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Bio
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September 6 Journal & Pictures - "When the moment
arose for me to deliver my lines, I choked and all I could muster out was,
'hallo!' It was a weak start in the country, but it was a start." |
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January 3 Journal - "I go to school, I meet Austrians, I go out with friends,
and I’ve even got a library card! Now if that doesn’t mean that I’m a citizen
here, than I don’t know what does." |
| January 27 Journal -
"Piece by piece this guy completely undresses on the street car. While he
was walking down the aisles, his girlfriend was screaming at him and I think
an old woman fainted." |
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Kenny's Bio
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 Guten tag, freut mich. My name is Kenny and I’m a junior at
Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Florida.
I’d like to start out by saying I GOT IN & I’M GOIN’ TO
AUSTRIA!!!!!
I’m 16 years old and have lived six years of my life in
Gainesville. Before I lived in Gainesville I lived in northern California
for ten years in a town called Santa Rosa. My family basically consists of
two sets of parents. There’s my mom Jill and my step-dad Bill, and my dad
Ken and my step-mom Jodi. I have two wonderful sisters, Kerri and Kristen
and a baby brother on the way, Bryan. Kerri has her own apartment and works
at Starbucks Coffee Co. and my other sister Kristen is a freshman at UF.
At Buchholz I do a lot of different activities, which
sadly enough I probably won’t get to do in Austria, seeing as most Euro
countries focus on the school work and not so much on extra-curricular
activities. Here in Buchholz I pole-vault on the track team and also run on
the cross-country team. Apart from sports I do a lot of acting and I’m about
to start a play in March.
Some of the things I also love to do are to read, listen
to music and drive my beautiful ’93 Honda Civic (which sadly enough I’m
gonna have to sell before I leave; but don’t say anything to her, she
doesn’t know yet.) I also love to travel. So far the places I’ve been are
the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Costa Rica. From these
trips I could tell right away that studying abroad for a year is exactly the
thing for me, and I know I’m going to have a great time!
I want to thank Rotary District 6970 for this wonderful
opportunity. |
September 6 Journal & Pictures
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I have now been in this country for 25 days. At 8:27 AM, I
stepped off the plane into what would become my home for the next ten months.
Before I had boarded the plane I was confident in almost every aspect of the
trip. I had all my luggage, all my papers and I was ready to go. So I said
goodbye to my parents and charged forward to the security checkpoint. About
twenty feet later I had realized that I had walked straight into the handicapped
line. Okay, good start. I made my way through the correct security line and
headed to my gate. Thirty feet later I had realized that I was headed for the
wrong gate. Okay, second good start. But now I was serious! I turned around very
casually and headed toward the right gate and boarded the plane. Twelve hours
later I landed in Vienna and made my first step into my Austrian exchange.
Waiting for me when I got off the plane was my host
family. I was greeted with hugs and kisses and a lot of German words I
didn't understand. During the trip I had prepared a whole line of what I was
going to say to my host family when I first saw them. When the moment arose
for me to deliver my lines, I choked and all I could muster out was,
"hallo!" It was a weak start in the country, but it was a start.
We packed the car with my luggage, and immediately made a
tour of Vienna. The whole drive my mouth was to the floor as we drove by
six-hundred year old buildings and stared up at gigantic historical
monuments.
Finally, we pulled into my new home. The neighborhood is
beautiful. All of the homes were lined with flower gardens and a lot of
garden gnomes. As we came out of the car, I grabbed my bags and headed up
the four flights of stairs. In Austria, land is very expensive, so they all
build their houses up instead of out. Well, my room was on the fourth floor,
and I had a lot of fun lugging my bags up that flight of stairs. As soon as
I reached my room I unpacked my iPod, switched it on to some easy music and
passed out before I even hit the bed. Seven hours later I awoke to my host
brother telling me that if I was hungry, I could come downstairs. I hopped
out of bed and bolted to the kitchen. For the past twenty hours all I had
eaten was a lukewarm chicken and rice meal and a Sprite. Needless to say, I
was looking forward to a good meal. Ten seconds later, I found out that I
was in for a great meal. It turns out that in Austria, people don't mess
around with their food. There's no experimenting with new ideas or new
flavors, they simply stick to the traditional meat, soup, bread, cake and
more meat diet. And I have to tell you, it was WONDERFUL! My host mom wanted
to make sure that I had enough, so she just kept putting more and more food
in front of me. I didn't want to be a bad guest, so I complied with her
wishes and just kept eating. And besides, who am I to turn down a good
Austrian meal?
A few days later we headed to their holiday home in a
small town called Gmunden. My host brother and I decided to go by train, and
boy was that an interesting experience. By the time that we had bought our
tickets the train was ready to leave. So, with tickets in hand we ran to the
platform. If there is one thing that I have learned about European trains,
it's that they wait for no man. As we got on the platform we could see our
train slowly pulling away in the distance. My host brother quickly yelled
something to the platform manager but he didn't hear him, so we just kept
running. Finally we were right up beside the train and we hopped into the
door. Since then we've always been early!
