Teaching the Holocaust in China

“Who has heard of the Third Reich?” I ask. It’s the second meeting of my senior German class; I have  colours and numbers planned for today’s lesson. 

Some wary glances flick through the group. Two students raise their hands. I’m surprised. These students come from affluent families, are well-connected to local if not national politics. They’ve been attending a British school for years. In the next few years, they’ll be applying to Oxford, Cambridge, Yale. 

I consult my phone and break the taboo against speaking Chinese in class. “Dìsān Dìguó?” This time they aren’t furtive. Their heads snap to look at their friends. Every hand rises, slowly. 

Last year, a group of Year Eight boys took to drawing swastikas on their class books. At that age, the world is a joke. They’re starting to laugh about sex, but still ignorant of many social limits. It’s with some discomfort that I realised I was the first one to teach them that lesson; their eyes were wide and innocent as I cut a hard line in the sand. 

I remembered my sixty-year-old German professor lecturing on the Nazi party, drawing a hasty swastika on the white board, then wiping it away with a shiver. “I can’t stand to look at it,” she said. 

My powerpoint presentation to the seniors didn’t include a swastika. I chose one photo of Hitler in military dress, no raised fist, but posed like a statesman; and a black-and-white, grainy shot of a pile of shoes. 

“This is important,” I told the Year Eights. Like the undefinable gland in my gut that spasms when I hear of another American mass shooting, I feel I achieve a different sort of voice when lecturing on murder. Ignore the grammar, the drawing penises on desks, the talking in your room after dark, my new voice says, this is important.

After discussing the Holocaust, I let my class go twenty minutes early. We were all drained, I don’t think anyone noticed the time. A minute passed. I stared at the clock and my empty classroom and realised my mistake.

Then two-thirds of them walked back in. And we talked about our favourite colours in German. 

Fulbright ETA: +$13,152

I started my undergrad career as an accounting major. That lasted all of about two months, but my obsession with money has stayed with me, particularly during tax season. I just found out last Thursday that I was awarded the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Germany and I've done a ton of research on it since then.

Some of the resources I've found:
The Fulbright Orientation Handbook is a good general resource, but is vague on a lot of country-specific points.
The "circular"s on the German Fulbright page outline the information told to last year's grantees. Almost all of it is applicable to the current year and Circular III gives the orientation dates for the next year.

That's how I found out that my grant will cover Sept. 1 to June 30 and that I'll receive a €150 stipend for baggage and transportation fees related to my flight. I also found out that the flight will be prepaid, so I don't have to worry about saving up and waiting to be reimbursed for that. Although the number above reflects the current currency exchange rate, it's nice for me to know how much I'm really going to make in the ten months I'll be overseas. €800 per month for ten months, plus €150 for baggage, plus indeterminate cost of my airfare -- it's about as much as I'd make working full-time for $9/hour for ten months, with the added benefit of, you know, being IN GERMANY.

I was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa honors society at about the same time, so, for the induction ceremony I bought a pretty dress from the thrift store for $15. Since I'm not walking at my graduation, that and the $5 I spent on an announcement kit (also at a thrift store) are my only graduation expenses.

After graduation, I'm trying to find that elusive full-time $9/hour job, so that I can knock out three months of work and save probably $1500 over the summer. Of course, my expenses are going to be unusually low.

Income     + $1440/mo.
Rent/Bills - $250
Insurance - $200
Phone       - $90
Groceries - $150
Gas           - $50
Net          +$700

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but over three months this gives me $2100, far above my goal. Of course this assumes I don't splurge on anything insane (like the $299 3D printer I sponsored on Kickstarter today), but with only three months in a one-horse town, I think I should be able to control myself.