crthrasher

So I've heard! Have you heard about the Teach and Learn in Georgia program through their government, where you can go volunteer to teach English and they will host you there? I was interested in the program at one point but read online that it's still in development stages so it's still a little flimsy in terms of being organized/providing reliable support/etc. Either way though, I'm sure you could do that if you didn't get the Fulbright, right?

From what I've heard from previous Germany ETA grantees, the side project is super flexible. I mean, heck, it's even flexible for the full grants so of course it's gonna be flexible for the ETAs as that is not our main focus anyways. I've heard that some people simply put that their side project was taking some classes at a local school/university and volunteering at a local shelter or something, and that was fine. I don't think it has to be super complicated -- they just want to make sure you're getting involved in the community in your free time and not spending your time holed up in your room, or focused on personal endeavors.

Yeah I think that sounds ideal! It's good to show you're really thinking about making the best use of your time in Germany, but the reason they say for it to not be location specific is just because you could be placed anywhere in the country. So I'm sure you're good with that!

You're cool!!

That sounds fantastic!

Hehe, yikes! I hate it when I hear conflicting advice. It was such a pain when I was doing my application having different people (whose opinion I value equally) telling me COMPLETELY opposite things about what I should/should not write... haha. Oh well. Hopefully works out for both of us! Anyways, I think my adviser told me it had to be 'realistic' too, but I guess her interpretation of that was that if I was *too* specific it would look like I wasn't flexible and had my heart set on this project more than the teaching.

That's a great idea! I didn't specify what kind of music in my application -- it will really depend on what I find in terms of student interest at my school when(if) I get there. The way I wrote my application, I was hoping to get placed in the Diversity Program with less advantaged students (a non-advertised program of the Germany ETA program -- usually about 20/140 ETAs who get placed in it, and it means you get placed in a school with high percents of students with Migrationshintergrund, in more urban/less advantaged areas). So, it will really depend on my students interests because part of my motivation for doing this is I think music has a lot of power to keep kids engaged and going forward in their life (that's what it did for me as a teen!). I'm classically trained, but very familiar with more popular styles of music like rock, pop, and electronic, and I'd like to encourage students to explore their interests in whatever floats their boat, whether it's jazz or choral or heavy metal.

Yay awesome!!

I proposed starting or helping out with a student group that involves kids at the school in music, if my host school is amenable to that kind of thing, as well as getting involved in the local music scene (I play multiple instruments). I didn't go into too much depth/detail with my proposed side project because I was informed by my adviser and some former ETA grantees that they don't want to see projects that are too complicated (because then they think you'd be better off with the research grant and wonder why you didn't apply for that). What did you propose?

Yay congratulations!!!

A 5-day weekend for Easter seems excessive. I would think they might have Friday and/or Monday off but probably not Thursday?

Yes come to think of it, I think Friday is a holiday for state employees. :'( EDIT: Or maybe I'm wrong? But my boyfriend works at a public university and he has Friday off so I thought it was because of being a public employee.

We'll all make it! All for one and one for all! I mean what, there's 140 spaces available right? Clearly enough room for all the Germany ETA folks on this board!

there'sanappforthat, am I not your soulmate too? :'( you're breaking my heart *cries Germany ETA tears*

Yay! Congrats, IchBinIch!!!

Last year if I recall correctly, Germany ETAs were notified only a couple days after the full grants. Can anyone confirm on that? So hopefully we won't have to wait to long... I'm guessing that we'll at least hear by Friday.

Hahaha, aww. Us poor souls! They better hurry up!

Hehe, I love Talking Heads.

I would like to know this as well! That would be pretty awesome!

Interesting! That's great to know! I'll definitely consider it for the future.

"There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it." -Oscar Wilde

Yay, congratulations!!!

I have an acquaintance who just did the Tanzanian semester program and it sounds like she had an incredible, life-changing experience. You have to be careful with a lot of these "Teach English Abroad" programs out there on the net, as many are not that good or are a total rip-off. WorldTeach is a nonprofit organization and the fees they charge you purely cover the program operation costs. They arrange everything for you so it's really a good deal especially for someone who has no experience living/traveling in that country.

Same here... I have a job as a grant writer at a nonprofit organization, so if I don't get Fulbright I'll probably just continue doing what I've been doing with this. (I graduated last year and have been working here since then). It's not what I want to do forever, but I feel pretty lucky to have a job that relates even slightly to my skills, goals and interests, when a lot of my peers can't find ANY job.

Just go to this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmoTe-gJd4B9dFJ0aW1mYTVkYnhKcUEzR28yRTNwdlE&usp=sharing You should be able to edit it there without logging in. Or, you can sign into your Google account first and then open the link and it should save it in your google docs. But that's not necessary - you can edit it anonymously.