Simona Leonavičiūtė. ACEEEO, Budapest, Hungary.

My internship place is the Secretariat of ACEEEO – Association of European Election Officials. It is non governmental organisation dealing with election related issues. The ACEEEO organises annual conferences where the officials of electoral management bodies from different member states have a forum to discuss actual questions. It also holds trainings for officials, various programs for citizens, especially young voters. The organisation is composed of the General Assembly, the Executive Board and the Secretariat. The main function of the Secretariat is to organise various events, deal with financial issues, projects and administration of the ACEEEO.  I have my tasks in the Secretariat: to check whether there are any news about upcoming elections, to renew information provided in the webpage of ACE project. I spend most of my time looking for national legal regulation of various countries.  This is what I like the most.  I also look for new partners, help to organise trainings for students, etc.

A group photo with the General Secretary of ACEEEO and other co-workers 

The people in the organisation are very nice. I have met everybody working in the Secretariat. We work together, have lunch together, and discuss questions related with election. Everyone gives me advices where to go, what to see or what to do after the work. I usually get tasks from all the persons working in the organisation. But actually I have never got something that I could not deal with. The concept of the organisation is that we work from 10 am till 5 pm.  So all my free time I spend walking in the centre of Budapest. The weather is usually very good (it is always 10 degrees more than in Lithuania), that is why I try to take a walk and to go somewhere where I have not been before.

Looking across the Buda Castle

Talking about life in Budapest, it was not hard to find a place to live. I had had several contacts of the people renting rooms before I came to Budapest. I found them in various groups of Erasmus students in Budapest in Facebook. There are more people renting the flat than people who are looking for one! The first flat I entered is the one I am living in right now. The best areas to live are the districts Nr. V, VI, VII, and XIII. I live in the VIII district. It is considered to be a central place. Moreover, I need only 10 minutes to reach my organisation. I like Budapest very much. I have not been out of Budapest but I still have some plans, because Hungary is very interesting country where one can find good vines, food, spectacular views and nice people. Even in Budapest a few months are not enough to visit all museums, cafes, restaurants, street events and thermal water baths.

Pest side of Budapest

There are not so many cultural differences between Lithuania and Hungary. We have some common things. When I say that I am from Lithuania usually I receive only good comments about Lithuania and Lithuanians. Till now I have not met any difficulties. The people I met speak English very well, thus, I have no difficulties to communicate.  The hardest thing is, perhaps, to find a place to live. Of course, there are things that surprise me as well, for example that there are so many homeless people in the streets.

This internship has many good aspects. I try to deal with my tasks and in this way to learn many new things related with elections. I did not have such a deep knowledge in the field, but I have improved it during practical tasks. I can also see how the non governmental organisation works, how the partners can be found, what problems they face and what results they can achieve. I have opportunity to get acquainted with the legal regulation of various countries, with politics, the newest result from election observers. The internship as other international practice develops one‘s personality. Besides these things, one can improve both legal knowledge and English language skills. Even though there can be some disadvantages, the internship abroad has much more advantages. You can develop your personal skills, your knowledge acquired at university and see many new things.

Simona by the Hungarian Parliament

I do not know whether there are many differences between internships of ‚Parters 4 Value‘ and ‚Erasmus‘ . When I compare the experience of my friends who were with Erasmus internship, I think ‚Parters 4 Value‘ provides better grant, it has much more options to choose for lawyers, especially for those who are interested in international law. Thus, one can choose the internship place in the country of particular interest. I would recommend to choose an internship place which is the most interesting from the professional point, to choose the country and the city always wanted to visit. It is always worth to have some information about culture, traditions or way of life before coming to the new place. 

And do not spend all the free time at home, use all the opportunities and try to get as much as possible from this perfect chance!