Three hours later we got off the train in Gmunden and
headed for the house. A few hours later my host parents arrived and we again
feasted on a wonderful meal. That night we went to the fireworks festival
that Gmunden held every year. The festival was huge! People came from all
over Austria just to see the fireworks show. Throughout the night the
streets were packed while we made our way from booth to booth trying all the
different Austrian chocolates. Two days later I headed to language camp with
a bunch of other exchange students. The language camp was only three miles
away in the next town. While we were there the teachers took us out on two
trips. One, was a boat tour of the Traunse lake, and the second, was to an
old salt mining town called Hallstatt. For the two weeks I was at language
camp, I had the time of my life! I met over fifty other exchange students
and made great friends with everyone there. Classes began every day at 8am
and ended at 3pm. From 3pm until 6pm we'd study or play table tennis, futbol,
foosball or just sit around and talk. The village was just a five minute
walk so we usually went into town everyday after classes and also after
dinner. The village was beautiful and there were a lot of great places to
go. Alongside the lake there was a boardwalk which runs down all the way to
Gmunden. Also you would not believe the lake. Except for the rocky mountains
behind it, it looks like a crystal blue ocean; nothing like a Florida lake.
The language camp was a great start to my trip and the people I met there,
I'll never forget.
Now just a week out of language camp I'm back to Vienna.
Though the Austrian country side was great, it's nice to be back in the big
city again. Whoever said that, "Green acres is the place to be," has
obviously never been to Vienna. In just four short days I begin school and I
guess we'll see what Austria has in store for me. Though at times the
transition from normal life to that of an exchange student can be tough, I
don't think I could have been as happy with any other path. Austria is
wonderful, the people are wonderful, and so was my decision to become a
Rotary Exchange student.
In the words of David Sedaris, "Living in a foreign
country is one of those things that everyone should try at least once. My
understanding was that it completed a person, sanding down the rough
provincial edges and transforming you into a citizen of the world."
A Gmunden city street |
Along the lake in
Gmunden |
Picture with
traditional Austrians |
Boardwalk along
the Traunse |
Eating lunch in Hallstatt |
Hallstatt |
My friend Matteus plays |
My house in Vienna |
Only half of the
exchange students |
Some more
exchange students |
On the boat tour
of the Traunse |
On the train
to Hallstatt |
Soccer game with
my family |
Swimming at
the Traunse |
The fireworks fest
in Gmunden |
The mountains
around Hallstatt |
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January 3 Journal
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Well, it's been about four and a half months since I’ve come to
Austria from the states, and a lot has happened in these past months. I’ve had
Rotary trips, trips with my family and a lot of trips with other exchange
students living here in Austria. Also, I’ve just been experiencing every day
life here in Vienna. Now that I’ve been here for this long I feel more life a
citizen than a tourist. I go to school, I meet Austrians, I go out with friends,
and I’ve even got a library card! Now if that doesn’t mean that I’m a citizen
here, than I don’t know what does.
About a month after my language camp, we had our first
Rotary weekend, in Tauplitz. Whenever we have a meeting anywhere, we always
take the trains. Now, four months into my exchange, this is no problem for
me. But four months ago, it seemed every train ride had something go wrong.
On Friday morning, I left my house and set out for the train station in the
middle of the city, with a friend. We thought we had left ourselves plenty
of time to get there, but apparently it wasn’t enough. By the time we got to
the train station, we were just in time to see our train pulling out of the
platform. Now in a panic we ran to the help desk and asked what it was that
we could do. We were told to go to the south train station in the city and
wait for the same train which would be passing through there in about twenty
minutes. The man at the desk then told us the street car that we needed to
get on that would take us to the other station. The only thing he didn’t
tell us was how long the street car would take. When we arrived at the south
train station, our train had been gone for ten minutes. Again, we headed
back for the other train station. When we arrived for the second time at the
train station we got stepped off the street car and bumped into my friend
Paul, who also missed the train. The funny part is Paul missed his train
because he couldn’t find the train station, which is almost impossible to
miss, due to the gigantic building that surrounds the train station. Seeing
that we had about two hours until the next train, we all went inside the
station for a cup of coffee. About six hours later we arrived in Tauplitz
very tired and very late. When we stepped off the train, there was a bus
waiting for us to take us up the giant hill to our lodge. As we sat on the
bus another train pulled in and a few friends stepped off, also late. It
turned that we weren’t the only ones to miss a few trains. Twenty minutes
later we arrived at the lodge where we met up with 80 other exchange
students. Over the weekend, we went hiking, swimming and spent every night
in the small town. The hiking trip was great. We saw some small glaciers and
even found a cave that went back into the mountain about 60 feet. The trip
was incredible and it was a great way to start off the year.
