However, there is a dark side to studying abroad. Yes, we lament over financial issues we college students must encounter, grumble over cafeteria food, complain about our academic struggles, and of course, occasionally quibble with each other. But the dangerous and unpredictable nightmare that is study abroad is without a doubt saying goodbye when it is all over. We have a little over a month left with each other but this simply means that now, more than ever, we must make every day count. Visiting Sinan today is an exemplary portrayal of this.

More pictures here!

Exams are finally over so now I have the final lap until finals. For the first half of the semester, my mind has been preoccupied with my transfer university but now all I truly care about is making sure I’m living each day by making the most with my friends!

chuuuuu

Did you know that South Korea’s Spring semester starts in March? I didn’t, and as a result I’ve had the pleasure of fitting in two month’s worth of vacation under my belt. All of January was spent interning at the Smithsonian Office of Fellowships and Internships and the Museum Support Center and February was when the traveling began.

I went to Singapore not only to attend Yale-NUS’s Visit Day but also visit my cousin’s family who so graciously took us in and gave us a tour of some of the great tourist sites of Singapore such as Universal Studios, the Aquarium, and the Esplanade, amongst others.

Afterwards I spent an amazing week in Sydney with my cousins whom I met for the first time! 

Bondi Beach

Taronga Zoo, Sydney

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Heading downtown in Gwangju

lol my korean buddy

Professor Grotjohn, American professor here at Chonnam National University, took the North American students out to dinner! Thank you!

Invited to speak at GFN Radio!

Surprise birthday present for Rizki

노래방!

Scavenger hunt in Yeongnam!

The past couple of weeks have included:

• visting Gwangju International Center downtown
• Dinner with Professor Grotjohn
• speaking as a guest on GFN 98.7 FM
• visiting Seoul and Chuncheon
• rizki’s surprise birthday visit and noraebang celebration
• AND MUCH MORE!

Most of my adventures have been recorded on my travel blog (azurinj.studentsgoneglobal.com) including some brief commentary on North Korea and more pictures. Take a looooooooook. Also teaching this semester is going well.

More pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeresnack/

Filed under: travel Tagged: australia, azurinj, college, education, jazurin, jeremiah azurin, jeremy azurin, photos, singapore, South korea, study abroad, travel, university ]]> http://jeremiahazurin.com/2013/04/06/1575/feed/ 0 35.159545 126.852601 35.159545 126.852601 jeremiahazurin chuuuuu OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA IMG_2624 OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Bondi Beach OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA http://jeremiahazurin.com/2013/02/16/first-post-of-2013/ http://jeremiahazurin.com/2013/02/16/first-post-of-2013/#comments Sun, 17 Feb 2013 03:42:37 +0000 jeremiahazurin http://jeremiahazurin.com/?p=1550 Continue reading →]]> Quite a lot has occurred even though the year barely started. I completed two winter internships at the Smithsonian, applied to three colleges, interviewed for a number of summer internships, wrote a ton of study abroad essays, got a dog, two of my cousins each had a baby, and received my visas for some upcoming travel. In less than forty-eight hours, I’ll be leaving for Singapore for four days, Australia for a week, and then South Korea for my Spring semester to learn Korean. But it doesn’t stop there; in May and June I’ll be attending two family weddings in the Philippines! This eastern hemisphere world tour is just what I needed since last semester was academically brutal. On top of traveling to DC almost every weekend, presenting at my first conference, TEDxVirginiaTech, my Korean study abroad application, a twenty-hour part-time job, and two graduate level courses, I still managed to receive a glowing 3.7 grade point average.

