First Day(s) of Work(s)

This week, the real work began.

As you may know, every Fulbright recipient has a host institution. In my case, I have two host institutions, because I actually have two jobs. First, I work at Eötvös Loránd University ("ELTE"), where I teach two courses on American English. I also work at the EducationUSA Advising Center, where I help Hungarians find their way to study in the U.S.

Both of these jobs started this week, which meant that I had two first days of work, two rounds of getting to know new colleagues, and two times the confusion of starting a new workplace. While I was a little anxious about this, it went pretty smoothly.

Job #1: Teaching at ELTE

Today was my first day teaching at ELTE. Because I teach only part-time, I actually only go to the university on Wednesdays and teach back to back in the afternoon. (Of course, as this is the first time I'm teaching this class, there is quite a lot of lesson planning that happens outside of class on the days when I'm not physically there.) On Monday, I went to the university for a faculty meeting and to get oriented as far as administrative issues are concerned (where to print, what resources are available, etc.).

On Monday I also met some of my colleagues, who have been very welcoming and friendly to me. Being a professor in Hungary is not a lucrative position, and many professors teach upwards of 7 to 9 courses a semester, so I very much appreciate that several new colleagues took time out of their day to introduce themselves to me and show me around. Specifically, one of my colleagues, Orsi, who is teaching the same class I teach, game me a small tour of the department and helped me get situated for the start of class.

Today is when classes actually started for me. It went smoothly -- especially because today was syllabus day, so we really only got oriented and did a few introductory activities. I got to know my students, as well, because prior to the start of class I have received very little information about what this class is for, who takes it, etc. Turns out, most of my students are in the undergraduate teacher education program to learn to teach English, and my course is a compulsory one. I have two sections of 16 students each. All but one of the students are Hungarian (there's one Italian student here on the Erasmus+ program) and all but two are female. They all seem quite pleasant, although a little hesitant to participate.

The unfortunate thing is that next Wednesday is UNESCO International Day of Sport, so my classes are canceled for the day (and thus, for the week). Unlike in the U.S., where we have two 90-minute class periods per week, here there is only one 90-minute meeting a week -- so I lose out on a whole week's worth of material because there's no school on Wednesday. That means I'll just have to pack extra material into the rest of the semester! The other drawback is that my classroom is relatively small, and has no projector or whiteboard, so for any activities I want to do on the computer, I either have to check out the department's projector or have my 16 students crowd around my laptop. So, no weekly PowerPoint presentations for me! (I know more than a few professors who would be freaked out by the lack of PowerPoint, but after Mozambique, I'm just happy that all my students are well fed, clothed, and can all read.)

I'm looking forward to getting into the material more in two weeks when classes resume (stupid Sports Day!). While I was pretty nervous about teaching, as I haven't taught at the undergraduate level before, it went well and I already like it. It's good to be back in the classroom, despite the inevitable beginning-of-semester jitters.

Job #2: EducationUSA

Yesterday was my first day at the EducationUSA center. The center shares space (and is affiliated with) the Hungarian Fulbright Commission, so I already knew several of the staff members from our orientation last week. Everyone is very friendly, and most of them have spent considerable time in the U.S., so they made me feel right at home.

End-of-day treat

I first got a tour of the office (which was just renovated, so things are a bit scattered at the moment), and then I was assigned my first task: to produce a newsletter, compiling relevant information from U.S. universities, scholarship opportunities, etc. to send out to the e-mail list. This, thankfully, was a task I felt totally capable of doing. In the next few weeks, I'll be trained on advising Hungarian students to study in the U.S., and I'll also start leading twice-a-week workshops on important tests like the SAT, TOEFL, GRE, and one workshop on writing skills.

I work at EducationUSA twice a week, so I will be going back tomorrow to finish the newsletter and start learning some new tasks. Looking forward to it!

It's always a little nerve-wracking to start a new job -- now imagine starting two new jobs in a foreign country where you don't speak the language. Eesh! Thankfully, everything has gone smoothly so far, in great part thanks to my wonderful colleagues at both workplaces. As a treat to myself for getting through two first days, this afternoon I bought myself an iced coffee with whipped cream on top and spent some time reading my book at the coffeeshop in the park near my house. Yum!