{"id":1048,"date":"2017-10-16T10:32:17","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T14:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/german-russian\/?page_id=1048"},"modified":"2025-06-05T10:59:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T14:59:13","slug":"matthew-johnson-18-on-being-the-only-bates-student-in-austria","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/german-russian-studies\/alumni\/matthew-johnson-18-on-being-the-only-bates-student-in-austria\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Johnson (’18) on being the only ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ student in Austria"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Matthew Johnson ’18 and Catherine Merton ’18 in front of Hundertwasserhaus, Vienna. Photo: Matthew Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

Vienna was the leiwandsten <\/em>five and a half months of my life (leiwand<\/em> = Austrian German for cool). While all of my classmates at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ were discussing where to study in Germany, I decided to do something drastically different and study abroad in Austria with IES Vienna. To be honest, at first I had no idea what to expect, but I quickly became captivated with Austria, and I never regret the decision I made to study there.<\/p>\n

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I was the only ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ student in the entire country of Austria, thus studying in Vienna gave me an entirely unique experience that my classmates at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, both in and outside the German department, did not experience.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There is no way I could properly explain all of these meaningful experiences, so here is a short list of a few of my favorite memories:<\/p>\n