This is Lena, a 17 year old exchange student from Oregon, USA. She’s already been living in Graz for nine months so she knows what it’s like to adapt to a new culture, family, school and environment. Even though she is not a real expat, she’s had similar experiences which she would like to share with us.
Why did you decide to come to Austria?
“The main reason was that last year in October a group of Austrians came to my city and my present host sister stayed with me and we became friends. And then I always knew I wanted to go on exchange and I was like ‘well, why not Austria?’ You know, I knew I wanted to go to a non-English speaking country.”
Did you know any German before you came?
“Very, very little. I studied for about a month before and just with a private tutor and only when I had time, which was not very often. And so not really, just a little and it was really hard for me not knowing any German at all.”
Was it hard for you to learn the language?
“Yeah, really hard. It’s still very difficult at times. And I still feel like it’s such a barrier that I can’t come across. But it gets better and better, it gets easier. But you really do have to speak it to improve.”
So you think the language was one of the main difficulties when you first came to Austria?
“Yeah, for example if I went to the bank or something, the people didn’t want to speak English sometimes or they were very unfriendly when I asked them to speak English and that was hard. And also with my host family, or at school it’s very hard. Especially at school, I think school is the worst. Most people are really afraid to speak English, because I’m a native speaker.”
Do you think that Austrians are generally unfriendly towards foreigners?
“In the beginning of my stay, yeah actually, I did get that impression. It was mostly older people though. It wasn’t that the kids were unfriendly to me but maybe they didn’t know I was foreign and maybe they didn’t pay attention or try to get to know me. But mostly yeah, I did get that impression. Maybe just because I’m American.”
Do you think there are a lot of Austrians who have prejudices towards Americans?
“Yeah, sometimes I think that. I really do like most people I met here, so it’s not like I’m trying to say they are all against Americans. But I think a lot of people are just against our government, they think our country is a little bit weird…and crazy. But I can understand it. And no one ever really told me they didn’t like me because I was American.”
What other difficulties did you come across at the beginning of your stay?
“I would say nothing really big. Like I said, the language was the hard thing. But just in cultural differences…you know, there’s this thing with turning off the lights and closing the doors. That was really hard to get used to, especially the doors, ‘cause we never close the doors at my house in the States. So that was a thing I always had to remember. It’s not like you have to do it, but it just seems like you should because they are all closed. You know what I mean, that was weird. I also really had to get used to the food actually. It’s not just the food, but they the was of having it The eating habits are a lot different to me. In America we usually have a big breakfast and we really like our breakfast food. Then we have just a light lunch, maybe a sandwich or something like this. And then for dinner it’s a big meal. Breakfast at my host family is kind of independent, so you just eat what you want. And lunch is a big meal, and that was really weird for me because I was eating so much for lunch, at midday. And I was just so stuffed after that. And then at night we always eat the same thing for dinner, every night. We always eat bread, dark bread. The bread is much different also than American bread. Bread here is not very soft, but I like it now. And then we have meat and cheese, every night we have this. The other thing that shocked me about the food was in school. During almost every break, we have five minute break after every hour, the people in my class eat something. Almost every break! It’s really amazing to me, because we never eat in school. I mean we do, but we have lunch at school. But maybe it’s because we don’t have a break every hour. But here people are eating all the time, like three sandwiches. That was like ‘wow, they are eating again and again’ …That was funny to me.”
Was it hard for you to make Austrian friends?
“In my class, actually, yes. It’s really hard. For so long I didn’t know how to speak with them and I think they felt the same to me.. In my class I still don’t have really good friends. I mean I’m friends with them but we don’t hang out very much or see each other in the weekends or something like that. And so, it was hard, but then I met a few people, the right people, and I made friends easily with them.”
How would you describe Austrians in general?
“If I look at my host family I would say they are much neater. Like the household is so much cleaner, but I think that’s a personal kind of thing. But in general, maybe they are more polite in a way. It’s not that Americans are impolite but for example when eating food, if you are American they might just grab from yours to try it, maybe even without asking. And here if you do that it’s really not okay. It’s like ‘Don’t do that!’. And a little I would say Austrians kind of stay in their social circle. It seems like they all make friends at a young age and then they stay friends forever. And they don’t really let other people in their group. And that’s strange to me because I think we Americans are really social. I have a lot of friends in the States, but here it’s like I’m only in one group. So that’s also different.“
Tell me a few things that you like about Austria.
“I like the humour actually, because it is much different than American humour and it’s funny to me. And I think Austrians really like to be together with other people. They like to see each other, to meet each other. A positive thing is also that I know that everyone is really helpful. Like whenever I say I’m doing something I don’t know it’s like ‘oh, do you need help, do you need help?’…so that’s nice. And I think they are…how do I say…interested, very interested actually. It’s like ‘What are you doing?’ If I tell somebody I play the guitar it’s always like ‘oh, tell me about this and this..’ So that’s cool, that’s really cool.”
