Today's class was one of those times I wish I was in Japan. Not necessarily because I like Japan better, but for the language. No matter how many languages I study, I don't think I'll ever get used to STARTING a new one.
The limited expression is always the hardest. Starting a language, you only have like three phrases that you repeat and rehash over and over again. I start feeling kind of racist, because the only thing I can ask people is "What is your nationality?" I was even relieved just to be able to ask "Where are you from?" instead.
Furthermore, because there are somewhere around three people here who's native tongue is English, I usually need to limit my expression in English as well and interpret other's simplified expressions all while trying not to put my foot in my mouth. To facilitate this, I generally end up thinking somewhere between English and Japanese--trying to use English vocabulary to express no more than I could in Japanese.
Usually this can be rewarding, like solving a puzzle.
I have to admit that it's amusing how many people ask me, "How do you always know what people are saying? I thought you didn't speak Korean." (Generally, I just tell them "I'm used to guessing.")
But over long periods of time, it's tiring. As a verbose person so used to expressing myself in complex and varied ways, I feel like I'm thinking through sludge.
We got into some grammar today, which is good. Moving away from "How do you do?" is nice. I'm actually really glad that our teacher accepts other grammatical structures than the ones we are focusing on. (I think it has to do with the fact that we come from so many different backgrounds and levels of study.) Due to the structure of Korea and Japanese, there are concepts and structures that are difficult to explain in English. So, having studied Japanese, there are times when it just better for me to take notes in Japanese. The text also has some sections translated into English, Japanese, and Chinese. I found these particularly useful, but it puts me in a weird state of mind.
What really did it, though, was the new teacher. We had a substitute today. She started out good, keeping her structures simple and repeating things with subtle adjustments for better understanding and pattern recognition. She also wrote things on the board to help get the point across and demonstrated more English than many of the other teachers had dared to. All together, I liked the pace. But about half way through, she began to speed up. By the end of the period, she was literally rambling in Korean and didn't even bother to ask if we understood. Between that, my degrading English, and my Japanese notes, I didn't know what language I was thinking, much less speaking. I don't think there was one.
I did manage to eek out a short discussion in Japanese, but after that I was shot. Even that short conversation felt liberating, somehow. The other Japanese speaker was native, so the conversation went at my pace for a change. For once, I felt like I got across everything I needed to.
I really want to speak Japanese now. Well, I have for a while, just to make myself feel less stupid. Why couldn't I have figured out how to talk to people when I was in Japan?
Monday, September 10, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
What is KGSP?
So, I guess I should explain a little bit about what's going here. I've said it so many times i just assume everyone knows. This started as just a little thing for my family, but I've come to realize it's become a little more than that.
So, around March, I applied for this thing called Korean Government Scholarship Program, or KGSP for short. It's part of the National Institute for International Education's (NIIED) Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) program. They are also responsible for programs like EPIK. Don't ask me what it stands for, just something about teaching English in Korea; like JET, but I'm pretty sure it's easier and sweeter. They love their acronyms in this game.
In any case, the program will fund between 3 and 4 years of education in Korea starting with a year of Korean Language training and one of five language institutes at various Korean universities. I am currently in that stage, studying Korean at Jeonju University (JJU), "A place for Superstars!" And they won't let us forget it.
If we reach TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) level 3 (of 6) within a year and a half (ideally within a year), we will be admitted into a graduate program (previously applied to) at another university; 2 years for a masters program and 3 for a PhD.
By "fund" they mean purchase our plane ticket, pay/wave tuition for every university we are sent to, and provide a monthly living allowance for the duration of our stay. Nice, huh? My mother spend a lot of time wondering, "what's the catch." Really, there isn't. The program guidelines are pretty strict, especially in the beginning during the language courses, but basically, we're getting paid to learn Korean. And I learned about it from a former Korean roommate of mine, so I trusted it. Some people may not believe it, but, as an Asian Studies major, it makes sense to me. It's difficult to explain here, but it's part of the way many Asian cultures do things. It's rooted in their relationships, rituals, and business.
Anyway, after I stunningly pass level 6 on my TOPIK (here's hoping ;-) ), I'll be going to Kongju National University (KNU) for a master's degree in Game Design. Yes, game design-- that generally means video games and it is exactly what it sounds like. It's a little daunting to be surrounded by doctors and engineers (I've wanted to be an engineer since about 8th grade), but so far, I've run into a lot more acceptance and respect for the field than I have in America. But then again, that's why I decided to do it here in the first place.
