| August 8, 2008 Excelsior College informed me that even if I finished my courses by the end of August, I would not have my associate's degree until November -- and it wouldn't do me much good then. So I decided to track down information on substituting a college transcript with two years of courses instead of the associate's degree. I called the Korean Embassy in Washington. There is no better source of Korean visa-related information specifically for Americans. This is what I learned: So now my priorities have shifted. Rather than try to finish my associate's degree by the end of September, I should put two of my classes on hold (ENG 111 and HIS 282) and BEAR DOWN on the other two to get them finished by August 22. The most important thing here is getting 60 credit hours, NOT getting my associate's degree. I think I can do it. I think I can teach English in Korea, maybe even get my E-2 visa before October 24. I can also save $495 on my associate's degree graduation fee (and postpone my $895 matriculation fee until I have a lot more money) because I won't be needing it. Good news! August 5, 2008 "Why the hell would you do that, don't you want to get out of Korea? You can't even work there legally!" you say. You're right, I do want to get out of here (kind of, although it's been tolerable over the past month). However, soon, I will be able to get an E-2 visa to teach English here for 1,800,000 won a month! That's right, I found out from a Dave's ESL Cafe job ad that the Korean government is now allowing people with two-year degrees (and transcripts showing two years of university coursework) to teach English in Korea. I fit this bill, just barely! Rather than making about $11,000 in China, I can make $21,000 in Korea by working at a public school. So why would I choose to do this? Well, remember, I'm still putting myself through university, and I'm trying to finish quickly. If I can stay in Korea, that means not having to deal with culture shock, a language barrier, and lower pay en route to my bachelor's degree. So it's a justifiable evil! I went to the Immigration Bureau today and talked to an immigration officer, who informed me that the rumor is indeed true. I can apply to any job in Korea that's a public elementary, middle, or high school. It doesn't matter where it is, either -- if I can find a job there, I can even go for the subtropical Jeju Island! The immigration officer told me that all I need to do is transfer my credits (at least two years' worth) to a US college and get a "jaehakjeungmyeongseo" (transcript) and then I can get the visa. She says I need to interview in the US, but I've heard rumors that although the immigration office may not like it, you can do it in Fukuoka too. It's just that officially, you're not supposed to do it that way. So my game plan is to rush and finish all my associate's degree material by August 31. Then I can get a transcript within two weeks showing 60 credits and go job hunting in Korea from September 15 to early October. Then I can hopefully get a job here in Korea paying over $21,000 a year (tax free, free apartment, and medical insurance included). This will make paying for college a cinch. I'm still a little bit skeptical. The idea that Korea actually threw me a frickin' bone is a little bit unbelievable. I won't thank Korea until I've ascertained that that frickin' bone is actually a frickin' bone. August 4, 2008 Today, I was walking up and down the length of the subway train between Noksapyeong and Hapjeong (because I lead a basically sedentary lifestyle and get restless). As I walked past an old lady in the senior citizens' part of the train, she pointed to my worn-out shoes and started asking about them. Indeed my shoes are in sad shape. The jangmacheol (monsoon) rains have destroyed the leather, causing holes. I can feel a considerable draft in my left shoe, and the insole sticks out through a hole in the back of the shoe if I'm not careful to tuck it in! The sole, meanwhile, flops around, and it has been recommended to me by the ajumma (middle-aged woman) in Pizza School that I reattach it with super glue. I explained this, or some element of it, to the old lady in the senior citizens' section who had just asked me about my shoe. This is the greatest part of the whole story: SHE TRIED TO OFFER ME MONEY TO BUY NEW SHOES. Like, I'd never even met her before, and she was offering me cash to buy new shoes. I told her in Korean "thank you, but I have enough money, the reason I haven't bought new shoes yet is because I am too busy, so I have not had time to go to the department store." She appeared to be hard of hearing, but one of her elderly friends repeated what I had said VERY LOUDLY, and she understood. At least Seoul's elderly are generous. They sure have a lot of jeong. And I need to buy a new pair of shoes.
