CEMS Budapest Journal –official journal of CEMS Club Budapest

Budapest Bank we visited

Annual Events 2009

Authentic summer experience in Kazakhstan

2009/II.

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

Bence Barta

Gábor Briber

Zsigmond Fajth

Alex Horváth

Krisztina Podonyi

Zsombor Szirmai

András Viszkievicz

Bernadett Nádasy – Chief Editor

Zsanett Czifrus – Editor

Greetings from the Editor

Hi Guys! I am happy to meet you all again!

The fact that You are reading these lines means two things to me. First of all You are interested in what is going on around CEMS and all the CEMSies in Budapest.

Second, it indicates something that makes me very happy personally: It shows that You enjoyed our last edition and take the effort to have a look at this new one. I hope You will like reading this new issue as much as we enjoyed creating it for You.

I would like to say thanks to all our authors for their valuable contribution and wish a wonderful New Year to each and every Student, Academic Stuff member, Corporate Partner, Coordinator & Alumni.

Bernadett Nádasy

CONTENTS

Close UpClose Up

CEMS Club News

Editor’s Greetings

Working with Budapest Bank

- Interview with András Keller

Invest in Children

Annual Events 2009

- Ceremony and parties in Cologne

Messages from far

Germany

- Greeting from Cologne

Kazakhstan

- An authentic summer experience

2

5

18

12

24

29

The Netherlands32

Bologna in Budapest

- Interview with András Nemeslaki

9

Unforgettable Tata

- Memories of a Blocked Seminar

21

Children with Courage15

- Fall in Rotterdam

András: I have always enjoyed exchange programs.

I spent a semester in Germany and another in Vienna

as part of Erasmus programs; it was there that I first

heard about CEMS. The opportunities it offered

seemed very appealing to me. Later I spent my

internship in Germany at Daimler Chrysler, at that

time I was most interested in the automotive industry.

András: I graduated from Corvinus in 2001, majoring

in finance, however never imagined working at such

a boring place as a bank… but when it came to

search for job, I got very interested in the executive

trainee program that Budapest Bank offered. At that

time very few companies offered such opportunities.

CBJ: Please tell us about yourself! How did you get in touch with CEMS?

CBJ: Budapest Bank is not directly connected to automotives…

WORKING WITH BUDAPEST BANK By Bernadett Nádasy Budapest Bank, as a member of GE Capital, the

financial services unit of General Electric, offers not

only general experience in banking, but goes beyond

by providing access to all General Electric

businesses. Considering this, we found it very

valuable to interview András Keller, CEMS Alumnus

about his job at Budapest Bank.

Throughout the four semesters of the program I got

familiar with four different fields of the bank's

operations. As I was still unsure which field I really

want to work in, I grabbed this opportunity. Finally, it

turned out to be a very good idea as I have been

working at Budapest Bank in the e-business field

since then. So far, I have been the product manager

of different bank services, managed strategic projects

as a project leader. I got new assignments every 1-2

years. At this moment I am the head of the e-channel

development team.

CBJ: The bank’s executive trainee program you participated is still exists. András: It does, but it's now called Bank Trainee

Program and focuses on developing future leaders in

sales and marketing. In the first four months, trainees

work in retail banking at branches, which is followed

by a rotation to corporate banking. The second half of

the program is spent in the BB headquarters. By this

time, it is getting clear which areas are the most

appealing for our trainees. They have the opportunity

to choose the last two fields they are most interested

in. Alternatives include risk management, product

management, sales support, etc. Personally, I very

much liked the initiative that trainees could interview

their future bosses about the learning and

development opportunities before choosing the next

rotation. I found the job that suits me best and I also

realized that working for a bank is anything but boring

and is a great channel for creative ideas.

Another graduate program we offer is the Financial

Management Program which concentrates on the

Finance function but is broader in that the training

and rotations give exposure to the whole diverse

General Electric Company. In this program, trainees

rotate four times in areas like financial planning,

pricing, controllership or tax with generally one six-

month rotation outside the business. The program

involves a lot of travel, with all FMPs worldwide

participating in training and projects together. FMP

graduates have huge prestige both in Hungary and

abroad. Knowing the interests of CEMS students, it

could be a very good opportunity for them.

CBJ: When you applied to BB, was it already a CEMS corporate partner? András: BB has been a corporate partner for two

years and I can be proud to have had an important

role in the accession. Each year when we announced

the Financial Management Program, we faced the

problem of finding highly qualified applicants.

