Overview

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Living and Learning

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High School Abroad in Austria:  Living and Learning

Host Families:
All Pan Atlantic Foundation host families are carefully selected, and students are placed in rural areas, country towns or small cities, and sometimes in capital city suburbs. 

Your host family will be an important part of your exchange.  You’ll take meals together, participate in lively conversations and social activities.  They’ll want to interact and engage in your experience and will open their home to you because they are interested in learning more about your culture.  On the weekends, students may go to music or sports activities or may enjoy a picnic, bike ride, or outing with their families.  Many host families enjoy hiking in the mountains and in the winter, participate in winter sports like skiing.  The best way to learn about a new culture and language is to be fully immersed in it and what better way than to jump right in with your family!

Pan Atlantic Foundation will connect you with your host family prior to departing the U.S. so you’ll have a chance to “meet” before arriving in your new host country.

Daily Life:

If you enjoy the outdoors, you should fit right in with the Austrians!  The country is famous for winter sports but soccer and cycling are also quite popular.  Many schools offer volleyball or soccer and extra music lessons, choirs or orchestras.  Some village orchestras may even invite you to join in and play with them.  Depending on the size of the town you live in, you can also participate in sports through a local club.  Other activities include going to the gym, joining a martial arts club, or pony club. On the weekends, it is typical for students to participate in youth activities or hang out with friends in the local cafes or “Kaffeehaus”.
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School life in Austria:
Austrian school is broken up into Primary school (age 6-11) and High School (ages 10-17).  Most exchange students will be placed in either year 10 or year 11 in High School. Classes typically run Monday through Friday from around 8am and finish around 2pm. Compulsory subjects include German, English, Math, Biology, History, Music and Sports.

The school year starts at beginning of September and ends in the beginning of July.
 
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