For four weeks, I was in a little town called Strobl, Austria in a summer school on European Studies. Along with such studies, I was taking lessons in German! I am very grateful to have been chosen and supported to go to summer school this year. I had to revise for retakes along with my studies , however, which was quite challenging. But I have completed those retake exams! To God be the Glory!
I met so many people from this summer school from the world over including the US, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, The Netherlands, and Croatia.
Having seminars with people from all over the world, and across different disciplines made learning more interesting because of different perspectives and experiences. I sat in seminars with economists, lawyers, littérateurs, scientists and social workers! I took a course in ‘The European Monetary Union’, which consists of understanding the basics of Macroeconomics. Along with this, we were taught about the independent ECB (European Central Bank) and what Monetary policies it adopts to regulate national banks. We also studied Fiscal Policies, Structural Policy, and Financial Stability programs. I am not an economist by any means and must say the terms used in this course were very much new to me at the start. Economics is a rather complex subject matter, of which I am coming to understand more and more each day. It’s unlikely, however, that I will be a fully-fledged economist, but I am an advocate of life-long learning and believe we must all take opportunities to learn skills we have never learned before but find interesting. I think challenges are vital for human growth.
Along with EMU, I took German three-hour classes and tutorials. I enjoyed lessons and speaking the German that I can speak (which is not too much ), but grammar is difficult to understand and makes me feel like a child learning to speak again. I guess when you are learning a language you have to be OK with making mistakes because this is the only way you learn.
Aside from learning, I have also tried traditional Austrian food like Kaiserschmarrn. This was the first time I experienced windsurfing, however there were really no waves! I also fell down many times before I finally found my balance on the board. Fortunately, we had an encouraging instructor who didn’t give up on me, and friends who were not far also windsurfing and supporting.
The weekends were free for us to do whatever we wanted, and we often had excursions planned. Because of this I was able to go to Ebensee, originally a labour camp established by the SS in order to build tunnels for armaments manufacturing and shipment, but ultimately, a concentration camp in Austria. It was an incredibly emotive visit as I had never been to a concentration camp in my life. I think learning about what occurred in recent history is incredibly important for understanding why a country is a way they are now. For example, I learnt that Austria was not made responsible for their war crimes until nearly 50 years after the war! It is astonishing to have learnt this, and to consider why this may have been.
On a more jovial excursion, we went to Salzburg: the home place of ‘The Sound of Music’. It was a beautiful day with friends, and I was able to visit the Trick Fountains of Hellbrunn Palace and the Hohensalzburg Fortress.
Afternoons by the lake, world cup match games, lunches and dinners, jamming out sessions, karaoke, sunshine, mountain hikes and studies made this summer school marvellous and I am so thankful for all the friends I made, and all I learnt there. I now have a European Studies diploma!
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