Journals from Abroad

Grüß Gott? Grüß Gott readers! I have to admit something so unfortunate and sad- today was our last day of classes at the Austro-American Institute of Education, tomorrow the gang leaves to go home meaning that this is my last blog post. My semester ended today but in a couple days my family will visit me here in Vienna and we will travel around Europe together. After about two weeks, we head back to the States together just in time for Christmas. 

I feel both sad and fulfilled about my time here. Of course I am going to miss being in Vienna and Austria as a whole. I will miss the people that have helped and supported us during our studies and I will miss the cultural traditions of Vienna I won’t get when I am home. However, I feel quite fulfilled by my time here. I don’t know how to describe it. It is almost like a pit in the bottom of my stomach, telling me that it is okay to say goodbye to the amazing experience I have had in Europe. These past few days I have tried my best to soak in every last moment hanging out with professors, seeing our favorite sites and eating our favorite foods one last time. I feel so content with my time here that I know the memories will stick with me forever. 

I believe that in life we all have different versions of ourselves and that while being here I have become a better version of me. Realizing that makes my heart jump with joy and smile as wide as I can. I think I have become a more confident and grateful person. I have tried my very best to step outside my comfort zone and try every experience presented to the gang and I. Being a student abroad inherently means that you are willing to be a risk-taker and be curious about the world around you. While being here, I have also pushed myself mentally to think more critically about the world around me and to immerse myself in Austrian culture. 

Thank you for taking the time to read these blog posts. Although perhaps the posts didn’t highlight daily life in Vienna, you could learn about my experiences doing some really fun things! I truly believe that by traveling and being a part of other cultures than your own, you will be changed for the better. I hope you have gotten this sense from reading my posts. If you are thinking about studying abroad, just go for it. If you are like me, you won’t regret it. 

Auf Wiedersehen!
Lizzie Arnold 

Grüß Gott? Grüß Gott readers! This month the Linfield gang and I had the amazing opportunity to attend a special Austrian event. On a sunny Sunday morning, the gang and I took two trains and a bus to a town outside of the province of Vienna, called Perchtoldsdorf. The director of the Institute, Ingrid, is from this town and she invited us to come to her village and participate in the festival, “Hiataeinzug,” translating to watch guard parade. 

For over 600 years, the community of Perchtoldsdorf has come together to express their gratitude for a rich wine/grape harvest. The vineyards are absolutely beautiful and although we didn’t see them at the time, Ingrid told us that scattered throughout the vineyards, there are small white cabins/cottages, where wine watch guards would sleep and live for a number of weeks while the grapes become ripe. These guards would make sure that people wouldn’t steal the grapes and would even shoot at them if they thought they encountered a thief. After the harvest, the guards come back to the village and everyone celebrates the harvest. Although, nowadays guards don’t really live out in these small cottages,  but the community still comes together to celebrate. 

When we got to Perchtoldsdorf, the streets were busy and bustling. I didn’t have any expectations going into the day, but I quickly realized that there were a ton of people present and the excitement was palpable. As we arrived there was a church service that was just ending. The festival starts with a sort of thanksgiving service that includes some really amazing music. Even though we weren’t able to make the service, we were able to hear some of that music as it was ending. It was so gorgeous, including Schubert and the like. 

With the service ending, we were able to meet up with Ingrid. With the end of the church service, comes the start of the processional. First comes the Hüter (literally “guardians,” more like the watch guards) on beautifully and festively decorated horses. Then comes the band that was inside performing during the service. Following the band is the heavy “Hiatapritschen,” a huge wooden pyramid decorated with leaves, ribbons, that is constantly being held and rotating, being held by a strong person. Ingrid told us that the Hiatapritschen is extremely heavy and two people need to stand on either side of it to make sure it doesn’t fall. 

After the service and the processional, everyone moves towards the stage and people on stage sing a bit, people give speeches, and then some people start to make fun of the prominent members of the village (like the mayor or priest). This is all done in good faith though and even though everything was in German and I could not understand, it was clear that this was both a comical and heartwarming event. 

