Stories
Trains of Thought
Over these last few months of my Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grant, I’ve been enjoying my commute to school, gazing out the window of my train as it zooms past the mountains, the rivers, and the farms of Luxembourg. But…
My FLTA experience at Gannon University
In January 2022, I had one full semester as a Gannon University FLTA under my belt. I was slowly but surely getting used to life in Erie, Pennsylvania. Since my arrival mid-August, I had delighted myself in the full seasons…
A Taste of Ghent
Tucked away in Flanders, Ghent is an interesting mix of old and new: known for its Medieval architecture and famous historical skyline, the city is also very much alive and equally known for its vibrant student culture, music, and art…
Honorable chair, distinguished delegates: a Belgian delegation to the London International Model United Nations Conference
One of the most unexpected and rewarding parts of the last several months has been my work with a newly formed Model United Nations delegation. BelgaMUN, as the fledging delegation has come to be called, is the first delegation to…
Piecing together the American puzzle, one encounter at a time
I was walking the streets of Deadwood, a town in South Dakota, when a window display stopped me in my tracks. “The only good journalist is a dead one,” a graphic T-shirt for sale read. Accompanying the text was a…
From the Mundane to the Miraculous: a Fulbrighter’s testimony
“Have you noticed”, my friend told me over brunch the other day, “that Belgians in D.C. usually intend to move back to their home country at some point?” My friend is from a little Flemish town not too far from…
Volunteering at the Plantin-Moretus Museum as an American ETA in Belgium
When I stepped into the Plantin-Moretus Museum for the first time, I was struck by the centuries of Antwerp’s history contained within its walls. What is now the museum began as the press and private residence of one of Antwerp’s…
The Diary of a 2020 Covid Fulbright Grantee? There’s NO such thing as a Fulbright Experience
How do you have a Fulbright experience during a global pandemic? How do you enjoy what your host country has to offer when there is a lockdown? How do you fulfill the Fulbright program goal of promoting mutual understanding between…
Our experience as a Fulbright family in State College during a pandemic
From November 2019 until July 2020 my family and I lived in State College, where I was a visiting postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University (‘Penn State’). This blogpost shares our experience, colored by the…
Restless in Seattle: impressions of a Fulbright experience amidst the 2020 turmoil
Dark. Gloomy. Rainy. The Emerald City did not fail to live up its reputation when I landed on its ground in early January 2020. What was yet to come, no one could have ever suspected… Seattle was the final destination…
Generals for breakfast and presidents for dinner
I still clearly remember my arrival in New Haven, now over a year ago. To give me the time to settle in and attend the Fulbright Orientation Gateway in New Jersey, I had arrived two weeks prior to the start…
Teaching as an FLTA at the Jordan Family Language House in Austin College
Living in the USA for an academic year was one of those things that I put on my bucket list a few years ago. When I found out about the Fulbright FLTA program that allowed young teachers to teach in…