“Servus, grüß di´, wie geht’s?”
This is how one starts their day in Austria: having small talk in a café, bakery or shop. Coffee comes next, followed by a small hike up to 1500m or jogging with some friends. Next, one could work for a couple of hours and have a long enough lunch break to rest. Then, pick the kids from kindergarten or reflect on life values and get back to the routine again. – Kiddin’!
That might have been too much to ask from the average Austrian person, but my peculiar overestimation was not fully a lie. People in Austria are really very sweet and nice. They will greet you with a happy smile and help with an order/question if needed. Moreover, they are very relaxed most of the time and value their work-life balance. They also love coffee! I have seen quite a lot of families, friends and strangers sitting in a café with a piece of cake and chatting. Austrians are strongly keen on hiking as well. I would even say that they are definitely the ‘outdoor’ type of people; almost every Sunday they go to the mountains or do some sports.
Alright, so how did it all start? Why would I even talk so much about Austria while living and obtaining my degree in Estonia?
The answer is simple: an exchange semester program. As you might have known or read Mara’s blog on her abroad semester, it is possible to go to another university for half a/one year and study there. I have applied for an exchange in the fall semester 22/23 as well, got the opportunity and went for it.
However, my program was not Erasmus, but ISEP. The idea behind is basically the same. The main differences are that it allows one to choose the university anywhere in the world, not only Europe and the list of possible universities is longer. The latter means that you can put up to 10 universities and the program will place you in one of those selected universities according to some of the requirements. Great news, The University of Tartu has an agreement with different universities within this program! Maybe your new study-destination is there!
Back to my experiences. My host university was Johannes Kepler Universität in Linz. Linz is a small city in the northern part of Austria or the Upper Austria region. It is heavily industrial; more than one-third of all cities is factories. Nevertheless, the air and water are very clear – thanks to a huge government campaign and people’s awareness. Also, even though I would say Linz is quite tiny, it is bigger than Tartu. It took me more or less 30-40 minutes to get to the city center and back.
Overall, I am very happy about my time in Linz. I have met awesome people and we spent an amazing time there. We went hiking, went to the every-Thursdays parties called ‘Mensafest’ and just played some board games when the weather was upsetting.
I also did a lot of traveling alone and with close friends of mine. We visited the UNESCO world heritage sites Hallstatt, Salzburg, Vienna, and even reached Munich. I did a lot of sports (hiking included!) and I loved their university sport’s system. You can enroll in as many courses as you want and the price is more than affordable! I tried some typical Austrian dishes and drank lots of Glühwein (mulled wine) at the Christmas markets. This tradition is typical for both Germany and Austria and I was favorably impressed by it. I took the German language course, tried to understand natives and failed a couple of times. I studied hard for exams in January – as it is one of the main months to finish the semester.
I felt great and I felt terrible. Now I am more than glad to be back in Tartu. Thanks to this abroad experience, I do appreciate my Tartu friends, lifestyle, its coziness and convenience. It was a fantastic time in Austria, but it is also wonderful to be back home.
