As a recipient of a 2024 Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award, Benjamin Frey stepped away from his positions as a youth rowing coach and immigration paralegal to participate as an educator for this program. He holds a bachelor’s from the University of Michigan (Sociology with honors, Spanish, and a minor in Intergroup Relations Education – 2016) and a master’s degree from New York University (Translation & Interpreting – 2022). Benjamin helped his students grow, studied Dutch and French, and found outlets for physical activity and artistic pursuits within the Belgian community.
Q: What have you been doing on your Fulbright grant?
I am an ETA in the English Linguistics department of UGent, so I work with the first and second-year English proficiency courses. These are aimed at ensuring students’ English proficiency is sufficient to conduct literary and linguistic research. I support the three faculty members who are primarily responsible for conducting these courses, supervising approximately 350 students combined. The bulk of my work is directed at supporting grading efforts, but I also directly teach two seminars in the second-year course. Additionally, I designed and assessed an optional writing assignment for first years to provide extra practice for those students who desired it before their first graded writing assignment. Finally, a project that I have been working on throughout my grant has been to reconstruct the provided vocabulary for the students, which has included surveying the students regarding their desires for learning vocabulary, as well as working closely with a colleague to address the pedagogical basis on which I will be adjusting this course content.
Q: What inspired you to apply to the Fulbright Program in Belgium?
The Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program is something that I have been interested in for a long time as I enjoy languages and engagement with other cultures. I applied specifically to Belgium because I enjoy working with university-level students — I find that this age group is engaged in intellectual rigor that I find satisfying and are at a stage where they are beginning to broaden their understanding of the world as independent adults,which I appreciate being a part of — and Belgian ETAs are primarily, if not entirely, placed at the university level. Additionally, Belgium is an actively multilingual society, and, as someone who had just finished a master’s in Translation and Interpreting, this intrigued me. I wanted to understand how this manifested in the socio-cultural space and what challenges and benefits such a situation created within the population. How do people navigate their physical world within multilingualism? What pedagogical awareness and techniques must be in place to support the population? What are the boons and banes multilingualism causes to professional advancement? Questions like these became even more prominent for me after being in Belgium and recognizing how central Belgium, especially Brussels, is to the EU as a whole and how this further contributes to sentiments of multilingualism and multiculturalism.
Q: What has been the most interesting or rewarding topic you have been able to share with your students?
The classes that I was directly teaching were focused on public speaking, and I deeply enjoyed discussing how to adequately and accurately present information. I even learned a few tips and tricks myself. However, what I appreciated most was helping my students to overcome their anxiety around public speaking, which is something that I’m very good at and something that I feel many of my students took a lot away from.
Q: Describe a typical day in your life.
Today, I woke up early to make it to the 8am first-year lecture. I’m not required to attend these, but I like to know what the students are engaging in. On my way, I sat down for a coffee and a pastry at my favorite vegan pastry shop (right on the corner of my street). Afterward, I had a couple of seminars worth of second-year slide presentations to grade alongside my colleague with whom I am responsible for the group. This was their final presentation where they had to demonstrate the public speaking and supportive visual concepts that we have been discussing and practicing throughout the semester. I then ate lunch with my colleagues in the linguistics department staff room and then went to the public library where I am sitting to take care of some computer work and study for my final French exam which I am taking this evening. This course is also through UGent. I’m a lot busier than I expected, though it took some time for this to materialize. During the first month or two, it was hard to fill my time, especially because the university students were on break. I spent a lot of time exercising, reading, learning my way around Ghent, and figuring out the rhythm of my needs and responsibilities.
Q: In what ways have you engaged with your host community in Belgium?
