TC Students in Austria

In March 2009, a class of exchange students from Spittal, Austria called Alexandria their home for about three weeks. The group attended TC Williams High School for some classes and visited significant American sights in New York City and Washington. But as with all exchanges, they work both ways and this past June was the Americans’ turn. Just two days after the 2008-2009 school year ended, 20 T.C. students ventured more than 4400 miles from 3330 King Street to the rural town in Southern Austria. As the small propeller plane landed in Klagenfurt, Austria, a class of Americans stepped off of the plane and in into the Austrian world — A world that they would never forget.

“I stepped off of the little plane and was amazed — everything was so different,” said participant Jordan Dieter “Beautiful mountains, different language and culture; it was just an electrifying experience to see such a different place and to get to know people from such a different culture.”

But the plane hadn’t landed where the TC students would stay. Spittal an Der Drau/Millstattersee, Austria, was their final destination and that was another 45 minutes to an hour by the Autobahn (freeway). But the arrival in Spittal was well worth it for the Americans. The welcome party featured a traditional Austrian folk dance performance as well as a traditional Austria banquet. Also featured at the welcome party was a performance on the accordion by Adam Levine, one of T.C.’s German teachers. The welcome party was not all. The reception of the Americans in Spittal also included an American flag flying in front of the school for the entirety of the American stay in Spittal. Many T.C. students were also greeted by the mayor of the town.

“I really loved Spittal,” said Abby Wilson, an American on the trip, “Though it was a small town, there was never a shortage of things to do.”

The list of activities that the American students took part in was never ending. The T.C. group climbed the local mountain Golddeck and toured the Ancient “Schloss Porcia”, the castle in the center of town. The Americans also visited the “Weissensee” one of Europe’s highest lakes. White water rafting along with a trip to Austria’s highest mountain were among activities of the T.C. students. A trip to Venice, Italy was also a highlight of the trip for many. T.C. students, along with their exchange partners, took in the Venetian cityscape, nearly a millennium old. T.C. students on the trip also got to experience a view into an Austrian school. T.C students would attend classes at the local upper school almost every morning.

And there was the language. Though Austrians live in the sovereign republic of Austria, they speak a dialect of the German language. The Austrian German dialect is unique mostly in its pronunciations, but also in some of its words. Participating in an exchange to a region with a dialect of German can be more difficult than a region in which pure German is spoken, but can be beneficial to the German learner because many German speaking areas do have their own dialect. “Though the culture was extremely different and that was a fun experience in itself that couldn’t be found anywhere but Austria,” said Matt Comey, one of the American exchange students, “I’m glad that I had learned the amount of German I did back at home at T.C. What I learned there really helped in Austria.”

Adam Levine and Tanja Mayer-Harding, the two German teachers at TC, school planned and led the adventure into Austria. Levine, the founder of the American Austrian Exchange Program at TC Williams, has seen six of the exchanges take place throughout his career as one of TC’s German instructors.

After 11 days in Spittal, the Americans prepared themselves for their post trip to the major cultural destinations in Austria. Thus it was time for the Austrians and Americans to say goodbye. The goodbyes brought out one of the fundamental experiences of the exchange that truly makes it special — the international friendships that it creates. As the Americans loaded their bus outside of the Austrian school, hugs were exchanged with emails and addresses. Many host families’ neighbors had missed work to come and say goodbye. Final goodbyes were said and the bus fired up the engine roared and the bus rolled on down the road.

Next stop Salzburg, Austria. In their 2 days of touring Salzburg, T.C. students would walk through a gorge with a massive waterfall, tour the salt mines of Salzburg, and climb to the top of massive castle that only fell to Napoleon himself. But it was the events of the night that made the Salzburg stop memorable. On the first night, T.C. students sat in an imperial palace and heard a concert of music of Salzburg native Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. One the second night in Salzburg, the T.C. students took part in a tradition Austrian dance folkdance evening. A group of Traditional Austrian dancers had come to perform just for the T.C. students. As the evening went on, the Americans joined in on the dancing and singing. Some of the T.C. students even got the hang of yodeling.

After 2 days in Salzburg, the American’s got back on the bus and rolled onto the next stop, Vienna. In Vienna the Americans would tour the imperial city so glorified by the reign of the Hapsburgs and the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. In the city center of Vienna is St. Stephan’s Cathedral a magnificent catholic church that has been the symbol of the city for centuries. Also in Vienna, T.C. students toured the Austrian Empire Military History Museum as well as the Kartner Strasse, Austria’s equivalent of 5th Avenue New York City. T.C. students also toured Schonbrune Palace, the summer residence of the Hapsburg Imperial Family. T.C students also enjoyed a German Operetta, Wiener Blut.

After 18 days of exchange Herr Levine seemed satisfied with the exchange. “This year had to be one of the nicest groups of kids I’ve had on the exchange,” he said “I really thought it was one of the best I’ve ever had. “