Austria es un país de diversas posibilidades, con ciudades históricas como Viena y paisajes montañosos impresionantes de los Alpes. A los austríacos se les conoce por “Gemutlichkeit”, su característica manera de disfrutar la vida, las artes, el café fuerte y los deportes. A los austriacos les gusta la comunicación directa y están interesados en discutir los temas de actualidad, así como todo lo relacionado con el ambiente. Los estilos de vida saludables, la música, disfrutar de los conciertos o tocar un instrumento, y las caminatas por el campo, son todos pasatiempos populares en este país. A lo largo de su historia Austria ha jugado siempre un papel especial en el centro de Europa: como un punto de conexión, como un lugar de reunión, y como un sitio para el intercambio cultural.

A los adolescentes austríacos les gusta pasar el tiempo juntos, ya sea en casa o en un café, ir al cine o a un club de baile, y también participar en actividades juveniles y comunitarias.  El fútbol, el ciclismo y el esquí alpino están entre los deportes más importantes en todo el país.

Host Family & Community

Most host families live in suburban areas. Mealtime is is a family affair and time to share your day.

School

You will likely attend a traditional public, university-preparatory high school. School normally runs from 8 am until 2 pm, however, you may be required to stay as late as 5 pm on some days. Saturday morning classes are sometime scheduled. You will have six to eight classes a day, depending on the extra-curricular classes you choose. 

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A photo posted by AFS Austria (@afs_austria) on Aug 27, 2016 at 11:56am PDT

Food

Austrians love rich food and drink, so you will surely have some tasty treats while on the program. Meals usually consist of soup, meat (often pork) with potatoes, salad, vegetables and dessert. Other favorites include sausages, sandwiches, pastries (like Strudel) or desserts (like the classic Sachertorte, a chocolate cake with jam and icing), eggs, many different cheeses and apples.

Language

The official language of Austria is High German, although each region also has its own dialect. Other languages spoken are: Turkish, Serbian, Slovene, Croatian and Hungarian. You should have a working knowledge of German before the exchange. AFS Austria will provide you with an online Rosetta Stone language course to learn German before and during your exchange.

Let AFS guide your intercultural adventure

Go abroad with AFS to discover who you really are, make new lifetime friendships and immerse yourself in a fascinating intercultural experience.
TEEN PROGRAMS (UNDER 18 YEARS OLD)

Our learning program will prepare you for an amazing AFS intercultural experience. The program begins at your home country with a pre-departure orientation and continues with orientations and other supported learning activities and facilitated conversations will help you maximize your experience, cope the challenges of navigating a new culture and community and gain knowledge, skills, and a global understanding, throughout your time abroad, and as you return to you home country. AFS volunteers will be there to support and guide you and your host family through your learning journey abroad.

ADULT PROGRAMS (18 YEARS OR OLDER)

The Global Competence Certificate (GCC) program will support your intercultural learning experience. This state-of-the-art program prepares you to successfully navigate new cultural environments—during your AFSNext experience and long after you finish the program. Online intercultural learning modules combined with in-person sessions help you develop practical and global skills, knowledge and attitudes that employers need and mission-driven organizations believe will help achieve their social impact goals. You will receive your certification upon completion of the training program.   

Explorará los programas disponibles en Austria