Our first week was packed with lectures and many tours. We kicked off with a citywide tour that was full of history and observing the lifestyle of the people in Graz. It was very different than my hometown in New Jersey, with people mostly using public transportation, bicycles, and walking instead of using cars. There were many small shops instead of large chains and restaurants instead of fast food restaurants. In addition, people seemed to be on a later work schedule than people in my hometown, with people starting to get on the tram to work around 9:30 am. We then toured the Medical University of Graz, where we learned about the way their medical school education operated and how their hospital handled their day to day operations. During the days following, we met with University of Graz students and discussed literature and the differences between our countries, which was such a great experience. In regards to healthcare, we toured geriatric care centers research centers, and a pharmacy where I learned a lot of practices that we could implement into our own healthcare system. For excursions, we went to the local opera and Piber stud farm home, home of Austrians wild horses.
For our first weekend, we went to Salzburg, which was my favorite place of the entire trip. We toured Mozart’s birthplace, St. Peter’s Abbey, Mirabell Palace and Gardens, and Schloss Hellburn which had fun magic fountains that completely soaked us. We saw amazing views of the city from the Fortress HohenSalzburg, which I definitely recommend hiking up. My favorite thing we did was taking the cable car up Untersberg, which is a mountain in the Alps. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, and my most memorable moment of the weekend. We left Salzburg happy and full with a lot of Mozart chocolates!
The second week was a little more slow-paced, and I was able to make more observations about Graz and its citizens. The pace of life is a lot more relaxed than the one I have observed in the East coast. There are people constantly walking, biking, and exercising, especially in families and couples. The rooftops are all red, which is indidictive of the rich history of Austria’s former empire. What was hard to get used to since I spend most of my year in a bustling college city is that most stores close around 7pm and restaurants close around 9pm. In addition, the Catholic religion is prominent in the culture here, with most stores closed on Sundays and every religious holiday, even the ones the American calendar doesn’t recognize. The tours we embarked on during this week were more centered on social work and helping those in needs. We learned about different programs for refugees, homeless citizens, alcoholics, disabled citizens, and how emergency medical response is operated. I was extremely touched by the tour at the Vinzi Dorf, which is a makeshift long-term community for homeless men funded by the government and donations. It gave me a completely different perspective on how people fall into homelessness, and how it could truly happen to anyone. I also loved the botanical gardens, which hails many plants from all regions of the world. This weekend was our free weekend, so me and two friends went to Prague. It was about a six hour train ride, but it was worth it to see the beautiful city and castles. We especially loved the chimney cakes!
The third week was busy with lectures and preparing for our final exam. However, we still had time to do excursions and say goodbye to the beautiful city of Graz. We went to the City Museum on top of Scholssberg and learned about Graz’s military history. We also were able to meet with one of the government workers who works with the mayor of Graz, and this experience allowed us to learn more about Graz and Austria’s political structure. We had a delicious farewell dinner where we said goodbye to the people at the University of Graz who were helping us with our entire schedule.
For our third weekend, we went to Vienna, which was packed with history. There was so many things to do, we could have spent a week there and I’m not sure we would have done them all. My favorite attractions was the Schonbrunn Palace, which also has a zoo. It was also very interesting to go to the Sisi Museum, since she was very beloved by the Austrian people.
Our last week was spent in Slovenia, which was a perfect end to this jam-packed trip. We had lectures from staff of the University of Maribor, who we got to know really well even though we were only there for a week. We had a tour of Maribor, and visited the oldest wine vine in the world. After a day in Maribor, we went to Ljubljana, which is the capitol of Slovenia. On the way, we visited a nursing home, an herbal garden, and a beekeeper. I brought home some soothing tee and delicious honey. On the way back home from Ljubljana, we went to Lake Bled and Postojna Cave. The cave was super cool and breathtaking, and the lake was a nice, relaxing way to end our excursion. Back in Maribor, we toured the University Clinical Center, the Maribor Castle, and took a table car up to the viewing tour for our farewell dinner and a lesson in mountain rescuing.
Throughout this past month, I have seen a significant personal growth in my ability to be independent and self-sufficient so far away from my family and professors. I had to learn how to navigate a new city and country, paying special attention to the customs and traditions I had to adopt in order to properly assimilate.
Academically, I got to learn about history and legislation, something I have not had the time to focus on while at school. It was interesting hearing about how the Austrian empire came to be, and it was especially interesting to delve into the nuances on healthcare, especially comparing them to the American healthcare system.
As a pharmacy student, I will be in the unique position of being involved in the pharmaceutical industry and being involved in patient care.This program gave me a lot of clarity on how pharmacy works in smaller countries, and how it is more specified to the patient rather than mass production. I want to work in specializing medication for the individual, and I have many practices I learned from this program that I think can be applied to this endeavor.
Thank you so much for keeping up with me!
Elsa Fura