My time in Austria has been nothing but pleasant, fun, and exciting. I love the culture, work ethic, the food, and, of course, the people. But most of all, I love taking Sundays off from work. The culture here is so ingrained that you don't work on Sundays; instead you go hiking, go to church, or just chill out at home. I think it's important for everyone to take at least one day off per week from the stress of work so you can relax and reset. If you come to Vienna on a Sunday, you won't find much to do. Since it's a big city, museums are open, but that's about it. Grocery stores are closed, some restaurants, banks, and most shops. There aren't even flea markets open on Sunday.
At first it was a little hard to adjust to not having grocery stores open on Sunday, especially the first week when I forgot and didn't have any food. I quickly learned my lesson, and now I appreciate it. I buy enough to cook either on Friday or Saturday, and then I can chill out on Sunday and just explore the city or make some tea and read a book in my apartment. Another thing I found alarming was how quickly the food spoils here. You have to cook it or eat it within (normally) 3 days if it's fresh or else it will go bad. Packaged food doesn't last forever either. This was annoying at first because I'm used to food in the US that you can keep and find in your parent's pantry years later and still be able to eat it. However, here it is the complete opposite. Because people have to go to the grocery store more often, there are stores on almost every block. Now I shop for groceries more than once a week but buy less than I would in the US each time. It's nice to be able to always have fresh food.
One last thing I learned about Austrian culture is the University culture. Most students attend school full-time but also work a part time job at a business. There are not really on-campus jobs that students can have, so most people work for companies that we would only have internships at such as a big marketing or consulting firm. It was a shock to hear this because it's so different from what I'm used to, but it's all just learning about a different culture. I really am enjoying my time here, and can't wait to find out more differences or even similarities between the US and Austria!
Deborah Mativo
Fall 2023
GW Exchange - Vienna University of Economics and Business
School of Business
Accountancy, German Language & Literature Major