A few weeks into the school year, Austrian exchange student Brigitte Irimus is starting to settle into her time at Central, Omaha, and the United States.

For the sixteen-year-old living in America for the first time, the decision to go on student exchange was an easy one. “I applied to go here because I want to have more experiences, to have a better view of everything. I wanted to do new things, meet new people, and get off on my own two feet,” she said.

Of course, she has had to make some adjustments as she traveled thousands of miles away from home.

“Getting used to the transportation here has been hard. If you need to get anywhere, you need a car. In Austria, we have everything,” Irimus said.

Cultural shock is also something Irimus has encountered, understandably. “It’s been weird, realizing that I live in America now for an entire year,” she said. “I had never heard of Nebraska before I came, so I asked myself, is it in America? But I like it here. It’s very pretty.”

Obviously, being away from one’s ordinary lifestyle and surroundings can have its perks. For the girl from the land of Mozart and The Sound of Music, going to school has been the coolest part of living in America so far.

“It’s been fun to see how Americans act,” Irimus said with a laugh.

She has also enjoyed observing differences between studying in Austria and life between the walls of Central. “My school in Austria is much smaller,” she said. At around 300 people, it has about 15% of the numbers Central has. “We have just one classroom, so everyone knows everyone, and you’re with all the same people all day. The teachers just switch around. Here, I like being able to switch classes because you get to know different people,” Irimus said.

And she has already had plenty opportunities to do that. An avid runner, she is on the cross country team for the fall season.

“I love to run. I am not the fastest, but I like to use running as a time to think about things, to relax. In running cross country, I have to encourage myself that I can keep going,” she said.

As for vacation must-sees while in America, the sky is the limit for Irimus. “My host family and I are going to California in January. I would also like to get to Detroit, New York, the big cities,” she said. As much as she likes Omaha, the girl fluent in German and Romanian knows there are exciting places out there to discover–places where she can preferably take a subway.

Irimus also knows that as big as America is, there are many opportunities to try some things she could not necessarily do back home.

“I would love to go bungee jumping here. It costs a lot of money in Austria, so I haven’t had a lot of chances to do it,” she said.

Until that time comes, the teenager is taking things day by day. She loves being able to tell stories to her friends and family back in Austria.

“One cool thing I have done here is participate in the ALS ice bucket challenge. I nominated my cousin in Austria, so it’s like I’m the bridge between the countries. I like that,” she said with a smile.

Chances to have fun in America will be abundant for Irimus, but she is approaching her adventures across the pond in a serious way as well. “I think this experience will help me mature. I want to do something to make people happy, to change something,” she said. “I want to bring something from America to Austria.”