With less than a month to go before I head off to Romania, I'm getting excited! I'm still in the process of finding an apartment, but I've made some contact with a real estate agent. He's terrible at returning emails, but my friend Cristina was awesome enough to call him up and talk to him for me since 1) My Romanian is too basic to make any sense and 2) The 7-hour time difference makes calling at a reasonable business hour REALLY hard (especially since I'm NOT a morning person). I also got the itinerary for my orientation in Bucharest at the end of my first week. Among other things, I'll be going on a day trip to Peles Castle, which I think will be pretty cool, having never seen a castle before here in this bastion of democracy.
This coming Sunday some of my Romanian friends are going to cook some traditional Romanian food for me. There are promises of sarmale (stuffed cabbage leaves) and mamaliga (similar to polenta). Yum!
I'm still brainstorming topics to teach my students, so if you have any suggestions of American topics I can share and discuss with my students or any icon American reaings to assign them, let me know your thoughts!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...
My departure date is official! Yesterday I bought my plane ticket to Romania! I leave at 10:00pm on September 27th! I'll be gone until December 22, when I fly home for Christmas. I'm super excited! Now I can fill out the forms to defer my student loans.
On another note, my wonderful co-workers have been instructing me in Romanian. I can conjugate a basic verb and have a few more helpful words and phrases in my arsenal. I also learned all the basic colors. Of course, I still don't have enough language skills to survive, so I'm chugging along. Maria has offered to make me a little grammar chart to help me with masculine, feminine, and neutral words and how to use them in the possessive and to pluralize them.
On another note, my wonderful co-workers have been instructing me in Romanian. I can conjugate a basic verb and have a few more helpful words and phrases in my arsenal. I also learned all the basic colors. Of course, I still don't have enough language skills to survive, so I'm chugging along. Maria has offered to make me a little grammar chart to help me with masculine, feminine, and neutral words and how to use them in the possessive and to pluralize them.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
A Final Name, I Promise!
I have at long last decided on a permanent name and URL for my blog! Take note of the URL, particularly the hyphens. If you think it's too long, I encourage you to bookmark the page.
New developments in my Romanian journey:
1. I have applied for a renewed passport. It was very irritating that I had to pay the extra fee since it was my first adult passport. I had a passport before but was just under 15 when I got it. I was very sad to part with the extra $25.
2. My Romanian friends with whom I work have been teaching me new words and phrases, as well as correcting my pronunciation and spelling. By the end of the summer I hope I will have speaking skills good enough to get me through stores, restaurants, and public transportation successfully!
3. I am unofficially leaving the US for Romania on September 27th. I haven't bought my plane ticket yet, but that's the date I am planning to fly!
4. We will be having a sending off party on September 17th. Everyone who knows me well enough to be a Facebook friend or have my phone number is welcome to come, as are family members. Details may be obtained by request via personal correspondence.
New developments in my Romanian journey:
1. I have applied for a renewed passport. It was very irritating that I had to pay the extra fee since it was my first adult passport. I had a passport before but was just under 15 when I got it. I was very sad to part with the extra $25.
2. My Romanian friends with whom I work have been teaching me new words and phrases, as well as correcting my pronunciation and spelling. By the end of the summer I hope I will have speaking skills good enough to get me through stores, restaurants, and public transportation successfully!
3. I am unofficially leaving the US for Romania on September 27th. I haven't bought my plane ticket yet, but that's the date I am planning to fly!
4. We will be having a sending off party on September 17th. Everyone who knows me well enough to be a Facebook friend or have my phone number is welcome to come, as are family members. Details may be obtained by request via personal correspondence.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Name #3
It seems all the really good URLs are already taken, which is especially annoying when they are 100% blank but unavailable for the taking. So, until someone has a brilliant idea that no one else has thought of before me, I'll dub this blog "Katelyn in Constanța"
Monday, June 13, 2011
A New Name
So, as it turns out, the old name of my blog is actually a vulgar phrase. I have thus decided to rename it. My name for the moment is "In the Land of Vampires" but I'm looking for something else. Please do tell me if you have ideas!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
It's Really, Truly Official!
As of yesterday, I mailed back my signed copies of my contract to the appropriate recipients. Since they have already been signed by the Romanian Fulbright Commission, that means I'm officially a Fulbright grantee! I'm so excited! Now I'll have to try to learn some more Romanian. Hopefully my Romanian co-workers at Kellerhaus can help me out this summer!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
It's Almost Official
Two major developments have taken place since my last post.
1. My medical clearance to go to Romania was approved!
2. I received email attachments of the terms of my grant as well as a detailed handbook on being a Fulbrighter in Romania. The hardcopies are making the lengthy trek over Europe and the Atlantic to get to me and have subsequently not yet arrived for me to officially sign.
Thanks to the helpful handbook, I now have a rudimentary list of things I simply must pack with me. Most surprising for me to read, was an oven thermometer. Apparently most Romanian ovens do not have thermostats, so an oven thermometer is necessary and more affordable in the US.
I was also excited to learn that I have the privelege of shipping my teaching supplies via pouch. Which means I can send my packages to Washington, DC and they will be forwarded to my university in Constanta at no extra cost; I pay from domestic shipping instead of international mail.
I have also learned that my orientation in Bucharest to the Fulbright program will be October 6th and 7th. I plan on arriving earlier and settling into Constanta before I return to the captial for my orientation. I will likely be departing the US on September 25th, since tickets are usually cheapest on Tuesdays.
My fun and helpful tidbit for the day is the country code for dialing Romania from outside of Europe. If you need to make a call, the country code is as follows: 01140. If you want to call Constanta specifically from abroad, you dial 01140 241 +the phone number. That's a lot of numbers, so if you're trying to call me, just use Skype!
I have also been in contact with a professor at Ovidius. She was most informative and gave me a nice overview of what my duties will be as an ETA (English Teaching Assistant). I know have a good idea of what I'll need to do to plan and teach my classes. So, now I would like your help in deciding what topics about American culture I should share with my college students! If you have any ideas for topics or media to show to my students or books or essays to have them read, please share!
1. My medical clearance to go to Romania was approved!
2. I received email attachments of the terms of my grant as well as a detailed handbook on being a Fulbrighter in Romania. The hardcopies are making the lengthy trek over Europe and the Atlantic to get to me and have subsequently not yet arrived for me to officially sign.
Thanks to the helpful handbook, I now have a rudimentary list of things I simply must pack with me. Most surprising for me to read, was an oven thermometer. Apparently most Romanian ovens do not have thermostats, so an oven thermometer is necessary and more affordable in the US.
I was also excited to learn that I have the privelege of shipping my teaching supplies via pouch. Which means I can send my packages to Washington, DC and they will be forwarded to my university in Constanta at no extra cost; I pay from domestic shipping instead of international mail.
I have also learned that my orientation in Bucharest to the Fulbright program will be October 6th and 7th. I plan on arriving earlier and settling into Constanta before I return to the captial for my orientation. I will likely be departing the US on September 25th, since tickets are usually cheapest on Tuesdays.
My fun and helpful tidbit for the day is the country code for dialing Romania from outside of Europe. If you need to make a call, the country code is as follows: 01140. If you want to call Constanta specifically from abroad, you dial 01140 241 +the phone number. That's a lot of numbers, so if you're trying to call me, just use Skype!
I have also been in contact with a professor at Ovidius. She was most informative and gave me a nice overview of what my duties will be as an ETA (English Teaching Assistant). I know have a good idea of what I'll need to do to plan and teach my classes. So, now I would like your help in deciding what topics about American culture I should share with my college students! If you have any ideas for topics or media to show to my students or books or essays to have them read, please share!
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