Getting my MA TESOL

It has been one very long year, but I can now proudly say that I am now a proud owner of an MA TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from St. Michael's College in Vermont. I was one of three students in their pilot program which combines a mix of on-campus classes during the summer with on-line courses during the fall and spring semesters totaling 36 credits without teaching licensure (not necessary if you don't plan on teaching K-12 in the US or international schools).

Why choose St. Michael's? Well, besides the fact that it was my alma mater, it really was the best option for me. I didn't want a degree which was 'on-line', as many employers shy away from these kinds of degrees, but I wanted a degree from an English speaking country, didn't want to quit my job in Korea, and didn't want to go in debt again. Miraculously, I was able to do all of that through this program.

Last summer I was able to take time off from work (impossible with many jobs, I know) to take a 6-week summer semester on campus of 12 credits. It was intense, but since I didn't have to worry about working at the same time, it was very reasonable. Then in the fall and spring semester, I took one 4 credit course on-line for each semester while working full time. For the most part, this was very doable, with just an occasional stressful week here and there when big projects were due. This summer, between one 5-week on-line course in early summer and another 6-week 12 credit summer session on campus I was finally able to graduate on August 1st with my MA TESOL.

The grand total cost of the courses was just over $20,000, factoring in plane tickets, rent and food for the summer, the cost was probably around $23,00-24,000 for me to attend this program. I was able to do this completely debt free as I had a bit of money saved up after finishing paying off my undergrad loans several years ago, plus being able to continue working full time while taking classes let me earn another year's worth of salary before returning for my second semester on campus.

Was it worth it? Well, that is still to be determined, but I am hoping to be better qualified for jobs, particularly for teaching university here in Korea or in other countries. I am going to be looking for university teaching jobs in Seoul starting in the spring semester of 2014. I don't know yet if I will be able to find one, but I am hoping that the MA TESOL should let me stand out from the hoards of applicants which apply for these jobs. If anyone of my readers out there happen to know of anyone hiring, please let me know!

I have just two weeks left in the States, then I'll be back to Korea with a lot of excitement with a wedding and honeymoon coming up very soon. I'd like to say that I'll be blogging more now, but unfortunately I can't promise that for a little while longer. Who knows, I hope I find the time and motivation to blog sooner rather than later!

For those interested in studying at St. Michael's, please see their website: http://www.smcvt.edu/Graduate-Programs/Academic-Programs/Teaching-English-to-Speakers-of-Other-Languages.aspx 

Last days at YBM and a brief review of the school

After a year and a half of teaching at YBM, I've finally left. I'm leaving, not so much because I'm sick of working there, but because I just won't be around enough in Korea for the next 6 months to justify them trying to hold my position. I'm back in the states now, working on finishing my MATESOL, I'll be gradutating in August, then I'll be heading back to Korea for my wedding, then honeymoon in China, then traveling more around China, then coming back to Korea and starting the job hunt for the next job, then going home again for Christmas.  It's going to be a very busy next 6 months...

 The last days at YBM were rather uneventful, but we did have the ultimate game of Monopoly (4 hours long) with the students pictured above, and one of my favorite halaboji students took me and another teacher out for this octopus stew. They added the octopus in whole and live, then cut him up as the soup boiled. I guess I've been living in Korea long enough that this just doesn't phase me much, but this was the first time I'd tried this particular dish, so I took a few photos to memorialize the event.

I thought I'd sum up the pros and cons of working at YBM Jongno, for anyone who is intersted in working there in the future. 

Pros:

• Right downtown, basically across the street from Insadong
• The 'Wow' factor you get when you tell Koreans where you work. It's often regarded as the best hagwon in Korea for adult learners. 
• Foreign bosses.
• Not necessarily on block shifts. Most adult hagwons keep their teachers on a permanent block shift. YBM Jongno is big enough that sometimes you may get to finish at 1pm or start at 2pm. Sometimes. 
• A schedule which changes every month. If you don't like your schedule this month, just wait, it will change next month. Including classes and start and finish times. 
•  A lot of overtime, which means that your paycheck can be quite high some months. 
• A 50% discount on any YBM class (Korean, Chinese, Japanese). The Korean classes can be difficult to take with the English class schedule, but some people have made it work. 
• Teaching. Adults. Yea, you can have a conversation that doesn't necessarily involve colors, food or numbers.
• Lessons plans are pre-made so there's little prep work.

