I often get asked if I like living in Austria, and if I miss America. To which I answer, mostly yes and mostly no. And then if the person posing the question (usually Austrian) diggs a bit deeper I'll say I really do like being in Austria, and no I don't miss the U.S. too much except for friends and family.
But of course it's more complicated than that. So let me see if I can put into writing how I really feel about this question, Do I like Austria? Do I miss America?
There are so many things I love about Austria. It's beautiful. The scenery is stunning. The food is great. The coffee and cake is the best. There is so much history. Public transportation is awesome. People actually care about the environment and where their food comes from. The payment/tipping system in restaurants. There is a lot to do and to see; even in the smallest of towns there is usually something worth doing or seeing. People are active.
It also helps that the other less-Austria-specific parts of my life are also pretty great, that is to say I like my job and I've made good friends here.
And, of course, there are plenty of things I dislike about Austria and that I find to be challenging.
As for the thing I find to be the hardest...it's difficult for me to put my finger exactly on what I mean but I will try....I think it all has to do with convenience.
Northern Virginia, where I grew up, is a mighty convenient place to live. Everything is very user-friendly. Stores are always open and have exactly what I want. There are not a whole lot of restrictions or rules. Annoying things like going to the DMV are relatively straightforward and don't require too much planning or thought.
In Austria...things are just more....complicated. There is a lot more bureaucracy. There are more rules and many more things that have to be signed off on. Stores are often not open. Things just take a lot longer and have to go through more channels. For example, even though I arrived here in September, it took me until November to get paid. Which is a real head-scratcher. I mean, how complicated can it be to enter a few data in a computer? It's not like Austria is light years behind the U.S. in technological development (in some cases they are light years ahead. Medical records and documents are paperless here).
I would say the absolute hardest thing about living in Austria is the language. And this is coming from someone who grew up speaking German and has a pretty good handle on the language.
I'm surprised at myself and just how much my German has improved while I'm here, considering I speak English alll the time (to my students, to many of my teachers, to my friends). I would say at this point I understand about 95% of what people are saying to me. I can hold decent conversations on intriguing and complicated topics. My grammar, however, still sucks.
But still, the language can be a huge barrier. For my day to day interactions with German speakers, it's not a problem. I still do, however, really dread making phone calls to strangers in German. Anytime I get a long email in German (that requires a German response,) it almost immediately always gets delegated to the "I'll take a look at this later..."part of my inbox. I still go over little scripts in my head before making calls or walking into stores.
Do I miss the U.S.? Do I miss Northern Virginia? Of course I do! It is my home, it is where my best friends live, and I know how everything works and I never have communication problems (at least not ones that can be traced to a language barrier). I miss Mexican food, American grocery stores, and clothing stores.
But I don't really miss it that much. NoVa will always be my home, but there are plenty of things I disliked about it. The surburban-ness. The traffic. The politics (U.S. in general.) The competition. No one really enjoying life or living the moment. The materialism. The lack of adventure. The monotony. I could go on and on.
So in general, for the stage of life that I am currently living, I prefer to be in Austria (or, in general, just to be abroad).
A lot of this is happenstance. I am not one to get horribly homesick. I've spent a lot of time in Austria over the years, which means that a lot of the culture and customs are not strange to me. My parents and a much of my family live here, so I can see them pretty much whenever I want.
When I ask my American friends what they miss about home the most, they will often bring up celebrating holidays and the traditions that come with them. Again, for me, this is not really a thing. Part of it is that my family simply has never been one to make a big deal about holidays. Then there's the Jew thing. I obviously don't celebrate Christmas or Easter, and I barely pay attention to Halloween or the Fourth of July. A huuuuge part of American culture revolves around celebrating these holidays and the traditions that come with them. So for me, it's a moot point. I don't miss it because I don't know what I'm missing!
Last but not least (this has turned into an extremely wordy post). I think a good way of looking at it is with my Target analogy.
Back in the U.S., I was able to knock out much of the week's errands and shopping with semi-frequent trips to Target on Sundays (Ok fine, Walmart when I was in Wooster). In Austria, that's impossible. First because Target doesn't exists. Second because, even if it did exist here, it would be closed on a Sunday.
Target, or any store like it, doesn't exist in Austria. There is no one easy, convenient, relatively inexpensive store where I can buy anything and everything.
On the one hand, this is annoying. Target is so goddamn convenient and great!
On the other hand....it's mostly a good thing, for the populace not to have access to a Target. 90% of what I buy at Target is either crap I could live without or stuff that I could buy at another store.
This pretty much describes exactly how I feel about living in Austria...it's great and I love being here. But there's no doubt that the U.S. and the things and people there cross my mind many, many times a day, although more from a place of nostalgia (I may not get homesick that often but I am the most nostalgic person ever). It's never been to the point where I desperately miss the U.S., but it is always, always on my mind. And no matter how long I end up staying away from it, that is probably not going to change anytime soon.
