Category: ESC Volunteering

– 31st of July, 2019, wednesday –
We arrived the night before, tired from the day in Linz. A short walk could be nice, the weather was lovely in the evening. Just around the neighbourhood, okay? Our friend got excited to show us the city and somehow we ended up walking around Vienna for almost three hours. I had the feeling we were slightly lost and there were multiple occasions where I just wanted to sit down and wait for someone to carry me home. Believe it or not, nobody wanted to do that for me. Mean, right? Luckily I made it home all by myself.

The Wednesday was one of the most uneventful days of the trip, and that on our first day in Vienna. We didn’t leave the house until it was almost noon and met a friend for lunch. We sat at the Danube for a while, ate an ice cream (which was very eventful).

In the evening things got more exciting; “did I tell you that we got three kittens?”, our next host texted us. I couldn’t contain my excitement in the metro and transformed into a bouncy ball until we arrived. It would be an understatement to say that cuddling the kittens was awesome.
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– 28th and 29th of July, 2019, sunday and monday –
Before actually going to Linz, we spent two days in Gallneukirchen. This typically Austrian small town where nothing ever happens. A friend of ours was so kind to offer her room, while she was travelling elsewhere. We decided to take it easy, send some job applications and go for long walks. Let’s say it was a little break from an otherwise very active trip. The highlight of Gallneukirchen was drawing some ducks and hiding them all over our friend’s room. In case you’re wondering: no, we are not weird at all. Read more »

– 27th of July, 2019, saturday –
Full of hope, we got of the train in Salzburg, ready to take the bus to Sankt Gilgen. We got into the bus, we sat down and all seemed good. Then, only one stop later, it seemed like the whole of Japan as well as various Europeans tried to enter the bus. You know that moment where the bus seems full, but then more people enter. You’re thinking “okay, now really no one fits anymore” and ten more people enter. A married couple in the end of their fourties, the woman kept complaining about the bus. A British guy, telling the story of losing his passport in Thailand in great detail. An old man, worried about not being able to get off the bus at this stop, because of all the people blocking the exit. Oh well, at least it was entertaining.
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– 25th of July, 2019, thursday –
We escaped from Innsbruck for a day after all the dangers that our first evening presented to us. Somewhat tired from the hours that were spent in the toilet watching someone throw up instead of sleeping, we took a train. My friend recommended the place, a lovely medieval town called Rattenberg. I don’t know who came up with that name, but it gave me a lot of false expectations. You see, “berg” means mountain and “ratten” means rats. So, a mountain with rats, right? I have to admit that there was a hill, not a mountain, but still. However, I did not see a single rat and this, of course, was slightly disappointing. Read more »

– 24th of July, 2019, wednesday –
Did you know that Innsbruck is a dangerous place to start a trip? I had no idea and learned the hard way. I was staying there with my friend, who is working as a volunteer in a residency for the elderly. I was super ready to take a shower, all that was left to do was pull the cord to activate the ventilation system, or what I thought was the ventilation system. I realised it wasn’t when my friend started to scream “no, no, no” and a red alarm light started to blink. Yes, I was in a place for the elderly and yes, they have alarms in the shower. It made a lot of sense. You would say, not such a big deal, just turn it off, but no. Only on day three the alarm company managed to turn it off. 

After this somewhat unsuccessful start, we decided to go to a bar. An Irish Pub. Nothing can go wrong there, right? After the first Guinness, a guy comes over to talk to us. He’s from the United States, Miami to be precise, we start to talk about cultural differences and politics. Everything seems fine, everyone is having fun. I can’t really say where it went wrong, but an hour later I’m sitting on the floor of the men’s toilet watching him puke, listening to how this would never happen in America because people simply don’t care. Read more »