Reflections - Ally
'An Australian Abroad'
I was one of the six lucky students sponsored by Rotary district 9810 to set out on a year long adventure abroad in 2016 with the youth exchange program.
My destination was Austria, a country of over 8 million, known for its gracious mountains, crystal clear lakes, and commitment to wearing traditional Austrian attire at the very traditional, boot slapping, yodelling, beer chugging events! My expectations, where of course high, after seeing the sound of music 100 times and this year did not disappoint - except for, maybe the fact, no one in Austria had seen it!
Arriving in Vienna, I realised that the only jacket that I brought, perfect for Australian winters, and was defiantly not perfect for the minus10 degrees I landed in. And, yes, I have seen snow before, but wow, the drive to my host village, I was in awe! The snow was everywhere, falling patiently, with hardly a spot left without.
My home for the year was 2.5 hours away from Vienna, in Stienerkirchen un der Traun, a village of under 3000 people, on the edge of the most gorgeous Salzkammergut region. My school was in the next big city, a 25min bus ride (often sleepy) at 6.30am.I was hardly even a newbie to German, which explains why my 2 week rotary language camp on the Traunsee Lake, was spent in the lowest of 3 classes. The camp of course was not all about learning the language - it was also an orientation to both Austrian Rotary and the country itself!
Winter was spent doing what Austrians do best, winter sports! First I saw a downhill ski race, before trying to ski myself, in Tirol, with my persistent host family. Next was a trip with my village youth group - the Land Jugend, to night sledding at one of Austria's most famous mountains, Schladming, and another trip to schladming with a group of 80 Austrian inbound exchange students, for a week long ski camp, where my group placement was a little higher, than most would agree it should have been.
Spring time, for me, was spent hiking, at fests like the Volksfest, and at balls ran by local groups like the land Jugend and fire department. More excitingly, group, a 2 week Euro tour, and the district conference in Kitzbuhl. I also visited a few towns and cities like Vienna and Hallstat for the first time! Europeans - well at least Austrians, are big on the summer travel, so my summer was quite happily full on! Staring off with a week in Bregenz with friends - the Austrian city on the famous lake Constance, which connects Germany, Switzerland and Austria. A trip to the Czech Republic, with my host family, canoeing down the Moldov River, and touring Prague. With my councelors family, I spent a week on the Attersee lake, sailing and swimming. Another trip with my host family to Fakersee Lake, in southern Austria, mountinbiking, sailing and rock climbing! My final trip in the summer was with my Australian family.
Spring time, for me, was spent hiking, at fests like the Volksfest, and at balls ran by local groups like the land Jugend and fire department. More excitingly, a weekend in Budapest with the exchange group, a 2 week Euro tour, and the district conference in Kitzbuhl. I also visited a few towns and cities like Vienna and Hallstat for the first time!
Europeans - well at least Austrians, are big on the summer travel, so my summer was quite happily full on! Staring off with a week in Bregenz with friends the Austrian city on the famous lake Constance, which connects Germany, Switzerland and Austria. A trip to the Czech Republic, with my host family, canoeing down the Moldov River, and touring Prague. With my councelors family, I spent a week on the Attersee lake, sailing and swimming. Another trip with my host family to Fakersee Lake, in southern Austria, mountinbiking, sailing and rock climbing! My final trip in the summer was with my Australian family, who I showed around Vienna, Linz, Salzburg and a bit of Germany.
Autumn, like spring, was spent at balls and even bigger fests - like Oktoberfest! I also had a rotary weekend in Vienna, as well as a Rotary trip to Prague, Dresden and berlin. Only having a few months left I had to make sure I saw everything I still had too, so I made a quite a few trips to Vienna, and cities I had somehow not yet seen like Graz, and a trip to the Dachstein most incredible place I have ever seen!
My second winter, I visited 15 Christmas markets, baked well over enough cookies, saw the terrifying Krampus runs, had a visit from St. NIkolous on the 8th, before a glorified baby Jesus visited me on the 24th! It was also time to start saying goodbye to my school friends, village friends, and exchange student friends for which rotary organised a-weekend in Salzburg for the 80 Austrian and Croatian exchange students! And shortly, I was saying Auf wiedersehen to my host families, and catching my plane back to Australia.
Ally
Hosted by:
Rotary Club of Wels Nova, D1920 Austria