Cons:

• Low base pay. Especially for those without adult teaching experience. I started at the lowest rung despite my experience. 2.0 million. 
• Low housing money. 200,000/ month. Kind of insulting considering rent anywhere you look in the area will be at least 550,000 but probably higher, nevermind management fees and utilities. But, better than nothing I suppose. They do not supply pre-furnished apartments for teachers.
•  Foreign bosses. Yep, I put this in both categories. You will never have a supervisor pat you on the back after your lesson and say good job. Your boss is a native English speaker and actually expects you to do something more than just be a talking head. 
• A schedule which changes every month. Yep, I put this in both categories. It's probably the biggest reason why I wouldn't go back to YBM. I am a pretty active person and I always have things going on. Working here made it impossible to plan my schedule more than 3 weeks in advance. It's the main reason why I quit taking Korean classes. 
• Early morning starts and late night finishes. The first class starts at 7 am, which means you'll probably want to get there at least at 6:30am. The last class finishes at 10pm. If you're not on split shifts starting at 7am and finishing at 10pm, you're probably at least starting or ending at one of these times. Your first several months youWILL be starting at 7 am and finishing at 10pm. 
• Not mandatory Saturday teaching. While technically in the contract you only need to teach 2 months of Saturday classes, in reality most people have to work most Saturdays. You do make 25,000won/ hour. Some people love the chance to pick up the extra cash. I personally have a life outside of work, so it wasn't great for me. That's one of the reasons why posting has been much lighter on the blog since I started working there.

Overall, though, I did really like working there, dispute the cons I listed here. The staff is a bit quirky, but so am I, so I think I fit in fairly well. I really loved working with the students, as I mentioned before, and the location was fantastic for me. I would recommend working at YBM if you get the chance, and they're often hiring, so check worknplay.co.kr often for their want ads.

An end in sight, announcements, life changes etc.

Well, as you may have noticed, blog posts have decreased significantly in the past year, and maybe some of you have realized that's mostly due to graduate school. While working full time here in Korea I'm also taking classes part time online through St. Michael's College in Vermont. I have just 5 more weeks of online classes and then I will go back to the states to complete my final semester in person, on campus (like last summer). Then I will officially have an MA TESOL.

My job here at YBM SiSa will be ending at the end of this month which is rather bittersweet for me. In some ways I really love this job, especially for the students. It's the most satisfaction I've gotten out of any job in Korea.. sometimes I hardly feel like I'm working, just chatting with friends (and pointing out some grammar mistakes while we do it). That's the great thing about teaching adults here in Korea, I guess. Perhaps once I finish my contract I'll write up a proper review for the school as I have with my past jobs.

That's not all.

Those of my readers who are also friends with me on facebook will already know, but I am engaged and getting married this coming September. We're having the wedding here in Korea and we'll have a traditional Korean wedding. We've already gone hanbok shopping (posts to come later) and we're still debating what to do about photography. Several people from home will be coming into town, including my mom and my best friend from college. I just hope I can have a ceremony at home in the States sooner rather than later so I can celebrate with the rest of the people I care about from home.

While we haven't booked any tickets yet, we've pretty much decided to take our honeymoon in Western China, in Yunnan province. When I tell Koreans this, they shake their heads because they can't understand, but Chinese people's eyes light up and tell me it's an excellent decision, so I think I'll trust the Chinese on this one. More motivation for me to go to China is the fact that I've now been studying Chinese since October. My Chinese still sucks from lack of practice combined with terrible grammar-translation teaching methods used at both hagwons I tried attending. I'm hoping if I still have money in my bank account after a summer at home and hanging out with guests from home in Seoul for the wedding, that I will be able to stay in China for a little longer after my future husband has to go back to work... considering that I won't have any job to go back to. If anyone knows of a good language school in China (any city) where the majority of students are not English speakers, let me know. Making Chinese and Japanese friends is how I learned Korean... perhaps making Japanese friends and Korean friends can help me learn Chinese.

Finally, I'm hoping to find a university job in Seoul starting next March. If anyone hears of any job openings or has any tips for finding decent uni jobs, please let me know!

Practicum I

Two MATESOL students leading the class

Last summer I started working on my MATESOL (Master's in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at St. Michael's College, in Vermont. One of the requirements of the degree is to complete two practicums. Last summer I took Practicum I. While I felt the practice teaching was a little unnecessary for me as I've been teaching for 4 years, it was a fun and easy way to get two credits. Over the 6 week semester, we went down to Winooski twice a week to teach a group of refugees as an extension of the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program. Every MATESOL student worked with a partner to co-teach three classes over the semester and then observed the rest of the classes. This was good for two reasons. First, was that it was the first time I've ever successfully co-taught a class and gave me some insight as to how to do it seamlessly (fortunately I had a fantastic partner who made it easy to work as a team) and second, was that we could see various teaching methods in action.. to see what worked and what didn't. There were some lessons that were total flops and there were some teaching methods that I never would have tried that worked fantastically. It was interesting to see each person's different teaching styles.