Also, for the record, KNU is where the friend who recommended the program to me is an administrator in the international education department. It will be good to meet with her again. I've also realized, i've never been able to speak Korean with her before. For now, that will be my goal.
So, around March, I applied for this thing called Korean Government Scholarship Program, or KGSP for short. It's part of the National Institute for International Education's (NIIED) Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) program. They are also responsible for programs like EPIK. Don't ask me what it stands for, just something about teaching English in Korea; like JET, but I'm pretty sure it's easier and sweeter. They love their acronyms in this game.
In any case, the program will fund between 3 and 4 years of education in Korea starting with a year of Korean Language training and one of five language institutes at various Korean universities. I am currently in that stage, studying Korean at Jeonju University (JJU), "A place for Superstars!" And they won't let us forget it.
If we reach TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) level 3 (of 6) within a year and a half (ideally within a year), we will be admitted into a graduate program (previously applied to) at another university; 2 years for a masters program and 3 for a PhD.
By "fund" they mean purchase our plane ticket, pay/wave tuition for every university we are sent to, and provide a monthly living allowance for the duration of our stay. Nice, huh? My mother spend a lot of time wondering, "what's the catch." Really, there isn't. The program guidelines are pretty strict, especially in the beginning during the language courses, but basically, we're getting paid to learn Korean. And I learned about it from a former Korean roommate of mine, so I trusted it. Some people may not believe it, but, as an Asian Studies major, it makes sense to me. It's difficult to explain here, but it's part of the way many Asian cultures do things. It's rooted in their relationships, rituals, and business.
Anyway, after I stunningly pass level 6 on my TOPIK (here's hoping ;-) ), I'll be going to Kongju National University (KNU) for a master's degree in Game Design. Yes, game design-- that generally means video games and it is exactly what it sounds like. It's a little daunting to be surrounded by doctors and engineers (I've wanted to be an engineer since about 8th grade), but so far, I've run into a lot more acceptance and respect for the field than I have in America. But then again, that's why I decided to do it here in the first place.
Also, for the record, KNU is where the friend who recommended the program to me is an administrator in the international education department. It will be good to meet with her again. I've also realized, i've never been able to speak Korean with her before. For now, that will be my goal.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
The Long Awaited Academic Schedule
Orientation (for JJU, not KGSP) was again disorganized and confusing, but I got the information I needed out of it. We signed up for a meal plan and found out what books we will need and where our classes will be. Also, yesterday we filled out some paperwork for foreigner registration and bank account as well as school ID cards.
The bit that is probably the most interesting to the folks back home is the academic schedule.
Our classes are Mon-Fri from 9am to 1pm. There are four 10-week class periods separated by 2-week breaks.
Period 1: 9/5-11/16/2012
- BREAK -
Period 2: 11/28-2/7/2012
- BREAK -
Period 3: 3/6-5/15/2012
- BREAK -
Period 4: 5/29-8/7/2012
There are also four TOPIK (Test Of Proficiency In Korean) per year. One in October, January/February, April, and in July.
So now I know when to go to class and that I won't starve for the next four or five months. A productive few days, yeah?
The bit that is probably the most interesting to the folks back home is the academic schedule.
Our classes are Mon-Fri from 9am to 1pm. There are four 10-week class periods separated by 2-week breaks.
Period 1: 9/5-11/16/2012
- BREAK -
Period 2: 11/28-2/7/2012
- BREAK -
Period 3: 3/6-5/15/2012
- BREAK -
Period 4: 5/29-8/7/2012
There are also four TOPIK (Test Of Proficiency In Korean) per year. One in October, January/February, April, and in July.
So now I know when to go to class and that I won't starve for the next four or five months. A productive few days, yeah?
Monday, September 3, 2012
Roommate Touchdown
I have a roommate now. She is a Korean nursing major named 혜정 (Hyaejang?). She moved in sometime Saturday while some classmates and I were out exploring and shopping, and I met her this morning. We talked for a bit on Sunday morning when we woke up.
Later in the afternoon, she came by with her friend and invited me out with them. We saw the shopping center downtown where they explained to be that there were also many many movie theaters. They said that Jeonju had a very famous film festval that many popular figures attended every year.
Then we went to a sightseeing spot called (I probably have this wrong) Hangukmaeul. Long story short, it has a lot of traditional style houses to look at and a lot of traditonal themed restaurants and shops. The girls seemed very intent on eating traditional Kroean food, so we went to a restaurant together that served it and ate family style. There were many dishes to be shared: fish, pickled vegitables, noodles, soups, tofu, etc. They insisted that it was very good food, better thanwhat was by the school. I agreed that it was, but nevertheless, it wasn't to my taste.
