1i in Budapest

1i together with some first year diplomma students from “The British International School, Budapest.

1i went to Budapest, Hungary for the Study trip. Here are some highlights from our visit:

IB school
Our first impressions on the IB school were that they had very advanced equipment and a very good study environment. The students are very polite and friendly, and acted formally with proper manners. The teachers are very nice and open. The students are asked to wear uniforms at all times.

The school had had an International program for children from the age of 5 to 18. The school was an English speaking community where students who were not from an English speaking environment also speak in English. We were  quite surprised by their good facilities. The staff members were  very thoughtful and they provided students with all possible facilities they would ever need. Snacks and refreshments in the common rooms were provided and couches where students are able to relax after lessons were also available. The cantina made sure that the students were able to have a warm and nutritious lunch so that they would have enough energy and  be able to concentrate better after the lunch break.

However, the school is a very closed community to the outside society. Students were only able to communicate in English within the school, where lots of major events are happening right in the capital of Hungary, Budapest.

Ballet performance 
The ballet performance was a success and also quite disappointing at the same time. The ballet dancer did a good job with the dancing and fancy looking costumes. The inside of the opera house looks very beautiful, with paintings on the ceiling and a beautiful chandelier at the center of the ceiling

However, our seats were cheap and at the top (see arrow) so we could only see 2/3 of the stage. We compared notes at the end to see who saw what and to make something out of the storyline. We had seats on the very far ends of the two sides of the stage, while most of us were twisting our necks and backs to see the stage, some of us decided to enjoy the atmosphere and listen to the music instead.

It was a good and quite comical experience, dressing up and watching 2/3 of a ballet.

The Parliament incident
We were all excited to see the inside of the Hungarian parliament, but we were disappointed because we could not get in on Monday as planned due to some special events going on. When we planned to visit again, it turned out that the only option was for Karen to get up very early after a long tiring day at 6:00 am, but only German speaking tour guides were available. We had to give it up and chose to visit the House of terror, another very cultural and educational monument, since nobody spoke German.

House of terror
It was a museum about the horror of the Soviet occupation (communism) and Nazi. We found it to be the saddest activity in the whole week, when we learned how lots of innocent people were tortured and murdered because of what they believed in. Everybody had to be very careful of what they said, one wrong move could get you in a very dangerous position.

The museum is located in the neighborhood of the parliament, where it was originally the head quarter of the Hungarian Nazis during the WW2.  After visiting the museum, we realized that it was a house of true terror indeed.

Széchenyi Spa
It was a very good experience visiting this place. We changed into bathing suits and spent the afternoon in the warm tubs of that place. There were some steam baths which were according to most of us very very hot, but quite healthy for your blood circulations.

To conclude, our trip was beautiful, the sightseeing was great, we learned about things that can never be learnt in history text books. Our class bonded very well, when we had lots of opportunities to socialize with people who we might not spend a lot of time with during normal school hours.

We liked the trip very much and won’t forget it. The trip should be carried on for all the other IB classes in the future.

On behalf of 1i:
Joline Bian, Nicole Morbey and Amalie Gitz