These are two things that my class of 16 year olds called out when I asked them what came to mind when I said "the United States."
I had expected the other responses, which were stereotypical but at least a little more representative. Things like "driving everywhere", "Obama", and "McDonald's." I even understood when two different boys in two different classes yelled, without hesistation, "FAT PEOPLE!"
I tried to dig a little deeper and find out why they viewed massacres and spray cheese (how did they even know that phrase?) as symbols of the US. It wasn't too hard to make the connection between Cheez Whiz and fat people, but massacres required a little more investigating. I started asking the girl who equated my country with the slaughter of many questions.
"Like the St. Valentine's Day Massacre?"
Blank stare.
"More like school shootings?"
Another blank stare, followed by a moment silence.
Finally, she looked up at me and said, "Like when guns stuck out of cars and shot people."
With the help of a few more hit or miss questions I figured out that she was talking about gangsters, bank robbers, etc. in the 20s and 30s. To me gangsters, the mafia, etc. would be a somewhat obscure aspect of American culture, but I learned later in the day that it is not.
In another class, as we were discussing whether or not tanning beds should be outlawed, a boy explained to me that they should not. Doing so, he said, would only lead to underground, speak-easy style tanning salons, and more trouble, just like when they outlawed alcohol in the US and lots of people went blind and the mafia was started.
I've decided that the idea of alcohol being outlawed is such an outrageous and nonsensical idea to Austrians that prohibition and all aspects of history surrounding it are well known over here.
I can't really say that it's moments like these that make me really like being a teaching assistant so far (which I do), but they definitely make for good stories later.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
For Those of You Who Don't Think There Are Mosquitoes in Austria...
... you're wrong. So very wrong.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Adaptation
I've been in Austria for three weeks now. That's 21 days. 21 days of eating cold cuts and cheese for breakfast, 21 days of shopping at stores that close really early and aren't open on Sundays, and 21 days of taking the bus or tram (or walking ridiculously long distances) to get anywhere. In short, 21 days of adapting to Austrian life.
To say that I'm struggling to understand the Austrian accent would be an understatement. In an email Dr. Zachau told me this was to be expected ("Denken Sie nur an Schwarzenegger," he said), but it's frustrating to the point of embarrassment. Especially when I have to tell people I was a German major in college.
But before I dive any deeper into that I should probably back up and start at the beginning.
I spent the first two weeks being oriented. Ironically, though the logistics of the orientations (one for Fulbrighters and one for teaching assistants) prevented me from doing any the things they kept telling me I needed to do. For example, the Fulbright orientation was held in Vienna, which meant that I couldn't register at the Meldeamt (which you're technically required to do within 3 days of arriving in Austria) because I was 2 1/2 hours away from Graz. The orientation for teaching assistants was much longer, had a lot more ice breakers (I don't care what your favorite fruit is, stranger!), and had the all-around feel of summer camp. And we know how I feel about summer camp.
All that's way in the past, though, and I just completed my first week of teaching and class. At first I was a little nervous about getting my schedule worked out, as I would need certain times off to take classes at the university and Austrians aren't exactly known for being flexible. It all worked out in the end (tip: don't take "We've never done it that way before" as an answer. It's not an answer. It's just a verbal admittance of obstinacy, and if you keep pushing for it you might finally get one lesson moved to Thursday so you can take that Intro to Slavic Studies course on Mondays) and I have Wednesdays and Fridays off.
My first lesson was at the fashion school (Modeschule). I didn't actually know I was going to be teaching that day, I just thought I was going to learn my way around the school. But when the teacher I was with asked, "Would you like to teach today?" I didn't want to look like an unprepared American fool, feigned a smile, and said, "Of course!"
So I introduced myself to the class and told the girls (it was 20 16 year old girls) that they could ask me anything they wanted. They sat there silently, which I (mis)read as them being embarrassed to speak English to a native speaker. I asked if they would feel more comfortable after they saw how bad my German was, they said yes, I spoke a few sentences, they laughed heartily at me, and then went back to being silent. Not the reaction I had hoped for. Then I told them they could write down any questions they had for me or topics they would like to discuss later. Some of them wrote things down, and enough of them eventually started talking that they managed to ask me three times if I had a boyfriend and twice as to whether or not he would visit. I should probably also note that these girls dress in black with neon accents and have shaggy haircuts. They most definitely do not shop at Gap.
