Gail Fish

2008-09 Outbound to Austria

Hometown: Gainesville, Florida

School: Buchholz High School, Gainesville, Florida

Sponsor: Downtown Gainesville Rotary Club, District 6970, Florida

Host: Vöcklabruck-Attersee Rotary Club, District 1920, Austria

Bio

Gail's Bio

Hello! I'm Gail Fish and a senior at Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Florida. I was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and moved to Ocala, Florida when I was one year old. I have lived in Gainesville, Florida since I was ten with my sister, mother, four cats, and a dog. My father lives in Ocala, Florida and I see him quite frequently as well.

One of my main interests is learning languages. Having studied Spanish, German, and Chinese during my high school career, I am very excited that I have the opportunity to become fully immersed in another language and culture. In regards to language, I have participated in the Florida State Spanish Conference since my freshmen year of high school. It is a statewide competition where students from all around the state give speeches, recite poems, and act in plays in Spanish. Some of my other hobbies and interests include reading, biking, spending time with friends, politics, and history.

I have looked at the Rotary Youth Exchange program for the past two-and-a-half years. Even after reading the exchange journals religiously, talking with other exchange students, and considering this for so long, it still feels like a dream. I don't think it will hit me what I am getting into until the moment I step off the plane in my host country. Even so, I am extremely excited and grateful to be given such an amazing opportunity.

August 27 Journal

How to describe my first three weeks in Austria? A formidable task indeed. But I will do my best. Someone wise once said the best place to begin is at the beginning. But even that is a little tricky to pin down. Rotary was right when they said this was a three year program. But talking about the past year would probably make this journal a bit too long…

My last two nights in the United States were not at home in Gainesville- but rather a hotel with both my parents and my sister in Jacksonville. The Welcome Home Dinner was two days before my flight and my flight was quite early in the morning, so we just stayed there. Needless to say, the cramped quarters made me that much more excited to leave.

Early on August 4th, we arrived at the Jacksonville Airport. There was a slight scare when they said that they originally couldn't find my ticket and then that it was cancelled for non payment. But about 30 minutes later, the situation worked itself out and I was on my way. Aside from that, the flights went fairly smoothly. A major jolt of excitement for me was on the long flight from Chicago to München (Munich). It was about 5am in Europe and I had a window seat. I could see the city lights, for the first time, of Europe. I was actually going to be here. Here for a whole year and I could not wait! I landed in Linz (as the only American on a small plane full of scouts from Hong Kong touring Europe plus a few Germans and Austrians) a bit earlier than expected. So when my host mom and sister came, complete with the 'Welcome in Austria' banner, I was able to respond and ask a few questions in understandable German and not be frozen, mouth hanging open, and completely lost.

My first week here I mostly spent time with my host sister, Yvonne. She is sixteen and started her exchange in Washington State on the 19th of August. My city here is Pinsdorf and we live right near Gmunden on the Traunsee (this really pretty lake) so I went there a few times- and even got slightly sunburned. I met some of her friends and my future classmates as well. So now I feel less nervous about school starting and feel like I can make friends here fairly quickly. One of the days, my host brother Andre- who is 28 and lives in another town- took Yvonne and me to this 'Abenteuerpark' in Gröbming in Styria. It's a little bit tough to explain. At this park there's all these ziplines and obstacle course type things attached to the ziplines and trees. We wore harnesses and got to climb some of these. After doing a few of the easier courses, we tried for the hardest one they offered. Near the end it was too difficult to do the course the correct way, so I basically dragged myself along, being held up only by the harness and climbing clip. While I was up there, I thought about how I was putting so much trust in these little safety devices (made in Europe). However, I was not scared. In fact I was having a great time- even at the tough part of the course. Later, I thought about how it mirrored my exchange. I was putting so much trust in my Austrian host family, Rotary, and the Austrian way of life- but having a wonderful time along the way- wanting to go back for more.

After this first eventful week, I spent two weeks at language camp. That was in Altmünster so only about fifteen minutes away from my host family's house. There were over 50 other new exchange students at the camp from all over the world. Although, ironically enough, I spoke so much not-German at the German language camp than I did my first week. I had taken Spanish in school, so I was able to talk a lot with the Spanish-speakers as well as the English speakers. At language camp I was in the most advanced class. It was very grammar intensive. All the teachers are very nice and many were exchange students, so they could relate to what we were going through. And they're very fun and like to joke with us too. On Saturday, our classes went until noon and we got to see the rebounds- Austrians who just got back from their exchanges all around the world. Then on Sunday, the camp went to Hallstatt for the day! For those of you who don't know Hallstatt, it was a major salt mining village… and it's the village that's on nearly every picture one sees of Austria. We toured the salt mines there and got to walk around town. There were mostly tourists in Hallstatt and not much salt mining anymore. But it did not have an overcrowded, and 'fake' feel to it at all. I definitely want to go back really badly. During the two weeks we also walked all around Altmünster, getting to know the city and the people. We always stopped at the gas station (which was much cleaner and smaller than most in the United States) to get our chocolate fix. We passed by a bicycle store called 'Armadillos Bikes and Muffins' whenever we could (yes, it sometimes did sell muffins- but no armadillos), and we definitely bonded as a group of exchange students.