July 28, 2008 I think that before I leave Korea, I'm going to upload one final photo essay on Korea called "Korea: My Exit Essay." It will highlight the important things from my 2+ years on this stint, and have never-before-seen pictures of YSKLI graduation, the Boryeong Mud Festival, and whatever else I fill my disposable camera with. It will cover the three things that eventually made me decide that this place was not suitable for long-term residence. Then I'll spend the last paragraph explaining my plan to live in Japan before I turn 23, and why I think Japan will be much better in terms of those three attributes. By the way, I got my medical checkup over the weekend. Now the only document I need to procure is the criminal background check and we can get the Inner Mongolia process started. I don't know what service they want me to use. It'd better be a quick one. June 26, 2008 Yesterday was a productive day. I had been studying Virginia history pretty much the entire night, and covered basically 1/4 of an entire Virginia history course in one day. I went in and took two tests, one right after the other. I think I did quite well on them. I'm relieved to find that when I'm in a big hurry, the Virginia history courses can be studied for VERY efficiently. If I take no breaks and keep my pace up, I can finish an entire week's worth of work in about two hours. One of my Virginia history courses is about early Virginia history (our test covered the Virginia Algonquians and early colonization attempts up to Jamestown). The other was about ante-bellum Virginia until Virginia's secession following the federal troops suppressing the rebellion at Fort Sumter. I guess the courses are kind of refreshing, both because combined, they're six very easy credit hours, and also, they remind me of my home state. No matter how much I dislike it when I'm actually there, when I'm overseas, I begin to forget its detestable elements. :-) Just as this week was a huge flurry of massive amounts of studying with two near-all nighters (about three hours of sleep each), today won't be easy. Here are the things I want to/need to accomplish today: I should also try to get three other "units" done to stay on course. So here's my plan: If I can do that, I can go to bed thinking "good, I'm on track." It's incredible to believe that meeting the requirements for my associate's degree is just one month away... July 23, 2008: UPDATE 2 Maybe I'll get an A on it. Maybe this is a good omen for this class -- maybe I'll get an A in the class, as well. I felt VERY good on that test. I finished it in only an hour and then used a half an hour to go back and double-check everything. Now, of course, you know what happens when you feel good on a math test -- you get it back with a 50%. Still, I'm holding out hope. July 23, 2008 I will only get about three hours of sleep, but today was a model of efficiency. I also feel very prepared for the math test I will take soon, even though it'll be the first I've taken in almost four years. July 22, 2008
July 19, 2008 I had added some things to my contract, like a clause stating that I would only teach senior middle school (high school) students, and that I would only work at one school. Provided the employer is honest and the job is as presented, this should be no problem. However, I also added a clause about getting my own apartment (since my recruiter had said so but I didn't see anything in the default contract about that). Well, the principal has apparently agreed to my terms. He also thought my picture was very handsome. So provided that my Z visa works out all right, I should be good to go to China in late August. I know I won't have any problem with the criminal background check, since I've never been convicted of any crimes in the US. I think I'll be okay on the medical checkup too, except that there's more potential for doctor error or the risk that I'm carrying something that I don't know about (because I've traveled so much to poor countries and done so many things). So I hope the medical check goes okay. Provided they don't suddenly change their minds, and provided that I pass my medical exam, I can't see any reason why I won't be teaching in Inner Mongolia in less than a month and a half.
