A week from today I will be hopping aboard a plane, then another plane, then another plane and then probably a train. These various modes of transportation will be whisking me away to the final destination of Graz, Austria. Never heard of it? Me either.
It's the second largest city in Austria, trailing behind Vienna with roughly 265,000 primary residents. It also has a castle. (As every proper European city ought.) The city is nestled on the Eastern side of the country, bordering Hungary and Slovenia, with Slovakia to the North and Italy to the Southwest. You can guess who is already planning an Eastern European adventure...
I have been granted a Fulbright Teaching assistantship in which I will aid Austrian teachers with their English classes as a language resource and cultural dictionary. It will be my job to entertain the youth of two separate Gymnasien (5th-12th graders) while simultaneously forcing them to speak my native tongue. One of the schools is a normal state-run Gymnasium and the other is specifically for students who wish to become Kindergarten teachers. At first I thought I would actually be teaching kindergartners...dodged that bullet.
I will arrive the 6th of September to begin getting the lay of the land. Within the first week I will settle on a room to rent (am currently looking at two places) and then I will have until the 24th to get acclimated before my orientation seminar begins. I will report to my main school before 8 am on October 1st and this new journey will officially begin! I will be an employee of Austria! HUZZAH. I will be required to work 13 hours per week and aside from that, I have no clue what is in store for me. EXCITING, NON?! It hasn't reaaaallly sunk in for me. I know I've done the whole go abroad for a year thang but, this is different. I won't be a student. I'll be paying my own rent. I'll be employed. I'll know only 1 other person in Graz when I arrive...I'll be truly independent, with only my German to keep me afloat. ...I'm so glad my degree can be of use. All you naysayers doubted my liberal arts education well WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?! (no one, actually.)
