FOURTH ORIENTATION BULLETIN
4 March 2016
To all Vienna Summer School students and parents or guardians:
This current bulletin has information about food, money, books, classes, safety, sex, drugs, and alcohol.
An itinerary (complete with addresses and phone and fax numbers for each hotel for the orientation
period and weekend trips) will be included in the fifth bulletin.
48. Mandatory Behavior Meeting: Each student has received at least three reminders about attending
one of the mandatory meetings on behavioral issues on Saturday 5 March or Sunday 6 March. This
bulletin will be distributed at those meetings. For students (not parents), two pamphlets are enclosed
with this letter: “Alcohol Poisoning” and “Alcohol and Women.” Read these pamphlets carefully.
Reread them even more carefully. Carry them to Vienna. Many of these important life-and-death
issues will figure prominently in the mandatory behavior sessions.
49. Medical Review Meeting: Cindy Sabo will contact you soon about missing vaccinations. All of
you submitted medical forms in January, but I must run copies in triplicate by Friday 15 April. If you
recently added medications, go to Miller 116 and list them on your medical form. If you have suffered
from depression, panic attacks, or other psychological issues, I need the name and phone number of
your therapist; please add these to your medical form. Dr. Janis Gibbs, Dr. David Cunningham, and I
will meet each student individually (usually about three minutes each) in Martha Miller 123 from
9:00-11:00 a.m. and noon to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday 21 April to review personal medical issues.
50. Meals in Vienna: Two meals, breakfast and dinner, are provided daily, either directly or through
weekly reimbursements for the money designated for meals in your overall fee. Most students prefer
reimbursements for dinners (a) because this provides a chance to explore Vienna in smaller groups and
meet local people and (b) because appetites and eating schedules vary. Many of you will have cooking
privileges in your homes, and there is a small kitchen available at the Austro-American Institute.
Picnics in local parks and swimming areas are very popular. Vienna has world-famous coffeehouses
and Heurigen (restaurants bubbling over with food and new wine), as well as inexpensive restaurants
and cafes. Viennese, American, Italian, German, Greek, Turkish, Irish, and Asian cuisines predominate
in the city's restaurants. Versatile menus cater to vegetarians and vegans. Many sandwich shops, sausage
stands, coffeehouses, fast-food restaurants (at last count, about seventy McDonald's spots, although
tourists are advised to avoid obviously American franchises), salad bars in grocery stores, etc., appeal to
students on tight budgets.
For the past twenty-eight years, I have solicited and paid for restaurant reviews written and/or updated
by students. This 60-page "gourmet" guide, "Affordable Eating in Vienna," contains descriptions of
more than 360 favorite dining spots singled out by former students and is essential if you want to save
money on food. Each review includes location, directions on how to get there, an evaluation of food and
atmosphere, the year the review was written, and sometimes information on wheelchair accessibility. It
is arranged in sections geared to types of food (Austrian, Italian, Chinese, snacks and fast food, ice
cream, etc.). You will have the chance to add to the guide with your own culinary recommendations and
earn a few extra Euros! Most of the restaurants range from inexpensive to moderate. The booklet will
be available online, and I shall have several hard copies in and around my office in Vienna.
51. Money Matters: I used to recommend travelers cheques (in American dollars), but exchange rates
offered by American Express and other change bureaus are highway robbery, and several places refuse
travelers cheques. Many students find credit cards (especially those that enable them to withdraw
money) and debit cards more handy and economical. Many credit card companies used to give you the
best exchange rate for the month, but that has changed. Visa and MasterCard charge at least 1% extra
for all purchases in dollars in Europe, and American banks issuing those cards usually add another 2%
to 3%; check with your own bank. Let your credit or debit card companies know that you are going
overseas and want to use those cards; many students have been denied access until their parents call the
companies to authorize transactions. Cirrus-network automatic teller machines (ATMs) are available in
“Bankomats” all over Vienna and in cities that we visit on weekends; they usually charge fees.
Photocopy credit and debit card numbers with expiration dates, as well as numbers on travelers
cheques in triplicate; leave one copy at home, give another to someone else (not me) in the group, and
keep one copy for yourself. Additional sums can be sent to you in care of Vienna’s American Express
Office in the form of an American Express money order. Personal checks are difficult to cash overseas.
