Crash course

I had a great week in Graz. I stayed in a castle with 70 or so other English language teaching assistants. Most were other Americans, but there were also several from the British Isles. It was nice to make some more connections with people who will be all over Austria in the same situation as myself. We took part in a three-day teaching seminar, and I think about forty percent of us did not have any teaching experience at all. Discussing worries and excitement coming into the school year with the other TAs was really nice for everybody and I think we all came out more confident and certainly with a better idea of what our jobs entail. Our biggest priority is to make the Austrian students speak with us in the classroom in English, all the while serving as experts on matters of American (for me, at least) culture. Of course I am not an expert, but doing my best and faking it slightly is just going to be part of the job. Grammar, grading, and discipline is largely left up to the teachers we will be working with. We did get a taste of the 'real thing' on Thursday. We got to go into real-live Austrian high schools and teach a lesson in an English class. I thought the group of TAs that I taught with got a great response from the students and they asked some really good questions. We were assigned to a class of 17-year old guys and I was definitely impressed by their English as well as their manners. We didn't have to tell them to be quiet even once! The lesson we organized was about our respective home states in the US. We asked them to guess where we live, and as expected, we got Florida, New York and California as guesses. I think maybe three of the students had heard of North Carolina. Also as expected, one of the students brought up George Bush during the class. It was neat because all five of us were from red states and none of us had voted for him. The week culminated in a speech from the head Fulbright representative in Austria as well as a toast with Sturm, which is sweet, yellowish, partially-fermented wine. In fact, this time of year is called Sturmzeit around these parts. I have one more weekend before I report for duty on Monday at the Bundesgymnasium und Bundesgrealymnasium Neunkirchen. Or, in English, Neunkirchen High. Wish me luck.