the time has come to say goodbye

well guys, after 2 years on the job, I'm officially no longer an English teaching assistant. I'm still not completely sure it's registered yet (both that I won't be returning to my school and that my time in Germany is all to quickly drawing to a close).  My official last day was Wednesday, but it was sort of a stretched out process, so yesterday ended up being the last day I was physically at my school. It went something like this:


Wednesday was my last day of classes. This was really the big day in my mind because I had to say goodbye to some of my favorite students. The first was a fifth grade class I've been with all year. They are pretty much the most adorable kids I've ever worked with and I had so much fun with them! To put it into perspective - I think they are the only class (you know, of more than 5 students) I've had in the past two years where I knew every student's name. They gave me an awesome class picture that they all signed and some chocolate and individual cards. You better believe that pic will be hanging in my grad office next year! 


Then - at the very end of the day - I had to say goodbye to my 10th grade Cambridge Exam prep class. It is a little group of 6 students total who all faithfully waited till the 9th lesson (which is suuuuuuuper late) every Wednesday to have this class. In fact, they took the exam in early May, so for the past month or so they've been coming to that annoyingly last class time just for fun. I was going to bring our favorite game to class for the last lesson, but I accidentally gave it to my teacher before it's last use. But I'm so glad I forgot it. I brought them cookies and they brought me brownies and cake (two delicious cakes that I got to take home and probably won't finish before our big trip tomorrow), and we ended up chatting about everything from the Euro Cup to the weirdest German dialects for the last 45 of my ETA career. It was pretty much the perfect way to end our time. 


I'll miss a lot of things about my school and being an ETA in general, but I think I'm really going to miss those students (and some others I didn't get to see on Wednesday) the most. Though, I have promised my 5th graders I'll come to their Abitur party in 7 years!

some of the gifts from my students, teachers and school for my last day

Thursday I returned in the evening to play in the spring concert with my school's band. I'm really glad I got to do that one last time, because playing with my students (however infrequently) and seeing how music classes are done in Germany has been just as interesting to me as learning German (or English) over the past two years. And I got to say goodbye to some of my students again, which was nice.

Finally on Friday, I made the 25 minute journey to and from school for the last time. Again to play with the school orchestra, but this time for the - well, basically the equivalent of Graduation. I forgot to ask people how long they've done something like that, because I've always been told that Germans don't have anything resembling an American graduation - but maybe I just heard wrong. But it was cool to see their take on the process. An interesting comparison - perhaps for another post. In the end, I handed over my keys, gave my final hugs goodbye, and left the school for the last time. 

Having been an ETA for 2 years, I've known a lot of other people who've had really bad experiences at their school (not many, but enough). People who either just didn't fit in with the faculty or had problems with the students or didn't ever feel welcome. I still can't believe how incredibly lucky I was not only to have an awesome experience, but to have 2 amazing schools and 2 years of welcoming teachers, friendly and often enthusiastic students, and nothing but good memories.

Ok, I know I don't really post the gushy, heart-felt posts a whole lot, but I felt like it was necessary for a bittersweet goodbye - really the first of many bittersweet goodbyes to come in the next month. Before we get bogged down in those sad things, though, it's off to Italy tomorrow! But more on that later.  

People on Trains

People on trains can be pretty great. Kind of like people at airports. They make for good people watching. Which happens to be one of my favorite activities. This is the story of mine and Gemma's train ride to and from Bayreuth.

On the way there, Gemma and I were on the fairly empty train sitting across the aisle from and old man and his wife. After a while this [slightly paraphrased] conversation happens [in German]

Old man: Excuse me, can I ask where you two are from?
Gemily: The US and England
Old man: Oh, I thought you were speaking English! What are you doing in Germany?
Gemily: Well we both work and live in Germany now.
Old man: Our granddaughter is in Australia right now working as an au pair! She'll be so excited we met English speakers. What are your names?
Gemily: Gemma and Emily
Old man: Evelyn?
Gemily: Emily.
Old man: Amelie?
Gemily: Emily.
Old man: Evelyn?
Gemily: E-M-I-L-Y
Old man: Oh, well I have a very German name, Reinhard. Could you write your names down? Just the first names! 
Gemily: of course.
Old man: Then we can tell our grandkids we met English speakers!

This conversation completely made my day. They were absolutely adorable and so sweet. And it was further proof that Germans just don't seem to get my name. 

On the ride home it was less exciting. We just sat across from two teenage boys who kept talking about us and commenting on their inability to understand us in German. Not to mention the total ETA and Famous stares they were blatantly giving us the whole time.  Hey, news flash - you didn't understand us, but we understood you perfectly.

These train rides also happen to be a perfect example of the two most common reactions you get to speaking English in public here.  

The final countdown: the thrilling conclusion

And it's finally here, my last night as a Fulbrighter and the single most important lesson I learned in the year leading up to this...
 