Most of the time, you will be using Euros. Currently, you need to spend about $1.09 for 1 Euro (fifteen
years ago, $0.90 bought 1 Euro; seven years ago, $1.60 bought 1 Euro; last year $1.12 bought 1 Euro).
The current rate is very good because Europe’s economy is struggling more than that in the USA. On
trips outside Austria to Hungary and the Czech Republic, you will be able to change money to local
currencies (Forints and Koruna) at exchange kiosks, banks, hotels, shops, and ATM machines.
Slovakia is on the Euro. Changing on the “black market” may land you in jail!
For Vienna, as well as for the orientation period and weekend trips, you will have already paid for the
following: bus, tram, subway transportation; a cell phone; daily breakfast and dinner, as well as a few
special meals; lodging; most field trips required for courses; full tuition for four or eight credits. Items
for which you need to budget personal expenses include: most beverages and other meals or snacks,
postage, souvenirs, gifts, and entertainment. How much spending money should you bring? Most of
last year's both-sessions students brought between $700 and $1000; one-session students averaged
between $300 and $600. Recent extremes: some students spent only the reimbursed funds and never
used credit cards or ATMs; a few others had unlimited funds and shopped till they dropped. Traveling
afterwards averages about $60 per day (not counting transportation).
52. Academic Calendar: Reread the 2016 Vienna Summer School brochure for a description of each
course; be sure that you have registered with the correct CRN to obtain the credit that you need.
First Academic Session Classes (Thursday 12 May—Thursday 2 June):
Vienna’s Musical Traditions, Austrian Art and Architecture, Modern Austrian History,
Theology and Ethics, Empires of the World, Independent Study in Creative Writing
Second Academic Session Classes (Monday 6 June—Friday 24 June):
Austrian Art and Architecture, Empires of the World, Economic and Business Issues, Senior
Seminar (Vienna: Values in Transit)
53. Tentative Daily Schedule: Here is the probable daily schedule:
9:00- 9:25 MTWRF
9:30-12:00 MTWRF
2:00- 3:00 M W
Group meeting with announcements, money reimbursements, etc.
Class sessions (some exceptions).
Optional non-credit German Conversation classes at different levels.
Vienna’s Music class will be on a slightly different schedule with Monday and Friday morning classes
and Tuesday through Thursday afternoon sessions. A few Empires, Theology, and Senior Seminar
classes may have one afternoon class per week. Teachers may schedule an afternoon field trip. No one
has a Friday afternoon class since we leave Vienna at1:00 p.m. on Friday for most weekend trips.
54. Course Registration: I have already registered you online. At this point, course changes play
havoc with the Registrar's Office, with book orders, and with classroom size in Vienna.
55. Pass/Fail: Hope students may sign up for a course and have the grade recorded as either Pass or
Fail under the same conditions that govern these choices on campus: upper-class standing, no courses
which are either part of the major or the general education core requirements, and deciding on this
option before the third meeting of the class.
56. Auditing: Any course may be audited, but this does not lower the tuition cost.
57. Transfer of Credit for Non-Hope Students: Hope College will mail transcripts for classes
completed in Vienna by non-Hope students to the Registrar’s Office (or its equivalent) at your home
institution. Please discuss your academic program with your own faculty advisor prior to departure.
58. Books: Most books and packets of reading materials will be provided free of charge in Vienna
because of our book-buy-back program. Students in “Economics and Business Issues” must purchase
one book in the Hope-Geneva Bookstore: The European Union: Economics, Policy and History, 3rd
edition, by Susan Senior Nello. No one else needs to buy any books. For “Theology and Ethics,” Dr.
Cunningham advises his students to bring a Bible to Vienna or have access to one online.
59. Journals: Journal-keeping is one way that students have found useful to record impressions,
contrasts, questions, stories, and practical or historic information on a daily basis. Senior Seminar
students have used journal notations as the basis for longer papers. I shall do a presentation on journals
when we are in Austria. A fine booklet entitled "Writing a Travel Journal" (by Prof. Emerita Nancy
Nicodemus of Hope's English Department) is available for $1.50 at the Fried International Center.
