Széchenyi Thermal Bath – internship (and at the same time, a new love)

About Us

Welcome to our little virtual corner! I’m a single mother raising my wonderful son, Ruben, who has grown into a remarkable teenager. For years, I was the sole breadwinner as a Krav Maga instructor, balancing the challenges of parenthood and work on my own.

When Ruben started kindergarten, I embarked on a new journey by studying healthcare management at Semmelweis University, specializing in health tourism management. After graduating, I began working in my field and experienced firsthand the tragic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic while serving as a healthcare manager in a state hospital.

As the pandemic subsided, I transitioned into private healthcare, where I currently work as a practice manager. Meanwhile, our family moved from a small town to Vác, a charming historic Danube riverside city near Budapest.

Here, we embrace the everyday moments and joys of life together. If you want to hear more stories about us, you’re warmly invited to visit the original Daysonpaper blog at S&Ru’s Diary on daysonpaper.blog.hu.

So I decided to try living for a year on an international stage and see if there are other mothers in similar shoes for whom this diary could be a support on the harder days—just as it has been a support for me when I was able to look beyond the difficulties and sincerely believe in my own strength.

Thank you for stopping by!

I have never had a few days in my life as exhausting, body-and-mind challenging, energy-draining, and at the same time breathtaking, inspiring, and overwhelming as these past few days! I have already pushed myself far beyond my physical and mental limits, through breaking points and times when I felt like I was dancing on the edge of my life’s system. But to experience all this while simultaneously embracing the beauty and timeless values with equal intensity—that had never happened before.

Last week, I started my internship at the Széchenyi Thermal Bath and Swimming Pool’s day hospital, in the complex physiotherapy department. I get to peek into every area before I finish my internship, and what I have seen so far has already had a profound impact on me. I think I’m lucky because an internship doesn’t carry the same level of responsibility as a full employee’s role, yet I was able to get a glimpse of the therapeutic offerings and feel the weight of the treatments.

After the weighted bath and aquatic physiotherapy sessions (which take place in the day hospital), I was allowed into the thermal and steam bath section to gain some experience in this area. And this was the place where I was completely floored: the wooden and stone surfaces, the tiles, the colors, the heights and depths—the building embraced me and echoed with history. It resonated with that timeless time since it was built, since it has been healing with its waters and serving the thousands of people who immerse themselves in it day after day.

And despite its material nature, as a welcoming environment, I have to say: its operation impressed me as well. With all its difficulties and complexities—as much as I could understand—the maintenance runs astonishingly professionally, and in the few days I spent there, I gathered thousands of new pieces of information, data, and ideas. The driving forces behind the bath are people who deeply feel the spirit of the place and naturally add value in their own fields, whether they are cleaners, hosts, group leaders, or deputy bath managers.

And what was the best part of it all…? Of course, it was Ru, and that after my internship we could spend the day together with playgrounds (what else?), books, and exchanging stories back and forth.