Knowing the abilities of a CEMS student and also

being familiar with the corporate partnership

opportunities, I drew the attention of our HR Leader

to the program and so the partnership started. Since

then we regularly participate in summer and winter

camps, Rotation Dinners, last spring we also had the

first Business Project for CEMS students.

CBJ: How does the profile of an ideal BB candidate look like? András: Very good knowledge of languages is a

must, besides that we require strong academic

achievement for our leadership programs. Firm

knowledge in finance and good computer skills are

also needed. Besides that, the desire and ability to

learn, excellent communication and influencing skills,

persistence and leadership abilities are needed. In

this aspect, candidates from CEMS usually perform

much better, as the program itself generates such

situations where these skills are developed. Not to

mention experience in a foreign working environment,

which is also an asset.

Apart from all this, we always look for a characteristic

or accomplishment that distinguishes the applicant,

should it be an achievement in sport or anything else

they are proud of, or enthusiastic about.

CBJ: What are you working on currently? András: Each day is different, which I really enjoy.

The role of my team is to look for solutions to new

emerging challenges, specifically in online banking. A

recent example would be the opportunities and

challenges presented by a change in legal

regulations. There is a great deal of freedom,

everybody can express their ideas. In fruitful

discussions we finalize the idea, formulate the

strategy, prepare the business case and the financial

model. After the first round of approvals we lobby to

make our idea a project. When it is achieved, we

manage the project from beginning to end. I am

especially proud of two projects I was the team

leader of. One is the installation of a new version of

our internet banking system. The project lasted for

the whole of 2008 and we received the Netbank of

the Year award from Global Finance and still keep

receiving prizes for it. The other project I am very

proud of was the rebranding of Budapest Bank. This

project was also a very exciting one as it had an

impact on the entire operations of the bank and 120

people were involved.

CBJ: You seem to enjoy your job very much. András: I have considered changing work a few

times, but a new challenge always made me stay.

The fast-paced work, the constantly arising

interesting projects and the great atmosphere at

Budapest Bank keep me motivated.

BOLOGNA IN BUDAPEST By Zsanett Czifrus

We asked Professor Nemeslaki about the effects of

current transitions process on CEMS Budapest and

his opinion about underlying opportunities.

CBJ: Good morning!

When did you meet CEMS

first and what was your

first impression?

Prof. Nemeslaki: I started to

teach at Corvinus University

in 2000 and in 2002 I

became the vice-dean. That

time Mr. Kerekes was the

director of CEMS, he knew that I’m interested and I

have the competencies therefore he suggested I took

on his job as an Academic Board Member. It was

almost 8 years ago.

I think, that time was the CEMS MIM’ childhood here

in Hungary, I took an active part in the planning of the

MIM program and I could get an insight, how it was

working. The first internationalization wave just

finished in Europe, and the universities started to feel

the bright side of these changes. Since the top rated

universities already worked out their strategies, it was

a challenge to maintain this alliance attractive and

beneficial to them. Meanwhile there was pressure on

the smaller universities to improve their quality.

There were two big issues that revolutionized the

CEMS’ strategy: getting into the Financial Times

ranking and expanding outside of Europe: becoming

global. The presence of new members brought a

fresh initiative to the whole organisation and even the

existing universities could experience the positive

benefits of it. Next year two more new countries are

going to join us, Canada and Turkey, so CEMS will

have 26 full members.

Actually there was also a third element which

contributed to the success: The peer review system

in which universities have been evaluating each

other. It is a kind of quality management and it

supports our all improvements.

CBJ: What kind of affect does it have for the

CEMS in Hungary?

Prof. Nemeslaki: It means a challenge for us, but

there is no excuse any more, we are an EU member

for 5 years, moreover our students have very good

reputation all over Europe, so we have to grow up to

this role. Of course there are some critical points that

still need to be improved.

As a consequence of the Bologna-process for

instance, we have to redefine the model in Hungary,

Corvinus University should strengthen its presence in

the international field and also focus on the financial

issues of the CEMS program. To illustrate the nature

of change, I would like to point out that this is the first

year when the number of the exchange students

exceed the Hungarians’.

I am convinced that the university should pay more

attention to this program, because it’s one of the best

way to become a stronger international player on the

global map.

CBJ: Let’s take a look at the current situation. As

we know there are some bureaucratic problems

in the Hungarian system. Since there are some

overlaps in the curriculums, the Hungarian

students are overloaded. Do you have any

initiatives to make the Hungarian CEMS students’

studies more transparent and solve the problem

that the multiplied courses cause?

