By Matthias Petry

Well, so I am finally here, in Logan, Utah, after weeks and months of
running from one office to another desperately trying to get about 200 different permissions, visas, etc.

What do I think of Logan so far?

I guess my first thought probably was: "Holy shit, this place is pretty big and quite beautiful, too."

Second thought: "Maybe I should stop using expressions like that first one around here?!"

Which brings me to the point I was most curious about prior to my departure: the Mormon religion. When I asked anybody in my home country, Austria what they knew about Mormons, the answer usually sounded like this:

"Isn't that the guys that aren't allowed to drink beer and don't have pre-marital sex, but then have several wives?"

Wow, thanks for the detailed information, guys. But to my surprise, until now nobody has tried to convert me and so far it seems to me that Mormons are more or less pretty normal people.Actually most of those I got to know a little better are quite nice. But of course a religion that forbids the consumption of alcohol is quite hard to understand for people living in a country like Austria where the average person consumes more than 100 liters of beer per year!

Another point I had already noticed while being on vacation in the US is the average size of …. Hm … well, of everything. From cities (Some major cities in America are bigger than our whole country) to cars (You'd probably need a truck driver's license in Austria to drive most of the cars I've seen around here), everything is king-size in this country (Even though you never had the monarchy, did you?). Even the stuff you can buy at Wal-Mart is so big I can't believe it. I mean aren't there any single households in America? Which single needs one gallon of vinegar, a ten pound bag of chips or melons so big you need a truck to get them home (Ah, that's what you need these big cars for, right?!)?

And finally it amazed me how nice people are over here. Maybe it's just part of the culture, maybe it's because I'm a helpless-looking international student; I do not know?! It's still not fun wandering from one office to another, e.g. to register and pay for your classes, but at least you have some friendly people behind the desk.

Same thing goes for the professors. No, I am not trying to butter up the
professor who is going to grade me on this, I really mean it. I don't think I've ever met so many very helpful people at my home University in Salzburg.

So just to sum up my first week in Logan in a couple of words: not much to do, very nice people, no beer (I'm an average Austrian person!), beautiful campus, and great courses. I am definitely looking forward to the rest of my Logan Experience