From the Baltics to the Balkans: Fall Fulbright Reflections

Narva College

As the days are growing colder and the Christmas candies are appearing in the shops, I am finally making time to reflect in writing upon my first few months as a Fulbright Scholar in Estonia. During the past few months, I have had the pleasure of teaching serious and smart students, working with helpful new colleagues, and traveling throughout Estonia and to Serbia for professional conferences. 

Opening Day Celebration at Narva College

I am teaching four master’s level classes and two bachelor’s level classes at Narva College of the University of Tartu. The master’s level students are current English language teachers taking methodology, academic writing, media in English language teaching, and skills development courses. The bachelor’s level students have an oral communications class and a thesis seminar class with me. It has been really interesting to learn about the educational system and the local culture from my students. They, like students in a lot of places, are balancing studying, jobs, and family-life. 

Narva College, coffee room view

In addition to teaching at Narva College, I have been presenting at and participating in seminars and conferences. At these events, I shared teaching strategies related to project-based learning, literature circles, readers’ theater, and reading groups. The Estonian Association of English Teachers hosts annual events in Pärnu and Tartu, Estonia and Narva College hosts a conference for teachers during the autumn school break. It has been wonderful to meet teachers from the different areas of Estonia and to learn about their teaching environments. 

Conference in Serbia

Last week I traveled to Serbia for the Teaching Languages and Cultures conference organized by the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Niš. I had been looking forward to this trip for a long time, as I got to see Marshall and Gretchen Toman from UWRF, and Nina Lazarević, who visited UWRF a few years ago. This conference brought together academics and teachers from Serbia, Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Russia, Belarus, Norway, France, and more. This was something of a Fulbright gathering, as both Dr. Lazarević and Dr. Toman are past Fulbrighters.

When not working, my family and I have been exploring Estonia. We spent beautiful fall weekends walking along the beach in Narva-Jõesuu and hiking through the forests in Oru Park in Toila. We toured Kreenholm, the massive textile factory in Narva that at one time employed 10,000 people. We explored the lovely, medieval city of Tallinn and the vibrant, university-culture in Tartu. My son and I accompanied his 4th grade class to Sillamäe to see theater performance and to tour the city. During the soviet years, this city wasn’t listed on any maps - it was a “secret” city as it was the location of a large uranium refinery. We are enjoying learning about the history and culture of Estonia and are chipping away at our long list of other places we want to visit. 

Gulf of Finland, Toila, Estonia

It has been a fascinating journey so far! I look forward to my continued work with my students and colleagues and to future projects with the English language teaching community in Estonia.