On our way back, we passed the Royal Portrait Museum. I suspect it has a more distinct name, but it was in Korean. Perhaps it can be found looking for "Gyeonggijeon." After paying a small admission fee (between 300 and 1000 won, depending on your age and entry purpose)we were able to enter the grouds of what looked to me like a palace, temple, or official building.
It was a a big, fancy old Korean style building that housed a famous portrait of King Taejo. According to the plaques, this is the only surviving portrait of this king and it has survived much distress, including the invasion of the Japanese. Another building in the compound housed a series of portraits of other kings, including King Sejong-- the king responisible for the Korean writing system, hangeul. There was also a museum and beautiful grounds to visit. From the grounds, we could also see the bell tower of the oldest (Christian) church in Jeonju, over 100 years old.
[PIctures to come]
On a different note, I haven't had internet for the last several days. Well, I had internet, but I couldn't go to any websites. I have a feeling the JJUniversity page that keeps coming up instead is informing me that I'm blocked for some reason, but many people have been having the same problem. Others don't but they said that while we were out a few days ago, someone came around to adjust the internet somehow. I'm feeling a little frustrated at the moment because theere was an anouncement that said such a visit would be made between 10am and noon; I was in my room all morning until nearly 1pm and no one came. Meanwhile,others are complaining (very embarrassed) that someone had come while they were asleep.
Anyway, I'm told that I will need to ask at the computer office to get my internet "fixed," so I will try to do that today. I'm going nuts! It seems to work ok for now, but I haven't tried anything fancy yet.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Field Trip! - "Orientation"
The last two days here have been spent in field trip land. All of us piled in a bus to Gyeongju city for "orientation." Although, from my point of view, it was really quite DISorienting. Texting my friend later tonight, I called it "mass chaos always on the verge of catastrophe."
The two main lessons for this weekend are thus:
1) 400 human beings should not be kept in such proximity for such legths of time. (and you thought cons were bad...)
2) Buses should absolutely NEVER make U-turns.
I have to admit it was kind of cool to see everyone from the program together, just to see the scale of it. There was an informational/introductory set of presentations. We had some cool drum and dance performances. But after enough time, keeping that many people focused--particularly when many, if not most, have to concentrate to understand what's being said--will break down. The attention span of even the brightest and most disciplined has it limits.
I'm not going to go into the details of trying to find our hotel rooms and how we came to the conclusion that our staff member is secretly related to Harry Houdini. It just isn't worth revisiting and words wouldn't do it justice anyway. *sigh*
also, obnoxious yellow shirts. Mandatory obnoxiously yellow shirts.
Dinner was really nice. Lots of different kinds of food. And a nice talent show, too, but again, attention span decreases exponentially as the number of people in a room increases.
After that, a number of us went out because many of us were convinced 9:30 is too early for bed. This, of course, led to many complaints about the midnight curfew at our dorm. It's a sour topic and I'll leave it at that for now. It was fun exploring and eventually drinking with everyone, but differences in expectations hung tension and confusion in the air. (it's all about expectations.)
Anyway, today was field trip day. you know, more fun things. cultural things, not lectures. Except field trips tend to only work in smaller groups. if you have a lot of people that need to go on a field trip, you break them up into smaller groups. simple intheory and attempted in this situation. but it's difficult to stay in small groups when all of the groups are going to the same place at the same time.
The most frustrating endeavor of the day was going to a city hall and then commandeering elevators for over 400 people to go to the 15th floor to have lunch in a cafeteria. And i had no idea until we got there that that was all we were there for. I about jumped off that 15th floor. Well, we were actually there for some welcoming ceremony, but that was outside. I have no effing clue why we had to go to some 15th floor cafeteria for lunch with 400+ students.
I think the best stop was a tour of POSCO steel plant. It, of course, was much more organized. they are used to large groups and good at keeping them organized. The plant was also really cool and we also got to see the steel get rolled flat and then get coiled into giant rolls. a giant slab in minutes. Awesome.
I think by the end of it, I was just crabby from the number of people and the mass chaos. I really can't stand disorganized events and massive numbers of people. Looking back, I could have, and maybe should have, enjoyed it. But i'm tired and it's done.
