-Semester in Vienna: Reflections-

          I do not even know how to start when reflecting on my semester abroad in Vienna, there is so much that I have done and there are so many amazing things to think about! I think that my favorite part of the semester has been the simple fact that I have been in Europe. I grew up moving all over the United States, so I have already travelled quite a bit, and I now go to school in NH while my family lives in California, so I have been fairly independent for awhile now. Therefore the newest thing for me was being able to travel so easily between such unique countries. I really feel like I took advantage of this since I was able to go to Italy, Greece, France, Germany, Hungary, and all over Austria. 

          The most unique part about this semester has simply been that I have been experiencing so many new and exciting cultures and languages that I was never exposed to before. As an Anthropology major this is especially interesting for me since I have studied quite a bit about cultures. As an Anthropologist I also know that I cannot make generalizations about the people I met in the various countries because I would hate to stereotype people when I did not do any formal work, but I feel like a did learn a little bit about each culture I visited. For example, I made an effort to try new foods in the countries I visited and my new favorite is Gyros from Greece. I also enjoyed the sites in the various cities of course, my favorite being the Archaeological Forum in Rome which was absolutely astounding. I was most flattered by the kindness I found in the people of Athens who were also willing to lend a helping hand, not only to their own people but to the tourists around them as well. I learned a good deal more about the history of the various countries, and I was especially interested in the new aspects of Austrian history that I learned.

          Another really great thing about this semester has been the friends that I have made. From meeting some really great people who live and work here, like my friend Kate who is from Britain but is currently working in Vienna, to becoming close with the people who came here from FPU. Being in a country where you do not speak the language and living with only eleven other people who speak english, for the most part, can be very difficult. But it also brings you close together. Living in a confined space and being limited to such a small group really limits how you can interact with them. Since I did not come abroad knowing anyone too well I am very lucky that I ended up with two great roommates who I was able to travel with and get to know. The trip certainly would not have been the same without them, or without everyone else here, and I think it is so great that I was able to meet them all.

          Overall when I look back at this trip I can honestly say it is one of the best experiences of my life. I have been wanting to study abroad since I was high school and the semester has met all of my expectations. I really feel like I got to do something unlike anything I have ever done before and I truly got to experience Europe in a way that you can never experience it after college. Traveling abroad is a whole different experience when you are too old to change your ways and relate to the people, and it is a waste when you are too young to appreciate everything. I really believe this was the opportune time for me to come to Europe and experience these intriguing cultures and learn more about the lives of those who were unknown to me before. This is most certainly the trip of my life.

Natalie, Me & Alison on the Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg, Austria.

- Making European Friends! -

          I have met quite a few people since coming to Vienna and traveling around and through these conversations I have found out some very interesting things about teens here and life in Austria. One person who I learned from was an 18 year old boy named Jeremy. I met him at the Roo bar and we got to talking. He told me that he is serving the military because it is required. He is enrolled in a 9 month civil military program. If I understood right, when boys turn 18 they are required to either serve in the civil military for 9 months or in the army for 6 months. All of the boys who I met that were this age really disliked the fact that they had to do this.

          I also learned that it is the norm for kids in Vienna to learn English. Jeremy had grown up in Vienna and gone to school here for his whole life and spoke English very well. Another interesting thing I learned is that many kids our age are interested in traveling to the United States of America, and many have already traveled there including Jeremy. What I thought was even more interesting was the fact that Jeremy and others have not traveled throughout Europe as much as I would have expected. Overall I really have not discovered too many differences between life in America and life in Europe. Kids have similar interests, although soccer is much more prominent here, and kids dress similarly and like to just have fun!

- Salzburg, Innsbruck & Munich -

          Our first class trip was one of the busiest trips we will have this semester! We started by going to Salzburg where we went on the Sound of Music tour, visited the Salt Mines and visited some other sites like the building where Mozart was born! Then we went to Innsbruck, and from there me and a few other students used our day off to go to Venice for a day trip! We finally made our way to Munich where we visited the Modern Art Museum and went on trips around the city to visit historic places like the Neuschwanstein Castle and Dachau Concentration Camp.