Prof. Nemeslaki: The new Master system (i. e. in the

Bologna system) runs with 120 ECTS credit, the

CEMS program has 60 ECTS. It means that the 2-

year long Master would be one year longer, but it’s

not a way to do it. If the university would accept at

least 30 ECTS credit, it could shorten the term to 2,5

year. That seems to be a reasonable solution. Due to

the high autonomy of numerous programs, it is not

easy to find a satisfying agreement for the credit

recognition because in some cases we are not able

to find the course “equivalencies”. Regardless of

this, each party – the particular program

management, the students and the CEMS MIM

program management - should have a more open

approach and gain consensus somehow.

We introduced changes in the selection process, as

well. The new bachelor generation just steps into the

scene and we have made efforts to create a fair

system for every applicant. The main requirements

that matter the most are the language exam and the

Bachelor degree.

I would like to emphasize that one of our main

strengths is the CEMS Student Club. They help us a

lot to create a cohesive community and they support

us with professional programs as well. E. g.:

organizing skill seminars.

As a conclusion we should reinvent the product,

promote it, and build a good marketing strategy

around it. That’s our long-term homework now and

we are on the way to do it. The “CEMS enlargement”

has just finished in Europe; we have a particular

position in South Eastern and Central Europe that

offers numerous opportunities. I look very

optimistically into the future and I trust in our

continued success with CEMS MIM.

INVEST IN CHILDREN By Zsigmond Fajth

UNICEF’s Chief of Economic Policy and Planning

talks with CEMS students about the challenges of

social development

On a sunny Friday afternoon an unusual poster

adorned the entrance of auditorium I.: it publicized a

mini conference on aid, development and CSR - a

theme quite rare for our university. Despite the

uncomfortable timetable, a brisk interest was in the

air as people from many diverse walks of the

university started filling the room.

Mr. Gaspar Fajth Chief of UNICEF’s Social Policy

and Planning Unit in its New York headquarters took

advantage of a European trip to stop at Corvinus,

from where he graduated 30 years ago, to give a

lecture on the challenges of human development and

then join the CEMS

students for a round

table discussion on

aid, development and

CSR. The lecture

started by painting out

the big picture and the

long term trends

affecting humanity in

the near future, then

went on to describe the

most urgent issues, to finish with UNICEF proposition

on what is to be done.

So what are these long terms trends? The lecturer

started with the population growth: in 2050 there will

be 9, 1 billion people living on our planet, compared

to current 6, 4. Furthermore, all of this growth will

come from developing countries, while the population

of developed countries will stagnate at best. This of

course will put an even greater pressure on the

world’s resources, such as energy, food and water,

at the time when we need to say goodbye to ’dirty-

fossil’ energy, which now constitutes the basis of the

global economy. The increase in population is

already creating problems by increased food prices

and greater threat of new pandemics emerging.

Malthus is gaining a new relevance. However, it is

also important to note, that population growth will

subside with the development of third

world, as it

happened in Europe a few decades ago.

Perhaps the greatest environmental threat, climate

change, will also affect those living in the poorest

regions of the earth most strongly, said Mr. Fajth,

which might result in further migratory waves. This

creates huge political pressure, which sums up to the

already existing strain created by the huge disparities

in access to income, energy, food, clean water.

Currently 80% of the income belongs to the

wealthiest 20% of countries. Something must be

done to smooth these tensions. But are the strategies

for development changing? We can see that there

has been much transformation from Reagan to

Obama: from the neoliberal approach of the

Washington Consensus (stemming from the IMF, the

World Bank and the US treasury) we have come to

the Millennium Development Goals, from G7 to G20

and so on- we are seeing a multilateral world- but the

question still is: how will all this affect the bottom

billion (those living in extreme poverty)? What threats

are they facing now? To illustrate some of the

problem the lecturer took the example of Malawi. This

is a country where GNP per capita/year is 250 $ and

12% of 15-49 years old have HIV or AIDS. Life

expectancy is 37 years and there are only 108 local

doctors for a population of 15 million. What happens

to these people when maize prices rise? Two months

after the prices go up people start flooding to the

UNICEF nutrition centers. These people needed

immediate help. UNICEF can work on prevention and

monitoring but it cannot leave these people to starve,

so a focus on the short term issues is just as

ch

’s

usiness; we are talking about our common future.  

important as a focus on the long term strategies.

UNICEF’s strategy of development is to invest in

children, explained Mr. Fajth. This unites long term

and short term goals. It has two main rationales.

