Grüss Gott! Greetings from Salzburg! Salzburg is the 4th largest city in Austria. It is very idyllic city surrounded by mountains. Salzburg is well known as a birthplace of Mozart. You can buy souvenirs with Mozart print and of course “Mozartkugels” everywhere. The city is also famous for being Sound of music filming site. Although the movie is not well known by locals, it brings lots of tourists to the city.
There are lot to see and to do in Salzburg. The old town (Altstadt) has beautiful baroque architecture and little alleyways. The river Salzach runs through the city. Many castles to visit. And I am amazed every day when I walk out of my dormitory and I see those beautiful mountains. I know I will miss that sight.
I am a nursing student and I do 2 internships here. I have only German lessons at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule). So I don’t spend much time at the school and see other Erasmus students there. But we have our own Facebook-group, so party and other activity invitations come through that. International office has arranged us things to do. We had a group trip to see a woodturner in his workshop. We were also celebrating tradiotional Maibaum fest.
My first internship was in Caritas Altenpension. It provides living support for people with psychiatric problems who also need some physical assistance. I was there my first 4 weeks. It was a really good place to learn more German and get used to the local dialect. Patients/residents didn’t change so I learnt their habits and needs.
My second internship is in a neurological ward in Christopher Doppler Klinik. The ward is a good place to learn widely from different neurological illnesses and their treatments. During my first weeks there was one nurse on my ward who could speak Finnish, her roots are in Finland. That was a very pleasant surprise and helped me to adapt things quicker. Some of the nurses don’t speak any English at all so I have to try to cope with German too. All the staff are really nice and they try to understand my “broken German” and encourage me to speak “auf Deutsch”. Luckily many of the patients understand English, some of them have been pleased that they can practice their English.
We (my Finnish classmate and I) have done several trips to explore the surrounding areas. It is a perfect way to “recharge the batteries”. It is unbelievable how easy it is to be in such a gorgeous scenery by a train or by a bike. We bought our own mountain bikes and we have used them a lot. I cycle to the hospital by the river Salzach. I think I’ll go and enjoy a pint of Radler and some sun! Tschüss!
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