I know that I already blogged about The Urge to leave Salzburg but that post was written in a test situation. The thing is that students love to complain about Salzburg (and Austria in general) and about whatever we dislike about the city or the country. But if you are looking for serious complaining then you’re in the wrong place. I’m warning you because I will try to make this a bit humorous because I often find myself complaining about the most random things to the greatest amusement of my friends.
However, Salzburg is my adopted home for the time being and as bad as I make things out to be from time to time, I am still here and planning on hanging on until I have my degree. Still, Salzburg has left its marks on me and since these posts have something to do with student life I thought it would be nice to write about the one thing that links all the UNI.son bloggers: studying in Salzburg. Therefore, I’ve compiled a list of five scenarios, which might or might not seem familiar to some of you.
You know you studied in Salzburg, when….
First: … you aren’t surprised when you find no one in the streets on weekdays after 9pm. The city is quite literally deserted because all the tourists are either having dinner or will have turned in for the night to be rested for the next day. The only exception is Wednesday because then it’s time for the very well-known ‘Studentenmittwoch’ (in German). Many pubs and clubs such as Segabar, Vis-à-Vis, O’Malley’s, Shamrock and Roses have so-called ‘special offers’, obviously not at all intended to make people as drunk as possible as quickly as possible. But what they call ‘special offers’ are still pretty expensive for students on a budget and only very few people I know can actually afford to take advantage of ‘Studentenmittwoch’ every week.
Second: … you’re starving on a Sunday because all the supermarkets are closed and you forgot to buy groceries on Saturday before 5 PM. As embarrassing as it is, I have to admit that this has happened to me a couple of times. You’d think that people learn from their mistakes because once you’re in that situation you have 2 options left: walk or bike to the next gas station and buy ridiculously expensive stuff to tide you over or ask other people from your dorm to lend you food. If you don’t live in a dorm, you obviously have a problem and have to be ready to shell out a lot of money for not a lot of food.
Third: … you don’t dare to drink any other beer than Stiegl. This is very true and I’m not even a beer-drinking person. I simply don’t like the taste so I try to steer clear of it as much as I can. The thing is that beer is probably the cheapest alcohol around and when you’re at parties or get-togethers, beer is often the only thing you get. Don’t even think about asking for another brand when you are handed a bottle of Stiegl. Just don’t. The looks you will get will make the beer taste even worse and if ask for a cocktail, you will be branded as a snob. Believe me, that’s just the way things are in Salzburg and I am speaking from experience!
Forth: … you start to hate the Germans, too. (Just kidding!) This is not only about Salzburg but more about Austria at large: the general ‘dislike’ for Germans. Maybe it’s not exactly politically correct to address this, but I find it funny how Austrians don’t like Germans very much. However, at the same time most people constantly watch German TV, read German newspapers, listen to German music and know more about what's going on in Germany than in their home country. Obviously, with German being the mother tongue in Austria, there is no real way of getting around that but if you have never heard an Austrian complaining about German students taking away university places, you are one hell of a lucky man! As clichéd as it is, I have heard these complaints more often than I can count. And don’t even try to tell me you don’t know what I am talking about.
Fifth: … nothing on a price tag shocks you anymore! I am used to elevated prices from back home, Luxemburg being one of the richest countries in the world and all that, but at least income is proportionally matched to general living expenses. In Salzburg? Not so much! I am okay with paying € 9.90 for a Long Island Iced Tea but € 13.50 is pushing it! And just in case you’re wondering about where to get the cheaper and better cocktails: Pepe’s Cocktail Bar is the place to be!
These are only some of the pearls of wisdom I have acquired after having studied in the lovely city of Mozart for 5 semesters. I’ve had fun times, stressful times and everything in between. We’ll see what the future brings and if want to add something to my list, feel free to comment.
Yours truly,
Michelle
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