Classes: I canceled all of my MSU classes for Spring 2009 and emailed my adviser about it. I'll talk to him in January about taking classes in Korea. My Korean language teacher from this semester offered to let me sit in her class next semester until I leave, and some Korean friends are going to teach me useful Korean. I'm going to take an Oxford TESOL certification class in January and February to get my English teaching certification. That way I'll be able to get a real job and make money in Korea. I'm planning to take classes at Yonsei University in Seoul, which is MSU's sister school; they offer some classes in English. I'll either transfer and get a Yonsei degree, or I'll try to do a two-year study abroad and get an MSU degree from overseas.
A Place to Live: I can probably live with my roommate's parents in Seoul, but if that's not an option one of my students (I've been tutoring English as a second language for over a year) told me I could live with him. Once I'm financially able and have the confidence to make it on my own, I'll get my own apartment.
Communication: I bought a webcam today so I can talk to my friends in Korea until I leave, and then when I get there I can talk to my mom and friends here using Skype and MSN Live Messenger. I tested it with my roommate, and it works wonderfully!
Money: This is the hardest thing, both in my life now and in planning this crazy move. First of all, I have canceled the trip I was planning to California for winter break so I can work. My jobs here are tutoring English as a second language and acting as a personal assistant for a guy with dwarfism. My TESOL course guarantees job placement for 6 months, and if that falls through I have a friend who will start teaching in Korea in February who could help me find a job, so when I get there I'll start making money as soon as possible. I'm going to sell almost everything I own. But I'll need a lot more money. I'm thinking I can try for some scholarships, and maybe I can make a speech at alumni meetings and such to try to get sponsors. I hope this blog can be a tool for me to get sponsorship, kind of like the updates people get on African children they've "adopted." If you have any ideas or if you want to make a donation, please let me know!
On March 26, 2009, I left my life in America and moved to South Korea. I put my worldly possessions into two suitcases and a backpack and got on a plane. On December 8, 2012, I returned not to my hometown of Detroit, but to Silicon Valley, California, where I married an Indian engineer. In 2020, I divorced and moved to southern California. In this blog are my successes, failures, and observations of life in different cultures.
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