20 September 2007

Orientation: Day #1

Orientation yesterday was absolutely exhausting, hence the reason I'm writing this morning instead of last night. We were welcomed by the Director of Austria's Fulbright Commission, whom several people in the room had only known previously as the author of countless Austrian history books. There were certainly some star-struck Fulbrighters.

The day's topics ranged from how to register with the authorities to how to register at the university to how to open a bank account. Most of these things I was able to complete last week before the orientation, but I am still waiting for some bank account information and should get this by Monday. There are a few interesting points to Austrian banking, the most interesting of which pertains to personal checks:

There are no personal checks here. In the words of the Fulbright Director yesterday, "Austrian banks have no idea what to do with a note written out to a person or firm with no bank account number and printed across a desert sunset. It looks fake to them." (Oh, and Euros look real?) Instead, people willingly give each other their bank account numbers so that they can transfer money electronically into one another's accounts at the nearest bank or online, without ever having to use personal checks.

Aside from finances, we spent a fair amount of time discussing the parameters of the Fulbright program: i.e. what we're supposed to be doing (and not doing), who and what exactly we represent, what our expectations should (and should not) be, etc. We were repeatedly told that although the Commission has a Secretariat (secretarial office), we should not rely on them to assist us through every single task. The Secretariat is there mainly to help with any major problems. This comment was followed by the comment: Some US university students "study abroad" without ever actually experiencing life "abroad" because their home university shelters them from so much. As I reflect upon waiting in line last week with all of the immigrants applying for work visas, I tend to think I have not been sheltered all that much here.

Two of last year's Fulbright Scholars spoke with us yesterday. One woman emphasized how our first priority is to the school where we are teaching, not to our research. If I were to change anything on the Fulbright application, it would be to clarify this point. The application focuses so much on the research project and gives the impression that the teaching is a "side job". I don't yet have a sense of how I am going to divide my time. I will theoretically teach for 12 hours per week, do my research at the university, and take 2-3 classes (though I'm leaning more towards 2, as I find out about the other demands on our time.) Scheduling is really a Catch-22: we don't get our teaching schedules until October 1, which is also the first day of university classes. Therefore, we can't register for exactly the classes we want because we don't know when we'll be teaching. I'm planning to register for as many diverse classes (and times) as I can and then drop the ones that do not fit with my teaching schedule. Oh, and by the way, Austrian universities have no idea what a Registrar is. For most classes, you either need to register in person with the professor or (if you're extremely lucky) register online for each class individually. I do have a slight advantage in that the Master's classes tend to start a week after the "official" begin of the semester, so I might have a little bit of extra time to figure out my schedule.

The final point of yesterday's orientation I'll comment on is the explanation of what we can and cannot do as Fulbright Scholars. After having volunteered with AmeriCorps for a year, where we weren't even allowed to register people to vote--and this was supposedly a citizenship program?!--I was relieved to hear that we ultimately retain our status as "private citizens". This means that we are free to do what we want as long as we comply with Austrian and EU law. "No flag-burning", the Director joked with us, but we can become involved with politics and controversial issues without having to worry about dis-identifying with the Fulbright program. We were warned that if we do make any controversial statements, we should mention that we are not making them in an official capacity as a program participant, but we are still entitled to our free speech regardless. Not that I plan to become involved in politics or make any controversial public statements ... but it's still good to know. I just wonder what previous participants have done to make such commentary necessary.

And on that note, I'm heading to Day #2 of the orientation. Today's topics include: higher education in Austria, the Austrian collective consciousness, and a tour of the city.

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