A new teaching adventure

Word of mouth can be great, especially when it results in a full-time teaching assistantship for me. Such is how I came to be the English assistant at the Bundesgymnasium and Bundesrealgymnasium Wieselburg (BG/BRG for short) and at BORG Scheibbs, a high school focusing on art and music in a town about 20 minutes from Wieselburg. Through May, I will be splitting my time between the two schools by spending one week in Wieselburg and one week in Scheibbs. See map for a visual of where Pöchlarn, Wieselburg and Scheibbs are in relation to one another.

The story of my employment goes like this:

The Fulbright teaching assistant for the Gymnasium (pronounced with a hard "G") simply didn't show up. He didn't tell anyone, just decided to stay home I guess. Lucky for me, however, because the school still really wanted an assistant. This is where the word-of-mouth part comes in. The teachers at Michael's school of course knew that I was in Austria and not working. During their weekly lunch at Mr. Lee (probably the only Japanese restaurant in all of Lower Austria), one teacher at Michael's school mentioned that I was here to another teacher at the Gymnasium, and the rest is history. The teacher contacted me immediately and we began work on submitting the necessary forms so I could officially be hired. After working our way through the Austrian bureaucracy, I was officially able to start after the Christmas holiday. What this means is that I have the exact same job Michael has with the same pay and benefits. And all I had to do to get the job was be here.

Now I'm a week into the job and loving every minute of it... except the waking up at 5:50 a.m. part. My internal clock doesn't register that time very well. The students in Wieselburg range in age from 10 to 18 years old and are primarily university track students. They speak English quite well and appear to be interested in what I have to say. I get quite the variety as well. This week I went from one lesson where we did "Head and Shoulders" with 10 year olds to reading "Brave New World" with the 18 year olds. I now have a copy of the book to read, and even I don't know some of these words! As we both make our way through the book, I look forward to having some interesting discussions with the students about Utopian societies.

Next week will be my first week in Scheibbs, so stay tuned for more to come on that. I have met a few of the teachers though and they all seem really nice.

In addition to teaching, I'm also rocking the tutoring scene. This week I met with a student from the school I had previously been teaching at in Amstetten, and next week I'm meeting with a student from the school in Wieselburg. She is preparing to take her university entrance exam in May and wants to practice speaking English with a native speaker. Michael is also at a tutoring session right now in fact. All of these sessions mean bonus income for us. Tomorrow I'm going to an elementary school to do some basic English activities with 6-10 year olds. Should be fun but exhausting. The younger they are, the more energetic they are, and the more work they are for me! I don't know if I'm cut out for this...

I really feel fortunate for all that has fallen into my lap this semester. It's quite unbelievable that something this lucky would happen to me - and in a town of less than 4,000 no less. I'm looking forward to a busy but rewarding next couple of months of teaching and intercultural exchange.