Yesterday Austria, Today Slovakia, Tomorrow Hungary

 The advantage of living in a landlocked country is the potential to travel to a different country each day if you feel like it.This was recently the case for me as one day I explored more of Vienna, the next Bratislava and the day after that, back to the familiar Sopron. As much as I miss the coastline, it's quite refreshing to live in a landlocked country and be able to travel elsewhere by train instead of by plane.

 

Slovakia

Earlier this year I had actually applied for a job in Bratislava, having never been there before but

being attracted by the job advertisement and the curious unknown. Slovakia also appeared as my fourth country of preference in my Comenius application (after Switzerland, Germany and Austria) and I was just lucky I didn't end up in some small-town Slovakian school with one of my main goals of Comenius to learn German. That probably wouldn't have worked out so well.

But there was something charming about Bratislava. It has a raw authenticity that's not as easy to find these days in a central European capital. Try speaking in English or German and hope for the best. For 15€ return from Vienna with the ÖBB Bratislover deal, including public transport in Bratislava, it's worth a visit! 

Thomas and I went there rather unprepared, checking Wikipedia on the way there to see what might be of interest. Sometimes this is a more fun and adventurous way to travel - just go there and see what happens. When we arrived at the train station our first mission was to find a map. With the only one available being more than 6€, we figured we could do without it. So we found our way into the city by bus and stumbled upon a hostel. From experience I have found that hostels are one of the best places to ask for information and this one provided no exception. They had free city maps and a friendly smile, so we gladly accepted a map and asked where exactly we were.

From there we could orientate ourselves and take a walk through the sweet, little old town and enjoy the street cafe atmosphere. We stopped at an adorable wee cafe and treated ourselves to some organic tea and cake before moving on to explore more. We were impressed by the hospitality industry and the great service we received in the hostel (where we didn't pay a cent - they have euros in Slovakia), the cafe and later a Slovak pub that was recommended to us. 

Feeling energetic, we proceeded to climb up a hill to the castle in Bratislava, anticipating that we would be rewarded with a worthy, spectacular, panoramic view of the city. Well, we were but just not quite as I was expecting - picture block after block of industrial,

post-Soviet looking flats painted different colours as if in an attempt to make the most of what they have to please the eye of the tourist. It's almost the complete opposite of the city view of Vienna, just 1 hour away. But I'm sure there is more to Bratislava than what first meets the eye and I wouldn't be surprised if I find myself back there again.

Austria

The advantage of living in a big city is that there is always something happening; events and festivals every weekend it seems. I took the opportunity to check out a few of these, including live opera screening, the harvest festival Erntedankfest, Salsa goes Donaupromenade and the Buskers festival. I love the busker culture but I have to say that I prefer a decent busker on the street playing some kind of string instrument and singing with a voice that's easy on the ears than the one's that play to the audience at a festival. 

I had never experienced any exposure to opera before and I can imagine it would be quite enchanting if you could understand what is happening or be able to read the subtitles (in this case, my German proficiency is not quite high enough to understand the subtitles to an opera.) Nevertheless, the atmosphere and interest from the crowd of people also watching outside was enough to make it enjoyable for a short time.

It's really the atmosphere of these kinds of festivals that entice me. And the possibility to meet interesting, new people or discover new things, or simply people-watch. People watching can be fascinating at any kind of festival. At the Erntedankfest I put my German skills to the test by attempting to hold a short conversation with an elderly couple while waiting for a Wiener Schnitzel. These are tiny moments of joy when I can make myself understood in German, not caring about the grammar mistakes. The Salsa festival was also interesting to check out and made me want to take some dancing lessons with Thomas - that's one for the future! 

The most recent event I joined with two fellow Comenius Assistants here in Vienna was a closing party for an awareness campaign day promoting awareness of refugees in Austria. There were many other happenings as part of the campaign including exhibitions, cooking classes and football tournaments in an attempt to educate Austrians on the lives of refugees. I'm not sure if we got the message from the closing party but it was a great opportunity to discover another new area of Vienna and a useful one too!

Before making it to that party, the evening began with some unexpected drama. In the middle of cooking for the three of us on my tiny, two-ring hob, I plugged in the kettle and blew the fuse, resulting in all the electricity going off in my flat! It apparently couldn't handle too many things plugged in at once (the fridge, hob, radio and kettle) and left us with the dinner half made and no light. Somehow though, while attempting to solve the problem, I managed to salvage the food and we could enjoy a candlelit dinner of sweet potato mash and spicy, crunchy vegetables. It all worked out rather well in the end and together with my landlady, we replaced the fuses and electricity was restored to my flat before we went out to the party.