I've only been back at my host family's house a few days. On one of the days I went into Gmunden and walked down the Traun River. Years and years before, a poet wrote something along the very same river, that poem was posted on a sign for everyone who passes to sit and read. The poem talked about how the river always flows forward and keeps moving. It says that looking into it can help one through being without a loved one or loved ones, and dealing with being without something or someone. I have not felt much homesickness yet, but if or when I do, I'd love to come back to this spot. I find it quite interesting that someone, 160 years before, looking at the same spot on the river, stood where I will stand, thinking the same thoughts about moving onward. Something like that can really make one empathize with others in the world- whether from their home town, a world away, or someone they will never meet.

Perhaps that's what exchange is all about, being able to empathize with people and communicate across continents. Maybe, in the beginning, the communication is awkward and with lots of acting and pointing. It's possible that your best 'friends' at first are the five and thirteen-year-old neighbors who are eager for a new playmate in a game of tag (translated as 'catch' in German). But either way, one always moves forward, eager for whatever comes next. Thank you Rotary for 'making dreams real'!

September 21 Journal

It's hard to believe I've been here for almost two months. Sometimes, with the weather like a Florida November, it seems like longer. Other times, it seems like just yesterday I fumbled with the windows my second day here, wondering just how to work them.

It is also difficult to tell which 'stage' I am at in exchange. Am I still enjoying a happy honeymoon? Perhaps I am getting used to everything. Maybe those moments of nostalgia and craving food I hardly ate in Florida, and curiosity of what I'd be doing back home or in another country, are signs of homesickness.

I'm still wide eyed and in wonder of some things around Austria - as if I'm experiencing it all for the first time. I still discreetly 'skate' and spin across the school floor in slippers since we don't wear normal shoes inside despite being there for two weeks. I never get tired of the idle babblings of the stream next to my house. Perhaps it's meant to be peaceful, but instead I grin rather stupidly and lean in closer to hear it better. The aromas of the fresh soups my host mom makes after school are still inviting and welcoming. With so many different soups, most of the time it's the first time trying the day's specific recipe. On the street corner one can buy newspapers. Yet unlike in the United States, they are not in a large metal box that won't open unless one puts in money. Instead, one takes newspapers out of a little flimsy plastic folder, and there's a little box where one can put in money. I love this feeling of trust here.

Other times, I still feel like such an outsider. I see the strange looks of curiosity and disgust on my classmates' faces when I describe a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When I felt a strong urge to run and look out the window to see the snow that was on the top of the Traunstein (the big mountain near me) the others barely turned their heads. Sometimes I cannot help but almost laugh when I catch the physics teacher say, in a strong Upper Austrian accent, 'Did everyone understand that?' and point to a long equation on the board I mindlessly copied down. I know people speak to me in 'Hochdeutsch' or High German instead of dialect/ Mundart that they normally use, because I don't understand enough yet.

Some things hardly seemed to change at all from Florida. Everyday, I hear a stampede of four cats running through the house, chasing each other and real or imaginary creatures. I see the same rude words in English written on the back of a bus seat. I hear classmates grumble about homework. A bottle of Tabasco sauce still sits on the kitchen table at meal times.

Still at other times, I feel like I truly belong, like I am becoming Austrian myself. After hearing my host mom say how the cloudy, dreary weather makes her feel unmotivated to do anything, I start blaming my own mild laziness at times on that same weather. I send text messages back and forth all in German. I understand the 'Fakt des Tages' (fact of the day) that students write on the board in our classroom in the morning without consulting my dictionary. My host parents ask me to type up and print something on the computer or feed the cats or do other chores around the house, treating me no longer like a 'guest'. When I am out on weekends, I see my classmates and remember their names and recognize other people too. I know that on the weekends, we are probably going to my host brother's and his girlfriend's house way out in the country where we will chat, drink coffee, wear house shoes, and pass huge cornfields on the way there. Perhaps we'll see his girlfriend's parents who live right next door, but most likely not. It is a welcome routine that I'm already so used to.

Perhaps I am just as confused as ever about what 'stage' I am at on exchange. Maybe I will never know exactly how I feel about home, here, my ability to speak German, or anything else. I do know one thing though, despite curiosity about what I'd be doing elsewhere, doing exchange is one of the best decisions I ever made. I am guessing that RYE-Florida is talking to schools around the state now - or will very soon. So to all you curious students who may have stumbled across this page, don't be afraid to go to an informational meeting or secretly stalk more of these journals. You won't regret it!