July 14, 2008 We created a little "island" in the sand with a moat that went all around it and got our pictures on it. We dug the trench with an army foldable shovel and it took quite a while. Pictures will come later. We got painted in mud. The odd thing was that the people doing the majority of the painting were these volunteer ajummas. I guess I don't picture a Korean ajumma signing up to volunteer-paint the naked flesh of foreigners in mud, but they all did it with smiles on their faces. Oh, and I assisted this pretty western woman in a bikini in communicating with this Korean guy who had just taken her picture, and she seemed to take a liking to me after that and painted me with mud and even gave me a muddy handprint on my butt so it would "look like [I'd] been molested!" Then I managed to recruit a bunch of Koreans (starting with a group of four mud-covered Korean girls) to play volleyball with us. Then I recruited these Korean guys as well, because my group suggested I do so. Then things turned into dodgeball. We had dinner at this place where the ajumma said she'd buy me new socks if I came back, because my socks had holes in them. Then we got onto the train back for Seoul and had to sit in various uncomfortable places because we had gotten standing tickets. Overall, though, the one-day adventure, my second annual Boryeong Mud Festival, was successful. I talked with Ka (Korean-American Hawaiian fire dancer dude) and he hadn't been able to do his fire dance the preceding night because the cops were on the lookout for any fire-related activity, and prevented him and this girl from doing a fire dance. Oh well. Anyways, I will upload pictures of the rest of the stuff later, when they're developed and people send them to me. July 12, 2008 Admittedly, it was slightly different from what I'd expected. The Abs Diet is centered around losing weight by developing abs (and other fat-burning muscles, since one pound of muscle supposedly burns 50 calories a day). I originally thought it was more of a book about the ultimate diet for bodybuilding, but it was just another book written for overweight Americans -- a category I DO NOT yet fall into. However, building muscles was one of the main focuses of the book, so I won't declare it a complete failure for my purposes of getting buff in the next year or so. However, it doesn't talk about things like creatine, developing your arm muscles, or anything like that very much. Another thing about this book -- it's extremely America-centric. With almost all the recipes in this book, all I can say is "good luck if you don't live in America finding those ingredients." I mean, I can't even find relish at my grocery store -- how can I expect to find "Benecol spread" or some of these off-the-wall ingredients if I can't even find relish? The book talks condescendingly about diet books that have you cook overly complicated "masterpieces" like mango shrimp, then turns around and does exactly the same thing, except that I think it'd be harder to find some of The Abs Diet's ingredients in Korea than simple mango and shrimp. The idea of The Abs Diet is that if you develop enough muscle, just maintaining those muscles will burn off a ton of calories. If you can add six pounds of muscle, that's supposedly 300 extra calories that you can eat per day without gaining weight. The Abs Diet also tell you things like why flaxseed is important, how to protect your prostate, etc. I know these are important and I know I'll wish I had cared more about them when I'm 50 or 60, but right now, they aren't even on my radar screen. I've got more imminent things to worry about. Was it a useful read, overall, and was it worth the steep $11.95 shipping that I paid to have it air mailed to Korea? I think so, even though I'm not overweight. At least it gives me a place to start on my muscle-building process. There may be more optimal diets for adding muscle to more than just your abs, but at least this one isn't sub-optimal. The recipes, advice, etc. pertain to a high-protein diet like the bodybuilders use. I learned how to use some substitution to eat a lot healthier (for instance, start using olive oil instead of corn oil). As for other news, I'm going to the Boryeong Mud Festival soon, and my attempts to find a proctor have been foiled so far. The Ewha Women's University Career Development Center that I'd been told about (a possible testing center) is nothing but a bunch of empty rooms under renovation, with no human beings inside. Yonsei University doesn't even have such a center marked on its map, and asking regular Yonsei students was fruitless. I'm really worried about finding a proctor. Mijung says her friend (who is a middle school teacher) might proctor for me, but only if that person is actually in Korea next week. I know what the secret weapon is to finding a proctor -- offering 20,000 won or more an hour and making posts on Dave's ESL Cafe (an internet site for English teachers, a lot in Korea), but I HATE Dave's ESL Cafe and just KNOW someone will flame me if I put an ad up