Word of Life Hungary

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Travel Information (Including Arrival and Departure guidelines)

Students traveling to Hungary by plane: 
You will fly into the Budapest International Airport (BUD), which is located on the southeast edge of Budapest, approximately 45 minutes from the Word of Life Hungary property. Most major airlines in conjunction with their European partner airlines have daily and sometimes multiple daily flights to Budapest.

We will arrange for you to be picked up at the airport with one of our ministry vehicles. The charge for this pickup is 5,000 forints (approximately $30). This cost is shared by the all those we pick up - so we will try to consolidate trips to the airport to reduce both travel and costs. This may mean you will need to wait as much as two or three hours for others to arrive. If the wait would be longer than this, we will make separate trips.

Students traveling to Hungary by car, train or bus: 
Please contact us for directions to our property or to arrange to be picked up at the bus/train station.  

As soon as you know your travel information for September, please let us know by e-mailing the Director of Admissions (admissions@eletszava.org). We will make arrangements to pick you up at the airport or train station. 

What To Bring

These guidelines should be helpful for anyone attending the Word of Life Hungary Bible Institute. However, they contain information that is particularly important for our students traveling here from outside Europe.

1.  Baggage: Keep in mind that on international flights from the United States to Europe you are limited to one carry-on and one checked piece of luggage. (Please check with the airline for information on the weight limit). 

2.  Personal items and storage: In Europe personal living space per person tends to be less than what students from the U.S. might expect. At the Bible Institute, storage space is rather limited, so we recommend that you carefully evaluate what you will need. In general, each student has one small wardrobe closet, half of which is for hanging items, and the other half of which is shelf space. Each student also has a desk with some built in shelves and a limited amount of storage space.

3.  Clothing: Minimum classroom, church, and ministry dress: business casual / casual office attire
Men: Please have nice pants, collared shirt and regular dress shoes. You do not have to wear a tie.
Women: Please wear nice slacks or skirts, with nice tops or dresses.
Both men and women: Please no sport shoes, no sneakers, no t-shirts. Your clothes should be neat, clean, and modest. We do not allow jeans to be worn to class.
Outside of class, church, and ministry: In general, the dress code in the Bible Institute is casual. We ask that our students dress neatly and modestly. You will also want to bring at least a couple of sets of dress clothes for special occasions, that would include a tie and suit or sport coat for the men and a dress or blouse and skirt for the ladies. Other items would be some clothes for sports, work assignments, and a bathrobe. Our year-round climate is generally like the lower Midwest so you should plan on warm clothes for winter and cool clothes for the spring and summer months.

4.  Bedding and Towels: We provide the bedding, including sheets, blankets and pillows. However, you need to bring your own towels and wash cloths. Also, please note that most of our pillows are of the feather variety. If this is a problem for you it would be wise to bring your own. All of these items can be purchased at the store in Hungary, if your suitcase room is limited.

5.  Electrical items: We recommend that you consider purchasing most electrical items after you arrive here, or make sure that they are dual voltage. (The European electrical system is 220 volts, 50 Hz). Some of these items might include a small desk lamp, a hair dryer, etc. You can generally expect to pay 10-25% more than you would for comparable items in the U.S. You may wish to purchase a travel transformer (available at Radio Shack and other electronics stores). However, please keep in mind that these are usually not designed for prolonged or heavy use - and are primarily for appliances with heating elements such as dryers and curling irons. Please note that a transformer and a plug adapter are not the same thing.

6.  Bibles: Because we are in an international setting and many of our students speak English only as a second language, most of our teachers use the English Standard Version of the Bible. However, you are welcome to use any reliable translation such as the King James, New King James and New American Standard Bible. Paraphrases, though sometimes helpful for personal devotions, are generally insufficient for serious Bible study.

7.  Textbooks: Please carefully read the Required Reading Information sheet.

8.  Medication: It is a good idea to bring a limited amount of aspirin, cold medicine, etc. with you, because “over-the-counter” medicines are difficult to find. You should also be aware that allergy medicines that contain antihistamines are prescription drugs here, so you will probably want to bring a small supply with you, since Hungary can be difficult for allergy sufferers without the appropriate medication

9.  Computers: You are welcome to bring a personal laptop computer, but please note that the power pack needs to work on 220 volts. Almost all power supplies for laptops are universal and will say something like: 110-240 VAC input. However, you will need to bring a European plug adapter with you.         

10. Spending money: Personal needs for spending money are difficult to generalize because of the diverse backgrounds of our students. Some students probably get by on as little as $5-10 per week. Some may spend twice that amount. ATM machines are relatively easy to find around the country, so we recommend that you use a debit card that draws on a personal checking account in the U.S. However, make sure that it is based on a major credit card (either Visa or MasterCard) and not limited to a local bank or even a national debit system. If you do not bring a debit card, you will need to bring spending money with you in cash. We do not recommend that you bring traveler’s checks. (There is no checking system in Hungary).