This upcoming spring semester in South Korea should definitely be an entirely different challenge despite having studied there in the past. I’ll be planted in Gwangju, a city around seven-to-eight hours south of where I studied last summer in Chuncheon. This means that I will have a completely new support network to explore all by myself, unlike the the group of two other Americans I had before. While I am more than excited, this new adventure is only now starting to hit me — all before I had the chance to pack! Moving on to the rightful next step of my life.

cliff, part-time model

• Clara C’s cover of Jason Mraz’s “I Won’t Give Up”
• “Rhythm of Love” cover by Clara C and Joseph Vincent – how much I really, really wish I were back in South Korea!
• Lee Seung Gi’s “Delete” – my impromptu trip to South Korea to celebrate my twentieth birthday!
• Kyle Landry’s “Wedding Dress” cover – Listening to this song on repeat pushed me further and further into changing my major to piano performance.
• Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” – only reminded me how much I want to transfer
• “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri – How annoying my study abroad applications were getting on top of my first conference
• “Crazy” by Aerosmith – Thanksgiving!!!!!!
• Simon and Milo’s “Get a Clue” – teaching my first class ever
• “Hallelujah” by a bunch of Portuguese artists – how much I need to study abroad…pronto!
• “In Christ Alone” by Owl City – how much I need to transfer out of here
• Last but not least, “Speechless” by Lady Gaga reminds me of my time preparing for my Tufts and Harvard interview/visit last week.

Anyways, one part of this semester that has really eaten up my time is my application for the Teach and Learn in Korea program. The TaLK program, for short, is an opportunity for teachers from seven English-speaking countries (including USA, Ireland, South Africa, Canada, and Australia) to teach English in a rural location in South Korea. I’m doing the exchange program which is a much shorter time commitment since I will be balancing my responsibilities both as a 9 hour/week part-time teacher and full-time student. This has been one of the most time-consuming applications I’ve ever had to do since it includes everything from an interview, sample lesson plan, essays, and medical review, and criminal record check from the FBI.

I had my Skype interview last night (11 pm!) and out of all the interviews I’ve had to do this semester, my TaLK one was probably the most successful. Here are a few of the questions I was asked by my interviewer and how I responded:

1. How will my experience as a Geography major fit in with TaLK? “I have customized my curriculum to exploring other cultures by tailoring the skills needed to become an agent of change once I graduate from school. I enjoy studying nation-nation relations, particularly issues that involve the United States, and studying and teaching in South Korea will help me achieve this” or something like that.
2. How will I deal with the rural area? I said something along the lines of how I visit my dad’s home town in the Philippines every year, which is an extremely rural area. I’ve had the privilege of experiencing both the city (where I’m from) and the transition to the farm environment where sometimes we don’t even have electricity, etc. Also, since my school is in the middle of nowhere, I know what it’s like to be in a rural area here in the United States so I’m not totally unfamiliar with living outside the city.
3. How would you deal with stress? This wasn’t the exact wording of her question, which was something similar to “How would you handle being away from home, the language barriers, teaching a bunch of kids, et cetera?” so I openly told her that this question sounded like “How would I deal with stress?”. She immediately glowed, and did so even more when I gave her my answer. I told her I play the piano and she seemed to like that because it can be incorporated into my lesson plans (since I’ll be teaching elementary-aged students). To answer this, it helps to tie in an activity that can be used in the classroom.
4. How would you deal with distracting students? I teach this semester and while I’m lucky to have well-behaved students, I have had to deal with some annoying actions that normally come with teaching, such as an apathetic student or a student who doesn’t put in as much effort. To answer this question, I said I plan to make a distracting student accountable for the class by making him/her responsible for other students’ work. For example, I get a lot of e-mails from my students if they have a question or to submit their work. Around the middle of the semester, I decided that I didn’t want fifty e-mails flooding my inbox so if they had to turn in something, give it to the apathetic student and that one student would subsequently organize everything and give it to me. By indirectly assigning responsibility, I am showing that he/she is included in my class and feels like I’m really investing in his/her efforts.
5. How would you deal with the responsibilities both as a teacher and student? As I mentioned above, I’ll be a part-time English teacher but full-time student in the exchange program at a partner university within TaLK. To answer this question, I said that I’ve always had excellent time management skills. Living in Maryland while commuting to schools in Virginia ever since the seventh grade (and handling Corps obligations, to a certain extent) last year basically forced me to make sure that I will make time for both my responsibilities as a student and duties as a teacher.
6. You might have one class with students who have a good grasp of the English language and students who might not know any English at all. What strategies would you employ to address this issue? This was the hardest question of them all. I honestly didn’t know what to say but said I’d first and foremost assess who is at a comfortable English level and who isn’t, then find that “middle ground” so that neither parties would feel like their either moving too fast or feeling held back. This isn’t exactly a strategy but I think it’s important to first know your audience. Afterwards I’d look to the help of my co-teacher, which brings me to my next question….
7. Assuming my co-teacher is as new to teaching as you are, what would you do? It’s important to look into the network you already have at the area you’ll be placed in, so if your co-teacher isn’t helpful, then draw upon some of the strengths of your fellow English teachers. However, she mentioned that it’s also important to consult with the past TaLK scholar who you replaced for some tips since they’ll be most familiar with your environment.
8. Tell me about your volunteer experience. I told her about how I learned how to create lesson plans and address individual needs through teaching this semester, etc. If you have any experience “teaching” whether it’s through an organized program like I did or through church activities, tutoring, or coaching, use that to your advantage!
9. Tell me what you know about TaLK. Everything can be found on their website to answer this question. I said it was about the exchange between two cultures through a common medium such as English.

