Jimmy Ngo is a first generation college student attending Baruch College in New York City. Being a Chinese-Vietnamese American, he never had many experiences in countries outside of China, Vietnam and the United States.
Why did you decide to intern abroad with AIESEC?
I decided to intern abroad with AIESEC because of three main reasons. The first was that study abroad programs at my college didn’t really have an extensive amount of locations available. AIESEC has opportunities in 124 countries.
Secondly, I couldn’t spend an excessive time abroad or take a semester off from college because I wanted to graduate on time and take internships in NYC before graduation. AIESEC allowed me to do both of those things, since the minimum duration for an opportunity through AIESEC is 6 weeks.
The last reason and also probably the biggest reason is the cost. The cost of a work abroad program through AIESEC is significantly less costly as any study abroad program or work abroad programs. AIESEC’s work abroad program fee is only $500 without including airfare but room and board and meals were included in that fee on my internship.
What did AIESEC do for you and what did you need to do on your own?
Once I entered into the program, AIESEC assigned a “buddy” who was responsible for guiding me through the entire process of finding an opportunity through AIESEC’s internship database. There were so many opportunities I didn’t know where to start.
Luckily, my buddy was there to get to know me as a friend and offer suggestions based on conversations we had throughout the process. About 4 weeks later, I found my dream-internship, applied, got interviewed and I was off on a plane to Budapest, Hungary!
I arrived a week earlier than my program start date, so they picked me up at the airport, hosted me in their homes, showed me around the city, and took me out every single night. For the program itself, they found me my accommodations, and arranged trips for me when I wasn’t working. I felt so accommodated that I didn’t have trouble adjusting to Hungarian culture.
Describe your favorite must-have food that you tried abroad.
So there’s this giant piece of fried dough. Sounds delicious? Not really. Is it delicious? By far the most simple, creative and unique foods I have had in my travels. They call it Lángos. It’s a rolled out piece of dough that is deep fried. After frying it, sour cream is spread on it and cheese is sprinkled over the top to melt.
Followed by this, you can add whatever other toppings available. I tried this in the Central Market of Budapest and there were so many other possible toppings including Hungarian sausages, a variety of vegetables, other sauces and so much more. It was probably the biggest struggle for me to decide what I wanted on my Lángos. It was delicious, and for 2-3USD you’ll be bloated.
Do you feel you got a chance to see the city from a local's perspective?
Because I was on a program through AIESEC, the network of AIESEC members and employees in Hungary really showed me what it is like to be a Hungarian in Hungary and not a tourist in Hungary. We went to all the local stores, restaurants, markets and bars.
I was taught basic Hungarian in my first week in Budapest and throughout the entire internship program I was learning more and more while communicating with the AIESEC members there. I was taken to other cities that tourists normally wouldn’t have on their agenda, where food was cooked over a fire outdoors, and families hosted me for weekends.
Only two weeks into the program, I knew all the local storeowners, chefs and bartenders by their names and they never treated me like I was not Hungarian.
Do you think your program changed you as a person?
My program has really allowed me to become more independent. Prior to taking my program through AIESEC, I’ve never traveled abroad on my own before.
But with AIESEC, I spent 10 weeks working abroad without being able to go home to have my mom’s home-cooked dinners. I’ve learned to be a lot more independent and self-sufficient and grew as a communicator.
On the contrary, while I did learn to be independent, I also learned how to be more dependent and trust others around me. And it was only because I was able to learn to be independent and to be dependent that I really enjoyed my experience abroad.
Coming back to NYC, I walk more confidently and I am able to share my experiences and really have conversations about my travels because I found that this was something I was extremely passionate about.
What made this intern abroad experience unique and special?
What made this opportunity so unique and special was that although I went abroad alone, when I got there, there were 11 other interns working for the same company I worked for through AIESEC. They were all living similar experiences.
These interns were countries across 6 continents, which made my experience phenomenal. Not only was I able to immerse myself into Hungarian culture, but through AIESEC I was able to learn about Portugal, France, Turkey, Indonesia, Australia, India, Mexico, Hong Kong, Egypt and Canada and I did all of this in Hungary.
The interns I worked with really challenged me to understand cultural differences, embrace them and finally make the best of all the experiences we shared.
