I’ll be honest, I never thought I’d get this job. I’ve applied for hundreds of jobs in the last couple of years and only managed limited interest. After awhile, I just began to expect silence from which ever institution I’d sent my application. In fact, only a couple of weeks after I sent this application to my dream job, I received a “thanks but no thanks” generic email back. I chalked it up to my generally dismal success with applications. But that wasn’t the end of the story. I applied to a different division of the same University and found myself with a request for an interview. I almost told the person who called to set up an interview, “no it’s okay, you already turned me down.” Fortunately I did no such thing. After several months of interviews and preparation I found myself touching down in Frankfurt, Germany to start this new adventure: teaching and living in Europe. Yes, my dream job became reality (I still pinch myself most mornings expecting to wake up from this delightful dream). I’ve taught for one term, worked with great students, and explored a number of fantastic and historical cities around me. It truly is the best of all worlds for me.
This blog is a place for me to share some of these adventures with you. And I’ll begin with first impressions. I arrived early in October and stayed in Kaiserslautern for a few days. These are a few photos of those first weeks.