there. So that's a last resort. If I can't find a proctor by July 15, though, I'm posting an ad on there. So I guess I'd better work hard to ensure that I don't have to do that. July 11, 2008 It looks like a school in China is finally willing to sign a contract with me. Here are the details of the school: If I do end up signing a contract with them, I will start teaching on September 1. I will be a free man again in mid-July 2009. At that point, I could use the remaining 3+ months before my birthday to go to Ireland and work on the Working Holiday visa scheme, then end up in Japan before my 23rd birthday. That way, I will be able to say "I had lived and worked on three continents at the age of 22." July 8, 2008 So screw the mini-vacation, I guess. Looks like I'll be enjoying more of cantankerous old Seoul until the weekend. Then, on Sunday, hopefully I can still go to Boryeong with my friends. July 7, 2008 I posted three ads at Yonsei University Korean Language Institute, then I went to Ewha Women's University and was going to post one (I was asking on the office) when a woman there told me she teaches at a hagwon and would be interested in doing it. So I gave her a flyer and held off on posting another one at Ewha. Next I hit Yonsei regular campus. I posted two there. So altogether, I've deployed five flyers. I still have five remaining, and if I don't get any replies today, I will post two at Ewha Women's University, and three at Sogang University. Apparently Ewha Women's University has a place called the Gyeongnyeok-Gaebal-Senteo (The Career Development Center) which might be able to help me. I need to find a proctor within two weeks, or I'm screwed. Once again, if anyone who is a teacher (hagwon teachers included) wants to make the world's easiest 10,000 won an hour, just contact me. As for other news, I'm planning to go to Yeongjong Island tomorrow. It's the island with Incheon Airport on it. I'm going there to hang out on Eulwangni Beach. I plan to be there for three days and two nights. I think I could benefit from a little vacation. It should be extremely cheap -- I plan to take all the food I'll eat with me (lots of rice and jjajang pouches) and stay in public bathhouses (7,000 won a night, usually). The subway goes all the way out there. I reckon it'll be about $30 for the whole three-day beach vacation. While there, I want to get a little bit of sun for the upcoming Boryeong Mud Festival this weekend. I also plan to do a lot of walking and swimming, and aside from that, I'll just bring my textbooks with me and do some schoolwork. July 4, 2008 That college in Tianjin, Tianshi College, just told me that I'm not hired. Fucking assholes -- they string me along for WEEKS, interview me over the phone, and tell me I'm hired, but then, oh, wait... They have to wait until the school's headmaster comes back (they told me this the day after I was "hired"). Then he hands down his verdict today that I am "too young." So the fucking assholes waited several weeks (and waited until they'd told me that I had a job) to go back on their word -- FOR SOMETHING THEY COULD HAVE TOLD ME IN 30 SECONDS JUST BY LOOKING AT THE FRONT PAGE OF MY PASSPORT. I hate the ageism in this world. The damn thing is, I'm too young now, but in about eight years, I'll be too old. Apparently, in life, I need to completely succeed in about an eight-year time frame, or I'm screwed. So I need to look for another job. Because I don't have time to be rejected multiple times by universities that string me along for weeks and then tell me that I'm too young, I'm going to have to lower my sights a little bit. I'm willing to consider teaching "middle school" (secondary school in my country). At least they're young adults, even if they aren't full adults. That way I could still get some arguably adult-level teaching for the resume later, and save my sanity. My recruiter has only found me one job that's arguably satisfactory -- it's in Shandong Province. In terms of benefits, it's about the same as the Tianjin job I applied for -- the salary is lower, but the meals are provided, which they weren't at the Tianjin job. She claims she may be able to get me strictly secondary school students, without any elementary school teaching. It's a Korean international school, so I could keep up my Korean and I wouldn't have too much trouble communicating with the management. There are just two things that worry me about that job: 1) They'll tell me I'll teach a "mix" of secondary and primary school students, which will end up equating to 21 periods a week of elementary and 1 period a week of secondary, and 2) they have an "aged 25-50" on their job advertisement, though Sandy, the recruiter, claims they'll probably be flexible (and I agree, since I have qualifications from South Korea and this is a Korean international school). Just in case, I'm going to try to reapply at Paul's English in Yanbian. That would be little kids, but at least it'd be in mini-Korea, so life would be more comfortable (less language barrier, ability to make friends, and