Friday, June 22, 2012

The List

So here is the official list of the things that I would like to do during my Fulbright year.  I will probably be adding and crossing things off as they are completed.  So in no particular order...

- Become a better teacher.  This is one of the most important goals that I have for this experience.  Ultimately, I would like to become a teacher here in the States and anything that will hone my skills as a teacher will be greatly welcomed.  I would love to be able to observe several teachers at my school and see the different styles and techniques that they use and then, of course, implement the styles that seemed successful.  If I am feeling really ambitious and inspired, I might try to do some actual research and maaaaybe try to write up an article or something but no promises.

- Learn the Korean language.  This is kind of a given, but I still want to put it down.  I am not really expecting to be fluent by the end of the year but I expect that I will be able to at least carry a semi-intelligent conversation and be able to get around on my own.

- Learn to cook Korean food.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I love food.  Eating it, cooking it, whatever.  I love (almost) all of it.  One of the most important parts of any culture is their food and being the good little cultural ambassador I am, I have to eat basically as much Korean food as possible.  Also, when I eventually return to the States, I would like to give everyone back home a nice authentic Korean meal.  I also might try to do something like offer American cooking community classes in the city I am in, but we'll see about that when I get there.

- Practice/Regain long lost photography skills.  So in high school, I was very interested in photography and took three classes of it.  Theresa, my older sister, kindly lent her digital camera and, in addition to that, I recently discovered that film is common in Korea and therefore I will be able to bring my long-neglected 35mm camera.

- Go climbing or bouldering on real rocks.  At camp, I have climbed pretty much everything that I can and it has been awesome.  I would love to be able to try and go climbing on a non man-made structure.

- Be as open to as many adventures and opportunities as I can!  In this upcoming year, I know that I am going to do all sorts of new and exciting things.  However, I want to basically cram as many adventures into this year as I can.  As most everyone knows (especially my London peers), I loathe just sitting around in a hotel or similar place when I could be outside exploring new areas and having adventures.  In college, I was intensely focused on my academics and oftentimes neglected the social and fun part of college.  In Korea, I would like to find a better balance of work and free time.

- Live a healthier and more active lifestyle.  This shouldn't be too terribly difficult (I'm hoping) as food in Korea tends to be significantly healthier from what I have heard.  Mostly a diet consisting of vegetables, fruit, seafood, and rice with very little dairy, sweets, and fats.  It's going to be hard going without cheese on a regular basis, but I'll try to survive.  Also, I am hoping to be more active and continuing to run even while school is in session (which usually causes me to lose my summer habit of running) and find other physical activities that I enjoy.

- Be more neat and tidy.  Honestly, this is probably the most ambitious goal of them all.  Anyone who has seen my room at home or has had the misfortune of driving with me in my car knows that I have troubles keeping things tidy.  Since I am going to be staying in the home of another family for the whole year, I urgently need to develop a habit of keeping things proper and in order.  Organization of my room or whatever isn't really the problem as I know exactly where everything is all the time, but it would be nice to not have it look like a bomb went off.

Okay I think that's it for now.  I'll probably think of more things I would like to accomplish later on but this is definitely a good start.  Oh by the way, I'm leaving in 12 days.  Yikes!  I still have to finish mastering the language (about half of the alphabet is pretty good but still have a bit to go on the other half) and I am finishing up getting money converted and all of that.

Next time I post, I am going to be heading to Korea so until then, 안녕

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

2 Weeks to Go

I can't believe that I only have two weeks left in the states.  As I am preparing and just going about doing everything I do, I cannot help but think things like 'this is going to be the last time that I do this for a year' and stuff like that.  It is now kind of hitting me that I really will be leaving soon and I will be missing a lot of things about home, especially family and friends.  However, this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and is going to be incredibly rewarding and educational.  Who knows, maybe I'll like it so much I'll stay for an extra year or two!  I'm definitely open to it...

In other news, I received my official e-tickets last week.  I am flying from Cleveland to Chicago to L.A. to Incheon/Seoul for a grand total of 18 hours and 25 minutes in the air.  Definitely going to be a couple of days but it's a good time to catch up on my Korean!  I know about half of the alphabet thus far and a couple of basic phrases so it could definitely use some polishing.  It's actually going along much better than I thought it would.  I am mostly using Youtube vidoes and the site www.talktomeinkorean.com and they seem to be working pretty well.

Some of my peers have been making lists of things that they want to do in Korea and I think I might just have to do the same.  Over the next few days, I am going to be making a little list and then I'll post it eventually, but I really have to think of what all it is that I want to do while I am in Korea and what I am truly trying to gain out of this experience.  I'll be sure to let you all know.

Until next time.

Monday, June 4, 2012

One Month to Go!

Well I leave the United States for South Korea in exactly one month today!  I still can hardly believe it.  I feel a bit unprepared still but I'm going to go out and get things this week for it and I am going to force myself to study the Korean language at least 1 hour per day in order to prepare for the intensive lessons when I get there.  Apparently they are cramming about 100 hours of instruction into a measly six weeks!  But I guess by the end of it, we have enough vocab to survive so I'm glad we get it.  It's just a bit tricky as the alphabet is completely different from our traditional Roman one and it's not like anything I've studied before.  I take solace in knowing that I am not alone in my lack of Korean skills as many of my colleagues are in the same position!

I have all of my paperwork and things underway so I am excited about that.  I just have to send in my final transcripts whenever Walsh gets them finalized, which is hopefully soon, and then I'll have my tickets for my flight and then I will be heading out.  I still can't believe that I am going.  It kind of finally hit home that I going to be gone for a whole year as one of my good friends from camp is leaving for a month and will not be back until I leave.  Good thing we have facebook, email, Skype (well as soon as I get a webcam), and other ways I can communicate back home!

Also, if anyone has any good ideas for gifts for my host family, co-teacher, principal, etc., let me know!  Right now, I'm thinking of a board game or mobile sport equipment (frisbee, hacky-sack, etc.) for the family and I'm still contemplating what I would like to get them, especially the school officials.  Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Just one more short month and the adventure begins.  I can't wait!