Incorporating Study Abroad into my Future

Things I have learned abroad: 

-How to read a subway/ bus/ streetcar map

-how to learn about other cultures

-how to get to know a city

-Lots about Viennese history

-Countless verb-preposition pairings

-more about passive in German

-I can climb a mountain

-a ton about Austrian culture

If I was interviewing for a dream job, it would probably be with a marketing agency that serviced international clients/ required employees to live in teams abroad for projects. 

1. How did studying abroad while at VCU prepare you to become a better global citizen?

My time studying abroad introduced me to the concept of living in another country and getting to know another culture. During my time abroad I learned not only how to navigate a foreign city, but how to explore both historically and contemporarily important locations in order to get to know the culture. Not only did I learn about history and modern trends, but I got to know the people of the city and understand that stereotypes rarely apply. I also had experience studying and communicating on a day to day basis in another language with people from all around Europe. After studying abroad, I would feel comfortable going to live in another country, as the experience has shown me how to prepare and research before leaving the country, and how to explore the culture once I'm there. 

2. How can we benefit from your experience abroad?

As someone who has had experience living abroad, I could adapt to new work environments and cultures very quickly and would also feel very comfortable getting to know the cultural background of a new client and the cultural landscape of a new market. My time abroad has taught me to be both curious and careful when communicating with individuals from another culture and I feel comfortable communicating in both German and English. 

Personal Perspective and Global Issues

I think one thing Austria made me think about (and this is definitely not political or global) is my idea of necessary space. What I mean is, how much space I need in an apartment or a store or around me in public. Not only do I have a very wide personal bubble, but I never really questioned the size of houses and stores in the US. This morning though, I went to Kroger and I'm pretty sure the produce section is bigger than the average Billa. looking at the store from the outside, the size was comparable to an Ubahn station. It's very strange seeing Walmarts and Krogers and huge suburban houses compared to the places we went in Austria. At this point in time, Americans can afford to waste space on huge grocery stores that have literally hundreds of varieties of chips. However, in the future as population increases and people must increasingly live closer together, Americans' idea of how much space is necessary will diminish and get closer to the standards evident in many other places in the world. I think it's just interesting to look at how much space I think I need versus how much space I had in Vienna, including both living space and personal space in public. 

I also really appreciate how much the Viennese walk and how often they are outside. I think I ate outside more than inside when at cafes and restaurants. I really wish there were larger pedestrian zones in Richmond and more outside eating areas. 

On a related note, I also liked that patrons are allowed to sit at cafes and restaurants for long periods of time (though I do prefer American servers). I never felt hurried out of a restaurant or pressured to eat faster. Also, due to the large amount of outdoor seating, I never had to wait for a table. 

I may have mentioned this in a previous blog post, but I also liked that the Viennese didn't use as much air conditioning as Americans do. Coming back to the US, it's odd walking into a store or home that has the AC set to 68 or 70 degrees. I definitely don't like sweating all the time, but having the air conditioning set so low feels unnecessary and, at this point, uncomfortable after more than half an hour. It would also be more environmentally friendly to keep the AC set a little higher in the summer. 

One of the international issues that was discussed in as well as out of class that I would like to keep track of is the situation between the Ukraine and Russia. I didn't know a lot about it to begin with, but feel much better informed after talking to people from both Kiev and Moscow. 

Lastly, I would like to learn more about Guantanamo bay due to the fact that our tour guide at Dachau informed us that Guantanamo qualifies as a concentration camp. Guantanamo bay is one of those things that you now is bad, but never really look too far into and I would like to be better informed about it. 

How to Describe Vienna

Vienna: 

-baroque

-beautiful

-artsy

-horses

-patios

-refined

-coffee

-environmentally conscious

-a little grimy

-bread

-pork

-Grüner Veltliner 

-Radler

-Rye Seeds

-Würstelstand 

-warm

-walking

Some of my words describe the appearance of the city, but many relate to tastes and smells (rye, pork, Radler, etc). The last two words may seem a little vague, but upon getting back to America I realized that I was used to no air conditioning. Also, I did more walking in Vienna than I ever have before, so that's why that word is there. As far as refinement goes, that's a word that I think fits the first district of the city, with all its elaborate architecture, and a lot of the people you see there. Europe in general seems to be more environmentally conscious than America. We saw lots of windmills, there was always the option to separate your trash, and you had to buy your own bags at the grocery store. 

