Aš nekantriai laukia j Lietuvą! - I am looking forward to Lithuania!

If you want to know and solve the challenges for the health of the European population, you have to know Eastern Europe. Claudia Pflug, a Public Health student, followed this principle when choosing the location for her semester abroad.

At the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, an Erasmus cooperation partner of the Department of Nursing and Health, she will take modules that will enrich her Master's degree, Claudia is sure. The university is located in Kaunas, Lithuania's second largest city. Besides improving her English language skills, Claudia wants to get to know another corner of Europe, its people and their culture. "Being able to strengthen skills for my future career at the same time - that's an opportunity you have to take advantage of!" says Claudia. She wants to see for herself what the biggest public health issues are in Lithuania and what problem-solving strategies are being pursued there.

But Claudia is especially looking forward to being able to pursue her great hobby - playing basketball - in a Lithuanian team. "Basketball plays a much bigger role in Lithuania than it does here. Basketball is basically a national sport there. I'm sure I'll find access to Lithuanians outside of university through that." She is also looking forward to the week-long trip to Lapland that she and other international students will take from Lithuania at the beginning of March. There, they can expect to see the Northern Lights, reindeer, the home of Father Christmas, the so-called "Santa Clause Village" and ice fishing, among other things.

We look forward to Claudia's return in June, when she will share her experiences with us.