– 3rd of october, wednesday –
It was a strange day – the new volunteers arrived, so we got to meet them, but one of the previous volunteers left. We made a goodbye party for her and decorated the kitchen. It’s strange how you can know someone for only a month, but already feel sad when they leave, because you spent so much time together in this one month. Read more »
Whereas job hunting for me felt like trying to catch a cheetah (you have no idea where it’s hiding and you somehow have to hunt it down), apartment hunting was more like catching a turtle. You know, turtles aren’t the fastest animals by nature, so catching one isn’t too hard. Well, then imagine that this turtle was really, really old and a bit too chubby. Oh, and lazy too. Then imagine that this turtle just appeared out of nowhere; I opened the door and there it was, taking a nap and not being aware of being caught at all. Then, once the turtle woke up, he looked at me and said “Can I stay with you?”. Exactly, that was what it was like to find an apartment. Read more »
– 3rd of september, monday –
I remember my first day in Austria perfectly. It was a Monday, the 3rd of September, and I landed at the airport of Zurich in the afternoon. A driver picked me (and all the luggage) up and took me to my new home, Dornbirn. I met my colleagues at the office, I got some time to unpack in my new room and then they took me out for a dinner. It was a very nice evening – they told me a lot about the organisation and I had a very good feeling. When I returned home, I tried to figure out the WiFi password and accidentally met the other volunteers. I talked with them until midnight and then I just felt very exhausted. It was such a long day, my first one in Austria. Read more »
I started to understand why it’s called job hunting. Really, it feels like trying to catch a wild animal – you have no idea where it’s hiding, but somehow you’re trying to find it and hunt it down. Or, you find it, it stands right in front of you, but then it sticks its tongue out and says “I don’t want you”. I endlessly scrolled through the websites where you can supposedly find a cheetah, I addressed the cheetah very nicely in my letter, calling him dear sir, but somehow I still couldn’t seem to catch the cheetah. Here’s a little story about my hunting adventure, where I was trying to catch a wild animal and ended up capturing a frog. Read more »
Summarising one crazy year into a single blog post? Impossible, I know. However, I will try to give you an overview of the last year of my life, living as a volunteer in Austria. It will be a mix of my own experiences as well as giving you a general overview of what ESC Volunteering is and what to expect from it. For me, it was the best decision I have ever made.
– 5th of August, 2019, monday –
After missing the Flixbus, we took a very comfortable and cheap train from Bratislava to Budapest. While I could’ve been at a job interview in a Dutch theatre, I was putting my luggage in a locker in Budapest, 1290 kilometers of distance between me and this theatre. We decided to spend the first afternoon on Margaret Island. With our impeccable timing, we made it to the one fountain show with Hungarian children’s music. Four out of ten, just for the water effects, wouldn’t recommend the children’s show. We explored most of the island, before exploring our new hostel. We were very lucky this time: we had the room and bathroom to ourselves and there wasn’t any suspicious underwear under the bed or anywhere else. Unbelievable. Read more »
My name is Linda and I’m a Dutch girl who moved to Spain. On here, you see me figuring out my new life as a freelance content creator and going on adventures in the beautiful Galicia. » More about me
