To borrow from Falco’s well-known hit song, we heard Austria calling—and we did our best to answer! In the last four years, three Hellenbrands have participated in Fulbright Austria programs. After receiving his BA from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, Ryan was a community-based combined grantee in 2017–18 with the Zentrum für MigrantInnen in Tirol (ZeMiT). In spring 2020, Alexandra came to Graz as the Fulbright visiting professor of cultural studies at the University of Graz, and Matthew was a 2020–21 US teaching assistant in Carinthia (Feldkirchen in Kärnten) after his graduation from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Matthew also decided to pursue an MA in game studies and engineering at the University of Klagenfurt.

Matthew probably says it best. Not only does Austria have “mountains, mountains, and more mountains.” It is also German (i.e., German language and German-speaking culture), but it is different from Germany. But we might say it all began with German and with Christmas cards. Each one of us studied German in school; Matthew and Ryan would say their parents (who are both German teachers) made them do it. There may be some truth to that, though it happened with the best of intentions. Like many US families, particularly with roots in the Midwest, our family emigrated in the 1800s from German-speaking areas. Alexandra’s family came from the Rhineland to settle in New York; she started to learn German in school and liked it so much she made a career out of it as a professor of German. The Christmas cards that came from Europe every year to Alexandra’s family did not come from Germany, though: they came from Vienna. They were sent by a granddaughter of that Rhineland family who had grown up in Munich and had then married a young entrepreneur from Vienna. In 1987, Alexandra was able to visit this family in Vienna for the first time and to meet the distant relatives she had only known from those yearly holiday photos. She has continued to find ways to return ever since. She has also been fortunate to be able to combine her personal and professional interests. As an undergraduate, she had taken an interdisciplinary course on music and literature in Vienna. She carried the memory of that course with her until she could eventually create one like it in 2008, when she brought 20 students and two colleagues to Vienna—and brought Ryan and Matthew along as well.

We might belong to the same family, but of course we are different people. We were fortunate that Fulbright Austria has a variety of programs that suited our individual needs.

Matthew is currently in the US Teaching Assistantship program, and he really enjoys engaging with students exclusively. He gets to connect to the other teachers and the community through that role. Talking with the students and connecting with them through their language classes has been a really enriching and enjoyable experience. Matthew has enjoyed developing and sharing lessons on US culture; he loves how his Austrian students offer him unique perspectives on his home culture. As he looks at his Austrian students, who are between the ages of 12 and 18, he realizes that they are what the future looks like—their perspectives matter. By interacting with the next generation of Austrians, one can be a part of what comes next. And, of course, one cannot underestimate the effect of COVID as a major factor in shaping his USTA experience.

Alexandra was thrilled to be the 2019–20 Fulbright-Karl Franzens University Graz Visiting Professor of Cultural Studies in Graz. She was delighted to affiliate with the institutes of history, American studies, and German studies as well as the Center for Inter-American Studies. Alexandra will always say she was excited to apply for a “grown-up” Fulbright grant, as she is also an alum of the student program in Germany. It is, however, also worth repeating that the advantage for her of Fulbright Austria’s programs is the combination of research and teaching for faculty. The opportunity to do research in Austria with Austrian colleagues was important, but she has also spent her academic career as a scholar-teacher whose research informs her teaching and vice versa. In addition, she not only wanted to live in Austria; she also wanted to get to know an Austrian university from the perspective of a faculty member.

So Fulbright and Austria were part of the conversation two years later when younger brother Matthew was approaching college graduation. During the fall semester of his senior year, he did not really consider the study/research program, partly because his plans were still pretty fluid and he was adjusting to a new role as a resident assistant at his university. But he was developing an affinity for teaching and outreach. And he was trying, very practically, to figure out how to turn his interests in German along with his major in global studies and his desire to pursue human rights into a productive post-graduation activity. And then, well, there were those mountains he wanted to see again. Plus an application deadline in January for the USTA program. That was really helpful, because in the fall semester he was still trying to figure out his options. He was interested in teaching as well as pursuing a master’s degree, which he is doing now at the University of Klagenfurt. In addition, he is really thrilled that he could be renewed as a USTA for the 2021–22 program year.

Both Matthew and Alexandra were in Austria during and affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, though at different points in the pandemic. Alexandra was in Austria from 18 February 18 to 1 April 2020, and it is safe to say that the experience solidified her desire to return; as a result of her experience, she has tremendous admiration for the way in which Austrians confronted the pandemic. From her vantage point in Austria, she was fortunate to be safe and isolated... and, as a student of language and culture, she watched a cultural experiment unfold. From the repeated public-service announcements by the federal government that flooded the airwaves to the almost immediate university and business closures and the empty streets—and the French hornist who practiced in the nearby park—the generally disciplined and uniform response to the accelerating crisis was amazing to behold. It was a stark contrast to the situation in the US at the time. She remembers one broadcast of a sundown performance across Austria of Rainer Fendrich´s song “I am from Austria” that had been organized to show solidarity with first responders. Being there at that time made her feel that she shared just a tiny bit in that solidarity, even as she was preparing to return to the US. She has, however, endeavored to build upon and deepen the connections she made during her short time in Graz; in this, technology has offered great opportunities. Someday, she looks forward to continuing her virtual conversations in person!