How the American School System is experienced by Austrian kids and their parents – An Expat Story

My daughters first day of school in Nebraska will be not only the day when she went to school the first time in her life. She went to school in Nebraska. It always will be the day we officially started our journey in Nebraska. Good Bye Austria.

Welcome USA!

It was the fear to bring my kids into a situation like this one. Being in a country they´ve never been before. A country their language they didn’t speak or understand. Observing for many weeks she started little by little to speak, read and write in English. She was enrolled in the ELL Program. Today she is able to follow any conversations and has little problems to find the right words. School was not only a challenge for her, but also for me. Elementary schooldays in Austria start at 8am and usually don´t go any longer then lunchtime. Kids don´t eat at school in Austria, unless they are signed up for an after school program, which usually is another building, or within walking distance of school or it´s one of the newer full-time elementary schools.

Her first day started at 9 am and lasted until 3.38 pm. I still don´t know why schools out at that time in Lincoln, Nebraska. This was a long day. But – and this was the biggest surprise for me – the teachers convinced me to look after her in between and come by for lunch. Unless you are volunteering at the classroom (depending on the teacher) parents are usually not seen at elementary schools in Austria.

I loved the experience to help teachers, to join my daughter for lunch anytime! or to stop by and drop of her lunchbox. Lunch-boxes are something that we have never used before. Kids either have lunch at home or at the after-school program here in Austria. This includes a full 3 course meal. Soup, main dish and often a dessert. The menus have a bright variety and there´s never a meal served twice a month!

I decided to let my kids eat 2 – 3 times a week the school lunch, because I wanted them to have the total experience and to get to know the culture. Of course my daughter quickly found her favorite new dish. Corn dogs.

We were lucky. More than lucky. She was surrounded by wonderful, amazing, and caring teachers and students. One thing that was given to my daughter during those 2 years in Nebraska was a lot of love and joy throughout her journey. It made her grow beautifully. It made her open for others. It made her see things from another perspective. It made her what she is today. My wonderful 8 year old daughter.

See my blog for more thoughts about Nebraska and Austria.

http://theaustrianwalnutproject.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/u-bahn-in-vienna-vs-john-deere-in-nebraska/

THE STORY – AN AUSTRIAN FAMILY MOVING TO THE U.S.

WE WANT TO GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO OUR BRAND-NEW CONTRIBUTING WRITER, MELANIE DOERFL-TARDY!!!

CHECK OUT MELANIE’S ‘THE STORY’ OF HER MOVE TO & EXPERIENCE IN THE U.S. :):

We – that is my husband and our 3 little kids –  moved from Austria to the

United States of America in 2011.

For most of our family members, friends and

neighbors that did not make any sense. Leaving your apartment, your friends,

your job? With a one year, three year and five year old? Why would you

sell all your cleverness and buy bewilderment? One reason to move

was to spend an unforgettable time as a family together and the desire to do

something else. Something that would take us to another scene. We have been

rewarded with a wonderful and fulfilling journey over those 2 years in the States.

For this to happen I went through stages of resistance, anger, fear but also joy, excitement and bewilderment.

Our days were filled with packing and a lot of

organization from the moment we decided to move.

Packing, sorting, cleaning and in between there are all those forms,

passports, contracts, … to take care of (and everything that comes with

it like taking passport ID photographs of a 3 year old).

The moment we arrived in Lincoln,

Nebraska felt surreal and I wondered

I if I would ever be able to feel

something for that place that looked so

plain, simple and not metropolitan to

me at first.

As we arrived in the midst of a typical Nebraskan summer it was hot and humid.

We hit a 100 Fahrenheit those days and although air-conditioning is not

a common thing in Europe I appreciated quickly the constant use of A/C in the

United States of America. Yes, it took me several weeks to adjust my body

temperature because we indeed keep it “GEMÜTLICH” in Austria during those

hot summer days without any air-conditioning.

The dictionary tells me that is an atmosphere of comfort, peace and acceptance. Yes, it is seldom to find Stores, Shops, Shopping Malls and Hotels that offer A/C.

We moved to an astonishing neighborhood in Lincoln, Nebraska.

That´s were our adventure began …. over the next weeks I´ll tell you more about our journey from Austria to Nebraska and back home, against all odds we experienced the beauty within all this packing, organizing, selling, buying, …..

Until then, Babba – the ultimate Austrian expression for saying Bye.

~Melanie

Want to know more about the beauty of Nebraska or the lovely places in Austria?

Join in and follow me: austrianwalnutproject.com

 

The Upside Down House

Two polish architects living in Austria named Irek Glowacki and Marek Rozanski, have decided to spent eight months building an upside down house, or ‘Haus steht Kopf’ in German. This House steht Kopf is literally a crazy upside down house in the western Austrian village of Terfens-Vomperbach. It serves as a tourist attraction for the village and especially is favored among children for having their birthday parties there and similar events.
But what exactly the reason was the architects built this upside down house, you might ask? Well, no one really knows. It’s just sort of fun. And crazy :).

 

Even the website for the house is upside down. Check it out there: http://www.hausstehtkopf.at/

The Bambini Store

“Where adults are allowed to be kids and kids allowed to be adults.”

We think that you probably have never been in a kids store that is quite like the Bambini Kids Store in Vienna.

First of all, you will notice that all the designs and clothes and so on are priced…well, a little or a little much higher than the average children’s clothing, as they are put together from brands like Versace, Missoni, Armani, Fendi and many other luxury brands.

And if we may say, the architecture of the shop as you can see in the pictures is as ‘unique’ as the clientele itself. Go and see for yourself!