ABOUT FULBRIGHT

My Fulbright Life

Transcript For: Current Fulbrighter Nathan Friend in Italy.

Fulbrighter Nathan Friend discusses his Fulbright experience in Naples, Italy.

Nathan Friend

Schuyler:          Hello and welcome to My Fulbright Life. I’m your host, Schuyler Allen, and today I am joined by Nathan Friend, who’s going to share his experiences in Italy with us today. Nathan, thank you for joining us.

Nathan:            Thank you for having me.

Schuyler:          So, just to give us the basics, where in Italy are you?

Nathan:            I have been in Naples, Italy this year so southern Italy.

Schuyler:          Excellent, and how’s that been?

Nathan:            Naples is a beautiful city. It has some problems that I think the international press has picked up on recently, but I’ve really enjoyed being there for the year.

Schuyler:          And what have you been doing in Naples?

Nathan:            I’ve been teaching so I’m part of the first year that they’ve been doing the teaching assistant or ETA program here in Italy. So I’ve been helping out in about 10 different classrooms for about an hour or two a week, teaching the students about American culture, traditions, and holidays, etc.

Schuyler:          Wow, how has that been? And what’s the average size of your classroom?

Nathan:            The average size… I would say is around 20 – 25 students. The basic thing about Italian classrooms is the students seem to take a lot more days off than I remember when I was in school so the class size fluctuates a lot day to day.

Schuyler:          Interesting. So how do you manage to keep some sort of consistent flow in terms of names, faces, and also your program?

Nathan:            Well, I kind of come in with an idea, I’d talk to the teacher beforehand, a day or two beforehand, and come in with an idea of what I’d like to teach. I say teach, although teach is perhaps too strong a word. I’m really there to encourage conversation and use the language. So I’ll do a lot of more fun things like games and songs, as a way to just get them to use English language not necessarily the boring grammar stuff. And so, because it’s those kinds of activities, I can be a lot more flexible than if I were doing a to the book lesson. So I guess just being flexible keeps me on my toes with the classes.

Schuyler:          It sounds it. So I’m curious, what’s a typical day in your life as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Italy like?

Nathan:            Well, I have class from about 8 to noon or so. So about 4 hours a day I’ll have class. In Italy, the students stay in one classroom and the teachers move around rather than in the US where it’s the opposite and the students move around and the teachers stay in one classroom. So usually I’ll be moving, each hour I’ll move to a different class and come in a have a lesson prepared. Maybe I’ll do a song that I like and blank out some of the words and they’ll listen to the song a couple of times and try to fill in the words and then sing it all together.

                        When I finish in the afternoon, the best thing about being in a city the size of Naples—which is probably about a million people, it’s the second largest city in Italy—it’s big enough to have things to explore. So I spend a lot of afternoons just walking around the city exploring, just finding out as much as I can about where I’m living and where I’m teaching and trying to incorporate some of the cultural things that I find in to the lessons.

Schuyler:          It sounds pretty wonderful actually. I …

Nathan:            It does. It is.

Schuyler:          And also, did you prior to undertaking a Fulbright grant, did you spend any time in Italy beforehand?

Nathan:            I spent a semester in Sienna about 2 years ago, which is up in Tuscany. The nice thing is… I mean, I had a fantastic time, I was there for a semester, lived with a host family etc… Sienna and Naples are just about the 2 opposite cities that there are in Italy. Sienna’s all in ?? and kind of your ideal of Under the Tuscan Sun and Naples is big and chaotic and out there. So it’s been really nice to have the two different experiences in the country.

Schuyler:          Right and I’m sure there are regional differences in terms of… I mean, do you speak Italian? I mean, it’s not necessarily a requirement that you do to be an ETA but…

Nathan:            To be an ETA it’s not entirely necessary I suppose because in the classroom I’m speaking only English, but no to be outside the classroom especially in southern Italy where English speaking is not nearly as common as it might be in northern Italy or the rest of Europe, knowing Italian, learning Italian, is really important to connect. I’ve even learned a little bit of Neapolitan dialect which is nice.

Schuyler:          That was going to be my next question, whether or not you spoke the dialect, the local dialect, but yes we always ask Fulbrighters to at least know a hospitality level of the language even if it’s not a requirement for their program. So I’m delighted to hear that you’re able to go with the flow as far as language and getting around.

                        So, you’re describing your life in Naples, and the city itself and I think any city life has its chaotic.

Schuyler:          So you definitely need to be part of a family. I think that actually applies to a lot of countries. I wouldn’t say that it’s exclusive to Italy. Having lived in France myself for a while I can say the same rings true for France on occasion. So certainly learning the ways and the rules of the local population helps.

Nathan:            Absolutely.

Schuyler:          So that said, what did you really learn from that experience beyond… I mean how have you been able to apply that to other situations that you’ve encountered since you’ve been there.