Teaching directions through TPR (total physical response) 

Our students came from all over, but the majority were Bhutanese/Nepalese refugees. We also had students who were refugees from several countries in Africa, too. It's a far cry from teaching my Korean students who are mostly students or business people. In some respects, it's a lot harder because these students are at a much lower level than most of my Korean students, especially with their writing/reading skills. A few may have even been illiterate in their native languages, so learning a new language AND learning to read and write that language can be particularly challenging. But, in some ways teaching the refugees can also be more rewarding and fun than teaching Koreans. For these refugees, they have a lot more at stake for learning the language. Learning the language can be a way out of poverty and makes life in Vermont much easier. In general, the students are much more open to trying new things and are really grateful for our efforts.

Playing "Fruits Basket"

On the last day of class, one of the MATESOL students from Japan taught us and the students a game called Fruits Basket. It was a fun game like musical chairs and really lifted the mood of the class. 

Bhutanese Student Explaining Food

After that we had a goodbye potluck dinner with all the students and teachers. Some of the students brought really delicious food from their own countries and some teachers also had some interesting dishes, both American and from their respective countries.

Korean Teacher Explaining Food

Japanese Teacher Explaining Food

Dance Party

Finally, one of my fellow Practicum student teachers instigated a giant dance party that got everyone on their feet. I must say, Practicum was the most fun part of my intensive 12 credit summer semester last July/August. I can't wait for Practicum II next summer... I'll have to choose between teaching refugees like these again, or Intensive English Program students at St. Michael's. What a hard choice to make!

Some of the reasons behind the light posting lately...

Grammar Trees and Phonetics... 

that is all for today...

Making a Spanish Tortilla (College student style)

A real Spanish tortilla cooked by one of my amazing couchsurfing hosts in Seville, Spain. 

Now that I'm a full time graduate student (at least for the summer) with no car and a limited budget, I need to get a little bit creative about what I make. I realized tonight that I had a copious amount of potatoes and a half dozen eggs that I hadn't touched since I moved in a week and a half ago. The first recipe that came to mind when I combined those two foods in my brain was a Spanish tortilla. No, not a Mexican tortilla, the bread made with corn or flour, but the potato/omelette/pie dish that I've only ever eaten in Spain. It looks slightly complicated, especially when you need to flip near the end, but I was really surprised how easy it was and how well it came out. Also, for those of you living in Korea, this would be a really easy dish to cook! **Note: This is the college student version. Cheap ingredients and makeshift cookware. A cook in a well equipped kitchen would be able to make this look much nicer**

Ingredients:
-Potatoes (however many desired, I used 4 large baking potatoes)
-Onion (again, as much as desired, I used about half of an onion because that's what I had available)
-Oil (Most recipies call for several cups of olive oil. I used vegetable oil. I didn't measure, but I just made sure there was enough to coat all the potatoes with a little extra in the bottom)
- Salt (as much as you like, I didn't put too much)
- *Optional* Other vegetables (typically Spanish tortillas only have potatoes and onions, but I think other veggies or even meat would taste great)

 

 Before cooking

First I took the four potatoes and peeled and cut them in to thin slices.  Chopped up the onion and just a little green pepper that I had sitting in my fridge and threw them all into a pan. Recipes say that a cast iron pan is the best for tortilla, but, this is the college student version. I just used a non-stick pan that was deep as opposed to flat on the bottom. If the pan is too wide and flat you will need more egg to compensate for things spreading out. This should be the thickness of a pie when it's done. Then I added just enough vegetable oil (again, not olive oil as the other recipes call for) to cover all the potatoes, then fried them until they were cooked and slightly brown.

A few minutes after I added the eggs

Once the potatoes were cooked all the way through (easily breakable with a knife or spatula), then I poured in my eggs. I used four eggs, scrambled. One or two more eggs probably would have been better, but again, this is the cheap college student version. 

I let the eggs cook on a low heat, covered for a while, occasionally checking the sides to make sure that nothing was sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Post-flipping

Now, here is the tricky part (should have photographed this, but it's hard to take a photo of yourself doing something difficult). Put a large plate over the pan and flip the tortilla onto the plate. The bottom should be brown, like above (or hopefully slightly less brown if you're a good cook). Then slide the flipped tortilla back into the pan to cook the top (now bottom) side. Let this cook for a few minutes, it should be mostly cooked now anyway. 

El fin

Finally, slide your tortilla onto a plate and you have enough tortilla to make several meals. I will probably make at least 3 if not 4 meals out of this guy. Cheap, moderately easy and still good if you screw it up. Perfect for any college student OR expat in Korea who wishes they could make some non-Korean food cheaply.