communicate with the boss). I'm also going to work through another recruiter, Anita, who says she can introduce me to a job in Shenyang (I may not have liked the city too much, but at least it was modern, and I have connections there [Danyang and May]). It amazes me that after over 21 years on this earth, ageism is still such a problem for me, despite the fact that I've built up so many sector- and location-specific qualifications (CELTA, certificate from Yonsei, seven years on this continent, Chinese courses in college, etc) that make me better than a lot of the competition. I'm discriminated against in job applications, loans from my own government, dating, etc. because I'm "too young." If I were some 40-year-old who'd screwed up in life and was just now starting his career, then I could scream "Ageism! Ageism!" if someone refused to hire me because of my age, but unfortunately, ageism against the young is considered completely acceptable even though we're the hardest workers, we have the fresh new ideas, and we don't have a bunch of other baggage like family interfering with our work (especially important when you have to go overseas to work). Well, I'll just hope it gets better when I "grow up." Then I'll have a few years before I'm considered "too old." This world hates young men. It also hates old men. Too bad you're only "just right" for 10% of your life before you cross from one into the other. July 1, 2008 YES!!!More good news -- I got the job at the college in Tianjin, China! Yahoo!According to what I've been told (which may be too good to be true, I admit, and that possibility scares me) I will be paid 6,000 RMB ($875.36) a month, get free accommodation, teach only 16 hours a week (Mondays to Fridays only, supposedly) and TEACH COLLEGE STUDENTS! Wait a second, aren't I still a college student? I still need to get my Z visa (working visa) sorted out and that worries me, because I hear Chinese immigration is getting really strict with the Olympics. However, provided that I get my Z visa (no reason why I should be refused, I meet all the requirements that I'm aware of), I should have a job in China that pays quite well for China. If my Z visa goes through, I will probably make the move in mid to late August. June 30, 2008: UPDATE 2 So I just obtained four credits towards my bachelor's and associate's degrees. As for my associate's, it now stands at 77% completion (versus 70% before). My bachelor's has gone up from 40% to 43%. Gradually, I am clawing my way up... June 30, 2008 I need a C in this class to transfer it. If I do acceptably on the final exam, I will achieve this goal, but the way my last exam went, I'm going to need to pull my act together. This has been one hell of a class in terms of the amount of random information you're supposed to absorb through osmosis -- or is that facilitated diffusion? If I pass it with a C, I will have 52 credit hours towards my bachelor's degree (it will be transferable to Excelsior College). If I fail it (or get a D, which is failing for transfer purposes), I will have just wasted approximately $400 and countless hours of study time. So let's hope I pass it! I'm not going to sleep tonight, because I have to read a ton of material, do a bunch of online labs, and do an estimated 1,000 very quick study guide questions (each question can be done in a matter of seconds, but that's still a lot of work). I estimate that if I get started right now and only take a few very short breaks, all this is feasible, but just as I'm doing now, I'll get sidetracked, and then in the last two hours, I'll be saying "oh shit, oh shit, why didn't I manage my time better earlier?" So I'd better get to work. I look forward to plopping into bed at 6:30 PM tonight and being able to sleep as long as I want, without any alarm to wake me up.
June 26, 2008 So it was a productive day. I wish all days could be this productive. June 23, 2008: UPDATE 2 I need a bachelor's degree to get a visa to teach English in Japan. On my current schedule, that will take a little more than one year. However, when I get there, there will be a major language barrier. I have been worrying about how on earth I'm going to study Japanese while I'm in China. All I could think of was self-study, which is almost never an effective method for languages. I could just picture slacking off and not learning much of anything, then arriving in Japan clueless. Fortunately, I was overjoyed this morning when I discovered that my community college back home, Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) is offering Japanese 101 ONLINE. So it doesn't matter if I'm in China, Russia, or Timbuktu -- I can take a class in Japanese anywhere I am. Judging by the difficulty level of Chinese 101, it will probably be ridiculously easy. I have this learning Asian languages thing down to a fine art. However, it'll give me the kick in the pants I need to start studying Japanese formally. So my goal for Japanese is this: At that point, I will speak basic Japanese, can put it on my resume and maybe get a better English