I think tastes and smells will most vividly evoke memories for me, so whenever I have a Radler or a great cappuccino or a really strong white wine, I'll think of Vienna. 

Stereotypes

Going into Vienna, I didn't have very many stereotypes in mind. I had read that the Viennese were kind of grumpy and that they had a thing for ceremony, but that was it. As far s Europeans in general are concerned, I expected most of them to be very liberal. 

In some respects, the Viennese were liberal compared to Americans, especially concerning the human body. For example, you can change into your bathing suit on the beach, which would get you arrested in America. As far as tolerance was concerned, however, Americans seemed to be much more understanding than many Europeans. We had a discussion in our class about whether or not burkas and hijabs should be worn at work and school. I, as well as many Americans my age, said that I thought islamic dress should be accepted on the grounds of religious freedom. My teacher, and many of my Ukrainian classmates, were of the opinion that these coverings represented female oppression. This was very surprising to me. 

As far as stereotypes about Americans were concerned, I heard many that I had already anticipated. Americans are fat. Americans are stupid. Americans have too many guns and a problem with violence in general. Americans are far too individualistic. So on and so forth. None of these stereotypes really offended me because, after some discussion, I don't think my classmates really believed them. Additionally, there is some truth to all of these stereotypes and some portion of the population fits one of them. The most upsetting stereotypes I encountered were related to gender, not nationality. Our class generally held to the view that women were more emotional than men and communicated in fundamentally different ways. Certainly, there are differences between women and men, but to label women as outright emotional and therefore less rational is foolish. Not everyone in my class held this view, but enough did that it was troubling. 

None of my stereotypes about the Viennese were really proven. Nobody from Austria complained more than most Americans I have met and I didn't really get to witness a modern example of concern for ceremony. However, it does seem that many Viennese hate small talk and are much lighter on pleasantries than Americans. If you go to a store in Vienna, nobody will ask you how your day has been, they will just say hello and let you shop. 

Adapting to Navigating

Things I adapted to in Vienna: 

-Ordering all my food in German

-Navigating all the public transportation

-Grocery shopping

-they will not bag your stuff

-people will bump into you all the time

-you absolutely have to remember to get a barcode for your produce

-Living with a stranger who doesn't speak English as well as they speak German

-The dorm washing machines (they were very confusing)

-Getting home at night (had to plan not to walk by myself)

-identifying which stores were and were not for tourists

-not having internet all the time (I really missed my smartphone) 

-Getting through crowds FAST (I learned to hate Stephansplatz) 

I think the most difficult thing to adapt to was going to new places by myself. Usually, I can use my GPS to get me places, but in Vienna I was reliant on a map and the kindness of other people when I asked for directions. I did get pointed in the wrong direction a few times, but I never got seriously lost and by the end of the month I felt very confident in my ability to find things throughout the city. Mostly, I just had to force myself out of my comfort zone and commit to going somewhere new. Once you're out the door, you have to keep going, so the biggest challenge was getting myself to get out of the dorm during my free time. 

Now though, I feel that if I visited a new city, I would be able to find my way around with a map and would be able to discover and learn about the city's landmarks and culture on my own. 

Lainzer Tiergarten

As with my other two activities, I didn't really have to interact with very many people here. I did talk to some older Austrian ladies at the bus stop as well as a couple people at the Hermes Villa museum and the cafe. I ordered my food and bought tickets in German. 

I have never been to a Game reserve before and I'm not sure there are any parks like this in Virginia where you can wander around so close to wildlife. It was really cool to be in such a big park that was relatively close to the city. In most parks in the US, you can see animals in pens or maybe a few deer, but this was my first time seeing wild boar in person. 

I had a lot of fun seeing the Hermes Villa, it was an interesting contrast to the large, well kept palaces that we had toured. Also, it was really interesting to see families of wild boar wandering around with their babies. 

Schmetterling Haus

The only person I really had to interact with here was the cashier. I spoke to her in German to get my ticket, then didn't really talk to anyone else during my time at the butterfly house. 

I have been to small butterfly houses before, but this one was by far the largest one I have ever seen. Not only was it pretty big (for a butterfly house), but it had a huge variety of butterflies and was in one of the biggest art nouveau greenhouses in Vienna. 

It was amazing getting to see so many butterflies up close. I think the most remarkable one was a huge moth that had about a 5 inch wingspan. I've never seen a moth or butterfly that big before, so that was really interesting.