          The trip was a lot of fun but it definitely wore me out a lot and because of that my favorite city was probably Salzburg since it was right at the beginning. One of the coolest things about Salzburg was that it was not a big city, so it was nice to get away from the buildings and busy streets of Vienna and see the country and the mountains. In Salzburg we toured the city a bit and just checked out the points of interest. The first night we went to Hohensalzburg, a fortress on a mountain, and we got to see a cool view of the city.  The next day we went on the Sound of Music tour, and it was really cold but it was fun to see the different spots because we watched the movie in class. The next day we went to the Salt Mine in Salzburg which was a totally unique experience! We had to wear ridiculous white suits and we went all the way to Germany in the underground tunnels. There were also slides that we got to go down, and there is a lake underneath that was used to extract salt and we got to take a ferry across it. We also got pieces of salt rock that we could lick and taste the salt! I really had fun because it was such a unique thing to do!

- Roma, Italia -

          I just spent the most amazing 4 days of my life in Rome! I went with my two roommates Natalie & Alison, and our friend Matt came along too. We really made the most of 4 days; we walked all over the city and started off the first day by seeing the Vatican Museum including the Sistene Chapel and the Laocoön Group statue. We made our way to the Pantheon and even stumbled across the Trevi Fountain. We also had our first Italian pizza! It was delicious, and a lot cheaper than pizza in America! That night we went out with our hostel on our first pub crawl. It was a lot of fun, we met new people, many of them tourists like ourselves from all over Europe and some from the States as well.   

           The next day we went to the archaeological area on and around Palatine Hill. This included seeing the Roman Forum and Titus' Arch. The archaeological ruins were so amazing. Matt, Alison and I are all Anthropology majors so it was really interesting to see these sights! If we did not have more to do that day I could have spent the entire day there, but eventually we left to go see the Colosseum. It was just about as amazing as I was expecting it to be. It was so cool standing next to and within something so massive, old, historic, and well-known. That night we enjoyed gelatto by the Trevi Fountain and we all threw in coins to make wishes!

            On the third day we took it a little easier. We walked around the Trastevere area and had heart shaped pizzas for lunch. During this day and the next day we just did out best to see all the rest of the sites and check out the main areas in Rome. We saw the Temple of Hercules and the Mouth of Truth, plus we saw the beautiful ruins of the Caracalla Baths. The weather was warm and we thoroughly enjoyed the sun and grass all around us. We spent a lot of time looking at the fun souvenir shops as well, I bought two beautiful Venetian masks and a ton of postcards!

           I learned quite a few things about Rome while I was there. For example, I never knew there was a pyramid in Rome, which we got to see on our last day! Plus I did not know anything about the many obelisks that exist in the many Piazzas all over Rome. It was an experience of a lifetime and it is something I will never forget! Thank goodness I took 1,000 pictures to help me remember everything!

- Reflections on Week 1 in Vienna -

          We have been in Vienna for a week now and it has been a great experience. Unfortunately I do not have nearly as much to reflect on as I would like! I have been sick with the flu since I got here and I am just starting to recover. I really enjoyed the evening when we walked around downtown and we got to see St. Stephen's Cathedral. It is really fun to go out and get dessert at cafe's and we always have fun when we just wander around the city and experience the sites.

          I have had a few problems, for example I am definitely not good at speaking German although it has not proved to be that much of a problem since so many people speak English. I also have had some trouble adjusting to some of the different Austrian customs. For example, at the grocery store they move very fast and you have to bag your own groceries. So bagging groceries while trying to figure out how much to pay is fairly difficult.

          In order to find a piece of home in Vienna we went out for pizza one day which was great! The food is pretty good but it is definitely not the same as home. I have been craving a cheeseburger and I am not sure if I will be able to find it here.

          What I am really looking forward to is becoming comfortable in the city so that I will feel comfortable enough traveling. There are so many places that I want to visit and I want to make sure I start planning trips soon so that I do not waste any time. I am really looking forward to a busy semester and I cannot wait to do more exploring in Vienna and outside of Austria! 