Firstly it is important from a human rights perspective:

the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states

that all children have the right to life, to family, to

education, to play and to equal opportunities. This

convention was signed by all countries in the world

except two and it is thus legally and morally binding.

The second rationale is that the cost of this strategy

is the smallest compared to its return. In the

Copenhagen Consensus Initiative prominent

economists were asked what is the investment with

the greatest return today in the world. The top three:

micronutrients for children who lack essential

vitamins and minerals. With $60 million/year you

could have an annual return $1 billion, which

indicates a 1500% rate of

return! However, you can

only intervene in a short

period of their life; there is a

window of opportunity in ea

child’s life that we are missing

again and again, each day.

To make aid for growth work,

inclusive and participatory development is needed: it

must involve the local community and possibly the

local authorities. However, in a globalized world, this

is not a far away issue, it must also involve us. A

small investment now can make a huge difference to

those receiving it, he concluded. This is everyone

b

CHILDREN WITH COURAGE By Alex Horváth

In January 2009, the that time CSR responsible of

CEMS Club Budapest sent an email to the local

CEMS mailing list that had long lasting

consequences for a CEMS alumnus. Having been

working in strategy consulting for more than 3 years,

this particular alumnus felt an ever growing need to

give something back to society, something that has a

direct effect on the lives of people. This feeling

coincided with the opportunity that opened as the

CEMS alumnus was reading the email: “Come and

apply for a volunteer position at Bátor Tábor (Camp

of Courage) – a summer camp for chronically ill

children. These kids spent a significant part of their

lives in hospital or at home, due to their illness. In this

camp you can help them feel as normal kids, as they

cross their perceived limits and overcome challenges

that they would have never thought of before.” The

CEMS alumnus, who happened to be me, did not

hesitate for long. He applied to become a volunteer

“buddy”, and the adventure started…

The camp is situated near a town 60 kilometers from

Budapest; it is complete with a forest, a lake for

canoeing, a place for riding a horse, beautiful new

cottages for children, and a large canteen where all

camp dwellers have breakfast, lunch and dinner

together. In each of the 6 turns during the summer 70

children and the same number of volunteers spend a

week in the camp. A variety of programs are held for

the kids, apart from the above mentioned canoeing

and horse riding, they experience how fun music,

theatre, the noises of the forest, archery or climbing

on high ropes can be. The method used is called

recreational therapy. It helps children build self-

confidence, much needed after a prolonged period of

absence from society due to serious illness. All

programs are organized by volunteers, and they are

the ones who stay with the children in their cottages,

smile and cry with them and help them in making the

most out of the week they spend far from home. For

someone like me, who never worked with children,

does not have one and comes from a totally different

field of activity, this whole idea might seem rather

challenging. It is. But the time I spent in Bátor Tábor

is something I will remember forever. I was a “cabin

buddy”, someone who stays with the same group of

children the whole week, every day from the time

they wake up in the morning, through all their

programs during and till they go to sleep in the

evening. The cottage I was assigned to housed boys

between the age of 9-11. In one sense they were as

other boys of this age, fond of football, running

around all the time, loud and sometimes very

naughty. But they also showed signs of being grown

up ahead of time; they all had, at some point in their

life, suffered from some form of cancer. Maybe as a

result of their illness, maybe because of the way the

camp was organized, these kids showed unusually

deep emotions, and you could see how grateful they

were for the unique experience they encountered. It

was breathtaking to watch how someone at the age

of 9, struggled to climb up a 6 meter tall wooden pole

and how happy he was when he reached the top. But

he showed the most courage when he jumped into

the abyss and hit the big red balloon, hung from a

rope near the pole. Everyone was cheering as the

boy was lowered on the safety rope and the smile on

his face was our real reward for the volunteer work

we were doing.

Of course, working with children all day long is very

tiring, and by the end of the week, volunteers were

both mentally and physically exhausted. You also

have a lot of tension building up in you, as you try

never to lose any of the 10 kids from sight, or solve

conflicts between them, or calm them down when

they cry, because they miss their family. This tension

then bursts out when the last kid leaves the camp,

and you dance on the field in front of the canteen with

all other volunteers to the music that used to signal

lunch or dinner, being sprinkled with water from a

hose… Well, this is also something I will never forget.

As the days go by, these memories are still as clear

as if all this happened just yesterday. And I am happy

to have taken part in something that really made a

difference. This is the kind of

experience that gets you addicted. So I hope to

return next summer, when the camp will welcome

again a band of children with courage.

