Elizabeth Ryan

Going The Distance S ervus is a common and causal greeting in Austria. Senior Elizabeth Ryan, had to learn this when she lived in Austria during her Sophomore year. Ryan did a foriegn exchange through Youth for understanding, or YFU, and ended up getting to live in Austria for a year. This gave her an opportunity to explore another culture.

“It feels like living in Austria was a different life,” Ryan said. “My friends, my family, and the language were all different. It was kinda funny to see their characteristics and compare them to home.”

The towns there are significantly different than the ones in America. The roads are not straight, and most are made up of cobblestone. There are mountains surrounding the villages, and wildflowers everywhere.

“There were wooden houses with flowers, they loved flowers,” Ryan said. “There were bakeries on every corner, and huge churches that were so beautiful.”

Ryan participates in many activities that include tennis, girl scouts, NHS, and the honor council at UNMC. She also played piano for seven years and was on varsity band her freshman year. In Austria, Ryan would bike, hike, sing in a choir and even go skiing.

“My host family took me to the Alps to teach me how to ski,” Ryan said. “I love it now.”

Along with the looks of the roads and the buildings, personal roles and what is considered polite is different there. For example, Ryan had to greet each of her classmates and then at the end of the day and say goodbye to each of them before she could leave. She was also expected to greet anyone she saw on the streets, stranger or not. Ryan was also not allowed to help around the house as much as she would have liked to because her host family said that was more of a job for a boy. Gender specific roles are more prominent there, and it was difficult for her to become accustomed to that.

“One time I was out in the garden with my host dad and I picked up a worm,” Ryan said. “He looks at me with big eyes and said, ‘I have never seen a girl touch a worm before!’, and that is all he talked about that day.”

Ryan was able to make many friends there, most of them being other forigen exchange students. As mentioned before, Ryan sang in a choir, which was only because her friends had encouraged her to do so. She had to alter her humor, as they are not as sarcastic as Americans, and she did not want to hurt her friend’s feelings. Along with her change in humor, Ryan had to change her laguage. The year in Austria lead to her development in her language skills..

“They have a different dialect there, it is very significant,” Ryan said. “ About six months into the year, I got on a bus by myself, and an old woman came and began talking to me. She had a strong accent and I was able to have a whole conversation with her in the dialect.” Ryan continued to tell her freinds stories of the good times she had in the country she called home for a while. She was able to make many memories during her time in Austria. Senior Elizabeth Ryan lived in Austria