I had interviewed two diaspora students this week and asked their positives/ negatives points, challenges and expectations to live at new country, new language and reality.

Guilherme de Souza is in the Preparatory Program and Gabriella Fontes is in the Business Faculty and member of the International Students Organization. Different views of the city and country, but in some points, they have common ideas. 

Gabriella great-grandparents are from the region of Arad, that nowadays is part of Romania. Unfortunately, she didn't have any contact with the Hungarian culture before moving to Hungary. 

On her point of view, to adapt with the weather is a challenge and felt the elderly are not welcoming of foreigners. 

If you like small city lifestyle and focus on the studies, she recommends Pécs. In Budapest you can get distracted more easily for having more activities available. She studied there for one year. On her experience in Pécs is very close to what she expected, and feel safety here, including at night. 

She does not participate on extracurricular activities at university, but practice yoga at home and takes walks. She knows the university tries to help the students as much as they can and usually sends them an email if needs help with anything.

Guilherme, his friends call him Vili, a 19-year-old Brazilian student on Preparatory Program, has family roots in Eszék, Baranya (now part of Croatia), which greatly influenced his decision to study here. He grew up listening to his grandparents' stories about Hungary and its culture, making Hungary his top choice over other countries. Most importantly, he says, "My family is from here." And “Magyar vagyok”.

Since arriving, he has found the people in Pécs to be friendly, welcoming people and the city to be safe, even at night. However, one downside for him is the high prices at supermarkets, which he finds expensive.

His biggest challenge has been living far from his parents and adjusting to life on his own. Despite this, he recommends Pécs as a great place to study, as it offers everything, what he needs without the chaos of a big city.

At the moment, he hasn't joined any extracurricular activities, as he is fully focused on his studies.

From the pen of Janei Zytkiewies.

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