Three things 9/4

Wow. I’ve officially been in Austria two weeks. Time didn’t go any slower this week than it did in my first and the initial excitement hasn’t even begun to die down. Which brings me to my three things for the week:

1. The song for the week. This weeks song I’d never heard before I came to Austria, but now I feel like I’ve heard it as much as any overplayed Lady Gaga or Ke$ha song in the States. It has topped the Austrian pop charts since I’ve been here, and it’s starting to grow on me a bit. Here it is folks, what Austria is listening to: We No Speak Americano by Yolanda Be Cool

2. Something that’s different than home. I think the difference that has shocked me most is the fact that all of the students attending an upper-level school here (equivalent to our sixth grade and up) are being taught second (and sometimes even third) languages. But what surprises me most is that they really know them. My youngest host sister Nadi has only taken English for a year and the only error she has revealed to me in two weeks is that the TH words tripped her up a little. My other host sister Nina (who speaks English too) will take on French this year as well. Kids here are bilingual before they turn twelve while their brains can still pick it up like its nothing. It leaves me wondering why the U.S. hasn’t adapted a similar system.

3. My favorite Part of This Week. On Sunday afternoon, my host mom suggested that we go on a walk. Having already adjusted to the lifestyle of my family here, I laced up my hiking boots, knowing “walking” wasn’t just going to be a stroll through the town. We followed a walking path as it snaked its way to the top of the tallest hill in the area and finally stopped at a small restaurant named Gis. The four of us (my host mom, two sisters, and myself) ordered hot chocolates and warm apple strudel from a woman wearing traditional Austrian clothes (there was more than one person in lederhosen there) and sat outside and enjoyed the view and the fresh mountain air.