Natalie Szuk: The First 30 Out of 182 Days Spent in Europe

My semester abroad came around quicker than I could’ve imagined. After being accepted in October, I couldn’t believe it was already February 2 and I was leaving to embark on this six-month adventure of a lifetime. Unfortunately I can’t say that the beginning was easy. Basically everything that could’ve gone wrong did. After thirty hours spent in transport, one missed flight, and six lost pieces of luggage, we had finally arrived in Vienna. Adjusting to Austrian culture wasn’t easy and it still isn’t. While in Canada we’re used to friendly strangers smiling from across the street and apologizing for you bumping into them, the mannerisms in this country are not quite the same. It’s rare to see a smile from someone you don’t know, and very common to have random strangers yelling at you in German for reasons that you’ll never know. As an overall however, Vienna is an amazing city. Wherever you go, you are surrounded by beautiful buildings that are even older than the city of Vancouver itself.

Even though the beginning may have been rough, we bounced back quickly. The exchange coordinator at our university was amazing, and we were able to organize our class schedules so that we didn’t beginning until March. All this free time clearly meant one thing to us, traveling! Although we were eager to explore Vienna, we didn’t want to waste our extended days off on just local wandering. Within the first month we were able to spend a couple days in Prague, a day trip to Bratislava, as well as several days in Krakow. Just because classes have now started, this is definitely not stopping us from taking advantage of our extended weekends and breaks. After a hectic two weeks of classes, I am looking forward to visiting Dublin next week for Easter break. As the next few months of classes continue, there are countless trips to look forward to in the near future. I’ve adapted an excellent mentality while on exchange in regards to two aspects that hold high importance in my life. I take my schooling very seriously as I do back at home, but I definitely am not holding back in regards to making the most of spending half a year in Europe.

Natalie is a Bachelor of Business Administration student studying abroad at the FH Wien in Vienna, Austria.