During this time, the gang, Ingrid, and I waited for the local taverns to open so we could get some delicious food. While we waited, we snacked on local desserts and sipped on the newest batch of wine that had been produced by the local vineyards. During this time we also decided to climb to the top of the bell tower (which is part of a historical defense tower) that Perchtoldsdorf has. When we got up to the top we had 360 degree views of the village and off into the horizon. It was so beautiful and I am so glad we were able to see everything in such an exquisite light. 

After our time in the bell tower, Ingrid took us throughout the village to different restaurants where we first had a delicious meat goulash and then later some fried meats and potatoes. As well, since this was a festival to celebrate wine and the village’s heritage, we all drank wine to celebrate. Glasses of wine were incredibly inexpensive. Each glass was only about 3-4 Euros. Ingrid told us that this festival was a bit of an excuse for everyone to come together and drink heavily. Although I knew that drinking and alcohol are a big part of Austrian culture, I think that was the first time where I had been around Austrians that were heavily intoxicated. I will say, I think I heard German in its loudest form! 

Most of the attendees of the festival were wearing tracht- or traditional Austrian clothing. For men this is typical lederhosen and for women- dirndls. Rachel and I had set out on a quest to find some dirndls earlier in the week to wear during the festival. During one of our classes another professor of ours had taken us to a shop that produces tracht. It was so fun to try on all the outfits. I was amazed, though, that the dirndls we were trying on started at 1000 Euros and the cost could keep climbing (we were able to find a great quality dirndl at a lower price at another store). A dirndl consists of a short blouse, a long dress (it can be other lengths too), and an apron. Traditional dirndl dresses often have corset-like tops and can be quite form fitting.

Many people in the city don’t wear tracht out and about. Most of the time, they wear them to special events or to work in the service industry. However, out in the mountains or in rural parts of Austria, people still wear tracht as their everyday wear. Ingrid told us that it was so special at the festival that people of all ages were wearing tracht- it meant that a cultural tradition was still intact.  

All in all, it was so great to be invited to spend time with Ingrid in her village celebrating something that is pretty uniquely Austrian. It was so fun to take part in an experience where everyone was happy and excited to do what we were there to do. We were so honored that Ingrid asked us to come and see something that was clearly very important to her. Gosh, it will be so hard to say goodbye to her- we have all formed such a strong bond with her! The event also highlighted how serious people take their traditions and just how important it is to keep these traditions going. It is so serious that it was inscribed in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Austria by the Austrian Commission for UNESCO in 2009. Each tradition listed on the inventory conveys the richness of Austria’s cultural heritage and strives to continue these traditions into the future. 

Auf Wiedersehen for now!

Lizzie 

If you want to learn more, check out these links!

https://www.perchtoldsdorf.at/english/Wine/The_Procession_of_the_Weinhueter

https://www.unesco.at/en/culture/intangible-cultural-heritage/national-inventory/news-1/article/the-the-vineyard-guards-procession-in-perchtoldsdorf

Grüß Gott? Grüß Gott readers! One thing you should know about me is that I love traveling. Spending a couple years overseas as a child had an enormous effect on me. During that time, my family traveled around Asia, mostly (and some other places in the world), and this invigorated my love for travel.

I believe you can learn so much about yourself and the world around you from interacting with another culture. While studying abroad in Austria, the Linfield gang and I have tried to take advantage of the ease of traveling in Europe. It is so easy to find a flight, train, or bus that can get you to your destination that you could be in your desired country by nightfall.

Since knowing I would be studying in Vienna, I have said that I want to try to get to all of Austria’s neighboring countries. Although I have not completed this goal, I have made it to over half of its neighboring countries as well as two others. My journey across Europe has included Germany, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Czechia, and Greece (also Switzerland, Slovenia, and Croatia if you count just passing through). While our travels have been fun and more on the positive side overall,  I have realized some important things that I want to share with you all. 