I did manage to hustle myself a babysitting job from one of the English teachers by dropping hints like "Being an au pair was my back up plan for this year" and "I babysat all through high school and college." I didn't even have to drop the "I'm CPR certified" line before she asked me if I'd like to practice my German by watching her kids some time.
So I'm finally starting to mold my Austrian life, but I've come to accept that carving out my niche is a very slow process. At first I felt displaced, very lost, and very confused. I thought I pretty much understood how things worked. But things work very differently over here, which is surprising (I moved to Austria, not Mars). The man at the bank didn't explain to me that I needed to come back in a few days to pick up my PIN, I still don't really understand how to sort the trash (are my yogurt containers paper or plastic?), and I have to see a pharmacist to get ibuprofen. You'd think I would have figured all this out in Germany last summer or during European Studies, but an entirely different mentality and to-do list come with living in another country for a year. If anything, adapting is serving to remind me that there are no universals, only particulars. Through trial and (lots of) error I'm starting to figure out the Austrian particulars.
To say that I'm struggling to understand the Austrian accent would be an understatement. In an email Dr. Zachau told me this was to be expected ("Denken Sie nur an Schwarzenegger," he said), but it's frustrating to the point of embarrassment. Especially when I have to tell people I was a German major in college.
But before I dive any deeper into that I should probably back up and start at the beginning.
I spent the first two weeks being oriented. Ironically, though the logistics of the orientations (one for Fulbrighters and one for teaching assistants) prevented me from doing any the things they kept telling me I needed to do. For example, the Fulbright orientation was held in Vienna, which meant that I couldn't register at the Meldeamt (which you're technically required to do within 3 days of arriving in Austria) because I was 2 1/2 hours away from Graz. The orientation for teaching assistants was much longer, had a lot more ice breakers (I don't care what your favorite fruit is, stranger!), and had the all-around feel of summer camp. And we know how I feel about summer camp.
All that's way in the past, though, and I just completed my first week of teaching and class. At first I was a little nervous about getting my schedule worked out, as I would need certain times off to take classes at the university and Austrians aren't exactly known for being flexible. It all worked out in the end (tip: don't take "We've never done it that way before" as an answer. It's not an answer. It's just a verbal admittance of obstinacy, and if you keep pushing for it you might finally get one lesson moved to Thursday so you can take that Intro to Slavic Studies course on Mondays) and I have Wednesdays and Fridays off.
My first lesson was at the fashion school (Modeschule). I didn't actually know I was going to be teaching that day, I just thought I was going to learn my way around the school. But when the teacher I was with asked, "Would you like to teach today?" I didn't want to look like an unprepared American fool, feigned a smile, and said, "Of course!"
So I introduced myself to the class and told the girls (it was 20 16 year old girls) that they could ask me anything they wanted. They sat there silently, which I (mis)read as them being embarrassed to speak English to a native speaker. I asked if they would feel more comfortable after they saw how bad my German was, they said yes, I spoke a few sentences, they laughed heartily at me, and then went back to being silent. Not the reaction I had hoped for. Then I told them they could write down any questions they had for me or topics they would like to discuss later. Some of them wrote things down, and enough of them eventually started talking that they managed to ask me three times if I had a boyfriend and twice as to whether or not he would visit. I should probably also note that these girls dress in black with neon accents and have shaggy haircuts. They most definitely do not shop at Gap.
I did manage to hustle myself a babysitting job from one of the English teachers by dropping hints like "Being an au pair was my back up plan for this year" and "I babysat all through high school and college." I didn't even have to drop the "I'm CPR certified" line before she asked me if I'd like to practice my German by watching her kids some time.
So I'm finally starting to mold my Austrian life, but I've come to accept that carving out my niche is a very slow process. At first I felt displaced, very lost, and very confused. I thought I pretty much understood how things worked. But things work very differently over here, which is surprising (I moved to Austria, not Mars). The man at the bank didn't explain to me that I needed to come back in a few days to pick up my PIN, I still don't really understand how to sort the trash (are my yogurt containers paper or plastic?), and I have to see a pharmacist to get ibuprofen. You'd think I would have figured all this out in Germany last summer or during European Studies, but an entirely different mentality and to-do list come with living in another country for a year. If anything, adapting is serving to remind me that there are no universals, only particulars. Through trial and (lots of) error I'm starting to figure out the Austrian particulars.
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