Budapest, Hungary
April 29th - May 11th

I think I have almost settled in here in Budapest. Almost, because I still have some cleaning to do in my apartment as well as buy groceries so that I am able to cook. And well, I do need internet service at the condo as well. Hopefully I should have all that sorted out by next week.

So more about my first week in Budapest - I arrived on Sunday, April 29th at around 7pm. I met with my colleagues, Matt Metzinger and Zlatko Custovic for Dinner. Matt and Zack are two other Moore school students who will be interning with GM here in Budapest. We had discussed earlier about sharing an apartment as it would be more economical plus it being a new country and not knowing anyone else, it would be nice to hang out with people we know. Matt and Zack had arrived on Thursday and looked at 4 apartments on Friday but all of them were quite expensive. One which seemed nice was for 1300 Euros.

I had looked at an apartment online for 850 Euros, which the guys went and saw on Saturday afternoon. The condo was not in good shape but the price was quite attractive. With the National holiday on Tuesday apparently everyplace was closed and we were not able to schedule any apartment visit until Wednesday. Since we had nothing else scheduled for Monday we decided to take another look at the 850 Euro Condo since the owners were willing to show it to us over the holidays. On Monday I saw the apartment. It was better than what I had expected (which is not saying much as I really expected it to be a hellhole). Still, it seemed livable albeit with compromises (only 1 bathroom instead of 2, no AC seemed to be the biggest concerns). Zack really wanted this apartment to save on cost, Matt liked the 1300 Euro apartment and I was torn. I really wanted to move in an apartment as soon as possible and before I started work, which did not give much option but to take this apartment. (A decision I now regret).

Only one bedroom was furnished, but the owners agreed to buy bed and closet for the other 2 rooms, a microwave, fridge and washing machine. All that stuff arrived on Wednesday. In the meanwhile, I moved in on Tuesday to the bedroom that was furnished.

Wednesday was my first day at work. We met with Dmitri first who is a Moore School alum and is currently working full time for GM, then we met with Chris Lacey the Executive Director for GM Central and Eastern Europe (C&EE). He then introduced us to each of our bosses. I am working in the Marketing department for the Opel brand. My assignment: Working with the Marketing team for the launch of the new Opel Astra Notchback (Sedan) – The Astra’s have been either wagons or hatchback models. GM is introducing a special Notchback version for C&EE markets where sedans are more popular. My team has a lot of young folks. It has been fun working with them.

Thursday and Friday we had an orientation meeting. This was for all employees hired within the last 2 months. It was interesting – we had presentations from managers of all individual departments talking about their areas and how it fits in within GM.

Friday night we were invited by Justin for dinner. (Justin is another Moore Alum – we have two alums currently working and one more joining in July). Matt and I went to Justin’s apartment and there we met Dmitri and Donna (Who is my boss – Marketing Manager for Opel C&EE). Had a glass of wine first and then headed to a restaurant close by. The food was awesome. After dinner we went to a bar called Oscar’s. Apparently that is an Expat favorite. It was a fun evening. After Oscar’s we went to Donna’s house. We had heard so much about this awesome condo and it really did live up to its reputation. It had a real funky architecture – the building looked like a castle. She had the penthouse condo with breathtaking view of the Parliament and the city. I got home really late that night. In fact I slept through most of Saturday – waking up at 2:30pm.

Sunday, Matt and I went to Margit Island. We plan to be work out buddies and this was our first day; a jog around the island in the middle of the Danube. The track was only appox. 5km. I was so out of shape I could not run too far and ended up walking most of the part. Hopefully by the end of summer I will be able to run around twice - Wishful thinking for now.

This week has been routine. I am at work by 8:30 or 9am and leave from the office around 6 or 7pm. It is a 50 minute commute each way, so on weekdays I pretty much just go to work and then come straight home. After dinner I typically go to the California Coffee house which has internet access so I can check my emails, pay bills etc. It will take another week at least before I have internet at home. That is a real bummer.

My plans for this weekend – since it promises to be a sunny and warm weekend with average temperature of 30C, I definitely wish to spend time outdoors, exploring the city. In the meanwhile tonight, I am going to a Mexican restaurant for dinner with Matt and Zack and later we will meet with the Moore alums for a drink. I hope I don’t wake up at 2:30 again tomorrow ;)