I have recently moved to Salzburg, Austria for a year of study abroad. It was immediately apparent that things are a little different in Austria in comparison to the United States. Some are good, some are just confusing and some make me miss home a bit.

1. Customer service isn't really a thing ... well kind of.

One of the few things I had researched prior to arrival was how grocery stores work. Sure, I had read that the cashier was going to not be super friendly, but I honestly didn't believe it. I figured I was just going to be super nice and they would return that sentiment. Boy was I wrong. The same goes for wait staff in restaurants, the waiter will take your order, but they won't keep checking on you and they don't just come bring you a check, you have to ask. It isn't that people are trying to be rude or anything, that's just how it is here. It only seems rude or cold by American standards and experience.

2. Grocery stores are small ... like really small.

I didn't really realize that grocery stores were not on the scale we have in America. There are various sizes, which are denoted in the names, but even the largest ones still are smaller than a market in the United States. The ones near me are really small. One is three aisles and like a 7-Eleven, another is a bit bigger, but still is reminiscent of a large mini mart. You can find what you are looking for as long as it's food, but there won't be a huge selection of brands; there just isn't room. At the largest grocery store I went to they still lacked some of the other things we take for granted. I found one package of spoons, that was it. Forget about big box stores where you can literally buy everything you could possibly need, that isn't going to happen in Austria.

3. Cheese isn't served cold.

Apparently in America we have been doing cheese all wrong. It is supposed to be served room temperature, or so I have been told. Sure you buy it refrigerated, but you certainly wouldn't serve it that way. Don't know if I am 100 percent on board with the warm cheese thing, but time will tell.

4. Pencils, especially mechanical pencils, aren't really an easy find.

When packing my bags there definitely wasn't enough room for school supplies. Pencils and other such supplies would be pretty easy to find, right? Wrong. I went to the school supply store and had a difficult time locating the very small pencil section, only to find literally no mechanical pencils. The wood pencils I did find also had no erasers. I never really thought pencils would be an odd thing to find in other countries, but apparently they are.

5. Dogs. People just take them everywhere!

Lots of people have dogs in America, but I don't feel like we take them with us as often as the Austrians do. Dogs in Austria are almost constant companions, coming to the park, tourist attractions and even out to dinner. It isn't odd to see dogs obediently following their owners without a leash through the city. The dog at our building just wanders the property even with open gates. We went out to dinner and it came on the tour bus with us and into the dining room of the restaurant. It wanders into our classroom all the time too.

6. Three hole punches are definitely not a thing.

I'm going to be completely honest here, WTF Austria. Why is paper four hole punch, and why is every sheet legal size? More importantly, four ring binders are too many rings, but two ring just doesn't have enough support. Even college ruled paper has huge lines and makes wide ruled look small. I have yet to come to terms with the whole paper situation. My summer job was at an office supply store, so honestly this might kill me.

7. BMWs and Porsches are normal cars here, and a ton of people have them.

While in the United States a BMW is a high end car, and even more so a Porsche, it is not the case in Austria. There is a Porsche dealership just a 3-minute walk from my building and we pass them whenever we go out. All the cars at the center are BMWs. It is just a run-of-the-mill car here. I did see one Ford dealership, but haven't really noticed any Fords. There certainly aren't pickup trucks and SUVs. We spoke to our program director and he didn't know what a Prius was. Cars like Toyotas aren't really in Austria.

8. Everything closes on the weekends and a lot earlier than in the U.S.

At home I am so late to going to store later at night and even working shifts late at night. Here, stores close at like 6 p.m. and even earlier on the weekends. On Sundays almost everything is closed. This can make after work or class shopping more difficult. Maybe it's more consideration for employees, but store hours definitely require special attention so you make it on time.

9. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day.

One major shock when dining in Austria is the size of lunch. At home we tend to have a small meal and then gorge ourselves at dinner. In Austria it is the opposite. It is common to see soup, salad, and a large plate of food at lunch. Our first day we couldn't finish it all, which is considered to be rude. It takes getting used to and also learning to ask for less. When we received a packed lunch, there were 2 full sandwiches, 2 pieces of fruit, and dessert — way more than any of us could eat.

10. Shopping carts aren't free.

In Austria, shopping carts aren't just free for you to use. Each is chained together, requiring a coin to use it. I guess this is to encourage you to bring it back. When you bring the cart back and re-chain it up, the coin is given back. I don't tend to see a lot of people using carts, it seems that the culture is to buy less but more frequently. Part of the grocery store experience is the freshness of bread and deli meats and cheeses. Frozen food sections are pretty sparse, showing that it isn't commonly used for food prep.

11. And neither are bathrooms ... at least not always.

I have been lucky enough to not have to pay for a bathroom yet. There are usually free bathrooms in restaurants and places you pay for admission, but public bathrooms will often require payment to use them. Once you had to pay to go through the turnstile if you took the stairs, but not if you took the elevator, you can probably guess which one we took.

12. Credit cards ... just so complicated.

I'm not talking about the whole chip debacle, which arguably can be more trouble than they are worth. This is some next level pain in the butt stuff. Nope, the chip does not go in the bottom of the machine, at least not always. Sure you don't have to guess if a place takes chip, but you do have to guess where it goes and which direction. Additionally, every card purchase requires a signature, literally every one. I made the mistake of using my card at self-checkout and it really stalled up the process and made self-checkout pointless because someone had to come for me to sign anyway. Cash is king in Austria.

13. Windows. They are pretty darn cool here.

This is true for all the places in Europe I have been, which is admittedly not much of Europe, but the windows are really cool and surprisingly high tech for such old buildings. One turn of the handle and it opens like a door, turn it the other way and it tilts. At first I thought I broke the door and even called maintenance. They gave me a glare before leaving. Once you get the hang of them though, windows are really cool!

14. People walk, and walk a lot.

Exercise here in Austria is a daily occurrence, more so than in the United States. There are people walking or riding their bikes to work rather than taking cars. When going to tourist locations, even when there are easier options people still choose to walk. In America there would be a line for the tram, but not in Austria.

15. Grocery bags will never be free.

Although it is becoming increasingly popular to charge for bags in the United States, we are far from Austria. You will probably not even be asked if you want a bag. You have to grab one yourself and they cost a lot more, even for the disposable plastic kind. It pays to invest in a reusable bag to avoid having to stagger out of the store and back home with overflowing arms. There is no bagger at the store, they just push things to the end and you are expected to bag your own stuff, or scoop it up and walk out. As soon as you pay (or even if you are still signing the credit card receipt) the cashier is ringing up the next person, so move quickly.

16. Parks and outdoor space are utilized for more than "Pokemon Go."

Parks in Austria seem more popular than in America. Even small parks like the one near me are incredibly full at night and on the weekends. Children are running around and playing, it's honestly really awesome. At home, it seems like more people watch TV or stay in rather than head to the park, either that or they are playing Pokémon at the park.