1. ALWAYS, always, always check multiple times to make sure you have your passport with you! When Rachel, Sage, and I traveled to Greece, we woke up at 1:30 am to leave from my apartment for the airport together and Rachel realized she couldn’t find her passport. We ended up having to Uber to her apartment (public transportation had either slowed down or stopped for the night) and we waited outside her building for 20 minutes to see if she found it. She eventually found it in a drawer in her room, but during the time we didn’t know where her passport was, it was really nerve-racking. After that day, we all know to triple check to make sure we know where our passports are at all times. This way we would never have to go through a situation like that again.

   

2. Make sure to research where you are going! When we headed to Greece, we didn’t do much research. We decided to stay on the island of Corfu after hearing that it was very beautiful and fun for young travelers. However, we didn’t realize that Corfu was actually quite a big island and that where we had chosen to stay was a bit off the beaten path. Although the village of Nissaki on the island was absolutely beautiful, it honestly wasn’t what we expected. It was small and rural, and not exactly something we had experienced before. If we knew beforehand the ins and outs of the island, I think our time in Corfu would have been much different and we would have come to the island with maybe some different expectations. 

   

   

3. Plan your itinerary in advance! During our time in Europe, we spent time in Budapest and Florence. I have found that our experiences there were vastly different. I think one part of this is that when traveling to Budapest we didn’t have a concrete plan. We were more going with the flow and finding suggestions quickly online. Yet, with Florence, Sage and I sat down and talked and meticulously researched what seemed to be everything about the city. That way we were able to synthesize all the information we absorbed on the internet and then create an itinerary before we arrived. I think our trip then went much more smoothly and we were able to then be flexible with our itinerary if we wanted to do something else during the day.

   

4. Take advantage of cheap deals! Flights within Europe can be notoriously cheap. So cheap that sometimes you would only get to bring one bag with you on the flight. For example, we found €24 plane tickets to Greece. For our fall break (a full week off of classes), we had to take advantage of that! None of us had been to Corfu and we thought “well, let’s do it!” We were able to chill on the beach for 5 days because our flights were so cheap!

   

5. Don’t be afraid to try something new! One way that we traveled in Europe was on a Flixbus. It was a very cheap option to travel from Florence to Vienna. Although there were many bumps in the road during that travel day (which may or may not have included one of us almost getting stuck in Bologna, Italy, and not just because it was a bus ride), Sage and I were excited to go on the bus. We knew that the conditions were not ideal but when can I say that I was 20 taking a night bus throughout Europe ever again?

   

6. Have fun! A saying that I have lived by my entire time in Vienna and Europe is “you will never be 20 in Vienna again.” This has really made me feel like it was okay to have fun and enjoy life. At times I really felt guilty being abroad. My family and friends were at home and weren’t getting to experience what I was experiencing, but again I am never going to be 20 in Vienna again, so why not make the most out of things?

   

   Elizabeth

Grüß Gott readers! In this blog post, I want to tell you about my experiences with Austrian cuisine. It is something that I think is essential to Austrian culture and honestly, it is a bit underrated. Austrian cuisine often consists of fried, hearty food usually with some sort of grain on the side and fresh vegetables with dessert or sweets as a must-have. 

Traditional Austrian breakfasts vary from person to person. However, I have noticed that eating cold cuts and cheese with bread and some sort of topping in the morning is very typical. I have been enjoying a traditional Austrian bread roll in the morning topped with a local jam and a bowl of cereal. Many Austrians enjoy pastries in the morning with a coffee or tea. Walking through the streets of Vienna there are tons of small shops that specialize in selling delicious pastries you can take to go with you on the subway or tram. It is hard to stay away when you smell the delicious aroma of baked goods while walking down the streets!