teaching job when I hit Japan because of it (JLPT Level 3, CELTA, and a year of English teaching experience should all converge to make me a little less green than the other fresh-out-of-college kids), and even if I don't, I'll have gotten a head start on learning Japanese and can get around Japan much more easily and play Final Fantasy XIII and understand a good deal more of it than if I hadn't studied Japanese! Maybe this plan is too ambitious on top of all the other school work and actual work that I'll have to do, but I don't picture learning Japanese being a huge burden once I'm in a class to get me started. June 23, 2008 Since I'm planning to leave Korea within the next three months, I need to learn how to cook Korean food -- that's the part of the country I'll miss the most. I hope to learn to cook my five favorite dishes before I leave. That way, I won't need to shell out a load of cash to eat at a Korean restaurant all the time later in life. Here's the recipe, as taught to me by Mijung: Ingredients: 1. Peal the onion. Now I know how to make kimchi jjigae. I hope to learn how to cook four more things, then I'll be able to live in another country and eat awesome-tasting Korean food without having to go to an expensive restaurant. June 22, 2008
June 20, 2008 Yesterday was the second anniversary of my coming to Korea to study Korean. So I've toughed it out for two years here, and I'm not going to lie, I'm ready to go. Of course, China decided to make things harder for me by adding a range of new restrictions (even if people under 25 being refused visas is just a rumor, they now require you to fly back to your home country to get the visa, as well, which is about $2,000 that I don't have). Taiwan isn't an option either for aforementioned reasons. So where will I go? Russia seems like a good idea. I checked on Sakhalin (the place with all the North Koreans) and they only have one school. I contacted them and they have no vacancies. So Sakhalin's out, although making $1,200 a month in Sakhalin no doubt would have been a blast. Maybe I could go to Moscow and teach. I could combine it with Russian history courses from NOVA (since I still need six history credits) and make it into a true DIY study abroad experience, the same way I lived in Korea and traveled to Japan during my History of Asian Civilizations class. I could make somewhere between $910 and $1,200 a month (accommodation provided), meaning that I could theoretically save more than in China (well, at least if I were making $1,200, because I hear that in Moscow, food is pretty expensive). Then I'd be strategically positioned in Europe at that point, so I could do a nearly four-month Working Holiday in Ireland, then fly to Japan after that to resume my plans. Maybe a break in Europe is what I need. I could dress like a local and blend in for a change and not have all the little children proclaiming, in a loud voice, "IT'S A FOREIGNER!" Of course, no doubt that after spending some time in Europe, I'll get bored (like I did when I moved back to the US in 2001) and want to come back to Asia. Then I'll be ripe to hit Japan. Sound like a good idea? I'm being forced to think of radical changes in plans thanks to China's obstinacy, but maybe it's for the better. If I had gone to China (or Taiwan) and taught, it is quite possible that I could go through my whole life never having worked in Europe (and never having set foot in Russia). So maybe this is a good thing. June 17, 2008 HOLY SHIT! SOMEBODY JUST THREW A MONKEY WRENCH INTO MY PLANS!I had been planning on going to Taiwan with my associate's degree and teaching English there, but realized if I did that, I would have no money to pay for fall tuition.So my plans changed. I planned on going to China and teaching while studying online and getting my degree. I would graduate in debt, but at least I could make it and pay my student loans off later. However, that will no longer be possible. China has decided to make it literally impossible for me (or anyone under 25 to teach there).Yes, that's right, in a sudden reversion to Confucianist principles, China has announced that it will no longer give Z (working) visas to anyone who was born after 1983.Basically, someone can be 24 and have a master's in English, and fuck them. They're under 25. Can't work in China. So I'm going to need to find a new place where I can work, put food on the table, and pay my tuition, because China just decided to be arbitrarily ageist. Had I gone to China as an 18- or 19- or 20-year-old, I could have gotten a job as an English teacher, because the law hadn't changed yet. However, now, as a 21-year-old, I cannot get a job there. In fact, if I want to work there, I'm going to have to wait about three years and four months. Well, whatever, I'll find some other place to go and earn money. So far as I know, I'm still eligible to teach English in at least 10 very desperate countries. I should be thankful for being an American and a native English speaker -- at least a lot of countries are still interested in employing me.