That’s all I can remember; no “traditional” interview questions or anything regarding my future goals/careers.

Here are some interview tips that have helped me:

• DO NOT MENTION K-POP. When I told my interviewer that I played the piano, she was writing and immediately looked up at me and asked, “K-pop?” with a look of annoyance or disdain. Luckily I mentioned Yiruma and her face looked as if her heart had melted. So if you’re going to mention music, or why you’d want to teach in South Korea, do not refer to K-Pop AT ALL. They want to focus on educators, not fangirls/boys.
• Try an indirectly tie in your answers to teaching. For example, I mentioned that I played the piano, which alludes to my ability to incorporate music and fun into the classroom. Use implications to get your point across so you don’t sound too rehearsed, which can make you come off as fake. I’ve found this extremely useful in interviews in general.
• ALWAYS ASK QUESTIONS AT THE END. This too is a general interview question. Always think of [thoughtful] questions to ask so you really seem interested in the program. Since I will be an exchange program, I asked about my housing at the university I’ll be studying in and she went off on a lot of helpful tips and information that I didn’t even think to consider. You might get to know more than you expected!
• Do your prep! Nothing is more embarrassing than an applicant who knows nothing about the program to which they’re applying.
• Don’t be afraid to show off your weaknesses, but only if you know how to counteract them. For example, since this is my first time teaching English, I’m going to encounter a number of challenges at first. After I acknowledged this, I declared that I would look into the network of TaLK scholars on Facebook, my university, or the general Chonnam area for answers. Doing this shows initiative and confidence rather than complacency, which is important in any interview.

As for the general application process, I highly advise you start early. I didn’t even hear about the TaLK program until September so everything including my sample lesson plan, health forms, essays, study plan form, and criminal record check (CRC) request had to be done by October 31st. Although two months seem like enough time, it’s best to get everything out of the way because the turn-around time, at least in my case, took forever. I found the CRC to be the most time-consuming part since I didn’t request it at the state level, which meant that I had to wait a month-and-a-half for it to come in the mail then leave to DC (where I am from) on my own to get it apostilled. The apostille itself could take a long time but I got it same-day service because I had proof that I was flying out the next day.

If I am accepted, I will be leaving for South Korea this February, which will leave me with a whole month to do my Smithsonian internship, which is unusual since my past internships with with have lasted only 3-4 weeks. If I do not get accepted, then I’ll still be going to South Korea strictly as a study abroad student instead of a teacher, so either way I’m not returning to school here in the United States!