I was excited to make a connection with a local rowing club as coaching is something that I’ve done for 8 years, especially since Ghent is a huge rowing hub. I have been primarily working with juniors (ages 15-19), but I’ve also shadowed U23 rowers, who were working toward being a part of the Belgian national team and training to qualify for the Olympics. In fact, two U23 athletes that I interacted with quite a bit just took bronze medals in the Men’s and Women’s single scull events at the World Rowing Championships in St. Catherines, Canada. It’s been a great experience to see another rowing situation and offered many opportunities to interact with the community. In addition to my volunteer work, I took an intensive Dutch course which helped me get a basis for the language. Even though many people here speak English, they default to Dutch and don’t always switch when a non-Dutch speaker is present. Having at least a grounding in Dutch helped me understand more about what was going on with others around me and helped me navigate the area more easily. I then took a French course through the university, which I’ve been studying for multiple years.
Since I am very active, I joined a Sunday morning running group. When someone in my group suffered a knee injury, I took their place last minute in the Ghent half-marathon. It was an unexpected but rewarding experience, and I’m proud to say that I beat two hours with only six days’ notice! On the less physical side of things, I auditioned for a play with the American Theatre company and performed with them in June at the end of my Fulbright experience. Overall, I’ve found that engaging with the community here in Ghent has boosted my self-esteem and my understanding of Belgian culture, which I’ve come to appreciate a great deal.
Q: Can you tell us the story of a particular memorable moment(s) from your time in Belgium?
This past weekend was a long weekend, as Thursday and Friday were holidays. The weather called for sunny days, which portends good times in Belgium. I spent Thursday coaching in the morning, then did some exercise both at the rowing club and a nearby climbing gym. This was all on or right next to the Watersportbaan, so it was an easy transition and a beautiful way to spend my morning and early afternoon. I then went to the city center to have a beer with some friends before I took the train to Brussels to rehearse with the theater company. On Friday, I went to Bruges with the same friends and it was a beautiful day to explore the city before going back to Brussels to rehearse for the play again. Saturday and Sunday were regatta days at the club and it was an international regatta, meaning that there were many nationalities represented, including the French, Germans, Czech, Swiss, and more. When I reflect on travel experiences though, it’s often not the big events that come to mind. It’s the moments where you have been integrated into a space to the point where it feels like yours. Though this past weekend sounds like a busy few days, they were certainly special and definitely represent that sense of comfort and integration
Q: In what ways has life in Belgium surprised you, either for its similarities to or differences from your own culture?
I’ve lived in many places, so transitioning to Belgium was comparatively easy to some other countries I’ve lived in. In many ways, it felt like living in Michigan. A friend who lives in Spain even told me that Belgium is basically the Michigan of Europe, which has been my refrain for much of my stay as similarities keep popping up. To name a few, “Midwestern Nice” is eerily similar to the Belgian attitude, we both have “mountains” that aren’t truly mountains, the weather is predictably underwhelming, and we are both fond of good craft beer. In all seriousness though, there are always difficulties in being in a new place and adjusting to a new culture, and some periods felt lonely and challenging to adapt. Notably, Belgians are relatively insular socially: they are friendly to colleagues and strangers, but it’s not as if they are necessarily looking for more friends. This is familiar in the sense that I can understand that mentality and connect with the ideology, but challenging in the sense that it is hard to get to know people beyond the surface level. In fairness, because Belgium has a fairly international community, I can certainly understand not wanting to connect with folks who are likely to be only temporary fixtures in your community.
Q: Have you noticed other similarities between Belgium and your home state?
To expand upon that idea of “Midwestern Nice” being similar to the Belgian, especially the Flemish, mentality, there are a lot of silly little things that go beyond just a general outward kindness. For example, no one will touch the last piece of food on a shared plate. In Flanders, they even have a name for it, which translates to “the shame piece.” It will, of course, disappear in the end, but not without some pomp and circumstance. We also share an affinity for lengthy goodbyes; even after everyone has said goodbye you’ll still exchange some comments, maybe even drawing out for quite some time, before someone gives the equivalent of a knee slap and a “welp, time to be off,” which triggers the actual process of leaving. I’ve already mentioned some similarities particularly with Michigan (craft beer, “mountains,” winter [insert audible sigh]), but Flanders and Michigan also hold a healthy animosity with our southern neighbors (Ohio and Wallonia respectively; you’ll always notice a difference in the roads when you cross the border – If you know you know), and our northern neighbors have a ton of nature, and are super relaxed, outdoorsy, and welcoming (Canada and the Netherlands). This should not be read as a complete list of commonalities. Honestly, there were strange little things from sayings to food preferences that came up at least twice a month.
