Heir ist mein normalische Tag.
In Austria, there is a language camp every year. For the past several years it has been held in Altmünster. This year, 2019, it was held in Puch bei Urstein, which is a college campus 20 minutes from Salzburg. In Salzburg, there are places like Europark (a beautiful mall), the old town, rows of shops, good ice cream places, and a castle. I will admit, we spoke more English than German most days since there were 23 Americans. But there were also a lot of Spanish speaking people too. To give you a break down of who all was there, there were 23 Americans, 3 Brazilians, 1 Columbian, 1 Mexican, 3 Spanish people, 1 French person, 1 Swiss person, 1 Italian person, 1 Japanese person, and a few others that I have forgotten or don't know for sure where they are from. There are definitely more people that I am forgetting but that was the general breakdown. We had 5 hours of German lessons every day, 3 hours on the first Saturday, and then we had 3 hours of meals. Aside from that, we were allowed to do pretty much anything. We went to the city, went shopping, ate junk food from spar (Mandell Karamel bars from Milka are the best- it’s like how a snickers bar should taste, and Neopolitan Manner bars are literally so good- pro tip, get the bars not the bag because the bag goes stale within a day or two), and some people went swimming in the river and in the lake. There is also a ropes course not too far away- like 30 minutes walking. They had scheduled an hour long walk to a restaurant for ice cream on the first Saturday there with the Rotex which was a lot of fun- the ice cream, not the ROTEX. There’s a Rotex called Martin who has a goal to send someone home every year- so do not confide in him. Sunday we went to Hallstatt which was a touristy town that is pretty much the icon of Austria. Of course, every group of kids has to do something stupid, whether it be getting drunk in the city, getting drunk in their room, or going for a hike at one in the morning. Please remember to apologize if caught, but don’t go around telling everyone if you could have gotten away with it. Especially, don’t tell the teachers! Also, the showers are small here and the water sprays everywhere in the bathroom, so keep your phone and glasses out of the bathroom and keep your clothes away from the shower- like on the radiator. You share a room with 1 other person so it’s not likely to be super cramped but, please keep your side clean and ask your roommate to clean their side if it makes you uncomfortable when they have their brand new guy friends walk into the room and their dirty clothes with underwear and bras on top, are hanging out for them to see.
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Before language camp, I met my host parents and my host counselor's family. I stayed with my host family for one night- the night after I landed in Munich. My host parents spent that night and that morning packing for Switzerland where they would spend two weeks hiking in the Alps. I stayed at my host counselor's house for 3 days before language camp. I met his two boys, 15 and 13 years old, and their English is really good. We went hiking in Seefeld, we went to the Innsbruck Zoo, we got a phone for me, we went to dinner with their family, and we had dinner together. I had been talking to my host sister for a month or two before I left for Austria but, I had no idea what any of them looked like before I was at the airport meeting my host dad. There's nothing more awkward then having to go home with a virtual stranger, but now this family feels almost more comfortable than my own. This is a place that I know I am going to grow a lot faster and be able to become the person I want to see looking back at me when I glance at a mirror. If they ever read this, then thank you for allowing me to stay in your home for several months.
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AuthorErin, youth exchange student Archives |