The City of Mozart

Old Town in Salzburg (World Heritage)

It’s been only two weeks since I got here in Salzburg, but I am completely in love with this beautiful city in Austria already. Can you even imagine that now I am staying in the town where Mozart was born and raised? I am walking the streets where he used to walk around and am seeing buildings where lots of his masterpieces were made…like is this even real? My dorm is only a 10 minutes walk away from Mozart’s birth place, and the town itself is a World Cultural Heritage. They have a bunch of pretty buildings and streets including cathedrals and palaces where the sound of music was filmed (although I found out the movie is not that popular here in Salzburg), and that is where we hang out.

People are very nice, too. To be honest, before I came here, I was scared of being judged just because I am Asian. Obviously there are less Asians, however, people would not care, they would still talk to me and give me beautiful smiles. Since the national language in Austria is German, sometimes I cannot communicate with local people, but most of them are pretty good at English so I think there would be no problem living in Austria without knowing German. However, I always feel bad that I cannot speak their language because they are so nice and I want to thank them in their own language. For the reason, I regret that I did not study German beforehand. Hopefully I will be able to speak a little bit before I leave here.

Düsseldorf

Everything is pretty

I was born and raised in Japan, and I have only lived on “islands” (Japan and Hawaii) so this experience is completely new to me. It may sound silly but I still cannot believe that I am in a continent that has a lot of countries inside. I got a layover in Germany when I flew here, so I got to spend a day in Düsseldorf. When I saw Rhine River, I remembered that I studied about the river in a small classroom in Japan. It felt so magical that I was actually seeing the river with my own eyes, not with a geography textbook. 

Being in TWO different countries at the same time!!!

Since I came here, I have met a lot of people from different countries. Some of them were originally refugees. They are all open minded and likeable and have various ways of thinking. I am sharing a kitchen with about 30 students from different colleges/countries, and there is always someone I get to talk with. Having a deep conversation with them is now my favourite time of the day.

I hang out with people from my dorm floor every night

Salzburg Cathedral

Every time I tell people that I go to a school in Hawaii, they get all jealous and ask me why I left Hawaii. Yes I do miss beautiful Hawaiian beaches and mountains, sunny days, and tight nice hugs. However, the life here is as exciting as the one in Hawaii. I can feel the history just by walking around the streets and every time I imagine how many people have come here and been amazed by this beautiful city throughout the centuries, I feel like I want to cry (I did actually, for several times) and I am so happy to be one of those tons of people.