One thing that I don't think I can get used to is the fact that people smoke in bars, restaurants, cafes and pubs. Granted, it doesn't happen in all of them but in quite a few those I've been in I feel like I'm taken back in time when it was impossible to have a night out without coming home with a sore throat and the smell of smoke engrained in every strand of hair and every garment of clothing. I don't really understand the rules in Austria. It's strange that here you can be fined if you cross the road when the traffic lights show a red man for pedestrians, even if the road is clear of traffic, yet there’s no such thing as smoke detectors in people’s homes and the smoking laws are not well enforced. Wikipedia refreshed my memory about the confusion of the smoking ban in Austria - basically, some places have it, some places don't and some places don't seem to care.

Nevertheless, at this time of the year it is worth going out to a cafe or pub to enjoy the seasonal drink, Sturm. I didn't know what Sturm was until very recently but it turns out it's a special kind of fermenting, cloudy wine that is only available during the autumn season and it tastes good! My preference is the red Sturm (since it is made from grapes, it can be offered in red or white, just like wine.)

Hungary

The reason for going to Hungary this time was during a day trip in Burgenland – Eisenstadt (Eszterhazy palace), Mörbisch then Hungary via Lake Fertő, specifically to enjoy winetasting in Sopron. Of course I had spent a summer in Sopron and knew it quite well but I had not experienced it much as part of a group of foreigners and was happy to experience a new side of it. 

Winetasting was something that I wasn't sure I would enjoy before living in Hungary but in this region around Sopron and Vienna, wine, in my opinion, is the best choice of alcoholic beverage. I had pictured winetasting to be appreciating tiny sips of wine, tasting it briefly before spitting it into some kind of bucket. I was pleasantly surprised to find that we could try five different types and enjoy them as a typical glass of wine. The final, fruity red that we tried was my favourite. 

So that was Yesterday Austria, Today Slovakia, Tomorrow Hungary - New experiences, new people, new places. What will be next? Your guess is as good as mine!

Where is home?

After an unexpected week back home due to a death in the family, I have naturally been evaluating life, what it means and what I want from it. These thoughts and questions have arisen following the death of my Uncle Laurence, an undoubtedly memorable character and someone I found I could identify with based on his exuberant lifestyle and outgoing attitude to life. He was somewhat of an inspiration, always a truly fantastic host and a great advocate of travelling. He travelled the world and had the stories, journal, keepsakes and people he met along the way to prove how travelling can shape you as a person.

It was good to be home, despite the circumstances. Having something stable is the crucial part of what makes a home. While I move around, I can set up little pieces of home everywhere I go but they don’t last long enough to fulfil the true meaning of the word. On the other hand, some places are easier to settle in than others; while I quickly considered Finland as a second home, or Hungary because of my au pair family, I have not yet had this feeling about Austria. The only other fundamental factor that exists, as I have hinted, is the people – it’s the people that really define what home is. Family. Those you love.

My mum recently shared a quotation with me; “There are people who come into your life as blessings and there are people who come into your life as lessons.” I have been thinking about this ever since she said it and it has helped me make sense of some things. Returning to Austria after a week at home with my family has been rather difficult, especially as I’m living alone here. I have found that people are the real substance to life and I would like to take the example from my late uncle and appreciate that. I am sure I don’t show enough gratitude to my family and friends but I can honestly say that I am so thankful to have them. Of course, it is times spent alone that you realize this the most and times spent together are often taken for granted but with these reminders about the fragility of life, it’s worth taking a sentimental moment to acknowledge them.

As a side note, there is another family member who is a surprisingly strong influence: the dog, Sandy. Sandy is 9 years old and has a personality of his own that you can’t help but warm to. My dad told me the recent story about Sandy’s efforts to accommodate to the life of a human being. At 5 or 6am, he opens my brother’s bedroom door; no response. He opens the door to my parents’ room; no response. After trying his best to find someone to let him outside, without actually having to wake someone up, he ends up peeing in bathroom. He did everything but speak. If you have ever seen the movie 'Marley and Me' - that's Sandy. He's a loving, loyal yellow labrador who can recognise the mood and feelings of his human companions and can sometimes be the best friend to have.

In the end, there is nothing like going home and the longer I’m away the more I appreciate it. It doesn’t matter how much I move around, I know I can always go home and it was reassuring to realize this last week at a time when it was needed most.

Vienna: First Impressions

Featured in this post: 
1. Putting Vienna in Perspective
2. Finding Affordable Accommodation
3. City Life
4. The School 
5. The Austrian Education System.

