For the third year running, the Hungarian Club at Széchenyi István University is organizing cultural programs for international students. Through this initiative, young people studying at the institution and living away from home were able to take part in three excursions to Hungarian cultural and natural sites in the spring semester.

The number of international students at Széchenyi István University has multiplied many times over in the last ten years, reaching almost 1,000 students from almost 80 countries. To help them integrate, the Hungarian Club was created in 2022 to showcase the region's cultural and natural assets through a variety of programmes.

Dr Emese Bukor teaches Hungarian as a foreign language to international students, and in her work she has recognised the important role that the University plays in their integration. It was her idea that led to the creation of the Hungarian Club, with its first event, a highly successful "What do you know about Hungary?" quiz two years ago. Since then, the programme has expanded to include film clubs and cultural excursions, which are very popular with young people from all over the world.

"We first announced a longer tour to Pilis, which was oversubscribed and there was huge interest from students. The following year we took a group to Lake Balaton, another popular destination, and places were snapped up once again. In response to the demand, we planned three trips for this spring semester, for each of which we had to open a waiting list," said Dr Emese Bukor, the Hungarian Club's chief organizer.

The trips organised by the Hungarian Club were attended by international bachelor’s, master's and doctoral students from all over the world.

Participants came from countries as diverse as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey. So far, students who have taken advantage of the opportunities offered by the club have mostly been students who study Hungarian language and culture in class and spend their free time exploring the area.

At the end of May, the international students who took part in the Hungarian Club's tour were able to visit the Roman Baths in Bakonynana and the Csesznek Castle.

"The aim of the programme is to give international students the opportunity to live an active community life at the University, to get closer to Hungarian culture and to get to know the natural values of the region. In the last semester we wanted to meet this goal as well as possible, so we chose Tata and the Bakony region as our destination", said the head of the club, who could always count on enthusiastic helpers in the organizational tasks. In the first year, Mahmoud Ali, a student assistant and automotive engineering student, and this year, Dr Sarolta Kóbori, a staff member of the University Library and Archives, supported the programmes with her work, while István Ferenczi, a tour guide, helped with the excursions. Dr Emese Bukor pointed out that the initiative, now in its third year, also serves to discover Győr, as around one hundred and fifty people took part in free walking tours during the autumn, with the help of the local tourist office of the Győr Thematic Sightseeing and Experience Programmes.

The feedback from the students was that they had unforgettable experiences thanks to the Hungarian Club and they are always open to more similar programmes promoting Hungarian culture. "The young people are very grateful for these opportunities, and we have received many confirmations that the club is worth continuing. Personal experience has shown that international students consider the diversity of cultural programmes as one of the advantages of Széchenyi István University," concluded Dr Emese Bukor.

Gallery: shots from the spring excursions organised by the Hungarian Club.