What started as an interview with Israel Ugalde and Ina Stegen about their experiences studying abroad at Austria’s Salzburg College, quickly became a reunion of sorts.

It took place at 3 p.m. Monday at Williston Hall, Room 417 — the Study Abroad Office.

Stegen, director of Salzburg College, started the interview with information about the school and the benefits of learning abroad.

“This study program has been around for 32 years,” she said. “Almost 5,000 students around the country have participated in it, to date.

“You can live with a family that speaks German and learn another language while studying there. There are scholarships you can get to help with the costs of going overseas to study. And you receive regular American credit for your courses,” Stegen said.

Ugalde, a senior business administration major, arrived soon after. After greeting everyone, he sat down and shared some of his stories of living and learning in a different cultural environment.

“I was over there from August to December of 2001 and stayed with my German family and a roommate from St. Louis,” Ugalde said. “I went because I wanted to continue studying in German, and also I wanted to experience a different culture, a different viewpoint.”

NIU alumna Marlene Chamberland, one of the many students who went to Salzburg, was at the interview after taking a campus tour with her younger daughter Erica Van Ollefen.

Chamberland is a fan of the program and shared her experiences with the group.

“My older daughter, Amy, is going to Salzburg in the spring,” Chamberland said. “When I found out she got accepted, I got so excited, you’d think I was going!”

Neil Callicoat, a junior business administration major and German translation minor, came to the Study Abroad Office to turn in some forms, and ended up joining in the discussion about the benefits of studying abroad.

“I really want to learn more German,” he said. “I found out about the program through the office here.”

Ugalde continued to say that there are more benefits of studying abroad besides learning a different culture.

Not only does the program help develop friendships, it has even started long-lasting relationships.

Annette Groetzl, a freshman physical therapy major, wouldn’t be here if her mother hadn’t studied abroad.

“My mother went to Salzburg with this program and met her Austrian boyfriend at a dance,” she said. “They got married, and I was born and lived in Austria for eight years.”