Residence Permit Information

As of January 1st, 2008, it is no longer required for Americans or Canadians who plan to stay longer than 90 days to obtain a visa before entering the country.  Now you will apply for a residency permit within the first 30 days of entering the country. We will take care of the paperwork for this process.  However, there are some things that you will need to be prepared for when you arrive. 

The Costs:
•  18,000 HUF for the application fee (this is between $110-115 depending on the exchange rate)
•  1,000 HUF (around $5) for pictures. You may also bring 2 small wallet-sized photos with you, but they must be relatively recent.
•  5,000 HUF (around $30) for transportation to the immigration office.  This can be divided among all of those who go. We will take 3-4 people at a time, as much as possible. Every non-EU students will make at least two trips to the immigration office, one to register for the staying permit, and one to pick up his or her official papers.

You must have international health insurance in order to obtain your residency permit.
If an international student does not come with proof of health insurance, he or she will not be able to stay in Hungary. Please make sure your international health insurance is valid throughout the entire school year. You must bring your health insurance card and official papers with you to Hungary.

If you have other questions about your residency here in Hungary, please do not hesitate to contact us. 


Financial Information

Room, board and tuition:  Please see our current catalog for cost information.
Payments may be made in full at the beginning of each year or periodically – on a quarterly basis (being due at the beginning of each quarter).
There are currently two methods of payment for our foreign students - cash or international bank transfer to our account in Hungary. For various technical reasons we are unable to accept personal checks or credit card payments.
The most convenient way to bring cash into the country is to use a Visa or MasterCard-backed debit card to withdraw cash from ATM banking machines. We do not recommend that students bring traveler’s checks, as it is very difficult to cash these in Hungary.
Please review the informational sheet entitled “WOLH Bank Transfer Instructions” for details on how to pay through an international bank transfer.
There is a 2000 HUF ($10 USD) late fee for every week a student is late paying his or her school bill.

Please make arrangements to pay your first quarterly payment in September.

Books and class notebooks: WOLH book purchase requirements are minimal compared to most schools. Required books are listed on the “Reading Requirements” information sheet. Students have the option to bring these books with them in their suitcase, or they can purchase books on registration day in Hungary. There is a fee of 1,500 HUF (approximately $8 USD) per month for class notebooks. This fee covers the extensive costs associated with printing and binding the many notebooks that are used for note-taking in class. The notebook fee for September is due at registration.

Laptop Computers and Network Usage Fee: The classrooms, most of the dorms, the castle, and some outside areas are covered by a wireless network that is available to students for accessing the internet. In order to help offset our costs for maintaining the network and broadband internet connection there is a 2,000 HUF (about $10 USD) per month usage fee for students with laptop computers with wireless network cards (internal or external). Students who pay this fee may use our internet connection for email and general internet usage. However, we do prevent access to peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks on the internet that are generally used to download illegal copies of software, music and movies.

Laundry Costs: Each student is responsible to pay for their own laundry costs. This includes laundry detergent. There are on-campus facilities for this, which charge approximately 50 cents per wash and 25 cents to dry. 

Personal Transportation Costs: Students who require transportation using Word of Life ministry vehicles will be charged 50 HUF (approximately $0.30 USD) per kilometer. This cost may be shared by the total number of students traveling together. The cost for going to the airport or to the train station is a fixed cost of 5,000 HUF (airport) or 6,000 HUF (train station).
 
Residence Permits: The total cost involved in this differs for each student (depending on nationality). More information is given on the Visa / Residence Permit Information Sheet.

Personal Spending Money:  Personal needs for spending money are difficult to generalize because of the diverse backgrounds of our students. Some students probably get by on as little as $5-10 per week. Some may spend twice that amount. ATM machines are relatively easy to find around the country, so we recommend that you use a debit card that draws on a personal checking account in the U.S. However, make sure that it is based on a major credit card (either Visa or MasterCard) and not limited to a local bank or even a national debit system. If you do not bring a debit card, you will need to bring spending money with you in cash, because there is no checking system in Hungary.

Graduation: Students must have their school bills paid-in-full to receive their diploma or to have transcripts sent to other educational institutions. If a student still owes the Bible Institute money, he or she may participate in graduation, but will only receive an empty diploma cover. As soon as all debts are paid, we will mail the student’s diploma.

Outstanding school bills:  Students who still owe money to the school for whatever reason by the end of their studies will be required to discuss this with the Director of Admissions, and a repayment plan will be agreed upon and signed by the student.

Transcripts: We will send one set of transcripts free of charge to any educational institution of your choice. Additional transcripts will be sent for a fee of $10 USD.