This is a short introduction to my blog, which includes my motivation to create this blog, as well as why I am embarking on this journey.
For those of you who don’t know me very well, my name is Tommy and I grew up in a dual-language home. My dad is American and lived his childhood in a rural town in Connecticut, and my mom, now also an American citizen, was born and raised in the Hungarian capital city, Budapest. I am a citizen of both countries, and have grown up speaking both Hungarian and English.
I know that this doesn’t necessarily mean that I would have a natural inclination to be fascinated by languages, but it was a good environment in which one could be nurtured. I remember times when I was younger when I would look up how to say things in different languages for no particular reason, simply because I was curious.
In elementary school, my classmates and I learned in music class how to sing Silent Night in German, which made me wonder how songs in different languages sounded. In middle school, I was eager to begin learning a foreign language and decided to choose Italian as my first venture, straying away from the much more popular Spanish and French. And during my sophomore year of high school after transferring to Phillips Exeter Academy, I was forced to start learning a new language as Italian was only offered as an accelerated course for seniors. Out of a long list that I won’t delve into here, I chose German because I thought it would be a greater challenge, but not overwhelming due to simple similarities in vowel sounds it shared with Hungarian.
During my time at Exeter, I was fortunate enough to receive a substantial scholarship, which enabled me to take advantage of probably one of the best study abroad programs a high school could offer. I was able to spend two months during my senior year living with a German family kind enough to house me (Noch mal vielen Dank, und ich freue mich darauf, euch zu sehen!), and I took classes at a Gymnasium (high school), completely immersed in a German-speaking environment.
I’ve now been learning German for more than seven years and have successfully completed a major in German Language and Literature at Tufts University, which has allowed me to turn my curiosity for other cultures and languages into a passion. I even started to learn Spanish during my final semester partly to fulfill a course requirement, but more seriously to further nurture that very passion.
So, for those of you who DO know me well, you all know that it has been my dream since I boarded my flight from Frankfurt back to Boston to return to Germany and to live there for an extended period. Those two months were far too short! And now I have that opportunity.
I applied for a few programs in which I would be able to teach English in both Germany and Austria, and was fortunate enough to be selected as an English Teaching Assistant as a part of the Fulbright Program, where I will be living in Wolfsburg, Germany for a 10-month period. I am extremely honored and excited for this amazing opportunity, one which certainly won’t go to waste.
This blog is intended to provide those who are considering applying for a Fulbright award with some insight into what the program and the general daily routine is like (with a Germany-centered perspective, of course), as well as allow me to reflect on my own experiences as a teacher. Who knows, you may also learn a little German by reading this if you don’t know some already!
And for those who are about as in love with traveling and experiencing new cultures as I am, I’m planning on writing and sharing plenty of those stories as well. I’ve been inspired by content creators such as Kara and Nate, Simon Wilson and ClickforTaz on YouTube (links down below) to try new things and to share those experiences with others. While they choose to share through video content (and are seriously good at it!), I frankly don’t think I have the skill or equipment available to do something like that yet, and so I decided to give blog posting a shot.
If you want to continue reading these updates, please subscribe by entering your email on the homepage! Thanks for reading, and I hope you follow me through this incredible experience!
Check out these YouTube channels for cool travel videos if you’re interested!
Teacher Tommy's Travels 