ANNUAL EVENTS 2009 By Zsombor Szirmai

December 5th, 2009, about 10am: I woke up quite

late on my last day as an active CEMS student,

hereafter I would officially be declared a CEMS

graduate and alumnus.

Waking up on this

winter-like, typical North-

Rhine-Westphalia day

(i.e. clouded, windy and

potentially raining) in

Cologne, I noted one or

two things: first and

foremost, I had no

headache after last

night’s CEMS get-

together (and several Kölsch beers), which to say the

least was a rather comforting

fact. Secondly, I was lucky to be

ble to attend my own graduation

as a few weeks prior I had

unnecessarily complicated my own life with

registering for the ceremony a bit after the last

minute. Since things all seemed to be on the right

track, I headed with all due confidence to have

breakfast. After overcoming some communication

hurdles with the otherwise kind waitress, I was finally

served my Earl Grey tea, which I thought was a

simpler request than a mango-vanilla shake.

Around 11am: I have yet to mention that I was not

travelling alone to this long weekend trip to

Düsseldorf and Cologne (some of you can guess with

whom I was), making it incomparably more fun as if I

had been by myself. Being all set for some

sightseeing, we took on the city of the Dome, the

home of 4711. With the Christmas shopping frenzy

approaching, the downtown was perhaps too

crowded for what I would call a light stroll through

some of the narrower passages of Cologne, but of

course we could not elude our destiny and did some

shopping ourselves. Nor could we resist the

Bratwurst and the Glühwein, but to admit the truth we

never really had “resist Bratwurst” on our list of to-

dos. On the contrary we just about managed to

complete all stereotypical must-dos in Cologne,

before it was time to leave winter wonderland

Cologne (except for the missing snow) behind for the

University.

Around 2pm: I finally found the Corvinus University

table and many long not seen friends at the

University Main Building, after doing a little 5-minute

jog through what seemed to be a serious contender

for the dubious title of “longest university corridor of

the world”. The graduation, held in the enormous

auditorium of the University’s main building was

noteworthy for several things: the deans and rectors’

gowns, some of which strongly resembled Santa

Claus; a jazzy performance of Beethoven’s “Ode to

Joy”, that contained the original piece in traces; a

very thoughtful and inspiring keynote speech by

European Comissioner Günther Verheugen; a

somewhat confusing introduction of Günther

Verheugen, in which we could find out that he, at

some stage in his life attended the University of

Cologne; lastly a self-declared lead singer for

Gaudeamus Igitur, which could have been performed

with slightly more decorum. Around 6pm: Here we stand, official graduates of

CEMS, with a glass of champagne in our hands to

celebrate the 4-5 years of being CEMSies!

Around 3am, next day: we’ve had a great dinner at

the city’s most historic and oldest assembly hall, the

Gürzenich (the taxi driver did

not know the place on the way here), and partied all

right. Shortly before falling asleep it struck my mind

again that CEMS is one of the best things that

happened to me during my time at university, and

could not guess how many friends I made through

CEMS. A smile came to my face when some

moments of this CEMSy weekend flashed in my mind

and I was sleeping like a rock.

That was CEMS Annual Events 2009, see you next year in Rotterdam!

UNFORGETTABLE TATA by András Viszkievicz

I arrived in Tata following a long and eventful

Saturday night spent at one of the famous clubs of

Budapest. I believed that we will have some rest

during the almost one week in the town of Tata,

enjoying the beautiful environment of the Hungarian

Olympic training center. But this vision turned out to

be false. In fact, the last time when I had comparably

little sleep was the first year’s freshman camp.

Although during the introduction everybody was a bit

stressed and we discussed that everybody has

brought a suit for the presentations. Later we had no

use of these suits, but I suppose nobody complained

about it… I guess, the main goal of this block seminar

was to create the team spirit before the semester

start and thanks to Prof. Kerekes, this aim was

perfectly met.

After having some inspiring lectures on CSR and

environmental topics until the early afternoon, the

afternoons and evenings were really joyful. After a

company visit at Güntner Tata, the Szöllősi vinery

hosted us for a memorable wine tasting. By the way,

this vinery was awarded with the Vinery of the Year

prize in 2009, and they proved to be great hosts, so

we left in very good mood. But the night was still very

young and maybe some can still remember the

fabulous pyjama party that followed… Just some

memorable moments of the six days without respect

under the trees with Prof. Tyteca, the critical remarks

of Prof. Martinuzzi, wine tasting-wine tasting-wine

tasting again and again, preparing for presentations,

relaxing in the sauna after 4 hours of sleep, the all

you can eat meals in the canteen, making contacts

with the local policeman, coffee break in the bar, and

so on.

to the timeline: different concepts of goulash, sitting

hope thes 6 days spent together established the I

famous „CEMS spirit” (praised so much by Prof.

