Katie's First Month in Austria

Dear Aurora Rotary and Kamloops North Rotary,

It's time for me to write you an email.  So much has happened these past few weeks that I will try not to write a novel in my attempt at a simple email.

Before I continue, excuse my English, as my sentences seem to sometimes flow into German grammar, which isn`t the exact same as English grammar. 

I arrived in Vienna, after flying from Vancouver to Seattle, Seattle to Copenhagen, Copenhagen to Vienna. The trip went by surprisingly quickly with no problems.  Actually there was a bonus because the lady at the check in counter in Vancouver didn´t know what the weight allowance was.   So I got away with an extra 40 lbs free of charge!!!  Unfortunately this lady in Vancouver won't be, when I really need her, at the check-in in Vienna when I fly back. 

I met with my family and we drove to my new home.   I am living in the same district as the Schönbrunn Castle.  The castle which is 10-15 minutes away, has amazing gardens with labyrinths and a thousand different paths to wonder through.  I go jogging there a few times each week.  Schönbrunn Castle is very famous for Vienna.  It is where the Habsburg royalty lived. 

I only stayed in Vienna for one sleep before we went to my host family's summer home.  It is on Attersee which is aprx. 2 hours away.   They have an apartment in their Grandmother's home.  The home is 400 years old and has I believe five apartments in it.  It truly is something else.  The house is older than Canada's government!  The lake which it is on, is crystal blue and looks as if you could be in the Carri bean.

I only stayed there for a few days before I went to my language camp which was conveniently only 20 minutes away.  Before I left for the language camp, I got to know my family.  The oldest host sister, Paula, was there, the youngest was in Germany visiting her grandparents.  Paula is 15 and now in Oregon on a year long Rotary Exchange.  We got a long very well, however, now she is gone.   My host parents are wonderful. They do everything possible to make my stay here comfortable and memorable.  As well they are easy to talk to when I have a problem or just need to talk.

I was at the language camp for two weeks.  I was placed in the most advanced German class with 7 other students. I was glad to be in the advanced class because we spoke German for the majority of the lessons.  We had 6 blocks of 50 minutes a day of German classes. Most of the other exchange students at the camp were from America.  Therefore outside of class we spoke only English.  We stayed in a boarding camp and were 20 minutes away walking from the beach.  The small village we were staying in was in the most pictures setting.   It was on a lake with a huge mountain in the back ground. The village had a wonderful Catholic church which bells rang every half-an-hour adding to the Austrian environment.  During my time at the camp we went to a Firework Festival in a near by town.  The Festival was just how I imagine Oktoberfest.  There were men in liederhosen, women in dirndls, beer from the taps, bratwurst and sauerkraut.  It was a true Austrian experience.

School started for me yesterday.  I am in a class with 16 year olds and is the equivalent to our Grade Eleven class.   Right now as it stands I have to pass at least 7 of my classes.  This could be interesting as I have Latin and French ( which they have already been studying for several years)  as well we already have to read a book by Goethe, which is difficult for the Austrian students, let alone me.   Right now I am reading a children's book and am finding I can just barely understand everything!  However,  I will give everything my best shot! There are a group of girls in my class who are just so nice to me.  They help me with everything!  I am really happy with school right now. It is really lucky that I can speak a certain amount of German already because it has helped with getting to know others quicker. 

I have already started playing soccer here.  I have trained with two different soccer clubs.  One was interesting because I was 18 and the others on the team were 14 and under.  However, it was still cute.  The other club that I have trained with, is a little more intense.  After my first practice I could barely walk down the stairs because my legs hurt so much.  Nevertheless I really enjoyed it! Tonight I am off to try a field hockey team.  I am trying lots of different sports to see which one I would like to stick with here.   I really have to thank my wonderful host father for researching where all of the sports clubs are, when they train and if I can take part.

Well,  I really haven't told you have half the things I have already done.  However,   I think that is enough for now, I wouldn't want to bore you! 

How is the Mexican exchange student and the other inbounds doing? 

I hope everything by Rotary in Kamloops is doing well.

Austrian Cheers,

Katie Dittrich