Kids These Days: My First Week in Austrian Schools

 I.

By far the funniest part of my first week in Austrian schools was when the students would realize that I do speak German and that I could understand what they gossiping and whispering about. As part of my little introductory presentation, I mentioned I got my degree in German. The students all nodded along like uh huh ok but somehow didn't make the connection that getting my degree in German = I speak and understand German! So when I'd repeat in English what they were saying out loud they were all WhawhaWHAT OMG guys watch out she understands us!

I had been hoping to go see my schools before I started on my first day just to avoid any surprises in terms of transportation. Unfortunately I ended up being pretty busy my first week here so that never quite happened.

I've been assigned to teach in three schools. The first school is the Höhere Bundeslehranstalt für wirtschaftliche Berufe (henceforth the HBLA), located in Neumarkt am Wallersee, about a 40 minute commute from Salzburg. The second school, the Bundeshandelsakademie (HAK) is also located in Neumarkt.  My third school, the Bundes-Oberstufenrealgymnasium (BORG), is in the tiny town of Strasswalchen, a bit further out than Neumarkt. For my first day, I was to report to the HBLA and the HAK, which are conveniently located right across the street from one another.

The HBLA

The HAK

So far, in order to get to school in the mornings, I walk/bike/take the bus to the train station, take the train to Neumarkt or Strasswalchen, then catch another bus, then walk for about 10 minutes. There is a bus that goes directly there, but it is more expensive so far I've only done that a few times (**Update: I finally bit the bullet and bought a monatskarte, so bus it is). So it's not exactly the most straightforward route to get there. Also, getting up at 5:30 to be at school at 7:45 in time for first period blows.

I got to Neumarkt way early on my first day, just in case. I poked around town for a bit and then had a coffee right as the stammtisch crowd filtered in. Many people would say "Morgen" as I passed them. I definitely felt like I was getting looks from passerbys like, Hey, who are you and what are you doing in this small town?

I was a little worried because even though I'd made appointments with my Betreuungslehrerin (the teachers I report to at each school), I wasn't really sure where to find them within the schools. I walked into the HBLA and asked the first person I encountered where I might find my contact teacher. She was all, Oh hi language assistant nice to meet you come with me. So that was a relief, that someone knew to watch out for me.

This lady turned out to be the Sekretariat, which was even better, since I needed to submit a whole bunch of forms to her.  I stared filling out some paperwork, when all of as sudden I heard what was by far the loudest school bell of my entire life. I like to pretend that nobody saw me spaz out a bit when I heard it.

I met some teachers, the headmaster, and was shown around the Konferenzimmer, where I have a mailbox and all the teachers hang out in between classes. Teachers in Austria don't have their own classrooms, the students stay put and the teachers travel around the schools to them. So all the teachers work/hang out/gossip/drink coffee together in the Konferenzimmer. My Betreungslehrerin at the HBLA is super nice, as were all the teachers I was introduced to. I need to come up with blog nicknames for my teachers so you can all tell them apart.

So after the HBLA I headed across to the HAK to meet my second Betreungslehrerin. This time I went straight to the Sekretariat office, where they also knew to expect me, which was nice.  I really like my Betreuungslehrerin a lot there as well. She has a pretty snarky sense of humor to her. She takes 10 cents from the students every time they speak German in her class. I was given a key and a microchip thing to the conference room. Not gonna lie, that definitely made me feel pretty legit. I met some more teachers, was shown around a bit, same routine as before.

After the HAK, my HBLA teacher picked me up and drove us to her house, where we had cake and coffee with my Betreungslehrerin at the BORG. Having fun keeping up with all these acronyms yet? During our conversation we discovered that my BORG teacher's daughter lives in the same village in the Austrian boonies as my parents. My world really can't get any smaller at this point.

 II.

My first day of actual lessons was Wednesday at the HBLA. I put together a little powerpoint with pictures of my life and had the students ask me questions based on what they saw. Here's a sampling of what I got that day:

             "Do you have a boyfriend?"

             "Does McDonalds in America have delivery service?"

             "Do you smoke pot with your friends in America?"

             "What are you doing in Salzburg?"

             "Can you say something in German? Please please please?"

             "If you have to go to the bathroom, will the taxi driver in America pull off of the highway?"

I felt totally fine and not nervous in front of the students.  I was actually surprised at how un-nervous I felt. They were curious, if not a bit shy, and had an, um, interesting variety of questions.

The faculty lounge, however, is a different story. I feel like such a poser hanging out in there, even though that's where I'm supposed to be in between classes. Everyone has been really nice and helpful, but I guess it will take a little while for me to feel like my presence there is in fact not contaminating the water cooler.

My schedule is quite confusing. I pretty much have it down where and when I need to be at a certain school, but no clue as to which teacher I am with at any given time. So for the time being I have little choice but to follow my teachers around like a little dog. Woof.

Getting up at the ass crack of dawn manys morning to be at school by 7:30 or 8 sucks, but it was a good week otherwise.

III.

I'll have to dedicate another whole post on the Austrian school system.  Suffice to say it's nothing like the U.S. system.

In the U.S., we have basically one option for school from the ages 14-18: High School.  In Austria, you have many.

The HBLA is a school that focuses on tourism, cooking, and accounting in addition to your basic academic subjects. The school does offer the Matura, the qualifying exam Austrian students take to get into university,  just like British A-levels. There's also a shortened three year program know as the Fachschule (the teachers refer to them as the hopeless cases. I can't say I disagree after having taught one lesson to them). The school is almost entirely girls. When I asked the students what they wanted to do, almost all of them said something along the lines of working in a bank, office, or tourism. A handful in each class wanted to go on to university.

When you leave the HBLA, you'll leave with skills that can land you a decent job and salary for an 18 year old. That in a nutshell is the biggest difference between the U.S. and Austrian systems. In Austria, there's a heavy focus on apprenticeships and real-life work experience. It's possible to leave school at 16, start an apprenticeship (such as in IT, construction, or as a hair dresser), move up the rungs to a nicer job within the field, and make a decent living as an adult. On the other hand, if you drop out of high school at the age of 16 in the U.S., your are setting yourself up for a pretty difficult life.

The BORG is probably the closest thing to an American high school. The focus is on core academic subjects instead of practical skills, almost all students do the Matura and then go on to uni. On the totem pole of Austrian education, it's at the top. This is pretty apparent in class, out of all my schools, the BORG students have the highest level of English.

The HAK has a business and economics focus to it. I've only taught there for one day, but it was my best day yet. It seems to be a well-run school, the teachers were all very nice and the students very engaged. 

So in sum, the Austrian system has very regimented programs and a pretty wide variety of potential paths. That idea is that it prepares you whether you want to become a car mechanic or go for a PhD in Biochemistry. In the U.S., the hope is that every high school student will go on to college, with little to no focus on practical skills. Certainly an interesting contrast, with some serious pros and cons for each side.