1. Putting Vienna in Perspective

I had only been to Vienna twice, for a couple of days each time, before making this move. The first was while inter-railing through central Europe in 2009 and it was a quick stopover before moving on elsewhere. I remember we stayed in a decent hostel that had an awesome view over the city and we spent our only full day exploring Schönbrunn, Vienna zoo & maze, and the Riesenrad ferris wheel. A day spent as typical tourists here. The second visit was over a weekend at the end of July this year, precisely during the hottest weekend of the summer (38-39˚C.) It was a productive time to organise my flat, etc. in preparation for moving and it turned out rather convenient to travel from Sopron (just 1 hour 10 mins by train.)  

Now, I have had some time to process a proper first impression. This is the largest city I will have

ever lived in. The population of Vienna alone (approx.. 1.7 million) is the population of my home country Northern Ireland. That's just to put it in perspective. I'm fully aware that Vienna is far from big on the scale of the real super cities of the world (in comparison to London or Paris) but for me, it is as large scale as it gets. My previous places of residence include Lisburn, Belfast (both NI), Turku (Finland) and Klaipeda (Lithuania) - it should give you an indication how small they are if you have never heard of any of these. 

2. Finding Affordable Accommodation

I’m living in the 18th district in Vienna. First of all, I was absolutely clueless about the districts in Vienna. After two weeks here, I now know that there are 23 districts and they are recognisable by the postcode; don’t ask me to name them though! Secondly, I have realized that the first reaction when people hear I live in the 18^th district is, “Oh, that's a nice area!” Translation: that's a fancy, expensive area, how can you afford to live there? Well, rather easily actually. Because I was luckily offered a very cheap garconniere (this is how it has been described to me, though I never quite grasped the meaning of this word) for only 260€/month (including electricity, water and heating) with a 350€ deposit. This is incredibly cheap for Vienna considering a student dorm room will fair somewhere between 280-360€/month with a deposit of 3 times the rent. 

Nevertheless, there is a reason why this ~30m² flat is so affordable. It has more-or-less everything one might need for temporary accommodation: a bed, sofa, table, chairs, plates, cutlery, pans, shower, wardrobes, etc. But, it also has some quirky features, like the fact that the toilet is in a separate, little cubby hole out in the corridor (at least I am the only one in the building with a key to it so it is exclusively for me) and instead of an oven, there is a small, two-ring, electric hob. I am also lacking a washing machine here but it is manageable as my landlady lives just across the road and I can use hers. I’m living in an old building that looks lovely from the outside, like many of the beautiful buildings in Vienna. The flat is sufficient for my needs and I have made it somehow like a little home but I am rather apprehensive about how it will be in the winter, especially with that toilet in the corridor. It already gets rather cold there during the night and early morning and I’ve been told that I need to use an electric heater in the winter to make sure the toilet water doesn’t freeze. 

The only other necessity that was pretty much a top priority for me is the internet. During my visit in July, I managed to organise a decent pay-as-you-go Smartphone tariff that allows me to access the internet on my phone. After moving here, I purchased an internet stick for my laptop that I can also top-up as I need. The only thing is that because both of these services are prepaid, I have limited access per month in terms of gigabytes. To ensure I don’t spend ludicrous amounts of money on internet access, I have been trying to ration my usage – that means if I don’t need it, I don’t use it and I no longer use the video function during Skype calls. It’s actually making me think about what I should use the internet in general, and because of this, Facebook has taken a major hit as one of the biggest data consumers – I now find that using WhatsApp or Viber is much better for keeping in contact than FB.  


3. City Life

Living in an area like this makes me feel slightly self-conscious about looking like a scruff. I think twice before putting on my converse, as the thought that a stylish pair of pumps will blend in better invades my mind. However, after exploring the area more while my Swiss man Thomas has been here, we concluded that you can find all kinds of people here – in a city like this, it seems that everyone is an individual outcast trying to find a place to fit in; in a way, that means everyone fits in here.

As tourists in 2009, my friends and I abused the transportation (yes, we were free-riders; we literally didn’t understand how to pay.) Now I am happy to pay for the transport because the city is so well connected (though it can easily take up to 1 hour to travel from one side of the city to the other, which I have to do if I want to take a train somewhere.) As the ridiculously over-organised person that I am, I had already ordered a yearly ticket (Jahreskarte) before moving here which covers the subway (U-Bahn), trams, buses and local railway (S-Bahn). This was down to two reasons; 1) Austria has an inconvenient system whereby weekly tickets can only begin on a Monday, and monthly and annual tickets must begin on the 1^st of a month. Hence, I ordered mine in July so that it was already valid for my arrival at the end of August (valid from 1st August). Because of the green party in power at this time, the Jahreskarte was only 365€ for 12 months (1€ per day). Even though I’m only planning to stay here for 10 months, this is absolutely worth it as it is more economical than buying 10 monthly tickets at 47€ each. 

