In one of my classes, American, Hungarian, Nigerian, Chinese, and Russian students are animatedly arguing about the best solution to world poverty, the merits of free markets or the morality of abortion.  In another class, an Egyptian sits alongside Hungarian students absorbing the lessons of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous essay, “Self-Reliance” or Henry David Thoreau’s call to civil disobedience.  In a public forum, Scandinavians, Iranians, and Israelis are debating the limits of free speech prompted by the publication of Danish cartoons.  In this international meeting of minds one cannot assume a particular opinion will be expressed based upon the national origins of the speaker.  The new realities of globalization where information is rapidly disseminated, old boundaries and borders are being crossed, and new bonds are being forged are readily apparent at this small, but vibrant campus of McDaniel College Budapest, set in this beautiful city astride the Danube.  It is a place where I happily find myself teaching this semester, accompanied by my family and ten American students, in a place I’d never dream of being when I was in college over two decades ago. 

For those of us over 30 years of age, the new realities in Budapest are jarring, indeed astonishing.  For so long, Budapest belonged to part of the gray world behind the Iron Curtain, an ugly world of concrete block apartments, Warsaw pact tanks, and political oppression.  It was a place of cultural and economic stagnation.  It was not a dreamed of destination for those in the West.  Now it is alive with new energy, a city awakened from its nearly half century Cold War slumber.  Budapest, and Hungary as a whole, is rushing forward into the 21st century and into the political and economic embrace of the European Union making it a vibrant and international gateway to the West.

McDaniel Budapest Studetns with Professor Mark Hadley and Family at the Jesuit Church in Vienna
(click for larger image)

My family and I have gained much from working and living in Budapest this semester, and such is equally the case for the ten American students who are here.  McDaniel College aims to “change lives,” and it has certainly done so for these students.  The adjustments have not always been easy.  Students here live in their own apartments rather than in dorms.  While their classes are in English, their daily life is in a Hungarian cultural milieu.  They have had to learn some basic survival skills to live on their own.  For example, they have had to pick up some basic Hungarian phrases in order to shop for their food and otherwise negotiate daily life.  I can attest that the Hungarian language is daunting indeed!  They have also had to learn the public transportation system to get around the city.  While this latter task is easier than the former, for some it meant getting lost a few times before they got the hang of it. Yet the rewards have been great for these students who have taken up the challenge of living and studying abroad. 

Muriel Cruickshank, an English major in the class of 2007, says that the culture is so different that it took “time and patience” to adjust.  But she loves the pulse of city life where there is always something to do and to see.  She likes it that she can hop on a tram instead of needing a car to get to where she wants to go.  She is very happy that she has learned to be self-sufficient and now is considering the possibility of living and working abroad after graduating from McDaniel next year.  Muriel advises students who are thinking about studying abroad to “take it by the reins and do it yourself.”

These sentiments are echoed by Jon Silverman, a Political Science major in the class of 2007. He, too, says that he has loved learning to live by himself while learning about an entirely different culture.  He has tried as much as possible to hang out with friends who speak only Hungarian to him.  He says that he likes it that “I fit into a place that I never thought I would.”  He says that his experience in Hungary has broadened his horizons and made him realize “how small America is.”  Like Muriel, Jon advises any and every McDaniel student to study abroad: “it doesn’t matter where you go.  Don’t even think twice, just do it.” 

Both Muriel and Jon have made themselves citizens of the new interdependent global society emerging in this new century.  It is a world full of hope and promise once unimaginable for many of us.  I am happy to report that McDaniel College is a part of that world, once undreamt of, too.