Double Culture in Austria

    Hello to whoever is reading this! This is my first ever blogpost!!! My name is Zaya and I study Environmental Studies and Philosophy at MC. I am actually an international student from Mongolia at MC, and Spring of 2019 is the first semester of my junior year at Maryville. For some mysterious reason I decided to study abroad in Austria from my study abroad in the US and currently writing this post from my dorm in Graz, Austria. I have been here just ten days and I am starting to get used to my routine and the main places around the city. 

My first impression of Austria in the train from Vienna to Graz was "Mountains!" It looked so  mundane yet so majestic and striking. 

(Somewhere in Austria, a picture from the train)

Just for ten days I feel like I have gotten pretty good at taking trams and buses and walking around the city. Through the University of Graz Buddy Program I was introduced to my buddy Max through an e-mail. Max picked me up from the train station (Hauptbahnhof) in Graz and we took a bus to his flat. I was reading the German signs on the street and trying to understand everything I see, and trying to find German words that I know on the signs. The city of Graz is full of young people and students, and anywhere you look you are going to see people with their bicycles. From an 8-year old to 80 years old, Austrians sure like riding bikes around Graz. I moved into my dorm in the evening of the second day, my flatmates weren't here. It was a little bit scary and the apartment looked strange for me because this dormitory is so big and exclusively for students in Graz from 5, 6 different universities, so things felt so different. My room was nice and clean, but the bathrooms and the living room was so messy, I cleaned from 10-12am and nobody was here. I met one of my neighbors with yellow latex gloves and a towel in my hand. :P Since the semester hasn't officially started my neighbors are not always in the dorm, so I haven't had a chance to get to know them well. 

Everything happened so fast in the first week, I registered with the city of Graz on the second day and the person who registered me welcomed me so warmly and gave me a little bag with city maps and bus lines and flash drive and said "Welcome to Graz!". It made me so happy, and I was bragging about it to everyone. 

Hauptplatz/ City Center: a photo after my city registration

I have been feeling little bit overwhelmed in the few days because of how much I have gotten used to Maryville and speaking English all the time. Here in Graz people understand English and you can easily get around, but people will still ask things from you in German and prefer you to speak in German. I am realizing how comfortable I was in Maryville, and MC almost pamper us within the college years. Don't get me wrong, people are nice but here I feel like independence is really important here. In the US, I think everything is so specified and step by step, but here in Austria there are many assumed steps and information. I really felt like I need to be a real adult. From the day two, I was basically on my own trying to find my way to my German class. For a week, I was just strolling around the city without a map after my German class. It is quite easy to understand the main streets, but I think I need to get into the tiny corners and alleys of this pretty buildings in the city. It is like something so precious and magical is waiting for you in that little corner. In Graz, the buildings are so beautiful and and have alleys, corners, and tiny tunnels. 

For now, I am not sure how to organize my thoughts and this blogpost, so I am just rambling. I am realizing how much I am "Americanized" for 2 years in the US and how familiar I have gotten being in Maryville. Being here on my 10th day, I miss Maryville more than I miss Mongolia which is strange. I don't have words to describe my feelings and impressions of Graz. Everything here is so elegant and ordinary at the same time. I will just show you some pictures. I hope I can better describe this feeling and experience later on. 

From the side of Schlossberg

River Mur

One of the pretty corners

City Hall

University of Graz, Main Building 

People call it the "Uni-Graz". Main Building