Nathan:            I think you’ve hit the nail on the head in saying that it’s about being part of a family and Naples in a lot of ways is one big family that maybe has its divides but what I learned from that and some of the other experiences early on is that if you think of yourself as an outsider you’re never going to succeed in the bureaucratic level but then also on a more personal level connecting to people. So the first hurdle to get over is thinking of myself as an American living in Naples. I really had to think “I’m going to dedicate myself as much as possible to be a Neapolitan living in Naples and so that entering into the family was one of the lessons I learned early on as a really important part of feeling at home but then also connecting with people. You know, as I said, I learned some dialect. I certainly could never hold a conversation, but I could stick words in here and there, a Neapolitan will say, “Hey, you’re speaking my dialect. You’re obviously not a Neapolitan why do you speak my dialect?” And even something as simple as that will get a conversation going.

Schuyler:          That sounds amazing. Can you say some thing in Neapolitan dialect for our listeners?

Nathan:            [speaking in Neapolitan dialect]

Schuyler:          Oh goodness!

Nathan:            Which is [speaking in Italian] my brother, how are you?

Schuyler:          Oh, that’s lovely. For a minute there I was wondering what you were saying and I was hoping it was nice things! [laughing] Well that’s beautiful, thank you for sharing.

                        I had another question for you. Just in terms of… it sounds like you’ve really made a whole hearted effort to integrate yourself into your community and I think that that’s a wonderful piece of advice for anybody who is applying for Fulbright regardless of where they’re going and that said, what advice would you offer anybody who’s currently applying to Fulbright this year in terms of whether it’s the application process or just being overseas?

Nathan:            My biggest piece of advice is find housing with locals, with a family, with students, it doesn’t matter, but live with someone whose city it is. You know, it’s easy to fall into the trap of living with other American students or finding an apartment with someone you already know, but really, in my experience here, living with Neapolitans has been the best way to enter into the society and feel like I have a connection to the place and to the people. And so I guess I would say, as much as possible, go on websites, ask other people who’ve been abroad for help, but really look for an apartment or a house where you can live with some one who speaks the language and grew up in the place because it really makes the experience that much more… that much deeper.

Schuyler:          Well, it sounds like you’re quite open to approaching people, but what if somebody is a bit shy? What advice would you give to some one just getting their feet wet in terms of feeling integrated in their new home?

Nathan:            You know, I suppose I’m open now, but I was certainly shy at the beginning. And like I said, that shy thing, that’s maybe the number one reason why it’s good to find housing with someone from the city because at the beginning I didn’t know anyone, I wasn’t really comfortable just going out and going to a bar or some thing, and talking to other people there. You know, I’m much more reserved at the beginning. So having Neapolitan roommates, you know I lived with them so a friendship naturally came out of that. And they would say, “hey we’re going to a concert tonight, do you want to come along? Hey we have a plan to go to the restaurant and there’s a special tonight do you want to come with us?” And really through them I was able to meet people and learn faces and names and even places, you know bars where I felt comfortable, or benches where I kind of would  along with these other people and so other people would start to recognize me. And that was really the best way to overcome that initial hurdle of feeling kind of isolated and shy and not knowing anyone.

Schuyler:          That’s excellent advice. It sounds like you’ve got your life well balanced out there and I’m curious in terms of your ETA program what are you doing in terms of community outreach?

Nathan:            I’m sorry, I’m missed that question.

Schuyler:          Oh, it sounds like you have your life really balanced and sort of full at the moment and I was just curious in terms of your ETA program what you’re doing as far as community outreach.

Nathan:            You know, I think one of the best things about living in Naples is we have a US Consulate here and the US Consulate has a public relations / communications department that I’ve been this year and they’ve been  fantastic. Both the head of the department and then also the Italians who work under them have been focusing a lot on reaching out to young people. And that’s where I come in because I have a direct connection with the young people. So we’ve done things like I took some of my students on a tour of the consulate, we did some tree planting at the Consulate with some of my students for Earth Day. We organize these activities as a little bit part of the US program to reach out to the people in which it’s based but then also part of my program, being a cultural ambassador for myself and the people that I work with.

Schuyler:          It sounds excellent, and in closing I just… what skills have you learned or obtained since you’ve been in Naples that you will carry with you beyond Fulbright when your grant is completed?

Nathan:            The greatest thing about this program is it gives you a lot of time. Going through 16 odd years of straight through school, you know, everyday you’ve got school, or homework, or you know, an extracurricular activities, your day is pretty much all planned out for you. This year I’ve finally had the chance to have an afternoon where, I don’t do anything, you know, well I don’t do anything in a conventional way. But in a more abstract sense, having the time to sit down and reflect on where you are, and who you are, and what you’re doing and really just observe the world around you. That’s the skill that I’ve really learned a lot and will certainly try to apply to my life after Fulbright is taking the time to sit back and observe and reflect on what you’re doing and what’s going on around you. And it’s been a great way both to understand Italy and Neapolitan living but then also to understand myself and where I’m going and the United States and the world in general.

Schuyler:          Well that’s excellent. And also, what are your next steps? What are you thinking of doing when this is all done?

Nathan:            Well, I would like to go into public radio actually. I’ve had some experience as an assistant producer at National Public Radio member station out in Seattle where I’m from and I’d really like to pursue that and see how far I can take those observational skills that I’ve learned.

Schuyler:          Well it sounds like you’re on your way, certainly here today with us even. So thank you so much, Nathan, for your time. And enjoy the remaining days you have left in Italy.

Nathan:            I will, certainly. Thanks for giving me a call.

Schuyler:          Our pleasure. Bye.