Bericht von START-Wien Stipendiat Vuk über seinen USA-Aufenthalt im Rahmen des Benjamin Franklin Fellowship Programms. Ein besonderer Dank gilt der US – Botschaft in Wien, die diesen Austausch seit vielen Jahren in Kooperation mit dem US Department of State ermöglicht und damit unseren Stipendiat:innen die Teilnahme an diesem einzigartigen Programm ermöglicht. Homepage-de – US-Botschaft in Österreich
1. day: Arrival, June 24
The very first day was already quite the experience. I’ll start with my arrival at the airport in Vienna. Getting to and on my plane was a breeze, the security check was done super quickly and efficiently and my plane ride was short and comfortable. The real journey started in the Frankfurt airport. After having landed, I spent a solid twenty minutes looking for Asta and the fellows. When I had arrived, I was greeted with a warm welcome, the introductions and formalities quickly faded into nice and interesting conversations about our home countries, our hobbies, interests and so on. Although the wait to board the plane was gruelling, the real waiting had just begun, as we boarded the plane for a 9-hour long flight to Chicago. The first things to grab my attention were the pillow and blanket on each seat. It was my first time flying with Lufthansa and I wasn’t yet used to such commodities. However, despite all the great luxuries, the trip was still taxing. After our arrival in Chicago, I was expecting another two hours to be wasted with security checks and all, but we had exited the airport a measly 20 Ish minutes after landing. Then came the bus ride to Purdue, which was quite alright, as I was able to sleep through most of it. We were greeted on arrival by the American fellows and went up to our dorms to catch up on as much sleep as possible.
2. day: New experiences, June 25
After a measly three hours of sleep, I dragged myself out of bed and into the common area. From there, they led us into the building at which all the meals would be had from now on. It was a huge food court with drink dispensers and an abundance of food to choose from. I’m no stranger to big cafeterias, but this was truly humongous. After having finished our meals, we headed to MRGN 121, a building in which we got our orientation, some trinkets and a bit of cash. Once we had finished orientation we got a tour of the giant campus grounds, the highlight being a building with a time capsule financed by the class of 1950, having a room that can hold a whopping 470 students at once. As soon as we had finished the tour, we headed to get some lunch at the food court, when we found out that the program until lunch had been cancelled, allowing us to explore campus and really get a feel for the place. We visited a Star Bucks, a Tesco, the Gym, and a few more places. Afterwards, dinner was served so myself and a few other fellows went and ate a little something before the last program of the day began. The program mainly focused on how we felt and our goals during our stay in America and for the BFTF program as a whole. I went to sleep pretty early on to catch up on some well-earned Zs.
3. day: The first lecture, June 26
After a good night’s rest, I woke up and headed straight for the food court as I was starved. After filling my belly with America’s finest eggs and sausages I headed for the MRGN building, which is where the first of many lectures would take place. Today’s topic was international relations, and it was a blast. We learned about diplomacy, what makes a good diplomat, different ideologies as well as approaches to diplomacy and so, so much more. I haven’t taken as many notes in a lecture as I have today during my entire life. We had a few short breaks and lunch before the end of the lecture, after which I headed to the gym to really let off some steam. I spent some time alone which really allowed me to appreciate the beautiful campus grounds. After my workout I got dinner then headed to the dorms for a quick nap before we started our country presentations. A total of 26 fellows presented their countries, including me, and we had a blast. I knew so much going in and left knowing so much more. Shortly thereafter the others headed to target, and I went to bed as I hadn’t escaped jet lag’s clutches quite yet.
4. day: Getting accustomed, June 27
My day really only started when we got to the lecture hall, where the second lesson on international relations was set to take place. The lecture was focused less on theory and more on assigning us roles for the crisis simulation due the next day. We also talked to the 2019 alumni from Portugal who had some very interesting things to say that really helped me reevaluate what it was that I wanted to take home with me from BFTF. Soon thereafter we found out which roles we would be having during the simulation and began our research. After the lesson was over for the day, I headed out and skated around campus grounds, realising I had the place almost memorised by heart. I felt a little homesick so I phoned some people from Vienna to just see what they were up to before heading back to Harrison Hall to wrap up our country presentations. They were just as amazing as yesterday and quite well done. Soon thereafter I went out with a few fellows to have some fun and then we all went to sleep.
5. day: Crisis, June 28
The time had come to slip into our respective rolls and simulate a real diplomatic scenario that could possibly occur within our lifetime. Due to Taiwanese efforts to establish its independency, China decided to move its military in to surround the country and to show that this is not an option. There were 3 major groups: The US National Security Council, The United Nations member states representatives and Nato as well as its representatives. The entire lecture was spent negotiating, strategizing, somehow patching up issues that were caused by our mentor who was playing the role of the US president and to summarize, it was a blast. After the lecture ended, we met back at our dorms, which was supposed to be the meeting point for us to go bowling together. This was postponed due to some communication errors, which lead to us going to a cookie store and watching the sunset. Upon returning to the dorms, we danced a few of our national dances and I headed to sleep thereafter.
6. day: Rest, June 29
The lessons were over and we needed a break, and what better place to go to when you have all the time in the world than Walmart. So that’s exactly what we did. We hopped on a bus and went shopping for round about two hours. I have never, ever seen a one-story store that big in my life. It had everything, from food, to clothes, to fishing equipment. If you had the money, you could probably buy a whole house there. After returning back to the dorms, we rested a little, I had some great chats with the other fellows and was generally just having fun. After dinner someone spontaneously decided we should play soccer, so that’s exactly what we did. Everyone had a blast and I went to sleep right after my well-earned shower.
