Job Hunting Snag

I started applying for teaching jobs by posting my resume on some sites dedicated to English teaching jobs in Korea (thanks for the tips, Han). The only problem is that I need an E-2 visa to teach a language there. Although almost all jobs I've been offered include visa sponsorship, I can't get an E-2 visa because it requires a bachelor's degree. Unfortunately, I have a year left of school to accomplish that. New idea: take Korean language classes at Yonsei University over the summer on a student visa, then keep taking transferable classes while private tutoring for a year. The other idea is that I call the ambassador/consulate/someone and BEG and make some kind of deal, like I can teach English with proof of enrollment in MSU online courses toward my degree. I'm set to graduate in Spring 2010 so that's about a year. Not too long. I can figure something out.

My General Project Idea

I met with that professor today and we decided that a good topic for me that would be in her area of expertise as an adviser would be analyzing a Korean talk show that features girls from around the world with different levels of Korean language skill. The format of the report itself might be a Wikipedia entry. I have to sit down and make a detailed proposal in the next week or so and meet with her again. If you're curious about this show, search YouTube for "Global Beauties Talk Show."

Brainstorming What to Write for Graduation

To get certain types of degrees at MSU, students have to complete a Capstone project. This can be anything from a vigorously reworked paper from one of their classes to an independent study supervised by an MSU professor. I'm choosing the latter, and I have a meeting on Monday with a professor I had last Spring for both an Asian literature/writing course and a Korean culture/history course who has accepted my request to supervise my Capstone. I told her I was thinking of writing a paper of fiction based on what I write in this blog, and she asked for some more specific ideas. So, here they are. What do you think? Do you have any other ideas?

Capstone Ideas

1. Memoir

- Reflect on personal revelations, even if the revelation is that there were none

- Condense blog into compelling and insightful flashback journal

2. Observations of cultural differences

- Family

- Business

- School

- Bias: I’ve only lived in suburbs in America

3. Interviews/surveys on my area of interest: Korea-Japan relations

- This is ultimately what I want to observe and try to understand

- Compare generations, social classes, location, gender, travel experience

4. What I did well, what I could have done better – advice for international travelers

- Preparation

- First month

- Friends

- Living situation

- Amount of work vs. play

- Budgeting

5. Poetry anthology

- Write in both English and Korean

- English poetry: insight about experiences

- Korean poetry: language improvement in an abstract way (translate into English)

6. Fiction based on my life and the lives of my fellow ex-patriots

- Create a short realistic fiction revolving around a character modeled after myself

- Integrate themes that reflect life lessons I will learn from my experiences

- Integrate cultural aspects I will have observed in the setting

7. Education in Korea vs. education in America – compare/contrast

- Difficulty of different levels of school (high school vs. college as hardest)

- Effect of intense study vs. part-time job on development

- Brain knowledge vs. life knowledge: wisdom of university students

- Discipline in education: how strict is just right?

- Age, gender, level of education differences of teachers and administrators

- Budgets: who’s in charge? Where does the money come from? How much?

8. Learning and teaching a second language in that country vs. in home country

- Tutoring experience in America

- Teaching experience in Korea

- Learning experience (French, Japanese, Korean) in America

- Learning experience (Korean) in Korea

- Grammar vs. function

Planning Courses

I talked to my adviser earlier today about my possibilities in terms of graduation. I was worried that it would be improbable, but I was in for a pleasant surprise! I have only 31 credits left to take (I already have 90) and I can get most of them online pretty easily. The remaining few should be easy to take at any Korean university and transfer. Aside from that, I just have to study a little more Japanese and take a proficiency test. All I need is a 202-level fluency (I took through 201).

This is good news because now I can go there on a work visa and I won't need a student visa to continue my studies. Technically, MSU online courses are counted as on-campus classes. So I'll be in two places at once!

TESOL Certification!

Yesterday I completed my TESOL English teaching certification course. I am now a certified ESL teacher! This will be a great resume boost so now I can apply for jobs. Before, I could say, "Hi, I'm an American with no degree or certification but I speak English and have done some tutoring!" Now, I can say "Hi, I'm a certified English teacher with tutoring experience!" Don't worry, my resume and cover letter will include no exclamation marks or the word 'hi' ... I'm not an idiot :P

Reality still isn't smacking me in the face yet. It's tapping, though. Knock, knock, Kristin. You have marketable human capital now. You have to go market yourself. You're planning to move in less than two months. Tick, tock.....