Emma Hudson-Mairet spent the 2023-2024 academic year serving as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Belgium. Emma graduated from Marquette University with a bachelor’s degree in French, Environmental Studies, and Peace Studies in 2022. After graduation, Emma spent a year living and working as an English Language Assistant in Guingamp, France. Since 2019, Emma has spent summers as an environmental educator in her hometown of Milwaukee WI, sharing her love of the outdoors with students.
Q: What did you do as a Fulbright grantee in Belgium?
I worked as an English Teaching Assistant at Howest University of Applied Sciences in Bruges and Kortrijk. While I taught in a variety of classes across different departments over the year, I was primarily lecturing for first and second year students in the teacher training program. Most of my students are learning to be secondary school English teachers. I have been lucky enough to see them grow in the context of our Howest classrooms, but also in their internship placements as they begin to find their own teaching styles. Outside of the traditional classroom, I have led both individual and group practice sessions to help colleagues from across the university to prepare for their IELTS certification exams. I have also offered workshops to colleagues and students alike in areas such as English basics and motivational letter writing.
Q: What inspired you to apply to the Fulbright Program in Belgium?
My advisor in university encouraged me to apply to the Fulbright Program after she completed her own Fulbright year. I was excited by the emphasis on cultural exchange and the ability to teach English abroad. Admittedly, I did not know a lot about Belgium when I chose to apply to the Belgian commission. At the time, I had just moved to France to teach with a different program, and I was drawn to the idea of discovering a new country and culture while continuing to teach English. I was particularly interested in the opportunity to teach as an ETA at the university level. I had experience teaching various levels, but not university and I wanted to see if it was a good fit.
Q: What has been the most interesting or rewarding topic you have been able to share with your students?
The upcoming presidential election has been one of the most challenging but also most interesting topics to discuss and share with students. My students have had many questions about the general process as well as the specifics of this election cycle. With the Belgian and European elections in June this year, the topic of elections has been a learning opportunity for me as well, allowing my students to share what they know about their own system and upcoming election (in which many of them will be voting for the first time).
Q: Since you were based at an institution with campuses in two different cities, your schedule must have varied quite a bit. Can you describe a typical day in your life?
My schedule fluctuated greatly day to day and week to week depending on what classes I was teaching, but generally I had 12 hours of in-person teaching time spread throughout the week. I spent one day a week at the Kortrijk campus and the rest split between the two Bruges campuses. Most days, I had one or two classes. In Bruges, I lived quite close to the center of town and to both campuses, so I normally walked or biked to work. I typically went back to my apartment to work on planning and other work tasks after my lessons were done. During the week I spent a lot of time working on school tasks outside of giving lessons, however, I fit in many interesting activities in my freetime as well. For most of the year, Monday and Wednesday evenings were taken up by Dutch classes and lace classes occupied Monday afternoons for a few months. I volunteered when I could and signed up for a variety of free community events whenever I was available.
Q: Beyond the classroom, how have you engaged with your host community in Belgium?
This year, I challenged myself to show up to and at least try anything that looked interesting. This has led me to some fun places! I have danced, planted trees, made lace, learned grammar, played music with toddlers, discussed life with retirees, attended festivals, done yoga, etc. The list of ways my community has surprised me goes on and on. The most consistent engagement I have had this year, and the one that I am most proud of, took the form of Dutch classes. I took 6 hours of Dutch a week through a local adult education school. Beyond the huge benefits of language acquisition, these classes gave me a community of people who were also new to the area. I learned a lot about different cultures and countries from the friends that I made through this class. In order to improve my language skills, I dared to participate in events such as praattafels (conversation circles), poetry nights, language learning game afternoons, volunteer organizations, etc. In turn, I was better able to participate in social events and feel more a part of the communities I was joining. I could better understand the people I met at swing dance and folkbals. I could volunteer for events that introduced me to other organizations I would otherwise never have heard of. In the last few months of my grant I became more involved with opportunities I found through a volunteer organization. This opened up many doors for me that greatly improved my engagement with and my appreciation for my community.
Q: Can you tell us the story of a particular memorable moment(s) from your time in Belgium?
There are a few memorable moments that come to mind when I think of this year. I will share one that is directly tied to my Fulbright cohort. Most of my cohort was placed at least an hour from where I was located this year, so it took some commitment to connect at the beginning. In late October, I saw an announcement from the city of Bruges about a tree planting festival that would be taking place in early November. I invited my cohort and two people decided to join me. It absolutely poured in the morning while I took them around Bruges, but by the time we got to the forest, it was a gorgeous day. Over an afternoon, we joined a huge group of volunteers in a field adjacent to a local forest and we helped to plant hundreds of saplings. We left covered in mud, proud of the trees we planted, and decidedly friends. This moment is memorable not only because of the amazing day we had, but also because it kicked off and solidified two very important friendships for me this year.
Q: Has Belgium been what you expected? In what ways has life in Belgium surprised you, either for its similarities to or differences from your own culture?
I find it hard to articulate the cultural similarities and differences that I have felt this year. As Americans we are told that we are used to a very open culture and that the Flemish are much more closed off. In some contexts, I found this to be true. It is much less common to chat with people that you don’t know in public spaces and small talk is less of a cultural necessity than it is in the U.S. That said, I have found many people to be incredibly welcoming once I am in a context to know them. I have found that once I am in a space where people feel in community, the warmth of that community is evident. Similarly, I have been surprised by the willingness of most people to accommodate people who speak different languages. This might be exaggerated because I live in Bruges (with a huge tourist draw), but it is fascinating to see how quickly people will switch to one, two and sometimes even three different languages to accommodate you if you are not able to get by in Flemish.
Q: What has been your favorite “discovery” in Belgium?
Living in Flanders this year has led to daily “discoveries” in language. When I came in September, I knew no standard Dutch, and even less Flemish. I am thrilled by what I recognize and what I can understand after several months of lessons and interactions with (very patient) people. Exploring the feelings of living in a community where I don’t fluently speak the language has pushed me to think about the importance of language, but also the opportunities and outlets for communication and connection where language is a barrier.
Q: What will you do after your Fulbright grant? In what ways has your experience in Belgium this year impacted your plans for the future?
I have accepted a position as an English lecturer at a technical university in France, so for at least the near future, I will continue teaching English abroad. My year teaching in Belgium has helped me grow immensely as an educator and has reinforced my interest in languages and pursuing a career in language education.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who is considering applying to the Fulbright Program?
This year is what you make of it. The experiences you have, the chances you take, the people you meet, etc. are the pieces that form your year with Fulbright. Meeting new people and putting yourself out there in unfamiliar places can be really hard, but it is well worth it. This is a year-long process too – keep pushing to try new things, even after the initial excitement to be there has worn off! My advice to Future Fulbrighters is to say yes to interesting opportunities and try to find community in activities that bring you joy. Not only will this make a much more enjoyable year for you, but you will also get to know your host community and country much better in this way.
