Today I woke up at 7:00. I have a train to catch and people to meet.
I’ve been in Salzburg since last night, and before that in Vienna for a week. And this is the first time I‘ve ever been in a foreign country. I need to find the Hauptbahnhof (train station), which I vaguely remember from last night. Then I have to find the right train and make it to the university that lies somewhere to the south. But no worries. Like I said, I have people to meet.
Sitting on the train, I listen to the people around me and the intercom at each stop. How in the world did I end up alone in Europe? The hills and trees and European house colors disappear behind me, only to be replaced by more. I hear voices around me, German voices, but I can’t follow what they are saying. I can barely communicate with people unless I ask them to speak to me in English.
Hills and churches, fields and flowers fly by. This is definitely out in the country, but it is a very beautiful country. The Alps, still topped with snow, rise in the view to the south, and the world speeding by me is a vibrant green. The drizzling morning rain seems to bring life and color to everything, including the red and gray train gliding almost silently along the tracks. This is a good place to be because I can hear its promise of adventure.
On the train, I am absorbed by the people around me. Austrians seem like they are a generally friendly people. They are well-mannered and clean, the type of people who would pick up trash in the subway, and who always stack firewood perfectly. This is encouraging, because it makes me less nervous for today. For everything that I am unsure about in the blurring world outside, I am somehow confident that I will be accepted and befriended during my time here. When my stop approaches, a bevy of young people like me materialize at the doors, ready to exit the train. I follow them to the entrance of the university. I made it; I’m at the Fachhochschule. And now I really have people to meet.
Pulling the short list of directions from my pocket, I look at everything around me. A giant glass entry hall, a staircase that disappears into the 4th floor high above – this is definitely it. I climb to the top and look around; it’s a big hallway with glass doors at either end. One person enters the hallway. He recognizes me. This is Thomas, my contact at the school. He’s cheerful and busy, and he introduces me to the place while getting breakfast ready for the meeting.
I arrived right on time, and after a few minutes, I am sitting in a large room, breakfast on the table, waiting while everybody arrives at the team meeting. As each person comes in, I try to remember their faces. I can’t understand what they are saying, but I’m going to need to get to know them because in a week, they will be my co-workers.
The meeting begins as the man that Thomas identifies as the head of research hits his spoon against his glass. He makes some sort of joke and everyone hits the table a few times in appreciation. Each subsequent person speaks, apparently reporting on the last week. Along with breakfast and the pleasant rain outside, this would be a nice atmosphere if I wasn’t so acutely aware of my turn drawing inevitably closer.
As the person next to me finishes, I am again rescued as Thomas pipes up and explains that I will be working at the university through the summer. He even ends by telling me that I can speak in English if I would like. But I am the guest here, and I want to be able speak in the language of the meeting, and so I attempt to explain who I am, where I come from, and why I am here to 30 university professors and researchers in a language that I don’t know well. Relief swallows me as warm smiles and welcomes are returned for my effort.
As the meeting continues, I accept that I have a long way to go before I will really understand the language. But I’m going to be working with this group, and I hope that sooner or later it will be easy to get to know them and communicate with everyone. I am encouraged because although it is hard to understand the words, I do see the faces, listen to the laughs, and gladly receive the smiles of the people whom I will soon meet for myself.
