My reasons for learning German were initially purely academic. I had realized that subsets of classical archaeology are conducted almost exclusively in German, having written an undergraduate thesis on Roman sarcophagi, which remain of great interest to me. And so, I began. Having recently been confirmed in the Catholic Church, Vienna presented itself as the most desirable location for a Summer Language Abroad experience because I desired to immerse myself in a traditionally Catholic European culture. Though the decision-making flowchart that led me to Vienna was highly logical, my experiences there were hardly that: culturally rich, conducive to personal growth, and spiritually stimulating, but never predictable.
I rented a room in student housing 30 minutes away from where I was studying at the Internationales Kulturinstitüt. It conveniently directly faces the Vienna Opera House. Although the student housing is primarily occupied by international students, my roommate was a German girl from Köln. However, my closest encounter with true locals, beyond shopkeepers and waiters in restaurants, was with a Viennese family I came to know through my uncle. Many years ago, Dr. Erich Stöger was a good friend of my dearly departed grandfather. Now in his 80s, Dr. Stöger had plenty of time on his hands and was more than willing to help Tom Winter’s granddaughter practice her German.
I joined the Stöger family for dinner on two occasions, chatting with their Latin-learning middle schoolers about life in Pompeii and dutifully copying down their sightseeing recommendations. On another occasion, Dr. Stöger and his friend took me on a day trip around hard-to-reach sites, which concluded with a meal at the heuriger (typical Viennese tavern) where Beethoven composed his 9th symphony. It is clear to me that children and the elderly—curious, generous with their time, and quick to correct mistakes—offer an ideal landing pad for language learners.
Beyond these experiences with the Stöger family, I found that much of my time in Vienna was spent alongside other international students seeking to learn German; although it was unexpected, this aspect of my trip was similarly kismet. There was only one other student who participated in both the B1+ and B2.1 intensive courses with me: an Iranian gentleman named Mehdi, who dreams of working at a German car company. We tried to hold our conversations in German, even when it wasn't always possible to express our thoughts accurately in the language. More specifically, we lacked the German vocabulary to express our shared respect for each other and appreciation for this new friendship as our respective countries engaged in what is now known as the Twelve-Day War between June 13th and 24th, 2025.
Mehdi and I remain in contact, and as the clamor of political voices has grown louder in light of the U.S. military’s ongoing bombardment of Iran, I feel extremely fortunate to have recourse to his perspective. He sincerely wants freedom for his people, and hopes that our military efforts will bring it about. This exchange, while sideways to the Austrian cultural experience I anticipated, nonetheless reminded me why we seek travel, immersion, and cultural exposure in the first place. While fraught with new challenges, our technologically advanced world allows students from all over to follow their dreams on a global scale, and pushes us to feel true empathy for those who might otherwise seem different from us.
There is much to recount from my time in Vienna: I bought an all-access pass to the Kunsthistorisches Museum and practiced drawing Roman masterpieces one per week. I answered questions about classical music while doing an Instagram takeover for the CSLC. I circled words I didn’t know on the guides to Mass and eventually came to understand a full liturgy. In short? Es war eine wunderbare Überraschung!
About the CSLC
The Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures (CSLC) aims to support language learners at ND by facilitating meaningful experiences with linguistic acquisition and exchange - both in our campus community and abroad. We believe that access to the world's languages and cultures allows us to seek out new perspectives, to value the diversity of the world's cultures, and to embody global citizenship.