June 11, 2008 I've prepared two cameras. One is a disposable and the other is my trusty cheapo digital camera. I'll give each one to people in different parts of the room to cover more than one angle and ensure that there isn't a problem that prevents there being any pictures. I'm wearing a dress shirt and some black pants. The teacher said that was okay. A lot of the other people are wearing suits or hanboks, but I couldn't find a place that would rent a suit, and buying would be like 250,000 won. I'm sure as hell not wearing a hanbok. So I won't look too flashy, but at least the stuff is clean. June 10, 2008 June 8, 2008: UPDATE 2
If I manage to follow that insane test schedule (believe me, it may not look hard, but it will be) then I'll be merrily on my way to Taiwan with an associate's degree by September. June 8, 2008 I didn't have much time in Japan (Izuhara, Tsushima) so I basically just found a minshuku (cheap hotel) and ate. I tried to set up a bank account (because I heard it takes six months, so I figured I'd get started early) but the bank told me that I can't set one up unless I have a job in Japan, but once it's set up, it only takes 10 minutes until you can use it. So I didn't get it set up, but at least it sounds like it won't be a huge hassle in the future -- unless they didn't know what they were talking about, which is always possible. For the third time in the last year, I was struck with how much BETTER Japan seems than Korea. People are polite and don't try to get on your case, yell at you, make fun of the way a foreigner talks, etc. Right after coming back to Korea I started experiencing that shit all over again and remembered what an abrasive country this is. Well, no doubt the nationalistic Korean-American is saying "if you don't like it, then leave." Well, that would be somewhat unwise with my graduation from Yonsei just around the corner, but soon after that, I plan to get the hell out of here and go to Taiwan. I'm not qualified to work in Japan yet (that'll come next) but at least in Taiwan people aren't having a so-called "peaceful candlelit vigil" against the US in which they rip the armor off of armored police buses and firebomb the interiors (then complain excessively when the police respond in self defense with water cannons). Sure, there are western guys who, despite the anti-white hatred and overall xenophobia in this country, still manage to love it. I'm just curious, though, have those guys ever lived in another Asian country? I have a feeling it's a frog in the well type of thing. Guys come here and say "this is great, I can go to internet cafes whenever I want, the language is cool, and the women are all so attractive." The thing is, you can get that in ANY East Asian country, not just Korea. Some guys come to Korea, decide they love Asia, and then assume that these things must just be Korean. Little do they know, there are other Asian countries out there too with all the good things of Korea -- and with 75% less bigotry! Man, I wish I could live in Japan. Just another year and four months or so of perseverance (until I'm well-qualified enough to get the work visa) and it can become a reality. June 5, 2008 I got my final test grades back. I found out my grade for Level 6 (75% [C]   <- I INCREASED MY LISTENING SCORE BY MORE THAN 30 POINTS OVER MIDTERMS! HOLY SHIT! (composed of a research paper: 24.5/30 and a test: 53/70)Well, I'd better pack for Japan now. Maybe I'll update again from Busan. June 4, 2008 BARRING AN EXTREMELY UNLIKELY EVENT, I WILL GRADUATE FROM YONSEI UNIVERSITY KOREAN LANGUAGE INSTITUTE!Today I took my reading test. She graded it on the spot and I got 71%. This averages with my midterm reading exam (55%) to make 63%. Yahoo! I passed reading by a 3% margin! As for listening, I don't know what I got on the final, but it must have been at least a 62%, because the teacher said she calculated my average listening score for the term and it exceeded 60%. I haven't gotten back my speaking or writing results yet, but since I had more than 80% on each one of those at midterms, I would need to literally get less than 40% to fail either one of them.My attendance currently stands at 166 hours (you must attend 160 hours of class out of 200 to pass). So I pass in that respect. Unless something catastrophic and bizarre happens, like my teacher inaccurately reporting my listening test score, or deciding that she hates me and giving me a 0% participation grade, I'll pass the class and graduate from Yonsei University Korean Language Institute. So now I can just sit back and relax. Oh wait, I can't. I have to go to Japan tomorrow. Oh well. I hope I got at least a C this term, but if I didn't, just graduating will satisfy me. I am so ecstatic right now. I stayed up all of last night and didn't get a minute of sleep, and if I hadn't done that, well, since I passed it by a mere 6% margin, it seems unlikely that I would have passed it had I not studied that hard. Today has become a very good day. I celebrated by eating McDonald's, watching American TV, and taking a nice, long nap. Graduation day is on June 11. Then I'm a free man, free to go to any country I'm able to go to, free