to teached english for second language

Newly official summer goals in preparation for moving to Korea:

1. two days of korean lessons per week (via podcasting and workbooks)

2. two days (ie. six units) of TEFL coursework per week toward 100-hour certification

3. more weekly free time devoted to reading about teaching and living in South Korea

4. weekly contributions to packing entire apartment (aka: holy poo)

5. two major weekly items checked off to-do-before-K checklist (like buying new external harddrive, year's supply of neutrogena moisturizer, canceling netflix subscription, etc)

6. my master's thesis. oh wait. that has NOTHING TO DO WITH GOING TO KOREA AT ALL AND FEELS LIKE A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME.

In convergence with these attempts to better my mind, spirit, and suitcase, I have also enacted a true resolution to improve my body. Sugar is evil to my body, people. Those of you who have lived with me know this, and know that it is a lifelong mistress of mine: not so good for the home life, but so damn satisfying at the moment, despite the mysterious diseases and general guilt afterward. It's a rough life, peeps, but if I want to be in top working order for a year of living abroad and scampering through the streets of Seoul, I need to get the ole' vessel in optimal shape. I've decided that this is no big deal, just a simple lifestyle change. Right? No more sugar for me (except for very special and impossible to avoid occasions) and I've also upped my exercise ante to every single day, no excuses!

Perhaps the most humorous (so far) of these goals is my attempt to complete a 100-hour TEFL certification course in the next 6 weeks. TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language, and though my recruiter insists that I don't need such training ("You already have Master degree! You fine! You fine!") I am somewhat more skeptical. I mean, please.... they do not know WHAT kind of crap I'm learning in grad school. In one of my recent Learning Science electives, I spent 3 hours straight playing Pirates of the Caribbean online in order to learn about using video games in the classroom. Yeah... exactly. So, despite my recruiter's emphatic insistence, I have taken it upon myself to sacrifice the $190 and take some basic TEFL training. After all, my content area may be English, but it is certainly not English for people who don't already speak it.

So I'm not a total dunce about English as a language, I'll admit. In my methods class, I was in the top third (I would estimate) of classmates who already knew how to diagram sentences and string together a decent clause. But this has really put the English language through a different lens for me. I'm actually really enjoying it! But hey, I'm a nerd who loves learning. Shocker. The funny part is all the examples used to teach parts of speech.

I knew I was in for fun when the first example of ambiguously countable and uncountable nouns read as follows:

"There is a chicken in the fridge. (one whole bird)
There is chicken on the menu tonight. (we cannot be sure how much chicken there is)"

This was followed immediately by a lesson on articles, reading: "She is a tall, dark, and stunning teacher."

But the sentences kept getting weirder and better. And dare I say, so totally not Americanized. I mean... I don't think these sentences would swing in a US course. And I'm not just talking about their spelling of the word "practise." Take, for example, this study of adverbs, citing the following common English sentences:

"Fortunately, everyone else has drunk too much!"

"Unofficially, everyone smokes hash!"

"They always forget to lock the door."

If you're having trouble remembering the conjunction because, simply recall the sentence: "I married her because she's gorgeous."

There are also several examples of England "losing games" and "failing." I don't know who wrote this tutorial, but it is awesome. No offense, England.

learning to think like a blogger, and blogging to think

"I'm not going to let it die this time." That's how I've started pretty much every journal that I've begun since 10th grade. You can guess what that says about my ability to maintain my thoughts in writing. Like pitiful creatures, they seem to shrivel without constant care and supervision, nourishment, and affection. When I began the serious pursuit of this teaching opportunity in Seoul, South Korea, I thought (for perhaps the fifth or sixth time in my life), Well, that's a great reason to start a blog! Another reason: I recently invested in a brand new Canon T2i, and I'm looking for an excuse to share my visual impulses with others.

I'm hoping that this will provide a space for me to 1) reflect on the journey that is about to consume the next year of my life, 2) stay in touch with everyone that will not be in Korea with me. Yeah, you know who you are and I like you, so there. If I've realized anything over the past 2 years during my master's program, it's that reflection, when genuine and self-inspired, can be authentically powerful and educative. Who knew? Hopefully, I can tickle all y'all teacher people, reach out to friends from afar, and stimulate my own thinking by virtue of forcing myself to write a little. We all win! And truly, I am Seoul-seeking in more ways than one. On the other side of six years, higher education has a different hue. I find myself full of wants, full of questions, and fiercely mystified. Where do I go from here, and how do I know where I'm going when I get there? I find myself faced with so many choices, and still feel somehow uneducated despite all my education. I was looking to be moved by something, so instead, I will move myself.

At this point, I have passed my interview with EPIK-SMOE (stands for English Program in Korea, Seoul Ministry of Education division) and I'm attempting to send in my paperwork to get myself all shiny and official. Let me tell you, if college required this much paperwork, I would be minus two degrees and probably still working at Applebee's (no offense, Apple-Buddies). Instead, I am up to my soon-to-be-removed-nose-ring in forms and lesson plans, and I'm reading everything I can get my hands on about Korean culture. So far, I'm really enjoying this book called Learning To Think Korean by L. Robert Kohls.

Kohls works with the Peace Corps specifically preparing people who want to live and work in Korea, so it's fabulously applicable to my plans (more details on those to come later...). Very informative read so far -- and I'm willing to trust a guy who has spent 50+ years of his life working in this part of the world. Unfortunately, everything I've learned about the Korean people thus far has confirmed that I am on a long hike up a steep steep learning curve. Of course this is to be expected, but I'm just hoping I'll be able to maintain my vocal outbursts and "exaggerated facial expressions," which are apparently a huge no-no, especially in professional settings. Note to self: learn to be more subtle.

More to come soon! There is a LOT to be done before I can escape E-town and move along in this journey. Thanks for coming along.