- 10 Words to Describe Me -

Book Smart - This basically means intelligent, because I have always gotten good grades and been really involved in learning. But this phrase also hints at the fact that I have always been told I am not "street smart," as in I lack common sense. Logically I can figure things out easily, but I don't have the best common sense. This is important because I have trouble with everyday things, such as directions.

Opinionated - There are quite a few topics that I have very strong opinions on, for example religion and war. When I talk to others about these topics I tend to be very stubborn about my ideas and it takes quite a bit to change my mind. It can really alienate me so I try to be open to other opinions and I think I am getting better at this but it still needs a lot of work.

Kind - I really love being happy and friendly with everyone, and I really have a hard time holding grudges against people or hating anyone. I really dislike violence and I feel that it is a waste of time and energy to be violent or hateful towards people.

Student - I have always loved learning and studying, in and out of school, so being a student is a really important to me. I have no idea what I want to do when I grow up because all I am concerned with know is continuing to learn. Because of this I take school very seriously and I also spend time outside of school learning, for example I am an adamant reader.

Outgoing - I really like to meet new people and do fun things so I tend to be really open and outgoing. I am always willing to try new things and that is why travel is something that I really enjoy.

Liberal - Politically and socially I am very liberal. I am against war, I disagree with organized religion, I do not like the government to have too much control, and I am especially concerned about some of the current controversies including abortion and gay rights which I believe should not be hindered by the government. These ideas really form the basis of my beliefs so I think it is very important.

Busy - When I do not have a lot to do I tend to get lazy and spend my time doing pointless things like watching TV and going online. In order to avoid this I try to keep as busy as possible, because I find that free time gets wasted. This leads to me taking on a lot, like this summer I will be doing an internship, taking a class, and getting a job.

Demanding - I am commonly told that I am "high maintenance" which I tend to disagree with, but I do admit that I can be somewhat demanding. I think this is different than high maintenance because I really love to work and I never expect others to take care of me, I just tend to demand a lot of myself and have high expectations of what I can do.

Optimistic - I used to be very self conscious which really played a big role in my life because I was always feeling like people were judging me or did not like me. I'm still a bit self conscious but as I've gotten older I've tried really hard to see the best in things rather than the worst which really makes me a much happier person.

Sister - I have two sisters, one older and one younger, as well as an older half-brother. Since I have moved a lot in my life we have always been pretty close, and even though we don't get along sometimes we always make the best of the time we spend together now that we do not all live at home anymore.  

- Communication Skills -

          For this assignment I interviewed my mom, Carrie, because she doesn't mind being honest and we tend to argue a lot just because we are those kind of people so I thought she would say some interesting things. I also interviewed my friend Emily, who I met last year when I came to FPU. She is one of my best friends who is always around me, so I knew that she would have a lot of experience to draw from, plus she doesn't mind being honest.

          As far as strengths go, both my mom and Emily agreed that I have a good repertoire of skills and I know how and when to use each one. My mom noted that I am good with all sorts of age groups, and Emily said that I am always willing to start a conversation with someone which gives me a lot of experience. In addition, they said that when I am interested in a conversation that I will get very involved with it and I am interested in keeping the conversation going.

          On the other hand, in regard to involvement Emily said that I tend to be fairly obvious when I am not interested in a conversation, so in those cases I am less involved. As far as perspective and empathy go, my mom and Emily both agreed that this is one of my weaknesses because I tend to be very stubborn and opinionated. I always voice my opinion if it is a strong one, and I have a hard time listening to an opposing opinion.

          The results did not really surprise me, but it was interesting to talk to them because they pointed out things I had never noticed. For example, I never really thought about the fact that I am good with all age groups. Now that my mom said it I realized that is very true because I have been working with kids a lot over the years, plus I know a lot of adults through my parents who I have known for a long time and I have grown accustomed to learning how to communicate well with them.

          In order to improve my biggest weakness, perspective, I believe I have been working on this for years already. I have always been aware that I am stubborn and I have a hard time admitting to being wrong. My mom suggested that something like this is common in teens who tend to be egotistical, and things like travel and being in a variety of situations can help to fix this. Therefore it looks like I can put my patience into practice while in Vienna in order to see the perspectives of people who live in situations that may be hard for me to understand.

 

Me and Emily causing trouble at the bowling alley!