As an aside, I always seem to notice the small matters of change that the locals obviously take for granted. For example, as I was buying groceries the other day, my change included two 1 cent coins and a 2 cent coin. After living in Finland, where these are simply not in circulation and everything is rounded to the nearest 5 cent, I found myself swaying to the opposite side of the pendulum than I used to be. Originally, in Finland I felt I was being slightly ripped off - all those rounded cents add up in the end. But now, in Vienna, I find myself wondering why people bother with these ridiculous small-scale, useless added weights that are 1 and 2 cent coins. Anyway, that’s my coin related rant is over. 
 

4. The School

I am the second Comenius Assistant to be placed at Vienna Bilingual School after they applied for the first time last year. What a coincidence it was to learn that their first Comenius assistant was a girl from Finland, whom I actually know! I met Laura in Turku through an Erasmus in Schools

project and later via ESN. Because of this coincidental connection, I could gain some insight into the school before going there. However, it only seemed to make sense after experiencing it first-hand myself. After hearing about Laura’s experience, it was clear from my first day at the school that they have improved their Comenius connection and taken on board Laura’s recommendations – everyone was super friendly and welcoming; I was given a tour of the school (in German, by four 4^th-graders) and provided with a key that unlocks almost all of the rooms in the school, including the “teachers’ toilet” (which is in the same bathroom as the toilets the children use.)

The school is nicely refurbished providing a modern and pleasant environment to work in. I have to use the term ‘modern’ rather loosely though, because there is a surprising lack of technology. The classrooms are equipped with chalkboards and only two computers at the back of the room. There is no beamer/projector, no computer room and no internet access in the classrooms. This makes most of the recommended online British Council resources unusable for me, which is somewhat of a disappointment but considering how my hours are spent, this is not the most prominent concern.

Despite being a bilingual school, 60% of the classes are not bilingual but regular German-speaking classes. Initially, it was a bit of a shock for me to find out that my hours (16h/week) would be split between the 6 German-speaking classes (more than 120 names to learn!), ranging from 1^st to 4^th grade (children aged 6-10.) With only an A1+ basic level of German, it is easy to imagine how overwhelming this seemed and the limited potential for teaching. It has to be said though, that this is the best way for me to learn German and along with an evening course, I hope this means my language skills will improve! My school week will be from Tuesday-Friday, with Mondays off.

5. The Austrian Education System

I have heard some critical things before about the Austrian education system but I have been determined not to let these influence my own experience before I have even started. I am yet to form my own opinion about it but I can at least report what I have learned so far.

A typical school day will start at 8am sharp and finish at 1pm. It consists of 5 hours (roughly = 5 lessons) with each lesson lasting 50 minutes, with a 10 minute break before the next one. For the children, this ten minute break in every hour can be spent eating a snack, having a drink or playing. There is no lunch break as such. Most children seem to stay in the classroom during the breaks as some teachers have a rule that only 5 children can go out at a time. Going out means playing in the corridor so during the breaks, the adults have to watch out for sponge balls flying from different directions! After the school day ends at 1pm, most children go home for lunch and can return to the school around 3pm for after-school clubs such as Judo, Science Club, etc.

In public schools, of which there are approx. 96% in Austria, tuition fees are non-existent. One teacher informed me that class sizes in public schools are capped at 25 by law and in private schools there can be no more than 28 children in a class. The primary school years range from 1^st to 4^th grade, starting from age 6 until age 10. 

An unusual feature that struck me was the fact that the children have the same teacher (and therefore, the same classroom) for all 4 years in primary school. Some teachers feel this is a good thing because a strong rapport is built with the class and progress can be closely tracked. However, some teachers feel there should be a change, even just after the 2^nd grade, so that the 1^st & 2^nd grades are taught by one teacher, and the 3^rd and 4^th by another. This current set up spanning all four grades is a significant contrast to what I’ve seen before. In Northern Ireland, one must specialize during primary teacher training in a ‘Key Stage’ (see table); I specialized in Key Stage 2.

Foundation Stage	Key Stage 1	Key Stage 2
Age 4-6	Age 7-9	Age 9-11
Primary 1 (P1)-Primary 2 (P2)	P3-P4	P5-P7

I am curious to see more of how the Austrian system works and can subsequently reflect as I experience it throughout this school year.

For now, my first impressions of Vienna, and Austria in general, are quite overwhelming but manageable. As the time goes on I will gain a much deeper insight as to how it is to live here, and hopefully integrate well as I progress in the German language.