U.S. Fulbright Applicant
Newsletter

A Year in Germany

I had always wanted to spend time in Germany because both of my parents grew up there. When I found out about the Fulbright program during my senior year at Franklin & Marshall College, I jumped at the chance to apply for a position as a Teaching Assistant. My responsibilities would include teaching 12 English classes per week at a German high school. I was notified of my acceptance and told that I had been placed at the Immanuel Kant Gymnasium. The school was located in Harburg, south of the Elbe River in Hamburg, Germany's second largest city.

I arrived in northern Germany in September 2005. My first day of teaching was certainly memorable. I had prepared a brainstorming activity for an 8th grade class because I wanted to find out what came to mind when the students thought of America. Naively, I thought I would get responses like "democracy," "the President," or "red, white, and blue." The first three responses I actually got were: "fast food," "rappers," and (believe or not) "the death penalty." After a bit more brainstorming, I turned the tables and told the German students what sorts of things many Americans often associate with Germany: Oktoberfest, beer, wurst, and so on. There were loud protests. "That's not true!" "That's not us!" "That's only in the South!" We ended up having a really good conversation about stereotypes.

Not all of my time abroad was spent in the classroom though. I was able to arrange my classes so that I taught Mondays through Thursdays and had Fridays off. This allowed me to take part in the U.S. Consulate's School Outreach Program. The Consulate sends teaching assistants like myself, to schools across the consular district that don't have the opportunity to have a teaching assistant for the whole year. The program varies from school to school, sometimes the teachers just want to have a "real" American for informal Question & Answer sessions, but other times they want a formally prepared lesson. Regardless of the schedule, the visits were invariably fun. The students were extremely welcoming, and I had the opportunity to visit many towns "off the beaten track."

Christina Arlt, a 2005-2006 Fulbrighter to Germany with Martina Tunstall

The most memorable event I attended was at the Kinderbibliotek in Stralsund on July 13, 2006. I had been invited to speak about American sports to a group of students at the opening of an exhibit at a Children's Library. Later I found out that Mrs. Laura Bush would be present at the event. I can't say that the kids thought what I had to say was very exciting after they met Mrs. Bush, but it was still an honor to be on the program after the First Lady of the United States.

All in all, I had an amazing time during my year in Germany. I was able to improve my German, meet a variety of people, and have lots of new cultural experiences. I will be eternally grateful to my teaching mentor and my host family, who opened their homes and made me part of their lives and their families. While my job description as a Teaching Assistant made it my responsibility to pass on information about the English language and American culture to my students, I ended up learning as much, if not more, from them as they learned from me. I guess you could say: Fulbright mission accomplished.