The idea of introducing unique Hungarian traditions, places and culture to foreign students dates back to 2017. Former trips targeted Ópusztaszer, Szarvas and Makó, and this year, the beautiful city of Gyula was selected as the destination.

The number of participants was strictly limited to the number of seats on the bus, which was augmented later due to the high interest of students. On Saturday morning, Dr. Ildikó Pusztai-Varga, Director of International Affairs, Melinda Kovács, International Relations Coordinator and Gabriella Maczkó, Study coordinator together with the head mentors welcomed the students at the main building of the Faculty. Every participant arrived, so a full bus of 60 people headed their way to Békés county, to visit Gyula.

The team started to discover the castle of Gyula when they arrived at about 10.30 am. An interesting lecture about the tradition of falconry in Hungary just started, so students could learn about this unique way of hunting and enjoy the performance of the falcons. Besides the lecture, the Castle served an opportunity for everyone to discover old traditions and learn about the rich cultural heritage of Gyula. As time passed by, the students were invited to a short, 10 minute walk to a traditional cafeteria, the so-called “100 year old cafeteria”, where they could eat their lunch and taste some Hungarian sweet delicacies such as the famous Somlói.

The trip continued in the Almásy Mansion, where within the framework of a guided tour, students could learn about the history of the building as well as about the everyday life of the inhabitants of the mansion. After the tours, freshmen were given some time to explore the mansion themselves, to go up to the tower to enjoy the view. The interactive exhibition enabled students to try out many activities, for example to virtually getting dressed in age-appropriate cloth, smelling the perfumes of the ladies of the mansions, etc. Afterwards, the long-awaited raffle was drawn.

Faculty staff and mentors prepared a number of gifts for students. The winners received gifts related to Hungarian culture, such as Hungarian chocolate, a Rubik’s cube, a pocket of Hungarian cards. After the raffle, the bus picked up the participants and they got back to the faculty together by 7 pm. The trip provided an opportunity for the students to get acquainted with a small

slice of Hungarian culture and to forge closer ties with each other.