Introduction
As you all know by now, I was living with family in Vienna, Austria for two months. I don't know if that's long enough to say I lived there but it's definitely longer than a vacation and I did a lot of volunteer work. For simplicity's sake, I'll use the word, live. I loved living in Vienna so much and I can't wait to go back, again. Living there, has given me a different perspective on America and shown me what it's like to live in a big city for the first time. Visiting Vienna, never left me with the love I now feel for it. I fell in love with the city simply by being exposed to its everyday life and understanding how the diversity of it changes everyone for the better. I'm not surprised it's consistently ranked as the number one city.
I Still Missed A Lot of Things
Even though this post is focusing on the weirdest thing about living in America. I feel like I should talk about some of the things I missed while I was gone to give the most accurate representation of both countries. I missed the ability to easily customize your food at most restaurants. For example, if I wanted to get a sandwich without tomatoes, I would just get a sandwich with tomatoes and (maybe) be able to take them off. Outside of McDonald's and The Hard Rock Cafe, you couldn't change your order from the menu too much. I think it varies based on what you're asking for, how well the servers speak english/you speak German, and whether or not it's already been cooked. It will honestly be different at every restaurant you go to. I should add that it basically became impossible if you were ordering delivery. In the states, most restaurants are prepared for people not to want something with the exact, same ingredients as are in the menu.
I also missed supermarkets like Walmart and Target. In Austria, you can go to Billa, Spar, or Hofer for groceries. However, grocery stores only sell food and drink (and a couple of other hygiene products). If you want anything else you have to go somewhere else. There are stores like Bipa and Libro with a wider variety of products (not including groceries). The closest thing to a supermarket is Inner Spar and even then, it is seriously lacking. You don't realize how helpful they are until you're gone. Never thought I would come back to America with a greater appreciation for Walmart.
The last and most important thing I missed is the access to pre-made/ready made/frozen food and just plain, normal food. I know normal food is subjective depending on where you live and who you live with, but all I wanted was cereal that was gluten free and not müsli. Is that too much to ask for?
I, now, realize this is all focused on food. That was not purposeful. It's just much more important than I realized being a picky eater.
The Weirdest Thing
America is a very unique country in that you have access to food and products from everywhere because everyone is from everywhere. There are a lot of things I never noticed before or never thought were weird that I now just don't understand. I honestly don't get why we don't use Celsius, the Metric System, or 24 hour time, even though (almost) the whole world uses these systems. It just creates confusion that isn't necessary. Plus, these systems all make more logical sense than Fahrenheit, the Imperial System, and 12 hour time (although there may be an argument for Fahrenheit). It's not like the other options are difficult to understand or remember.
Another thing I really don't understand anymore is public restrooms. Don't get me wrong, I love not paying to use a public restroom. I just don't get why there aren't red and green markers on the doors to say whether or not someone is in the stall. Why can't all bathroom doors go to the floor? It's obviously not impossible. They do in Europe. Plus, I think it would take away a lot of the drama about bathrooms and gender.
However, these things are not the weirdest part about being back in the states. Ignoring the new suspension on the Schengen Area that has made me quarantine myself, the weirdest thing about being back in America is the fact that no one is speaking German. There are no German ads, no German menus, and English surrounds me. I can actually understand what strangers are saying to each other. It's crazy. I never thought about it like this before because I was so used to it. It just made sense that I could understand other people's conversations but I got used to being on public transportation and straining to understand even one sentence. Being surrounded by a foreign language, leaves you to depend on other social or emotional cues to know if you're in a bad situation. You can't just tell if someone yells "I'm going to rob you. Give me your money." No, you have to actively pay attention to the details you may not usually pay attention to like someone's facial expression or posture. Listening to a foreign language 24/7 is also a good way to start to learn it. If you've ever been immersed in a language that's completely new to you, you'll know it can be very scary and stressful, but it can also be very educating. Wires in your brain connect and you start to figure out what words mean without ever having heard them before. It's a really cool thing to experience. Once you're out of this environment, it feels awkward or unnatural. The best way I can describe it is with the word clunky. I don't why that is the only word coming to my mind but it makes sense. Your brain isn't as used to English as it used to be and all of those strangers speaking German are speaking English now. It just doesn't sound right. Even now, I'm struggling to say thank you in English. Listening to German, became habit and breaking habits is always a difficult and/or long process. You could say I've gone cold turkey, haha. That's why the weirdest thing about being in America is seeing ads in English and hearing people talk in English. If you're interested in learning German, stick around to the end of this post for my favorite (mostly) free resources!
You can't speak Austrian
If you can't tell by now, Austrian is not a language (although many people seem to think it is when they've never heard of Austria). German is spoken in Austria and most people also speak English. Even though English and German are related to each other, they sound nothing alike (except for stolen words). German grammar is also very different from English grammar. If you don't already speak German, getting used to being surrounded by ads in German and people speaking in German to you and to others is a big adjustment. If you're going to live there or even spend some time there, you should definitely learn the basics. If you don't, there will be a lot of confusion between you and the people who only speak a little English. While most people do speak English, there are still a lot of people who don't or barely speak any at all. Even though I spent most of my time with English and non-German speakers, I still consider living in Austria to be an immersion experience.
Resources for Learning German
If you are traveling to Germany or Austria and want to prep yourself by learning some German, I am so proud of you! That's such a helpful thing for you to do. Everything I mention here is stuff I've used that helped me improve my German and didn't cost a ton of money, like most classes do. The last one is an exception, but only because I've heard a lot of really good things about it.
1. Extra - a sitcom similar to Friends in German, Spanish, French, or English. They use all of the basic phrases you need to know in a way that's easy to learn and understand. I think all of the series are available on Youtube for free.
2. Duolingo - This is another great resource with German lessons for free. There are explanations for all of the exercises to really help them hit home. If you want to know more about learning German on Duolingo, Evan Edinger has some really helpful videos aboutu his learning journey on Duolingo.
3. Watching German Movies and TV Shows and Listening to German Music - One of the most helpful things you can do is to watch films in the language you're trying to learn. You don't necessarily have to watch films in the original language but you can watch films with a German dub and use English subtitles. This is something that's really easy to do on Netflix with almost all of their originals. If you're a complete beginner, Peppa Pig is on youtube in German (and many other languages). One of my favorite musicians just happens to sing in German. Her name is Namika and personally, I think her best song is "Je Ne Parle Pas Francais." If you disagree, I will fight you on that.
4. The youtube channel, Lingoni German, has German lessons that can take you from an A1 to a B2 level. If you don't know what that means, it's just a fancy way of saying it teaches you everything you need to know from an absolute beginner to an intermediate level of German. Of course, this requires a lot of time and studying to actually accomplish. I found their videos to be really helpful in my pronunciation and comprehension of common phrases.
5. I've never used this before but I've heard too much about it to not include it. There is a free app called, HelloTalk for learners of all languages. This app connects you with someone that wants to learn your native language that is a native speaker in the language you want to learn. You work together to gain better understandings of the colloquial/modern language and basic grammar. If you already have some sort of understanding of the language you want to learn, this could be an awesome resource for you.
Conclusion
I hope you learned a lot about Austria and America. If you are interested in learning German, don't let the "R' or the "CH" scare you too much. It's a beautiful language that is spoken by millions of people! Also, my desire for 'normal' food doesn't mean that Austrian food isn't good. It's delicious and I'm so glad I got to have authentic Austrian food. Who knows? You may find that you like the grocery stores over there more than the ones in America. You'll only know if you see it for yourself, so I think it's time to add Vienna to your travel bucket list if it isn't there already!