60. Safety: Once again, Vienna has been named the world’s top city for quality of life. Vienna has
proven a very safe city for sober, sensible people. Its crime rate is very low, even in comparison with
small towns in the United States. With the opening up of Eastern Europe in 1989 and the flood of
refugees into Austria following recent armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and
Syria, crime problems have increased slightly. I am not disparaging or discrediting these groups; I am
simply reporting what many have noted. Vienna has large populations of peace-loving people who are
angry at recent American policies in such places as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kosovo, and Serbia.
The current situations with ISIS exacerbate these problems and put a whole new face on safety issues.
The U.S. Department of State indicates deep concern “about the continued threat of terrorist attacks
against U.S. citizens and interests abroad” and warns U.S. citizens “to maintain a high level of
vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness.”
Although most Vienna Summer School students have been amazed at how secure they feel in most
parts of the city, night or day, caution is still necessary. In my previous forty years, three women on the
program have reported being physically assaulted: the first while walking away from a secluded
swimming pool, the second while jogging in a park, and the third while browsing in a souvenir shop.
All three women escaped without any physical injury. In the first and third incidents, the perpetrators
were apprehended. Occasionally, men in Vienna and “weekend” cities will approach American women
with drink offers and propositions, but a firm "Nein" (No) usually discourages them. A few women
have been followed by men; usually the incidents have been more bothersome than threatening, but
they disturb me, too. Eight years ago, one woman had to deal with a man indecently exposing himself
on public transportation late at night.
I never want to blame the victim, but at times Hope women have invited trouble. Ten years ago, I had
to intervene when one female student was bringing local men back to her apartment and disturbing her
roommates. Five years ago (despite my warnings), some women went to an apartment with men whom
they had met in a bar; another woman got into a car with four men whom she had encountered
at a pizza stand at midnight (she left their apartment many hours later minus her wallet). Luckily,
no sexual improprieties occurred. These types of incidents are rare, but they do indicate the need
for vigilance and common sense.
61. Sex: All students need to exercise precautions with regard to any sexual activity with members of
the group or with other people whom they meet while traveling. I shall talk in detail about sexual
issues (especially sex and alcohol) during the mandatory on-campus sessions on behavior and during
on-site orientation periods for first- and second-session students. Several professors in our program and
staff members of the Austrian-American Institute of Education are excellent resource persons for any
claims regarding such matters as sexual harassment.
62. Drugs: Drug use in Austria has increased within the last decade, and penalties for possession can
be severe. The American Embassy can do little more than inform your parents. Even if you are not
detained in jail for possession of illegal drugs, I will probably dismiss you from the program and send
you home. Four students in Hope’s Rome program were sent home for drug use in 2014.
63. Alcohol: Excessive drinking by college students is the number one problem listed by most
directors of overseas programs for college/university students. This is the major reason why Hope now
expects all program directors to conduct mandatory sessions dealing with social conduct and behavior
(often related to alcohol abuse). All current on-campus Hope students must complete these sessions
before departure. When necessary, similar sessions are held in Austria as part of the orientation for
non-Hope students and Hope students presently off campus.
Most Hope College students drink alcoholic beverages. Unfortunately, I have spent many sleepless
nights worrying about the health of individuals who have had too much to drink in Europe. There is no
drinking age to worry about in Europe, but common sense as to amount of drinking is essential. Of
course, no one should ever feel any pressure to drink. It is always appropriate to choose a nonalcoholic
option in any social situation. Mature (and immature!) adults who opt to consume alcoholic beverages
are expected to behave reasonably. You have chosen to become part of a group (similar to traveling
with a Hope sports team or on a mission trip) and must remember that your actions can enhance or ruin
the reputation of the program and the college and spoil the fun for others.
Almost every unpleasant incident that has occurred to my students in the past forty summers in Europe
has involved their own overindulgence in alcohol. Binge-drinking and 21st birthday parties are two of
the nightmares that I have encountered again and again. The April 1, 2002 edition of TIME had this
banner headline on the cover--"Binge Drinking Among Women"--and the alarming (but not surprising
to me) statistics in the article proved that "more college women regularly get drunk." Women traveling
in Europe need to exercise extra caution, especially when accepting drinks and invitations from men
(even other Americans); better yet: women should not accept free drinks and never get into cars with
men. Men also should not try to prove their “manhood” by excessive alcohol consumption.
