Spring has sprung in Chemnitz, finally. I can finally ditch the big winter jacket on my walks to school, which is pretty awesome.
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| Photo of my backyard (improved through the power of Instagram filters) |
Luckily, I did not go alone! I went with my posse of "Sachsen Leute" which made the long train ride a lot more fun!
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| What it takes to get a group of Fulbrighters to Berlin. |
The conference was really amazing - Fulbrighters from across Europe were invited: teaching assistants, researchers, post-docs, and visiting professors. I met all kinds of really cool, amazingly talented, and wonderfully passionate people.
We also got to meet the German grantees going to America next year (Apparently, Boston is the cool place to be if you're a German exchange student. Clearly, they've never heard of Indiana).
In the evening, we had lots of receptions and time to network. I have now figured out that "networking" is really just jargon for drinking and chatting up strangers.
And man, did they ply us with alcohol.
Because, Europe.
But one evening, we also got to listen to the musical talents of some of the grantees whose research projects were in fact, their musical field: we had a baroque violinist and a harpsichordist, a classically trained bass singer, and a marimba player.
We also had lots of free time to explore the city!
One night, a group of us and newly found German friends set out to get nighttime photos of the Brandenburger Tor. For all of you visiting Berlin in the future, if you want to get pictures sans Darth Vader, fake Russian soldiers, and giant bears, I suggest taking pictures near midnight.
Oh yeah, and we got sweet Fulbright swag.
I now have a Fulbright tote bag, pen, and a red, white, and blue Fulbright scarf.
Which I will not wear/use at the same time lest I blind someone with my Fulbright-ness, but mostly because dropping the "F-bomb" (as I like to refer to it) isn't really my style.
On a note unrelated to Fulbright and Germany: I get to start scheduling my courses for grad school this fall!
Which is kind of like releasing a small, sugar-deprived child into a huge candy store without parental supervision. Less exciting is the whole finding an apartment-and-becoming-a-real-adult thing.
Anyway, I'm super pumped about this coming fall. Just wanted to let you guys know.
Lots of Love,
Your Humble Blogger
UP NEXT: Part Two of Ireland!
Which made me feel unbelievably humbled, but also like I must have lied or cheated to get into the program. In other words, being around awesome people gives me impostor syndrome.
We also got to meet the German grantees going to America next year (Apparently, Boston is the cool place to be if you're a German exchange student. Clearly, they've never heard of Indiana).
In the evening, we had lots of receptions and time to network. I have now figured out that "networking" is really just jargon for drinking and chatting up strangers.
And man, did they ply us with alcohol.
Because, Europe.
But one evening, we also got to listen to the musical talents of some of the grantees whose research projects were in fact, their musical field: we had a baroque violinist and a harpsichordist, a classically trained bass singer, and a marimba player.
We also had lots of free time to explore the city!
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| Although wrangling the whole situation was a tad bit difficult at first. (Also, that's my "I hate math" face.) |
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| Yours truly. |
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| Friends - new and old! |
We also had different discussion panels about various topics, including a great panel of the ETAs.
I got to hear about the experiences of other teachers in different countries: Spanish ETAs spend most of the year organizing a national model UN project, Norwegian and Swedish ETAs teach at the universities, and Andorran ETAs get days off to go skiing with students (I was more amazed to find out there actually is a country in between France and Spain to be honest).
I got to hear about the experiences of other teachers in different countries: Spanish ETAs spend most of the year organizing a national model UN project, Norwegian and Swedish ETAs teach at the universities, and Andorran ETAs get days off to go skiing with students (I was more amazed to find out there actually is a country in between France and Spain to be honest).
The last day at the conference, we got to hear about the research being done by the full grantees and the Fulbright Scholars. Even the stuff that sounded boring on paper turned out to be really cool in person.
Although they didn't have long to present, getting to hear from passionate scholars talking about their nerdy obsessions from slow food culture in Turkey to railroad crossing engineering in Spain to Soviet art in modern advertising in Slovakia to brain mapping in Sweden was incredible.
The last hurrah was at a club that Fulbright had rented out. Since Fulbright is basically a huge nerdfest, it was an awkwardly fun dance.
Although they didn't have long to present, getting to hear from passionate scholars talking about their nerdy obsessions from slow food culture in Turkey to railroad crossing engineering in Spain to Soviet art in modern advertising in Slovakia to brain mapping in Sweden was incredible.
The last hurrah was at a club that Fulbright had rented out. Since Fulbright is basically a huge nerdfest, it was an awkwardly fun dance.
Oh yeah, and we got sweet Fulbright swag.
I now have a Fulbright tote bag, pen, and a red, white, and blue Fulbright scarf.
Which I will not wear/use at the same time lest I blind someone with my Fulbright-ness, but mostly because dropping the "F-bomb" (as I like to refer to it) isn't really my style.
On a note unrelated to Fulbright and Germany: I get to start scheduling my courses for grad school this fall!
Anyway, I'm super pumped about this coming fall. Just wanted to let you guys know.
Lots of Love,
Your Humble Blogger
UP NEXT: Part Two of Ireland!
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