I'm going to split this week into two posts; this post for a little more reflection, and another post for what actually happened this week.
As a direct result of the Year Abroad so far, I feel that I have become more independent, more culturally aware and matured a great deal.
As I now have to get up in time for work, rather than for sporadically timed university lectures, my body-clock has definitely changed. I can no longer sleep in past 8:30am (and if I manage to stay asleep that long, I would even call it a lie in!). As this earlier start means that I am also going to bed earlier, it looks as though I will staying in this 'good sleeping pattern' for the foreseeable future. I can't remember the last time that I saw 2am, let alone seeing in 2am just in time for settling down at the table with my fellow hyenas, as the hilarity unfolds late into the night once summative season is upon us, as was my life last year. Part of me does miss that way of life, which you'll only ever really experience as a university student. However, I also feel as though I have never seen so many mornings in a row, and it turns out that morning aren't all that bad!
Another reason for feeling more mature here, besides my very grown-up sleeping pattern, is that this insight into the 'real world' has given me a whole new wave of motivation for when I return to university next year. I'm excited to pick my modules, to attend my lectures, to type up my lecture notes, to organise my work well ahead of the deadlines, and generally to be the best student that I can be. Granted, that sounds a bit geeky, but after working in the office in Paris with lovely colleagues and interesting and varied tasks, I am striving to give myself the best chance at a graduate job (and hopefully one that I would enjoy as much as my job this summer). I want to graduate from Durham in 2014, knowing that I tried my best in everything I did there.
By this point, I have 'upped ship' and moved twice. Both times to a completely new country, with a different culture, and had to settle in, adjust, and make new friendship circles. It shouldn't be underestimated how much of a task this is, and I can say that I am genuinely proud of myself, as I reckon I'm doing pretty well so far. Back in England, I have a good family life, and was very happy at university, and so was rarely forced outside of my comfort zone. The fact that I have done this successfully, makes me think that I'm a lot more independent than I may have given myself credit before, and that's good to know.
In other news, the cultural differences here in Austria are still coming thick and fast. I am noticing more and more how relaxed things are here, in comparison to England.
One example of this is at school. As well as there being no school uniforms and the children walking round school in what are essentially slippers, the whole teacher-student relationship seems to be a lot more 'locker' (relaxed). In England, if a student hasn't done their homework, the class will generally be stopped while this child is told off, and the appropriate disciplinary action is taken. Here in Austria, however, the teacher simply nods, and notes down a 'minus' next to their name. No shouting, no screaming, no threats of detention. Just a small mark next to their name and they move on with the class. Some teachers even ask the class to raise their hand if they haven't done their homework, and mark down the names of those that haven't. In England, it definitely wouldn't fly if half of the class had failed to complete the homework, but here the teacher doesn't even seem to bat an eyelid. The same goes for talking in class. In England, the rule is that no-one speaks when the teacher is speaking. If you speak, and continue to speak after being asked not to, you would invariably be told off/sent outside the room/given a detention/you get the idea. Here, however, the teachers carry on regardless and seem to have the attitude that the students will listen if they want to, and not if they don't. I sometimes find this awkward in class, as my natural instinct is to tell the students to be quiet. I'm slowly getting used to just letting them get on with it. As most of my lessons are playing games to get the students talking, the majority end up listening anyway as it's more fun for them than a normal lesson! I actually think that this more relaxed attitude has a lot of advantages. Although some of the younger classes aren't as well behaved as their equivalent in England, the older classes are probably more so. The good thing is that it comes from the students themselves, rather than the teachers. The students don't seem to be as 'mollycoddled', and when a teacher here has the respect of their students, it's because they've earned it, rather than demanded it, which in my eyes can only be a good thing.
The second example of the Austrian's more relaxed attitude is unfortunately not something I'm such a fan of. They have a very half-hearted smoking ban here, which means that legally, bigger restaurants/pubs have to have a non-smoking area, and that smaller places can decide whether they allow smokers or not. Unfortunately, the majority of smaller places have opted to continue to allow smoking, which means that non-smoker or not, you cannot escape the smoke in these places. For the bigger places, although they do have separate areas for non-smokers, they are usually separated by a swinging door, which means that the rooms ends up smoky anyway, or you have to walk through the smokers area to access the non-smokers area. So, either way, you and your clothes end up smelling of smoke and the end of the night, which as I'm sure you can tell, I find less than pleasant. I'm already looking forward to the next time I'm in England and can go out for a nice meal or coffee with a friend, without smoke being omnipresent, as it is here.
I'll end with one more observation, and finish on a more positive note. Something that they are very good at doing here in Austria, is splitting the bill for you at the end of the meal. It is so much easier to pay directly for what you've had, rather than working out how much you owe, and then trying to find the right coins (especially as euro coins all look the same!), and then working out who owes what in terms of a tip etc. It makes a nice change to skip out the stressful end to the meal as we attempt to pay, and instead to be able to walk out of the restaurant nice and relaxed after enjoying a meal with friends.
That's it in terms of reflections for now, and I'll leave you with a few pictures of the beautiful city of Salzburg, which I am lucky enough to be able to call my home (at least until February!).
No comments:
Post a Comment