In a deeper sense, there is a category of people here that seems analogous to Midwesterners best described as having the “white picket fence” mentality of life: marriage, kids, suburban life, and a dream to relax and travel after retirement. In Flanders, there is a phrase that translates to “little house, little tree, little town,” and in both places, these ideas signal a dedication to practicality. Why rent when you could buy a home and build equity? If you live in [name that city] you can be close enough to family to visit on the weekend. That kind of thing.
Q: What has been your favorite “discovery” in Belgium?
More than a discovery of something, I think my biggest discovery has been about a cultural practice. Namely, Belgians are very conscious and intentional about their work-life balance. Being someone who always fills up my time (a longstanding tradition of mine that has continued into my time in Belgium and I don’t always consider it exceptionally healthy), I have come to appreciate the attitude of respecting peoples’ time away from work. I think a common experience in the United States is feeling like we need to be accessible to our colleagues at all hours or to justify our time away from work, even to the point where sick days need to be demonstrated with proof from medical professionals. Frankly, it has made me realize how toxic the work culture in the United States can be, and I want to be intentional as I reenter the U.S. with how I will continue my life regarding my work and my career.
Completely separately (and with some levity), there is a vegan pastry shop just down the street from my apartment, and they taught me that vegan pastries can be absolutely incredible. They have gotten way too much of my monthly stipend. We also really need to up our public transport game in the United States; the accessibility and ease of buses, bikes, and trains here has been enlightening. Although, admittedly, the fact that Flanders is about the size of Connecticut certainly gives Belgium a leg up in this department.
Q: Did anything really surprise you about life in Belgium?
While I knew that Belgians as a whole spoke English well, I was surprised by just how many people have been able to speak English very clearly. In fact, when I was taking an intensive Dutch course my first month here, many Belgians reacted to that in a surprised way, like “Why are you doing that? Dutch is such a useless language.” I ultimately only took that one course because, while it helped me navigate my world here and connect with people, it was also clear that my Dutch would never match the level of English of those surrounding me and that we would default to English anyways.
Q: Has your experience in Belgium this year impacted your plans for the future?
This experience has truly broadened my idea of what my future could be. Before I came to Belgium, I was a rowing coach and an immigration paralegal and I had it in my mind to become a university-level rowing coach. During this time, I have revisited the idea of applying to master’s programs in public policy and international relations, considered becoming a Foreign Service Officer, realized the possibility that I would like to spend more time living in Europe, and am still entertaining the idea of becoming a university-level rowing coach in the United States. This is a long way to say that I don’t know exactly what my future will shape up to be, but I’m excited about the experiences that I had here in Belgium, which gave me a lot of thoughts on how to proceed with my life. All in all, I’m happy that I engaged in this Fulbright scholarship because it allowed me to realize that I’m ready for bigger things and to advance my life beyond where it was before.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who is considering applying to the Fulbright Program?
Apply! Apply again if you don’t get it. It is an amazing experience. I would advise Fulbright applicants and grantees to think about what they want out of their experience and to get involved as much as possible. It’s not going to solve your life-direction uncertainty, and you’ll be surrounded by really smart people who all have done and are planning on doing incredible things. In all likelihood, you’ll probably have a few more ideas about where your future could take you. It will feel confusing, but that exposure is both enlightening and important. There will also be times when you feel tired or worn out. There will be times when you just want to lock yourself away in your bedroom for a few days to decompress and feel like you’re not engaging in cultural differences and unfamiliarity all the time. Resist these urges. Say yes to as many things as you can. Meet people, be friendly, listen to them, learn from them, understand their life directions, and pay attention to the things that resonate with you. This is such a unique opportunity, and you have to walk the delicate balance of taking care of yourself and recognizing the temporality and special quality of what you are undergoing.