And what are the aspects that you don’t like about Austria?
“I don’t like how they are pretty stereotypical, especially about America. But maybe that’s a cultural thing. I mean Americans might not be much different. I’m sure people in America also do that all the time.!
Have you been homesick so far?
“Yeah, but not a lot. But at times, when I’m alone, I just get lonely and I think ‘Awwwe, I want my Mum and Dad!!’ , but it’s not so bad that I’m like unhappy or wanna go home. And it’s never that long ever. It’s maybe just a spell I would say, for a while, and then it’s away. It’s not too bad. I think my Mum and Dad miss me more than I miss them.”
What do you miss most about America?
“Family, friends…mainly just the comfort of home. ‘Cause there are just so many things there that aren’t here. Even just sitting in my living room, in my house. That’s what I miss. Sometimes I miss the food, my father’s food. My father cooks a lot of international food, so that’s nice ‘cause we have Mexican food sometimes, or Italian food or Chinese food. I also miss my car, being able to drive. Here I’m always late for things and I just know that if I had my car everything would be okay. That’s another thing I had to adjust to: the transportation system. Because at home I live in a pretty small town so we don’t really have a transport system like a tram or anything like that. It’s just cars. I really had to get used to using that. I was afraid at first, ‘cause maybe I'd get lost, take the wrong tram. Now I feel like I can never be on time, cause I miss the bus and then I’m late, and then I’m late again…But it’s not so bad. But yeah, I really do miss my car and being able to drive wherever I want.”
What are you going to miss about Austria?
“Well, I really like the city actually. The way that it’s set up and the way things are here. I do like that. There’s kind of a freedom when you’re in the city. At home I don’t live in a big city, so living in a big city was really different for me, you know, it was like ‘yey, exciting’. Being able to just shop whenever I want was just wow, because in the States I live in the middle of nowhere. There are things here that I think are better than in America and there are things that I think aren’t better. Here, everyone usually takes their shoes off when they go to a house, and I think that’s a good thing. And in America some people just don’t think about it or don’t care. I don’t know, but that’s a stupid thing.”
What are the things that you are surely not going to miss?
“I won’t miss the school. I don’t like the school at all. To me it feels like it’s not fun. In my environment, at home, the school system is actually really fun. You know it’s kind of enthusiastic. I mean you still don’t wanna be there, but it’s not as serious as it is here. And people here they really study all the time. I feel like they don’t have time, they don’t have any fun during the week. It’s just the weekends they go ‘yeah, finally’. But during the week it’s like everybody is studying all the time. School at home, for me, is just fun. I just have fun there and laugh and here it seems like no one’s having fun and no one wants to be there. And teachers are just so serious.”
What about the relationship between teachers and students?
“Yeah, that’s also very, very different. Our teachers are kind of our friends, we can joke around with them. They like to laugh just as much as we do. Here I’ve never seen a teacher laugh, never. And teachers here, they just seem so unhappy. So yeah, the student-teacher relationship is really different.”
What have you learned during this year? What were your best experiences?
“I really learned a lot. I don’t know it’s just a lot of little things. And there were a lot of great experiences with my family, just sightseeing and stuff. And it was really funny when my brother came and I realized a lot when he came. ‘Cause he noticed things that I noticed at first, but I have just forgotten about them cause I just got used to them. He was like ‘Hey Lena, look at these toilets!’ Yeah, toilets here are different too. Oh, and the driving, the driving is also very different. The driving style is like crazy here. Everyone drives like they’re in a hurry and they just go so fast. I remember the first time I drove with my host sister. She came to pick me up from the train station. And I was like scared, actually frightened because I just wasn’t used to her style of driving. I was really nervous. But I thought maybe she’s just a new driver, you know, ‘cause she just got her licence and everything’s gonna be okay. But then, next time we went to the car, my host mum was driving and I was like ‘thank God’ but then she drove almost exactly the same way!! But I got used to it.
I also learned a lot about my own country during this year and how people see it and view it. And why they see it and view it that way. That actually really motivated me, because I was disappointed with my country and I was angry about some things. You know, when you’re there you don’t care or maybe you don’t notice it as much and you just don’t think about it. But here, I really, really learned a lot about that.
My host family really tried to make my experience good. I think we learned a lot from each other. And like I said my host sisters were really shy in the beginning, but now I think they are a little more opened-up and friendly, so that’s good!”
So you don’t regret having come to Austria?
“No, never! And I will come again. Everything is good. I’m glad that I’m here and I’m glad about everyone I met.”
