Wheels Up to Wien
Arrival in Vienna!
I made it!! Study Abroad in Vienna has officially begun and I couldn't be more excited. Upon arrival, I was confronted rather immediately by the differences between Austrian and American culture. While I waited for my cab driver Gitesh, a friend of our Professor Dr. Stuart's, a random man came up to me and started yelling at me to try to get me to buy something. I am decidedly not fluent in German (turns out intermittent sessions on Duolingo is NOT enough to teach you a full language) but I generally got the idea that he wanted me to go in his car. Since I wasn't trying to get kidnapped after 15 minutes in Vienna, I decided to wait for Gitesh instead who took me on a scenic drive through the winding streets of Wien.
Finally, I had arrived. I was standing outside our student housing building and, if I'm being perfectly honest, I was nervous. I barely know just a few people on this trip with me and the others I've never interacted with. I was hoping I would be able to make friends quickly but this was a new country with new people and I truly didn't know what to expect.
What I found was an incredibly welcoming space filled with people eager to learn and explore, just like I was. Since I had come from England and seemingly the majority of people had flown in that morning from California, I could tell I was one of the least jet lagged people there today.
After meeting my roommates, I went with Dr. Stuart and a small group to the majestic gardens that surround Schönbrunn Palace, the main summer residence of the Hapsburg rulers and one fo the most famous buildings in Vienna. Along with a group of students, I explored (and got a little lost) wandering through the vast swaths of trees, pathways, greenhouses, and ornate buildings that make up the Palace grounds.
Once we had completed our walk, it was time to eat. And where better to have our first meal in Austria than a real biergarten? Dr. Stuart recommended I try the Zwickl, a distinctly cloudy, unfiltered lager that was absolutely delicious. I had it with Austrian Goulash, a dish similar in flavor to its Hungarian cousin but with big chunks of beef and Austrian napkin dumplings. Napkin dumplings are so named because they consist of stale bread and herbs moistened and wrapped in a napkin to form a little loaf that slices are then cut from and served. Its flavor and presentation strongly reminded me of Thanksgiving stuffing back home but it was probably better than any stuffing I'd ever had.
Here's the deal though: apparently portions in Austria are massive. I didn't know this and figured a 15 euro Goulash would probably be enough to serve one hungry adult, not a couple or family of three. Boy was I wrong. Dr. Stuart also got Goulash but ordered the smaller portion which seemed far more manageable as opposed to my massive plate with enough food for many to enjoy. I wasn't the only one taken aback by this as people who ordered schnitzels and sausages were also surprised to find they were being given a lot more food than they would be in the US for the same price.
Another interesting cultural difference I noticed at dinner was that, unlike in the US where waiters will rush you out of a restaurant once you finish your meal so they can turn over the table, it is almost impossible to leave a beer garden in Austria. According to Dr. Stuart, cultural traditions here mean that people will enjoy a meal and several beers over the course of a very long evening and, when their food is done, often stay until the beer garden closes rather than moving on to another destination. If you want to leave, you should start trying to flag down the waiter 30-45 minutes prior to when you actually want to get up because they are so completely content with letting you sit in their space and enjoy your evening that they fully do not anticipate you wanting to leave at some point.
After dinner we successfully took the incredibly efficient and easy public transit back home and are ready to start a new day in Vienna!