to study the things I want to (admittedly I got a bit sick of studying Korean), etc. I'm going to try to knock out my associate's degree over the next seven weeks, then after that, start studying Information Technology full-time (my major for my bachelor's degree), while continuing to live in Asia (though not necessarily Korea). June 3, 2008: UPDATE 2 For the writing test, I don't even need a 40% on the final to pass, so I'm not too concerned about it (because I did well on the writing midterm). Listening is a different story. I need a 62% this time. I got a 58% last time. I truly have no idea if I reached my target or not. It was, just like the midterm, one hell of a test that few people found easy. I guess the Yonsei KLI doesn't care if seven people in our class of 12 fail. Since the finals for writing and listening have been anything but easy, I see no reason to expect the reading final to be easy, either, so I'd better prepare with everything I've got, even though I really don't want to study right now (in too much agony about whether I passed listening). I mean, I could have already failed the class based on my listening scores, so the hours of study I'm about to do could be for diddly squat. Deciding to take a break from the testing hell, I got two bacon cheeseburgers and some fries from McDonald's and turned on the TV and watched an English channel. Saw "A Cinderella Story." What a bad movie. It was so incredibly unrealistic, it just irritated me. You can't have an unpopular/nerdy girl played by Hillary Duff. It just doesn't work. There is no such thing as an attractive high school girl who doesn't know her true attractiveness. They're all QUITE aware. I remember that period quite well -- every girl without some sort of horrible disfigurement was doing QUITE well, so the whole idea of "actually a beautiful girl but doesn't realize it" is the stupidest premise for a movie that I've ever seen. I want to see a real movie. When finals are done, I have to go to Japan, but after I come back, maybe I'll see the new Indiana Jones movie. June 3, 2008 So there are three possible outcomes. I hope I don't get the first one, but if I get the second one, it's acceptable, and if I get the third one, graduation day could be one of the best days of my life. I have good news. I had found a mistake on my listening midterm in the grading. I just found out yesterday afternoon that it had been bumped up to 58%. So I just need a 62% on this final listening test, not 65%. May not make a huge deal, or it might completely save me. I'm glad I caught that error and notified them about it! Oh, and if I can't double major, it's not the end of the world. It's not like employers here in Asia care much whether I majored in their culture anyway. It's more a gimmick for US employers to hire me and send me overseas, and that's not what I'm shooting for. Majoring in Area Studies: East Asia would largely be a vanity thing and a resume filler.
May 26, 2008 When I went to Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Virginia (2001-2005) I knew this Korean guy named Charles Yang. We were in the same Pre-IB Geometry and IB Physics classes. I hadn't seen him since 2004. I was just adding a bunch of people that I'd known from before on Facebook. This morning, I got the notification that Charles Yang had added me. And sent me a message: "Woah long time. This is so weird but I think I saw you in ���� [Gangnam] two saturdays ago. Anyways its pretty cool that you are going to Yonsei. I was there two years ago. Maybe i'll cya around." HOLY SHIT! What are the chances of running into someone you knew from high school on the other side of the world, without having planned it, just in public like that? It's a Festivus Miracle! It's also occurred to me that I don't have much time left until the finals begin. So here's the new study plan for the next eight days: If I do all these things, I should be as prepared as can be expected for the final reading test. I need a 65% on that to pass the class. I think it's POSSIBLE if I know the story really, really well, as well as all the practice paragraphs, and 90%+ of the words we've learned this term. Reviewing the listening comprehension practice and practicing by listening to the radio/TV is about all I can realistically do to prepare for the listening test, but I'm not as afraid of that because it will have to be easy for the class to pass it. Remember, in our class of 12, seven people failed the listening test, so either they make it easier than last time, or nearly everybody is going to fail. The speaking and writing tests should be no problem. Basically, I'd like to get at least a 70% this term, but if I am only in the 60s, it's not the end of the world. I'll still have my graduation certificate from Yonsei University Korean Language Institute, the only difference it'll make is slightly more work that I need to do for my bachelor's degree (since I'll be missing six credits) and I won't be able to double major (in IT and Area Studies: East Asia), only single major (in IT only, which is actually the only useful major anyway for employment purposes).
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