Report on December 11th - Relaxing in Szechenyi bath

On Saturday December 11th, one of the coldest periods of the year and when it gets dark early, we visited Szechenyi bath. Behind the amazing entrance and through the ornately painted hallway, we entered the huge bath area with a variety of indoor and outdoor pools. The Szechenyi bath is the first thermal baths in Budapest and has 15 units. The Szechenyi Batch is located in the City park, on the Pest site of the city. After the long trip to Budapest it was for all the students and teachers a great possibility to relax and warm up.

Can you imagine, cold/dark weather, snow, steam rises from the hot water and running people with their flip flops from one pool to the other. The thermal baths in the wintertime, by night, gives you a special feeling. Szechenyi bath is a great place to relax any time of the year; perhaps it is the most popular swimming and bathing area of Budapest.

Budapest is the city of spas. So if you are in Budapest, please visit a thermal bath. You can’t miss this visit if you are in Budapest! That would be visiting Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower.

More information: www.szechenyibath.com

Welmoed Breukelman
Ilse ter Haar
 

Report on December 15th - Flashmob The final countdown

Today we went to the Eszterházy Károly College to do different kinds of workshops. Our assignment was to create a flash mob in a few hours. First we started with forming groups and then we brainstormed. There we also two Lithuanian students that joined the workshop. The first two groups had to present their best idea. After the lunch the other two groups had the chance to present their ideas. The flash mob had to be very simple because there wasn’t much time to practise or to prepare the group of eighty students. So first we did a try-out of all our ideas. If it wouldn’t work with only fifteen people it certainly wouldn’t work with a bigger group!

The group who had the best idea had to present it to the whole group of eighty students.

The idea was to create a circle of people standing close to each other on the Christmas market. Other curious (students) people would gather around the group with telephones and cameras to take pictures of ‘something’ and then the inner circle suddenly started to countdown from twenty till one. When they reached ‘one’ everybody walked away in different directions like nothing ever happened.

It was a nice idea but there weren’t many people at the Christmas market to get a good response of the people’s reaction. There will be a short movie of this event which you will find here in the near future.
 

Report on December 13th - Meeting between group A and client Tom de Smet

A cosy little café in the romantic part of Budapest, set the decor for the moment Group A was to meet Tom the Smet from Hungary Today. While enjoying cheessticks and a glass of soda, Marieke Feenema, Welmoed Sijtsma and all the students of group A got the opportunity to present their first findings and opinions about Hongarije Vandaag.

Click here to read the report and see the pictures!

Report on December 10th
On the 10th of December we went to Hungary for seven days by bus. We departed on 7 o’clock in the afternoon. The bus was very full, because we went with 86 people and two drivers in total. On our way to Hungary there was a lot of snow. We’ve watched a lot of movies, so we weren’t bored.
In Austria we were stopped in a traffic jam and couldn't move at all for 3 hours because there was a car accident.
We arrived at 6 o’clock in the afternoon at Budapest. We’ve stayed in the hotel Atlas. After dropping our luggage at the hotel room, we rushed to the spa "Szechenyi". This was very beautiful, because it was outside. Three large hot swimming pools. We were swimming in the snow! The long trip faded away at once.
 

December 15th
At the Eszterházy Károly College Dutch and Hungarian students shared their ideas during workshops.
The College was very, very hospitable and we enjoyed a very intensive day at their premises.

December 14th
The HBCE and Grants Europe were very impressed by the ideas the students showed. The students will continue working after the Christmas holidays and implement all suggestions and extra input they have received at todays meeting

December 14th, morning program
The Zwack Unicum company was visited and the history was explained on how family business survived the communistic period, the nationalization of the company and now free entrepeneurship.
 

December 14th - The Royal Palace of Gödöllo

Today we went to the Royal Palace of Gödöllo. This palace is one of the largest monuments of Hungary. The owners of the palace were the Grassalkovich family, but they died. Prinses Sisi visited the palace a couple of times.

We went by bus to Gödöllo. When we arrived we saw a beautiful building. We were welcomed by a friendly guide. The guide showed us some rooms and gave us information about these rooms in the building and the history of the palace. The building is in barok style and got some beautiful furnitures and paintings. After we saw a view rooms we had a presentation about the use of the building. The building will be used in the future for congresses. We saw the room where these important congresses will be given and a theatre.

We enjoyed the trip to the Royal Palace of le Gödöllo and learned more about the history of the building and the history of Hungary.

