Ondrej Brezina

Long-term mobility

• Franziskus-Gymnasium • Wels • Austria •

It is the last Sunday in March and I am boarding a direct train in Prague to Linz, Austria. I arrive in the capital of Upper Austria just in time to catch the last train to Marchtrenk, where my host family is already waiting for me. I am tired from a full day of travelling and still cannot believe that I will be spending three months in Austria thanks to Erasmus.

During my mobility I attended Franziskus-GYM in Wels, a private Catholic grammar school that prides itself on sustainability, social work, and other values of Francis of Assisi. Every morning I cycled from home to Marchtrenk station and then continued to school by train. This taught me what it is like to get up at 5:45 every morning and commute for an education.

At school I witnessed a completely different approach from what I was used to in Czechia. Teachers treated students more as partners than as people to be coached from above. Teaching was also based on discussion and context rather than frontal instruction.

My host family was incredibly welcoming. They helped me find a scout group, gave me an old laptop, and let me travel around Austria on my own every weekend. During my whole stay I visited almost every federal state and even went to Liechtenstein.

Thanks to Erasmus I became even more aware of everything the European Union provides for me. From the European grant I paid for train tickets, a three-month fitness centre membership, a hostel in Innsbruck, and school lunches. Erasmus also clearly boosted my German to a completely different level. I learned to understand the Austrian dialect, expanded my vocabulary, and grew to love Austria even more.

We asked...

What were the biggest challenges you overcame during your stay?

One of the biggest challenges was waking up early and commuting to school. Back in Hradec I live less than half a kilometre from school and get up an hour before lessons start, while in Austria I had to get up at a time that still feels like the middle of the night for me in Czechia. Another challenge was that I had no host sibling my age who attended the same class and could have introduced me to what turned out to be a very close-knit group. I had almost no friends in my class, and although I tried, I had to look for friendships elsewhere. Fortunately I fell back on a tried and tested option - the scout group - and found many friends there.

What experiences and highlights from your stay are worth mentioning?

I would like to mention the Pfingstlager with the scouts from Horsching. It was a long weekend for Pentecost, when the Horsching scouts organise a trip out of town. During that weekend I got to know the members of the group even better and experienced true Austrian scout life - we sang songs around the campfire, played volleyball, swam in a stream, and kayaked on the River Traun.

How did this experience affect you in terms of personal development?

My Erasmus experience moved me enormously, especially in terms of language. Thanks to this stay I gained the ability to speak with native speakers without fear, to make mistakes and not let them get me down. I was able to explain the planned economy system of socialist Czechoslovakia to my host parents or put my hand up in history class and answer the teacher's questions. Beyond language, Erasmus taught me that I can sort out many things entirely on my own - planning a weekend programme, buying train tickets, or finding accommodation.