I have officially spent one week in Austria, and it is incredible. But getting settled wasn’t without a bit of difficulty. My connection flight from London to Vienna was probably one of the worst flights I’ve ever been on. The take off was rough and the plane shook about 80% of the ride there. Not that it was the pilots fault though, because the weather wasn’t too great and the fog was so thick you could cut through it with a knife. However, the landing was a memorable one. As we were descending the fog just wasn’t letting up, but I assumed once we got close to the ground it would break up. I was wrong. As I was looking out the window trying to see the city, the plane jumped a little and all the sudden I realized we had just touched down; the fog was virtually a wall of gray that went thousands of feet into the air.
Upon landing, I left for baggage claim only to discover that my luggage had not made it to Vienna. I filed a claim and then left to meet up with my program. After the whole airport ordeal, the group that landed early (myself included) was shuffled onto a bus. A three hour journey through Austria’s incredible countryside later, and we made it to our youth hostel in Mariazell. It was here that we spent the next four days for orientation. I think this was an important aspect of the program, because it allowed us just enough time to get to know most of the other 120+ people in the IES: Vienna program before be let loose in the city.
By Sunday night, we had headed back to Vienna (plus my luggage which arrived Saturday afternoon) and to our new homes for the next 4 months. There are 23 districts in Vienna, and I am living in the 18th; the students in my program are spread out through multiple districts in the city, with the most living in the 5th and 6th districts. Because I am so far away from the 1st district (where I’m taking my classes), I have about a 40 minute tram ride every morning. The trade off though is that I’m living in is a Villa rather than an apartment.
So far, the language barrier hasn’t been too much of an issue because most of the younger generation of Austrians speak at least some amount of English. I still find it a little odd not being able to understand the conversations over heard on the streets. I’ve never spoken a single sentence of German until this week, so it’s going to take me awhile to be at a conversation holding level. For example, I wanted to get cheese for sandwiches at the store. I asked if the lady behind the counter spoke English, but she said very little. So, I tried to ask for a sample slice of cheese at the grocery store like back home (because she told me all the different cheeses she had, which didn’t help at all). She yes like she knew what I meant. I then turned around to help my friend get vegetables, while I assumed the lady was cutting the cheese. When I turned back around, the lady handed me a bag which had a roll and cheese sandwich in it….
I haven’t had the time to just explore the city yet because of all the activities and crazy scheduling this first week, but I look forward to seeing all the palaces and beautiful architecture Vienna has to offer!
Location: Vienna, Austria
Loading map...
