Dear Friends and Family,
Today I was sent an offer to become a United States Teaching Assistant in Austria as part of the Austrian-American Educational Commission (Fulbright Commission) for the coming 2009-2010 Austrian academic year. I am so excited to be able to be a part of this program!
I sent in my application on February 13th and was notified April 10th that I was selected as an "alternate candidate", which meant that if one of the "principle candidates" dropped out, then I would be "favorably considered" for placement. I was a little disappointed and began searching for other opportunities for work after my graduation with a B.A. in Religious Studies and German from UC Berkeley this May. While I was attempting to fax in an application as a German-speaking Trekleader with an outdoor company this morning, I checked my e-mail only to find the offer in my Inbox. I jumped up and down with joy in the Fax/Copy store, decided not to fax my Trekleader application and came home.
I'll give you a little background about this program. It has been around since 1963 and is run by the Austrian-American Educational Commission (AAEC), specifically the Fulbright Commission. The teaching assistantship is not specifically through the Fulbright Grants Program though, which leaves me wondering: Am I a Fulbright Scholar? The program is funded by the Austrian Ministry of Education, the Arts and Culture.
As a teaching assistant, I will assist teachers of English in classroom instruction 13 hours per week. That doesn't seem like much teaching to me now, but at least I'll have a lot of extra time to explore Austria! The ages of the students I will be teaching varies. I need to explain the Austrian school system a little bit first to give you an idea of the ages and types of students I will be teaching.
In Austria all students go to a "Volksschule" which goes up to the equivalent of our 4th grade. After that they either go to a "Hauptschule" which concentrates in a specific field or a "Gymnasium" which is a more liberal arts education that prepares them to go to a university. The "Gymnasium" lasts 8 years, while the "Hauptschule" lasts only 4 years. After the end of these 4 years students either go on to prepare for a specific vocation, like engineering or teaching, or attend an "Oberstufenrealgymnasium" which is like the last 4 years of the normal "Gymnasium" liberal arts studies. I will teach either students in the "Gymnasium", "Oberstufenrealgymnasium", or the specific vocation years after the "Hauptschule". I also don't know whether I will be teaching at a public or private school.
Here is what I do know: I am assigned to 2 secondary schools in Leibnitz and Kaindorf an der Sulm in the province of Styria from October 1-May 31.
I am really excited for this opportunity to practice my German (and learn a dialect!) as well as explore a beautiful new country and learn more about the austrian school system.
I'll keep you updated as I know more and please feel free to leave me messages and ask questions.
Here is a map of Austria (Österreich auf deutsch). It's amazing to me how many different countries surround this small country of 32,000 sq. miles. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The capital city is Vienna (Wien), which has the largest population of 1.7 million.
I will be staying in that orange province, Styria (Steiermark), whose capital is Graz. Specifically I will be in Leibnitz, demarked by the flag in the picture below.