Apart from trips, regular life as an exchange student is
great, especially when you’re in Vienna. The city is the perfect place for
an exchange student because of all the history and all the space. Vienna is
a city of about 1.8 million people and it has so much to offer. Every day, I
leave school at about 12:45 and go home for lunch. At two, I go to my German
course, stay there for two hours and then I usually spend the rest of the
day in the city. Vienna is full of great places, whether it’s a museum, a
park, a palace of the kings or just a really good café. I start in the
middle of the city and then just work my way out. This is always the best
way to find the best stuff that Vienna has to offer. My favorite part of
Vienna, are the parks. In Vienna, there are parks everywhere, especially in
the inner city. I love to just go out with some music and take a nap under a
tree. Right now In Vienna it’s too cold to go out to parks, but just give it
a few months and I’ll be back.
Just a few days ago my host brother and I decided to go
snowboarding. It was a great trip, where I learned that the snow board was
not meant for Kenny Duffield. In two months my Rotary District has a ski
week. I think this time I'll stick to the skiing. We arrived later that day
back at my house completely exhausted and ready to lounge on the couch and
watch the movie. So we popped in the movie Fight Club and fell asleep. I
woke up two hours later to my host brother telling me is was snowing
outside. I jumped off the couch and peered out the window to see about four
inches on the ground with lots of snow still coming down. So we put on some
shoes and a jacket and we walked around the neighborhood for an hour. While
my host brother was making snowmen, I was freaking out about the snow. The
snow had come so late to Vienna this year, and I was so happy to see it. The
snow gave the weather a good reason to be soo cold.
Anyway, things right now are going really smooth. I fit in
with my family, in my school and in just ordinary life in the big city. I
love this trip and I love Austria, I can’t believe I only have 6 months
left. I guess time flies while you’re having fun. Anyway, I have plenty of
time left and I'm going to enjoy every second of it. |
January 27 Journal
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Today is January 20th and the freakish weather continues to
blow over Austria. About two weeks ago the weather was quite nice, where the
skies were mostly blue and not too cold either. Then last week a huge cold
front sweeps in and before you know it I’ve got the heavy jackets on again.
Then just this week, we get this wind storm that came down from Germany and
it starts blowing the roofs off houses. It's pretty weird stuff. I know I’ve
said this before, but I’m just holding out for the warm weather.
Also, this week was the opening of the Rathause skate
rink. The Rathaus is a government building in the middle of town and is also
one on the most beautiful buildings in Vienna. Right in front of the
building, the city made a huge skate rink, with trails, dance floors, and
cafes. It is definitely the most elaborate rink I have ever seen. A few days
ago they had the opening ceremony, so a couple of friends and I decided to
go. The opening was really great. They had stunt guns, light and some sort
of interpretive dance that no one understands. After the show, they opened
the gates for free admission but unfortunately we didn’t have skates and the
rentals were 6 Euros. So, we stuck around a while, met some people, listened
to the music and just enjoyed the night. For most of the night we just
leaned up against a railing and watched the skaters go by. It's probably one
of the best things to do. To be with your best friends, just talking and
enjoying the night. It's unbelievable how close you get with the other
exchange students. My two best friends in Vienna are Sergio, and Ramses. In
just five short months we have grown a bond stronger than any I've had
before. The friends you have here are really friends for life, people you
just won’t forget.
Speaking of friends you won’t forget, my friend Eric left
for Brasil yesterday. Since it was Eric’s last night we all went out to a
locale and just had one last time with him before he left. We spent a couple
hours there and I had a lot of fun. After Eric left for his house, my friend
Martha called me and invited me to a cafe where a band was playing music
that was a cross between Turkish and Greek. The music was really great and
we also ended up staying there for a while. After about and hour I said
goodbye to Martha and left with my friend Sergio so we could go meet Ramses.
Everything was going fine until we got on the streetcar. As soon as we got
on we took a seat and just relaxed for a bit. Then all of a sudden this guy
in the front of the car starts to take his clothes off. Piece by piece this
guy completely undresses on the street car. While he was walking down the
aisles, his girlfriend was screaming at him and I think an old woman
fainted. Sergio and I hugged up against the walls when he came by, yet we
couldn’t help but to crack up. It was honestly the funniest thing I’ve ever
seen, and I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard. As the street car came to
a stop he redressed, waved goodbye to everyone in the car and, casually
stepped out. As I stepped out I thought to myself that this is probably one
of those things that you really regret in the morning. Or not. This guy
seemed to know what he was doing. Anyway, after the crazy streetcar ride,
Sergio and I met up with Ramses in the city and had a great time. As Usual.
Anyway, these are just a few stories from my life in
Vienna. As you can see its a little crazy, well, the people are atleast, but
the city still retains its dignity. |
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Kenny Duffield