Delfmann) in our small community. Guys, be sure

that I could not imagine a better start of my CEMS

year, and I really hope that most of you shares this

idea!

Messages from far…

AURHENTIC SUMMER EXPERIENCE IN KAZAKHSTAN By Krisztina Podonyi „Fast Facts about Kazakhstan:

The 9th largest country of the world.

Area 2.7 million sq km

Population 15 million

Capital Astana

Famous For: Oil, Borat Sagdiyev”

/Lonely Planet: Central Asia/

Well, after opening the guide book and reading this

on the first page when I was already located in

Almaty (the city of apples) and felt extremely

disappointed about the guide books professionalism

despite of their very well established reputation.

Then I thought it over and realised that actually I

came here with the same bare knowledge that

Kazakhstan is famous for its oil fields and Borat. The

only extra I was aware of is Baykonur, the world

known space station, and that Lance Armstrong was

cycling in the Astana team this summer. Not too

much to be proud of, right? So I started to explore as

much of this country and its culture as possible, since

choosing this summer university instead of another

one was because of my lack of knowledge about

Central Asia.

A Kazakh businessman phrased it to me perfectly

when we had dinner together: people from the West

are afraid of –stan ending countries, though

Kazakhstan is the most developed among all, thanks

to its oil and technology developments.

-Stan countries? Well, never go on your own

anywhere unless you are a man, speak perfect

Russian and look either Rusky or Asian (maybe

Arab). I got in very tough and dangerous situations

when I was travelling on my own... Luckily I always

survived without being robbed or lost or worse...

Though anything could have happened, since I was

followed several times by robbers, satyrs and once

locked in a train cabin during night when all the

passengers were sleeping. See how lucky I was that

nothing bad happened to me? Lessons to take away:

always have a travel mate or more, and participate in

guided tours only!!!!

Although I am all in all extremely happy that I tried my

luck once and last in life, since I have seen such

places and culture of the world that I will keep forever

and will tell my grand and grand-grand kids in

another quarter or half a century ☺

Some interesting things to know about Kazakhstan: Prime Minister Nazerbayev replaced the capital from

Almaty to Astana, to create further geographical

distance between China and the Kazakh

governmental center (since the fear of Chinese

invasion is huge) and to strengthen the Russian-

Kazakh relation via locating closer to Moscow. Well,

Nazerbayev also aims to change the whole country’s

economy by 2032 by replacing the Cyrillic alphabet to

Latin, making the population speak English all over

the territory and aiming towards Europe and the

World in general by joining the World Trade

Organisation and reducing import taxes from 40% to

make international brands available for the public.

And here comes the question, what does public

mean? Because this huge country has so great gaps

in its population that it’s hardly possible to explain.

While the city center’s inhabitants in Almaty purchase

international products, wear Benetton, DG and Louis

Vuitton, drive Lexus, Ferrari and Maserati, and enjoy

the city by night view from their luxury hilltop

residence, until the poor people from the

neighbouring districts wear second hand, buy food on

the market, which is rotting in the 40 Celsius during

the day (that is why I never bought fish and fresh

meat from the stands), travel on the crowded public

transport for 37 HUF per drive, and works on the

street selling newspapers or ice cream. And this is

not the end yet, because the men of the desert, the

steppe and the mountains have not been mentioned

yet. They either have a camel, a horse or walk the

dozens of kilometers to get from one village to the

other.

Well, I experienced all of these. Lived in the KIMEP

dormitory (which was quite poor, but the best

community experience I have ever had during my

university studies), gained some rich friends from

classes who drove me home (and then I could see

how rich people in Kazakhstan cook from premium

ingredients), and traveled to the countryside several

times for hiking around the mountain lakes, where I

have spent one night at local people’s home (who live

in yurts, don’t have running water, so I had my

extremely quick shower-bath in the 7 Celsius cold

mountain stream water with some sheep, cows and

horses accompanying me ☺). These were truly the

best times of my international trips, though I have

already been to several interesting and culturally

exciting countries, like South Korea or Gambia.

One more thing all of you must know is the

Hungarian-Kazakh relation, about which I have seen

a whole floor of exhibition in the National State

Museum of Kazakhstan in Almaty (imagine, the

whole museum is a 3 storey building, and one floor is

dedicated to the Hungarian relations with loads of

Hungarian labels and description under the pictures-

unbelievable it was!!!). A scientific research has also

been conducted: A. Z. Bíró, A. Zalán, A. Völgyi and

H. Pamjav: A chromosomal comparison of the

Madjars (Kazakhstan) and the Magyars (Hungary).

