Despite the rest of this blog post, I want to start by pointing out that, overall, assimilating to life in Austria has been less difficult than I expected. Almost everyone here speaks English fluently—thank god—my A1.1 level German hasn’t been getting me very far.
The first thing that comes to mind that I’ve had trouble with in Austria is the lack of small talk and friendliness. In the US, if I make eye contact with someone while walking down the street, I usually give a small smile or nod. Here, they just stare at you. The ‘German stare’ is a very real thing. I found it unsettling at first, but now that I’ve lived here for more than a month, I’m slowly adjusting. I’ve come to learn that Austrians are very blunt and somewhat unfriendly, but they are kind and helpful when you show them respect.
Another thing I quickly realized is how long it takes to grocery shop here. Throughout my life, I always transported my groceries using a car, or when I was living in Pittsburgh and didn’t have a car, I paid for Instacart to save time. Here, however, no such services exist (at least that I’m aware of). Everyone walks to the supermarket, picks out their groceries, and carries everything home. Because I only have two hands and a small bag, I can’t carry everything I need for a week in one trip, and I can’t justify purchasing one of the suitcase-like grocery trolleys locals use since I’m only here for a few more months. However, I quickly realized the benefit of taking small grocery trips multiple times a week because produce spoils so fast here. I miss the convenience of all the preservatives the US puts in its produce. (Just kidding) Also, all of the food labels are in German, so I spend twice as long in the store simply trying to confirm that what I’m buying is what I think it is.
A small annoyance is that the privacy laws are very strict in Europe, and you have a ‘cookies permissions’ banner pop up on every single website. It’s made me aware of how few privacy regulations there are in the US.
I never realized how much I used Amazon until I got here and couldn’t purchase anything because of the high shipping costs. I am completely aware that this is a first-world problem, but when you’re in a foreign country and don’t know which stores to go to for what, not having online shopping really is a significant time loss. Nevertheless, I was discussing this with a friend in my Data Communications class. I randomly mentioned that I’ve been needing a straw cleaner for my water bottle and had no idea where to find one. She mentioned that I should just buy it on Amazon. I was shocked—”You have Amazon here?!” It turns out that I just needed to make a new account and shop through the German Amazon storefront, and now all of the small, obscure things I’ve been needing I can easily find!
Another big difference here is the class schedule and classroom culture. Schedules here are much less standardized. For example, every class has a different start and end date, they don’t always meet at the same time or on the same day every week, and they only meet about 5 or 6 times throughout the semester. Most classes are 3–3.5 hours long. Needless to say, building my schedule at WU was much more complicated than at Pitt.
One surprise I’ve noticed while being in the classroom is the prevalence of American influence on international life. For example, in my Data Communication and Computer Networks class, the textbook the entire course is based on is from UMass, less than an hour away from where I grew up. My professors often give examples of American companies when teaching and compare them to their smaller European counterparts. When I mention to students that I’m from the US, they ask where, and they actually know the different states very well. Most of the international students I’ve spoken to have been to more parts of the US than I have.
Other small culture shocks:
- People here speak on average 3 or 4 languages
- Public transportation is used by everyone
- No stores are open in Vienna on Sunday
- Stores close at 6pm