But of course it's more complicated than that. So let me see if I can put into writing how I really feel about this question, Do I like Austria? Do I miss America?
There are so many things I love about Austria. It's beautiful. The scenery is stunning. The food is great. The coffee and cake is the best. There is so much history. Public transportation is awesome. People actually care about the environment and where their food comes from. The payment/tipping system in restaurants. There is a lot to do and to see; even in the smallest of towns there is usually something worth doing or seeing. People are active.
It also helps that the other less-Austria-specific parts of my life are also pretty great, that is to say I like my job and I've made good friends here.
And, of course, there are plenty of things I dislike about Austria and that I find to be challenging.
As for the thing I find to be the hardest...it's difficult for me to put my finger exactly on what I mean but I will try....I think it all has to do with convenience.
Northern Virginia, where I grew up, is a mighty convenient place to live. Everything is very user-friendly. Stores are always open and have exactly what I want. There are not a whole lot of restrictions or rules. Annoying things like going to the DMV are relatively straightforward and don't require too much planning or thought.
In Austria...things are just more....complicated. There is a lot more bureaucracy. There are more rules and many more things that have to be signed off on. Stores are often not open. Things just take a lot longer and have to go through more channels. For example, even though I arrived here in September, it took me until November to get paid. Which is a real head-scratcher. I mean, how complicated can it be to enter a few data in a computer? It's not like Austria is light years behind the U.S. in technological development (in some cases they are light years ahead. Medical records and documents are paperless here).
I would say the absolute hardest thing about living in Austria is the language. And this is coming from someone who grew up speaking German and has a pretty good handle on the language.
I'm surprised at myself and just how much my German has improved while I'm here, considering I speak English alll the time (to my students, to many of my teachers, to my friends). I would say at this point I understand about 95% of what people are saying to me. I can hold decent conversations on intriguing and complicated topics. My grammar, however, still sucks.
But still, the language can be a huge barrier. For my day to day interactions with German speakers, it's not a problem. I still do, however, really dread making phone calls to strangers in German. Anytime I get a long email in German (that requires a German response,) it almost immediately always gets delegated to the "I'll take a look at this later..."part of my inbox. I still go over little scripts in my head before making calls or walking into stores.
Do I miss the U.S.? Do I miss Northern Virginia? Of course I do! It is my home, it is where my best friends live, and I know how everything works and I never have communication problems (at least not ones that can be traced to a language barrier). I miss Mexican food, American grocery stores, and clothing stores.
But I don't really miss it that much. NoVa will always be my home, but there are plenty of things I disliked about it. The surburban-ness. The traffic. The politics (U.S. in general.) The competition. No one really enjoying life or living the moment. The materialism. The lack of adventure. The monotony. I could go on and on.
So in general, for the stage of life that I am currently living, I prefer to be in Austria (or, in general, just to be abroad).
A lot of this is happenstance. I am not one to get horribly homesick. I've spent a lot of time in Austria over the years, which means that a lot of the culture and customs are not strange to me. My parents and a much of my family live here, so I can see them pretty much whenever I want.
When I ask my American friends what they miss about home the most, they will often bring up celebrating holidays and the traditions that come with them. Again, for me, this is not really a thing. Part of it is that my family simply has never been one to make a big deal about holidays. Then there's the Jew thing. I obviously don't celebrate Christmas or Easter, and I barely pay attention to Halloween or the Fourth of July. A huuuuge part of American culture revolves around celebrating these holidays and the traditions that come with them. So for me, it's a moot point. I don't miss it because I don't know what I'm missing!
Last but not least (this has turned into an extremely wordy post). I think a good way of looking at it is with my Target analogy.
Back in the U.S., I was able to knock out much of the week's errands and shopping with semi-frequent trips to Target on Sundays (Ok fine, Walmart when I was in Wooster). In Austria, that's impossible. First because Target doesn't exists. Second because, even if it did exist here, it would be closed on a Sunday.
Target, or any store like it, doesn't exist in Austria. There is no one easy, convenient, relatively inexpensive store where I can buy anything and everything.
On the one hand, this is annoying. Target is so goddamn convenient and great!
On the other hand....it's mostly a good thing, for the populace not to have access to a Target. 90% of what I buy at Target is either crap I could live without or stuff that I could buy at another store.
This pretty much describes exactly how I feel about living in Austria...it's great and I love being here. But there's no doubt that the U.S. and the things and people there cross my mind many, many times a day, although more from a place of nostalgia (I may not get homesick that often but I am the most nostalgic person ever). It's never been to the point where I desperately miss the U.S., but it is always, always on my mind. And no matter how long I end up staying away from it, that is probably not going to change anytime soon.
