First Few Days in Austria

Wilkommen! This is my blog, where I will be documenting my adventures as I study abroad for a year in Austria. After about 23 hours total of travel, I set foot yesterday in Salzburg, where we will be spending the next month living in a (rather nice!) hotel and learning German. After that we will travel to Innsbruck, where we will begin classes for the semester. 

While yesterday was focused mainly on just settling in and going over important information with Herr Gürtler (our program director), today we got a little bit of a chance to explore the city center. Honestly, I could not think of a better way to spend an afternoon than walking around Salzburg. It is such a beautiful city! The air was cool and fresh and the city was so peaceful and quiet--we spent hours just wandering through the narrow streets (think true European style--flowers in windowboxes, cobblestone streets, a castle overlooking the city--the whole nine yards). We explored the Cathedral first and then headed up toward the castle a little ways to a point that overlooked the city. The Germans reading this blog (i.e., Katharina) will have to forgive me for this reference, but standing there on that little hill I honestly felt like I was in the Sound of Music. Seriously, I cannot emphasize enough how gorgeous this little city is!

Ok, just a few first impressions. Probably the thing that surprised me the most was how many people here speak English/how many signs, etc. are in English. Maybe it's just because Salzburg is a popular tourist destination, but it's a little disheartening when you're trying to learn German! We did, however, successfully complete our first shopping trip in German today (a pretty exciting feat for us), and we also ordered dinner tonight auf Deutsch (die Rechnung, bitte?... :) 

Also, probably the biggest cultural difference I have noticed so far is how quiet the Austrians are. I have to make a conscious effort to tone down my voice, and I feel like I am constantly whispering just so I don't cause too much of a disturbance! This has its advantages, though--for example, as I mentioned before, even though there were plenty of people walking around the city center, it was very peaceful as everyone was speaking in low voices. It's amazing how relaxing a day of whispering can be...

Alright, that's it for now, but more to come later....Tschüss!