Now we have two days to recover. There is a placement test on Monday morning, which I will not be participating in since I am undoubtedly a "beginner" in Korean language and we will meet again in the afternoon to fill out forms and submit photos for our alien cards and school IDs. Sometime this weekend, I have to go get my picture taken... again. I should just have them print a sheet of 30. And I thought Asians believe that photographs steal your soul. Maybe they want to steal our souls. It's all a ploy.
Also, still no hide nor hair of a roommate. my guess is that she's Korean. it would explain why there was no onle else on the arrival list with my room number.
The two main lessons for this weekend are thus:
1) 400 human beings should not be kept in such proximity for such legths of time. (and you thought cons were bad...)
2) Buses should absolutely NEVER make U-turns.
I have to admit it was kind of cool to see everyone from the program together, just to see the scale of it. There was an informational/introductory set of presentations. We had some cool drum and dance performances. But after enough time, keeping that many people focused--particularly when many, if not most, have to concentrate to understand what's being said--will break down. The attention span of even the brightest and most disciplined has it limits.
I'm not going to go into the details of trying to find our hotel rooms and how we came to the conclusion that our staff member is secretly related to Harry Houdini. It just isn't worth revisiting and words wouldn't do it justice anyway. *sigh*
also, obnoxious yellow shirts. Mandatory obnoxiously yellow shirts.
Dinner was really nice. Lots of different kinds of food. And a nice talent show, too, but again, attention span decreases exponentially as the number of people in a room increases.
After that, a number of us went out because many of us were convinced 9:30 is too early for bed. This, of course, led to many complaints about the midnight curfew at our dorm. It's a sour topic and I'll leave it at that for now. It was fun exploring and eventually drinking with everyone, but differences in expectations hung tension and confusion in the air. (it's all about expectations.)
Anyway, today was field trip day. you know, more fun things. cultural things, not lectures. Except field trips tend to only work in smaller groups. if you have a lot of people that need to go on a field trip, you break them up into smaller groups. simple intheory and attempted in this situation. but it's difficult to stay in small groups when all of the groups are going to the same place at the same time.
The most frustrating endeavor of the day was going to a city hall and then commandeering elevators for over 400 people to go to the 15th floor to have lunch in a cafeteria. And i had no idea until we got there that that was all we were there for. I about jumped off that 15th floor. Well, we were actually there for some welcoming ceremony, but that was outside. I have no effing clue why we had to go to some 15th floor cafeteria for lunch with 400+ students.
I think the best stop was a tour of POSCO steel plant. It, of course, was much more organized. they are used to large groups and good at keeping them organized. The plant was also really cool and we also got to see the steel get rolled flat and then get coiled into giant rolls. a giant slab in minutes. Awesome.
I think by the end of it, I was just crabby from the number of people and the mass chaos. I really can't stand disorganized events and massive numbers of people. Looking back, I could have, and maybe should have, enjoyed it. But i'm tired and it's done.
Now we have two days to recover. There is a placement test on Monday morning, which I will not be participating in since I am undoubtedly a "beginner" in Korean language and we will meet again in the afternoon to fill out forms and submit photos for our alien cards and school IDs. Sometime this weekend, I have to go get my picture taken... again. I should just have them print a sheet of 30. And I thought Asians believe that photographs steal your soul. Maybe they want to steal our souls. It's all a ploy.
Also, still no hide nor hair of a roommate. my guess is that she's Korean. it would explain why there was no onle else on the arrival list with my room number.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
The Obligatory "First Day" Entry
Was thinking about a quick skype, but it seems no one is really on, right now (family wise). So I'll send this out real quick.
I have a room. That room has a lock and internet. That's about all I can ask for. I haven't gotten my ethernet adapter yet, but I have ingeniously rigged my old macbook as a wireless router, so it works for the time being.
I knew they were small, but for some reason I thought the closets were a little bigger. As it stands, there is plenty of space, but there is no nook actually large enough to put my suitcase. I've talked with others and they seem to have a similar dilemma. I don't particularly want to mess with it at the moment.
I also haven't heard anything about my roommate, but there's still a day and a half left. There's also the weather to think about, which may delay some flights, but more on that later. I have met some people, though. There are a lot of different people here. I rode the bus yesterday with two students: a male engineer from Argentina and and a female architect from Morocco. This morning, I sat an talked with my new Argentinian friend and several students (one veteran student; "sempai," if you will) from various countries other in Africa. Polyglot-ism is definitely the name of the game here. So far, no Japanese, but the Argentinian (obviously) speaks Spanish. The minimum number of languages per person is around three, but I feel inferior because none of my "second" languages are as good as theirs.
