January: ESN Uni Wien

The first section in the spotlight of 2012 is the ESN Uni Wien!

The section at University of Vienna is not only the oldest bust also the biggest section in Austria. Today, ESN Uni Wien is one of seven sections in the beautiful city of Vienna. These seven sections cooperate a lot in forms of joint parties, trips and weekly events. There is regularly Vienna Meetings organized between the sections for ease communication between the sections. 

The board of ESN Uni Wien consists of ten elected members in charge of different working fields. Further, a team of another 40 members are recruited before and during the Buddy Information Events at the Orientation weeks. Their function is to help and support the board in its tasks. In addition, the section has a pool of buddies with approximately 300 members. 

To develop a better team feeling the section organizes team meetings and teambuilding events. The first teambuilding event of this semester was a guided tour to the exhibition Dialog im Dunkeln®, which is an exhibition where small groups are led through completely darkened rooms by blind or visually impaired guides. The event was well received by the team and there are further planned team trips. Also, during the Welcome Party the section provides free drinks in a separate team room.

One way for the section to get their international students involved in their work is by their Language Tandem system. Here students get the possibility to exchange language knowledge with each other. The international students have a great opportunity to; for example, practice their German for example which is often not spoken since the language within many international classes are English and the used language between friends as well. So, the Language Tandem system is a great way to practice a language, but also to show that learning languages can be socializing as well! Moreover, the section also throws International dinners and organized themed country parties where students from one country at a time are invited to help out with the preparations.

As an international student at University of Vienna you are offered two Orientations Weeks. The first is for the students arriving during summer to take the German class and the second is for students arriving at the beginning of the semester. During these two weeks ESN Uni Wien offers different tours to the students. A good idea is of course to get to know the university or the city you’ll be living in. But then you can also of course get a tour through the UN headquarters in Vienna or the Austrian Parliament. If you happen to like beer or is just curious of the making, there is even a guided tour to the most famous Viennese beer brewery (Ottakringer).

ESN Uni Wien is of course much more than just party. The section also organizes dancing lessons, yoga sessions, flea markets, BBQ sessions along the Danube River and much more! They also cooperate with the Red Cross to organize blood donation events. So as you can see there is no time to be bored as an International Student in Uni Wien.

ESN Uni Wien actively participates in national events such as the Summer Event and the national Skiing and Snowboard trip. Besides this, the section is planning an ‘ESN Uni Wien’ ball in the spring, to which members of the other Austrian sections will be invited. The Uni Wien section warmly welcomes international guests from ESN as well. 

For more info – check out the sections webpage at: esn.univie.ac.at