You might have heard me refer to ETA and Famous before. But let me explain...
It all started in September when we left orientation and moved on to our respective towns and schools. Well, all the ETAs (English Teaching Assistants) in [the northern Bavaria region known as] Franken some how bonded together very quickly. And in the beginning phases of our hanging-out-togetherness we noticed that people stared at us wherever we went, which we quickly credited to two things:
- Germans stare. No really, they have no problem blatantly following you with their whole body as you walk down the street. I think since there is no German word for "awkward" people just had to roll with the staring since they didn't know how to describe how it made them feel. Now it's just normal.
- We're loud Americans. I'd like to deny it, but have you heard me speak? I'm loud. And when there are 7 of us, we're very loud. And we're speaking English.
But, since both these concepts made us both uncomfortable and a little sad, we decided to blame the stares on something else. Fame. Yes, they're staring because we are famous. So this became our little joke all year. Whenever someone would start listening in or stare awkwardly at us, we would just give the group the signal "guys, we're so ETA and famous right now."
we even made our own reality show...
And we clearly got on the website because we were so recognizably famous*
*and not at all because we just happened to be sitting next to the website photographers
on the opening day of the biggest beer festival in Erlangen**
**but more on that later
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