Hope has already experienced negative publicity because of alcohol-related incidents and deaths on
and around campus. Several other Michigan schools have dealt with alcohol-related deaths of students
in the last few years. With the support of Hope’s Counseling Center, I am distributing two booklets,
"Alcohol Poisoning" and "Alcohol and Women," as part of the orientation program on campus. I am
trying to be practical, not alarmist. Experiencing Europe through an alcoholic haze is irrational.
The Hope College Vienna Summer School has maintained an excellent reputation within Vienna and
in other places where we visit for the past 59 years, but every once in awhile a few rowdy and selfish
students have created conflicts because of excessive drinking. In 1989 and 1991, I had to ban a few
students from weekend trips because they were so disruptive. I no longer schedule a weekend in
Venice, partly because a few students from the 1995 program misbehaved (alcohol, again) in one of
the few hotels willing to house groups of students. In 1997, some students caused problems (yes,
alcohol) on the flight from Detroit to Amsterdam and at a hotel near Salzburg. In 2001, we almost lost
the future chance to stay overnight in the Rax Alps (where program members have gone for 40-plus
years) because of one male student's drunken antics.
In 2004, a female student was found unconscious in a hotel corridor in Prague from alcohol poisoning;
her friends had put her (unaccompanied) in a taxi to get her back to the hotel in her drunken state.
Also, in 2004, I banned eight male students from the Budapest weekend because of two shameful
events that occurred on the Salzburg weekend. In 2006, one female thought that if she did not take her
anti-depression medication, she could handle excessive drinks on her 21st birthday; she fell down
some stairs and became violent. Also in 2006, another female arrived so drunk for the 50th anniversary
celebration dinner (also attended by Hope’s president and many alumni/ae and friends of Hope) that
she quickly made the restaurant’s ladies’ room unusable. In 2007, I was roused out of bed to go to a
Viennese hospital where police had brought an unconscious student who had drunk too much and had
collapsed on a streetcar. In 2008, I had to notify parents and Hope administrators after some inebriated
women caused trouble in our Prague hotel; a similar incident occurred near Salzburg in 2010. I hope
that 2016 will be one year when I am not forced to contact parents about alcohol abuse.
These incidents are actually exceptions to the norm, but they are very disheartening. You should have
fun but not to the point where others are disturbed. Parents and guardians need to help me by
reinforcing this information (even for offspring over 21) about sex, drugs, and alcohol. It does not
help the program or me when I have to notify parents about a daughter’s alcohol abuse, and her mother
replies, “Well, girls will be girls.” Despite all the warnings about alcoholic misbehavior and scary
stories that you will hear about other college-sponsored programs (at Hope and elsewhere) at the
behavior/alcohol meetings, I often wonder if anyone is listening. I work hard to make this program a
fantastic experience for everyone, but a few will choose to ignore these messages. My goal is that you
will be safe and secure overseas, but I cannot supervise you every moment of each day.
In 2005, the Dean of Students Office at Hope adopted stricter guidelines on consequences for bad
behavior. No longer will students simply forgo a weekend trip. Behavior that is disruptive to the group
or disrespectful to the culture--as well as extreme intoxication (one time) or continuous intoxication
(more than one time), fights, sexual harassment, and continued cutting--now warrants a student being
sent home. These consequences will be spelled out in detail at the mandatory behavior sessions.
Again, parents also need to make sure that their sons and daughters realize the financial costs
involved (lost tuition, rescheduling a flight home, etc.), if they are expelled from the program.
Most program directors concur that these radical measures have become necessary. Students going on
Hope mission programs and college-sponsored athletic programs fall under the same rubrics.
Sadly, some American students and tourists are loud and rude (especially on buses and subways) and
often flaunt their wealth. If you do not want to stand out as an "ugly American,” be quiet, polite, and
eager to learn and listen in each place we visit. Do not travel in huge groups every night of the week in
Vienna. Most Europeans love Americans and our values, even when they disagree with the decisions
of our political leaders. While not abandoning your own identity, you need to be sensitive to cultural
differences and to current perceptions of the United States. You may need to make some adjustments
in attitude. Believe it or not, despite all of the negative stories on the last few pages, most students
in Hope's Vienna Summer School program are very fine ambassadors for their country.
Sincerely yours,
Stephen I. Hemenway, Director
Travel is fatal to prejudice,
bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.
-Mark Twain