Late last week, I received the reminder notice that the deadline for Fulbright applications was August first. A couple years ago, I sketched the plan for a Fulbright, but the timing was bad: Alisa had just run for school committee and the year we were talking about taking off was the year Daniel would be in kindergarten and we really wanted him to have a particular teacher. So I procrastinated and ultimately didn't get around to completing the application. This year is different. I blew the dust off my plan and began sending email trying to arrange an invitation to someplace where I could work. I started with a posting to the UEA mailing list. I got a couple of quick replies from arguably the two most distinguished esperantists in the world with a list of suggestions where I could try. I sent out a bunch more emails. People began forwarding my postings to other lists. I began to get questions: What was Fulbright? What did an invitation entail? What project was I thinking of? Over the past week, I've done more writing in Esperanto than I've done in the previous eight years combined. It's been very satisfying to find that I can still express myself relatively fluently. At the same time, I've been working on my project statement and filling out the Fulbright application. Today I did the language competency bit. It was surprising to me to look back at the 15 years I've been speaking Esperanto and see all the stuff I've done: I passed the Supera Ekzameno by the American Assocation of Teachers of Esperanto. I've published a scientific article. I've served as a delegate of UEA and President of the Esperanto Society of New England. I've offered a half-dozen workshops on writing haiku, senryu, and renga in Esperanto to regional and national audiences. I've worked as a translator of haiku into Esperanto for three published works. I told Buzz how frantic I was and he said it sounded like fun. And he's right -- it is fun, but it's also stressful. Still, the pressure to complete an application is high. Actually getting the grant would just be the icing on the cake. Then the terror would really begin when I would have to prepare to be gone for a year, to move the family to another a country, and to try to actually do the project I've outlined. I need to learn to be careful what I ask for.
The Fulbright completely overshadows the wonderful reception ESNE had for the NASK students on Sunday. There were about 40 of us altogether (ESNE and NASK combined). Bill Maxey introduced me, I offered my remarks, the NASKanoj did a funny sketch, and we opened the refreshments table with wine, soft-drinks, and light snacks. A little wine goes a long way towards loosening people's tongues. It was a truly wonderful little celebration. I'm looking forward to doing it again next year.