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, (2009).

By the way Kazakhs used the same burying way as

ancient Hungarians did, and the Golden Rein Deer

was also the symbol of this steppe nation! Not have

mentioned the Kymis yet, which is the traditional

drink of the Kazakhs, and used to be the drink of the

old Hungarians as well. Kymis is the milk of the

horse, which is quite sour, has a definite strong smell

and some percentage of alcohol, so it is not

recommended to drink for breakfast. The Shuba is

similar, a little softer, less sour, rather sweetish, and

this comes from the camel, so it’s camel milk - very

special, and said to be very helpful and beneficial for

your immune system. That’s the reason I drank at

least 2 liters of it after having been recovering from

the H1N1 I suffered from in the KIMEP dormitory.

Yes, the H1N1 was there already this summer, and

many beautiful cities were under blockade to prevent

further infections. That’s why I could not visit for

example Turkistan, one of the most beautiful cities of

the Silk Road.

Altogether I can only say that in case you have some

friends to accompany you and at least one of you

speak Russian or Kazakh, and you are not only

females, no worries, just go and visit this amazing

country, especially Almaty, where during the week

you can see at least 40 wedding ceremonies in the

Panphilov Park from Monday till Sunday!

GREETINGS FROM COLOGNE By Bence Barta

As the whole Hungarian CEMS class for the first time

ever, I have started the CEMS program as a fifth year

student. Universitaet zu Köln has been the school I

have chosen, as it is situated in the heart of Western

Europe, with a direct connection and exceptionable

proximity to almost all western states- important

aspect since I love travelling. Language was a crucial

criterion for me as well: studying in both English and

German seemed to be an attractive challenge. As I

can imagine myself working in Germany, it was the

best decision I could have made considering

networking and language reasons. To study at the

meeting point of European crossroads also provided

the chance to get acquainted, spend leisure time and

party with CEMSies from very different cultures.

After 4 months of Cologne residency I can

contentedly conclude, that all my experiences met my

expectations: Cologne is not just well situated, but

uses its unique location to generate various tangible

advantages for the residents: Cologne - Bonn Airport

is one of the largest hubs, besides that other 5 (!)

airports serving the needs of the approximately 23

million people living in the south part of North-Rhine

Westphalia, building a huge interconnected city-

network of Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund,

Aachen and Gelsenkirchen, linked closely to each

other. Considering my language expectations the

time spent in Cologne was quite useful- I passed the

DSH exam, it means I am allowed to apply for a

German university place as well (which is not realistic

of course). The University has cca. 10 000 exchange

students each semester, thus Cologne is famous for

its party and night life as well. Almost everybody

takes the bike as a mean of transport; I have one as

well which makes my life a lot easier. Students are

open-minded, local people likewise. Despite the fact

that the only beauty spot in Cologne is the Cathedral,

it is easy to find cities nearby worthwhile to visit:

Münster, Aachen, Maastricht are my favourite ones.

Due to the numerous airports and airlines, I visited

Portugal and Poland as well, we roamed the

surroundings of Cologne- Brussels and Luxembourg,

for instance by a rented car. I still have plans about

trips to Edinburgh and Mailand, making weekday-life

a bit busy but providing life long experience.

Moreover, the University fits my expectations also:

almost every class provides the possibility to examine

practical implications of the theories, and to attend

lectures held by companies.

The CEMS community in Cologne is not that strong,

but we know each other well since almost everybody

participated at the Block Seminar in Oberwesel. The

CEMS Club Cologne is an open Club, but the

treatment of CEMSies - as well as the main social

events - are organized by the central International

Relations office. The Hungarian club can be quite

content considering corporate relations: having long

term sponsorship contracts are important advantages

of our operations.

However I had precious time in the previous months

which widened my horizon a lot, I still can not

conclude yet: after the hopefully successful

Hungarian exams I will return for some remaining

lectures and exams, and of course for the well-known

Carneval. Cologne welcomes everybody who would

like to participate at this unique event!

FALL IN ROTTERDAM By Gábor Briber

A 2009 őszi szemesztert Hollandiában,

Rotterdamban, a Vizek városában töltöttem. Pont a

mai napon írtam meg utolsó vizsgámat pénzügyből

és még van egy hetem hátra itt, amit egy „exchange

semester” - en részt vevő diákhoz méltón szeretnék

eltölteni...No de nem szaporítom tovább a szót,

nézzük is mi történt velem az elmúlt szűk 4

hónapban!