Things I learned during my Fulbright year:
#10 - a lot about the English language
#9 - there is such a thing as too much free time
#8 - riding a bike in the snow can be dangerous
#7 - missing your last train isn't always a bad thing
#6 - how to not be the student
#5 - German
#4 - I am a Georgia girl
#3 - you're allowed to visit home on a year abroad
#2 - the future comes no matter how hard you try to avoid it
#1 - it's all about the people

Honestly, this is the simplest lesson in my entire countdown. There is no witty story or profound moment of enlightenment involved. And yet, it is without a doubt the most important thing on the list. I'm sure almost every Fulbrighter formed preconceived notions on how their year was going to turn out as soon as they got their placement letter ("I got Berlin?! I'm going to be so culturally diverse!" "Munich?! Lederhosen EVERYDAY!" "Forchheim... is that a real place?"), but I found it really has very little to do with where you are, but rather who you're with.
 
Now all the Fulbright ETAs met at orientation and again in March at the Berlin conference. So I've met a fair share of the 140 people placed across Germany, and trust me, it is a very diverse group of personalities. So the fact that I ended up in the same region as 6 other amazingly awesome ETAs, I'm going to say was fate. You may remember my explanation of ETA and famous,  well those people are my group - the other ETAs in the Franconia region (we prefer to just call ourselves "Franken"). We don't like to brag, but at the convention in Berlin, we got the impression that we were the closest-knit group of ETAs there. We're just that awesome. We hang out (or used to hang out, now, I guess :() fairly regularly, and became incredibly close through our woes and triumphs over the year.
 
Without these people, my year would not have been half the success that it was. So that is why I wanted to use my last post as an official Fulbrighter  to introduce you to FRANKEN, the most amazing ETAs Germany has ever seen:
 

Gemma

You know Gemma. The better half of Gemily. Poor Gemma is the only British assistant, so she has to put up with a lot of our Americanisms. She and I live together and basically come as a packaged deal in the Franken group. Two years ago, Gemma did was an ETA in Berlin and (like me) had been just looking for any reason to get back to Germany. Basically she's so awesome that she's already had an entire post devoted to just her!
 

Jennifer

Jennifer and I have a pretty similar story in that we quite randomly decided to study abroad for one year,  fell in love with Europe and have been doing anything we can to get back. I think that's why we get along so well. Only, instead of Switzerland, Jennifer had spent most her time in Austria (they have the Alps and really strange accents, so, I mean, it's not too different from Switzerland). She has had some interesting luck in her Fulbright year, between crazy landlords and extreme medical adventures, and I'm always so impressed by what a positive attitude she keeps through it all! She also frequents Hotel Baptistella for caramel corn binges and HIMYM marathons. 
 

Erin

Erin is the only one in our group that doesn't live on a direct train line. But despite the hassle, she always manages to make it out with us. I like to think that she is the most rational and sensible one out of all of us, but at the same time, she cracks me up every time we hang out. She is also very good at rapping. Especially when her only line is to say "Ausgebildet". 
 

Andy

Oh Andy. Andy was the first of our group to leave when he headed home about 2 weeks ago. He is definitely the life of the party in that he is the one who is always encouraging us to party at all. Andy was living abroad for the first time this year, so he probably did the most traveling out of any of us. I swear, every weekend he was in another country making new friends and having an awesome time. He is also the mastermind behind the ETA and famous videos. And it's uncanny how many people wink at him. 
 

Matt

Sind Sie der Beck? We like to call Matt "der Beck" since that is his last name and also the name of a very popular bakery chain here. Despite having probably the worst experience with German bureaucracy ever when he first arrived (and for the following 4 months), he was still able to come out with a positive attitude and a good sense of humor about it all. He is probably the wittiest person in our group and can always think of the best response in any situation. He is also very outspoken about his love of ethnic women. 
 

Zach

Zach is my music nerd buddy. Since we both have a history of studying music (some things will haunt you forever), we formed a special bond over a children's evening performance by the Bamberg symphony (hey, cheap tickets are where it's at). Aside from singing, Zach's special talents include dancing - with moves he only first busted out with at the Berlin conference in March. Since then I think we've all looked at Zach in a new light. Until two weeks ago at the Berg festival in Erlangen. There we met a completely new side of Zach, that, for the sake of internet exposure, we'll refer to as #DZ. Long story short, I told #DZ I would marry him and I meant it. 
 
Of course there were other people (both ETAs and... well, not ETAs) who I met along the way that definitely impacted my year. But these 6 - the Franken group - were really something special. So thanks, guys, for helping to make my Fulbright year as awesome as it was. And whoever I end up with next year has 12 very big shoes to fill. 

ETA and Famous.

My group of friends recently found our way on to the homepage for the website of the city of Erlangen. So I thought I should explain just how we're so cool.

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:

1. 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.
2. 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

Franken Friends.

So what happens when you put all the Franken* ETAs** in one skype chat?
 
Madness...

*Franken = Franconia, the region I live in, as explained in this vlog
**ETAs = English teaching assistants [often used combination with the phrase "and famous." e.g. "we're so ETA and famous right now"]