Both lunch and dinner are quite similar. Many people eat more than one course for their meal. This can include an appetizer course, entree, and dessert (or a combination of these courses). Something you will find on the menu of a traditional Austrian restaurant is frittatensuppe. This is a beef broth soup that has herbs and sliced savory pancake strips. Sometimes instead of the pancake strips, you will find the broth with hearty bread dumplings. It is so filling that sometimes I will only get this as my entree. It is also perfect after a cold day of walking through the city. Entrees typically also include an ample piece of meat. It depends on the restaurant, but the type of meat could be veal, turkey, pork or chicken. 

For a main entree, what I recommend to all people who eat meat is Wiener Schnitzel. This is something that Austria is known for and is a popular dish among locals. In a traditional Austrian restaurant, Wiener Schnitzel is a focus point on the menu. Wiener Schnitzel is made up of a thin, breaded, pan-fried meat cutlet. Typically, the cutlet is veal, but veal is often more expensive than other meats, so turkey or chicken is becoming more and more common on menus. Served with the Wiener Schnitzel, parsley potatoes or thick cut potatoes are expected or some sort of salad. My favorite Wiener Schnitzel that I have eaten has come with a sweet cranberry sauce on the side. It gave the dish a sweetness that was desperately needed with the substantial fried taste. A lemon wedge is expected as well to cut down on that rich decadent taste of the fried meat. If you come to Austria and don’t have Wiener Schnitzel, I am not sure what you are doing with your life! It is essential that you try it at least once. Even so, I personally cannot eat too much Wiener Schnitzel in a week, because even though it is delicious, it is so savory and rich. 

Alongside Wiener Schnitzel, other representative entrees often include potato-heavy dishes (like gnocchi), dumplings with meat or cheese, or some sort of stew like goulash. Of course, this is not every option that is available but just some of the conventional Austrian foods I have seen while being here in Vienna. 

As for desserts, well let’s just say I am in heaven here when it comes to dessert. Austrians love their sweets. Ice cream, pastries, and cakes are popular everyday treats. Every cafe or restaurant you go to has desserts on the menu. There are also confectionaries and bakeries on every street. Delicious sweets are easily accessible here and it has been so fun getting to try out so many different treats. I have loved apple strudel, the heisse liebe (ice cream with hot raspberries as toppings), and maybe the most out of all- the pastries that include fresh strawberries or raspberries. Austrians also love mid-day tea or coffee with a sweet treat. The Linfield gang and I have taken part in this willingly and gladly!

The last thing I want to talk about with you all is drinking culture in Austria. It is well known that in Europe and Austria the legal drinking age is young. People are exposed to alcohol at a much younger age than in the U.S. It is ingrained in Austrian culture to have a beer or glass of wine with dinner. Beer is quite cheap (not as cheap as maybe Czechia or Poland) and wine is readily available.

Vineyards and breweries are scattered through the Austrian countryside. It is not uncommon as well to see people drinking in public. It is legal to openly carry alcohol in Austria and It is also not uncommon to share a drink with a professor. Something that I learned pretty much immediately upon arriving here, is that in terms of a cultural thing, people do not drink just to drink. People drink to socialize, to gain common understanding, and learn about new refreshments available. As someone who doesn’t prefer the taste of either beer or wine, at restaurants I often order a soda or just stick to water. This has gotten me some strange looks and small quips from friends and professors alike. They don’t understand why I don’t order a beer with my dinner or try a glass of wine. However, this doesn’t mean that I have ever felt pressured to drink alcohol here. While drinking may be a part of Austrian culture, it is not a requirement and no one is obliged to drink with their meal. This is just something that should be thought about when going out to eat. 

Overall, Austrian food is delicious. I don’t see it in the States. Although I knew the names of some Austrian dishes before coming here, I don’t think I had ever tried Austrian cuisine. As well, many Americans don’t know much about Austrian foods. This is incredibly sad to me since Austrian foods are so delicious and what I can only describe as comfort foods. The only thing I ask of you is that sometime in your life you try Austrian cuisine, which hopefully includes Wiener Schnitzel. Guten appetit (enjoy your meal, bon appétit)!

Auf Wiedersehen for now,

Lizzie