December 14th - HBHE and Grants Europe Consulting
On Tuesday December 14th we went to HBHE and Grants Europe Consulting. Hen Gerritse, the director of Grants Europe Consulting, welcomed us. He started with an introduction about the two companies and their joint venture.

HBHE stands for Hitesy Bartucz Hollai Euroconsulting, this company carries out consulting services in the field of regional development in different themes like tourism, environment en transport. Grants Europe provides the same service but on a more international level, HBHE especially operates in the Hungarian market. These two companies have started a joint venture to combine their strenghts. The aim of the JV is to establish an exclusive cooperation between both companies in the field of consultancy on project development, management and coaching of activities.

Our assignment was to create a concept to promote the joint venture in Europe. There were four groups to present their ideas to the employees of the companies. The conclusion that came from the different presentations was that they have to work on the branding of the JV and that they have to work from the inside out (why →what→ how). Finally our advice was to use a movie (or viral) to introduce the JV and both companies to the target group.

December 14th, 15.00-17.30 hours.
Impression of the visit to the Godollo Palace. The palace where the first EU meeting will take place on January 4th 2011. We have been welcome by the director of this palace and guided around the EU meeting rooms. A fantastic experience.

Monday, December 13th - Visit to Ombrello Digital Media
Monday, we went to Ombrello, an online publisher and digital agency. Ombrello is located in an industrial area. From the outside, the building looked very old and gray. But when we entered the building, we were surprised. It was very modern and clean. Inside we also saw a ping-pong table, a swing and a hammock. The staff members use these things to get inspired, to be creative and to think out of the box.

Ombrello is well-known in Hungary for the website www.hg.hu. This website is about the architecture in Budapest. We, a part of the third year students, have been asked by Ombrello to develop a communication strategy for their new website. This website is called ‘the CityWatch Portal’. This portal is dedicated to neighbourhood matters, city lifestyle and city development.
It’s our goal to make sure the people in Budapest know the website. We have to achieve this by using social media and without any budget.

Our group is divided in six groups. All these groups have talked about their first ideas. We received a lot of feedback from the Ombrello people. Now we know how to continue with our communication strategy.
 

News, Monday December 13th

Impression of the city in December:

Impression of leisure time:

News, Sunday December 12th
Sunday we all went sightseeing. The guides were Hungarian students and former students in the Dutch language and Dutch people who live in Budapest. In six groups we strolled along the streets of Budapest and learned about living in Budapest, architecture and culture. See also www.hongarijevandaag.nl for a full report.
 

December 2nd - The logo for the 2010/2011 project International Communication

The logo for the 2010/2011 project International Communication is designed by Sylvia Bekkema. Sylvia is 4th year student at the NHL university of applied sciences. Her speciality is graphic design. Sylvia explains that the logo has been inspired by the following items:
The eye refers to the versatility of the communication business. And also stands for the discovery of the excursion to Hungary, because the students will see a lot during that week. The eye as a dot on the word communication refers to the fact that a big part of communication is observation. The eyes are an important ‘tool’ for the communication students and not only during the excursion.
The lashes of the eye can also been seen as a crown, this crown expresses the uniqueness of the excursion. But also stands for the group of third year communication students and the exclusivity of the excursion, which they will experience together.
The yellow balls at the top of the crown refer to the yellow stars on the European flag.

The colours that are used refer to the colours of the Hungarian flag (red, white and green), the Dutch flag (red, white and blue) and the European (blue with yellow stars) flag. Hungary, Holland and the European Union are all represented in this intercultural logo.
But also the versatility of the colours that are used is representative for the diverse aspects of (the field of study) of the communication business.

The logo will be used on all printed matters. We hope all will use the logo and feel united with our project international communication.
 

November 17th - How to say ‘cheers’ in Hungarian?
From Monday the 6th of December on, students will learn everything about The EU and in particular about Hungary. There will be lectures about the Hungarian culture and trade, but what about the Hungarian language? How do you say ´hello´ or how do you introduce yourself when you are in Hungary? Blanka Borda (see picture), an exchange student from Hungary, will give a class on the Hungarian language on Wednesday the 8th of December for all students. Blanka is a student at Eszterhazy Karoly college in Eger, Hungary. She is in the Netherlands for one semester. At the NHL Hogeschool she takes courses in the Arts department, an English class, and some classes about the Dutch culture. In her lecture on the Hungarian language she will tell the students some interesting facts about Hungary. Of course the students are also going to learn some useful words and phrases in Hungarian as it is important to learn how to present yourself to the companies you will visit and because you should at least know how to say ‘cheers’ when you are having a drink with the local students in Hungary!

By Sjoukje van der Heide