Most of them are also in engineering. They all say their majors, and I am in awe. Then they ask for mine, and I have to answer "game design." They all at least pretend to be impressed, but I have a hard time believing it. They are all young though, so explaining a love of "video games" is not as difficult as it is with some people. I explain to them my admiration of engineers and they all say, "but design is engineering too. you will be a different kind of engineer." They sound sincere, but it's difficult to get my head around. I do sense that the generic concepts of "design" is better understood in this group (particularly by the architect), and maybe that helps.
There is a typhoon. It's mostly wind and it's tearing up the ceiling tiles on the the overpass of our building, but that's the only damage I've seen in the area. Not much in the way of rain. The one when I was in Japan was very heavy rain, but--though it rained last night and most of the morning-- the typhoon wasn't said to have actually hit until about eleven (about an hour ago now). It's a little scary, because i don't usually see debris (small like leaves and trash) flying so much except in tornado footage, but you guys know me and storms-- it's mostly pretty cool. I keep scaring the locals though by wanting to open the window or go outside to see the wind.
my friend and i also did a little meandering the building; finding the amenities and facilities. Breakfast was simple affair with a modest spread of rice and a small variety of eastern and western vegetables and dishes, coffee, milk, and juice. After that, we found the kitchens and a few of the common areas. there is no shortage of balcony and roof space here. that should be fun. I still haven't found the laundery, but not long into our explorations, we got distracted by the students i mentioned earlier and got to talk with them and some of the korean "guides" for the program. They're a fun and lively bunch of people.
anyway, that's my rambling overview of the last twelve or so hours. the first hour of airport and such is on facebook. It is almost time for me to meet for lunch with the program students for lunch, so i will end this here. later folks.
- kat
I have a room. That room has a lock and internet. That's about all I can ask for. I haven't gotten my ethernet adapter yet, but I have ingeniously rigged my old macbook as a wireless router, so it works for the time being.
I knew they were small, but for some reason I thought the closets were a little bigger. As it stands, there is plenty of space, but there is no nook actually large enough to put my suitcase. I've talked with others and they seem to have a similar dilemma. I don't particularly want to mess with it at the moment.
I also haven't heard anything about my roommate, but there's still a day and a half left. There's also the weather to think about, which may delay some flights, but more on that later. I have met some people, though. There are a lot of different people here. I rode the bus yesterday with two students: a male engineer from Argentina and and a female architect from Morocco. This morning, I sat an talked with my new Argentinian friend and several students (one veteran student; "sempai," if you will) from various countries other in Africa. Polyglot-ism is definitely the name of the game here. So far, no Japanese, but the Argentinian (obviously) speaks Spanish. The minimum number of languages per person is around three, but I feel inferior because none of my "second" languages are as good as theirs.
Most of them are also in engineering. They all say their majors, and I am in awe. Then they ask for mine, and I have to answer "game design." They all at least pretend to be impressed, but I have a hard time believing it. They are all young though, so explaining a love of "video games" is not as difficult as it is with some people. I explain to them my admiration of engineers and they all say, "but design is engineering too. you will be a different kind of engineer." They sound sincere, but it's difficult to get my head around. I do sense that the generic concepts of "design" is better understood in this group (particularly by the architect), and maybe that helps.
There is a typhoon. It's mostly wind and it's tearing up the ceiling tiles on the the overpass of our building, but that's the only damage I've seen in the area. Not much in the way of rain. The one when I was in Japan was very heavy rain, but--though it rained last night and most of the morning-- the typhoon wasn't said to have actually hit until about eleven (about an hour ago now). It's a little scary, because i don't usually see debris (small like leaves and trash) flying so much except in tornado footage, but you guys know me and storms-- it's mostly pretty cool. I keep scaring the locals though by wanting to open the window or go outside to see the wind.
my friend and i also did a little meandering the building; finding the amenities and facilities. Breakfast was simple affair with a modest spread of rice and a small variety of eastern and western vegetables and dishes, coffee, milk, and juice. After that, we found the kitchens and a few of the common areas. there is no shortage of balcony and roof space here. that should be fun. I still haven't found the laundery, but not long into our explorations, we got distracted by the students i mentioned earlier and got to talk with them and some of the korean "guides" for the program. They're a fun and lively bunch of people.
anyway, that's my rambling overview of the last twelve or so hours. the first hour of airport and such is on facebook. It is almost time for me to meet for lunch with the program students for lunch, so i will end this here. later folks.
- kat
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)