Study Abroad Blog | Blogging From Abroad

20 Sep

On my first weekend in Österreich (Austria), I traveled to a town south of Wien (Vienna) for a Kürbis & Wine Festival. [Kürbis = Pumpkin!] Reisenburg is where one of my buddies, Berni, is from. I was able to go and stay with her family and hang out in their town.
I would like to make a side note:
West Virginia is not known for its public transportation so I have been trying to figure out how to use the bus, trams, trains, and subways. A combination of the four can get you just about anywhere in Wien, so it is essential for me to be able to use them. I thought it would take a while, but it is set up so well that in one week I was traveling around like a pro. I still have to look at the map, but I can find anything. That is really astonishing, since I am very directionally challenged. My family can attest to it. 
With that being said, I had to make my way to Reisenburg by myself. Needless to say I was nervous because this was my first big trip by myself. I made it most of the way, but then I had to buy a ticket and use the train. I ended up on the wrong train and the non English speaking ticket man graciously gestured me to get off at the next station and go back. So I got off and couldn’t find the train that was supposed to go back. I started getting nervous because I noticed I was in one of those situations your mother always tells you to never be in. I was alone, at night, lost, in a place where random men were standing in corners, and having only one contact in the country (Berni). I just kept moving and watching everyone until a train came that took me back. Unfortunately, it didn’t go all the way, so again I called Berni and her and her mother Helen just decided to come and get me. I had to wait 45 minutes for them and well a station at night is full of crazy high school students. I spent last semester Student Teaching in Tyler County. I thought my students there would do some weird things, but they look very mature and normal compared to some of the things I saw.
I had my first official experience with “Festivals” in Austria. Personally I think they put American Parties to shame. As an Agricultural major I loved the idea of having an entire festival for your community based around the farmers of the community. There was 1 kurbis farmer, 3 vineyards, and 1 deer farmer that brought all of their products to the sell at the festival. One of the vineyards was owned by my Berni’s Uncle Francie. I went to their booth and had my first wine tasting. I had just turned 21 in the States so I was excited to taste good wine in Austria. Unfortunately, I was not a big fan of the white or red wine- it was a little to bitter for me (I am not a big fan of the taste of alcohol too). I stuck with grape juice with spritz for the rest of the night. I did try a drink that was rather sweet called “Sturm” which in English means Storm. It is called storm because of its color and if you drink too much it causes a storm on both ends of your body. Sturm is a stage of the wine making process, after the harvest of the grapes and before the complete fermentation. So it is super sweet, typically high in alcohol concentration, and only available for a few weeks each year. I was glad to get to share in the tradition with my Buddy. I also tried a “Palatschinken” (Crepes) & “Leberkäse” on a “Semmel” (Roll). DELICIOUS!
I danced a traditional dance with Franice, I pretty much stood on one foot and Francie moved me in the right direction. It was fun to start working on my German too. People kept teaching me words and I would use what little I knew. It was fun to be in the midst of a new culture and sharing in their celebration. The next day, I went back to the festival and tried some more traditional Austria food: “Wiener Schnitzel mit Kartofelsalat” and “Kurbis Soup”. It was all quite good especially since it was homemade! Afterwards, I headed back to Vienna with Berni and on the way we stopped at a Golf course that she worked at and I golfed for the first time too. Berni was a great teacher and I actually got a few balls to go in the right direction. I never thought I would have to travel all the way to Europe to hit my first golf ball.