Amikor az RSM (Rotterdam School of Management)

mellett döntöttem, több érv is mellette szólt. Az

egyetem rendkívüli népszerűsége illetve igen magas

oktatási színvonala vonzott, ami rögtön az első helyre

repítette Rotterdamot a saját preferencia

sorrendemben... Most a hazautazásom előtt

pontosan egy héttel, bátran állíthatom, hogy az

egyetem méltán tartja eszméletlen népszerűségét.

Egy új országot, egy új várost megismerni mindig

nagy élményt jelent. Nagyon érdekesnek találtam a

rotterdami életet, a helyiek mentalitását.

Rotterdamban az élet nyugodt, az emberek

barátságosak. Mielőtt még nyakamba vettem volna

Hollandiát, otthon ezt tanácsolták nekem: “Gabesz,

Hollandiában akárhova is mész kerékpárra lesz

szükséged”…Nos, hát ezzel az útravalóval érkeztem

meg Rotterdamba, és mit ne mondjak, az első, amin

történetesen először meglepődtem az a hihetetlen

mennyiségű bicikli ,ami a vasútállomás mellett

sorakozott egymás hegyén-hátán.

Rotterdam igazi mintaképe a globalizációnak, hiszen

nemzetek sokasága zsúfolódik össze ebben a

városban. Én például egy tipikus török – marokkói -

arab negyedben laktam. Bár ez talán elsőre nem

hangzik túl jól, az itt töltött idő alatt nagyon

összebarátkoztam néhány helyi lakossal, rendkívül

kedvesek és segítőkészek voltak. Igaz, ebből a

soknemzetűségből adódóan többen tanácsolták,

hogy bizonyos helyekre ne menjünk, mert ott egy

csöppet megbicsaklik a közbiztonság ereje.

Ha Rotterdamban jársz, mindenképpen látogass el a

Kikötőbe, ami a világon az egyik legnagyobb ☺.

Nevezetességként említhetem a Kubus-

Paalwoningen-eket, amelyek kocka alakú lakások és

helyi nevezetességek közé sorolandók.

Nem is beszélve a város egyik jelképéről, az

Erasmus-hídról.

A holland gasztronómia a sajtnál kezdődik és ott is

fejeződik be, ami persze nem probléma, csak

meglepő volt - legalább is számomra - amikor ebédre

szendvicseket szolgáltak fel. Persze könnyen hozzá

lehetett szokni a tenger gyümölcseivel teletömött

szendvicsekhez. ☺ Fantasztikus élményként ért,

amikor a városban járkáltam és el akartam jutni egyik

helyről a másikba, megérdeklődtem egy átlagos

holland nénikétől angolul, hogy mégis merre menjek,

mire ő gördülékeny angolsággal magyarázta el

nekem, hatalmas mosollyal az arcán☺

Az egyetem hihetetlenül modern és rendkívül jól

felszerelt. Az osztálytermek direkt kis csoportos

foglalkozásokra, ha úgy tetszik szemináriumokra

lettek kialakítva. Az optimális oktatáshoz minden

adott. Feltétlenül kiemelném, hogy a Master

képzések szinte egytől egyig angolul folynak, ami

nagyban megemeli az iskola renoméját.

Ellenben negatívumként éltem meg, hogy a tanárok

keze nagyon megvan kötve, hiszen ha tegyük fel

valami problémám adódna a vizsga időpontjával

kapcsolatban, akkor a Vizsgabizottsághoz kell

fordulnom, hogy engedjék meg a professzoroknak,

hogy írathasson egy új vizsgát egy másik, általuk

megadott időpontban… Meglepő volt, de semmiképp

sem mulatságos!

A CEMS-ről meg azt hiszem, nem kell feleslegesen

ódákat zengenem, mert mindenki ismeri, tudja, aki

meg nem az próbálja meg, felvételizzen, mert nagyon

megéri! Ezek az egyetemek, amelyek képviselik

magukat a CEMS programban egytől egyig rendkívüli

színvonalúak. Őszintén, bennem megfogalmazódott

egy bizonyos szintű elvárás a RSM-tel kapcsolatban

mielőtt kijöttem volna, és bátran állíthatom, hogy még

túl is szárnyalta az elképzeléseimet. Persze, azért

még 2 vizsgám eredményét várom, remélem nem fog

változni a véleményem…☺