Who am I?

Hello everybody,

We have just started the second semester and I think some of you have already seen me somewhere on the campus or even in class and we might have even had a little chat. But most of you don’t know me well and this post is the first step to change that. Usually my name is the first thing that people keep in mind because it is definitely not a typical Austrian name and quite difficult to write and pronounce. Samina Siddiqi is a Muslim name that I received because my grandfather comes from India, but settled down in Austria many years ago. In his culture the meaning of your name is very important and Samina means “the precious”. That’s quite cool, isn’t it? 

Maybe my extraordinary roots and the migration process my family had to go through, is an explanation for my enthusiasm to travel. To be honest, traveling is my greatest passion. I have been traveling a lot with my parents when I was younger. They awoke and strengthened my desire of getting to know foreign countries, cultures and people. Now, whenever I have the time - and the money - I try to visit a new country. 

I even have a big world map above my bed which allows me to daydream and let me think about where to go next. There is a little pin in every country I have been so far. I chose rather unimposing pins because my trips are nothing that I want to show off with. In fact, they are only visible if you lie in my bed directly beneath the map. This means they are only visible for me. Unfortunately, there is no pin in India so far, but it is definitely on my list. I am planning to go there next summer.

Of course, the money I need to travel and to finance my studies had to be earned at some point. Before I started studying last September, I had been working as a receptionist at Seeparkhotel in my hometown Klagenfurt for three years. That’s why I am slightly older than most of you guys :-) I was looking for a new challenge, heard about the study program “Transcultural Communication” and became immediately enthusiastic about it – so I moved to Graz! Still, I can imagine returning to tourism one day and then hopefully be able to achieve a job in a higher position. 

I hope you know me a little better now. If you have any questions or you just want to have a chat about traveling don’t hesitate and talk to me. I am looking forward to your comments. 

by the way - my favorite hobby - scuba diving!