the students to use the online academic system (Neptun) for course registration and payments. After the presentation, the GoBuddy team took the international students to a café and a park nearby to break the ice and to get to know each other.
On 6 September, students attended various lectures and workshops. First, Dr. Ágnes Beretzky concluded a playful and interactive presentation. She introduced Hungarian history and culture. After the lunch break, students were divided into 2 bigger groups, and they participated in a Survival Hungarian class and a cultural shock workshop. The Hungarian class is an opportunity for international students to learn greetings and useful words. It was held by Mr. László Joachim, a guest lecturer at KRE. The cultural shock workshop was carried out by two Psychology MA students, Ms. Virág Karai and Mr. Gábor Barta, who are also part of the KRE Buddy Program as the BuddyCare leading mentors.
On the third day of the orientation, students had a daytrip in Budapest with two qualified tour guides. Both of our tour guides, Dr. Betty Stróbl and Dr. Júlia Fodor are professors at the Institute of English Studies at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. They teach English and American history for international students as well. Students got to see the main attractions of Budapest through the unique lenses of our professors.
On the last two days, students attended the Immigration Office with the Faculties and Buddies help and took care of other administrative tasks. They had the chance to meet with their Buddies and international peers in an unofficial setting and play icebreakers or engage in interesting conversations.
The international staff are happy to welcome the newcomers. Hopefully, the Orientation Week was a great opportunity for the international students to get to know each other informally before the official weekly meetings begin at the faculties.
