Thailand & Indonesia: Mid-Program: “Dancing with Macaques: A Survival Guide” by Kylund Prior
Asia
Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, Georgia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen
Thailand & Indonesia: Arrival: “Prepare for Takeoff” by Kylund Prior
Thailand & Indonesia: “Sunscreen and Bug Spray” by Kylund Prior
Thailand & Indonesia: Pre-Departure: “Getting Involved in Study Abroad” by Kylund Prior
Korea: Arrival by Brooke Chong
Korea: Mid Program by Brooke Chong
Pre Departure: South Korea by Brooke Chong
Pre Departure: Japan by Michelle Nguyen
5 Tips for Applying for the Freeman Scholarship by Alicia Prokopenko
South Korea: Internship: Pre-Departure by Tara May
Thailand: Teach Abroad: “Sa Wa Dee” Post Grad Teach Abroad by Katie Warner
Sa Wa Dee! A Thai greeting meaning: “May goodness be with you”.
API is thrilled to highlight Katie Warner: a graduate of Western Washington University teaching currently in Chiang Mai, Thailand! Katie arrived to Thailand in May 2018, and will be teaching in Chiang Mai until October 2018. She is excited to share her experience with you!
Japan: KCP Program “Pre-Departure,” by Simone Hansen
Thailand: “Internship Final Essay” by Spiridon Pappas
Internship Final Essay
The First of Many
As this semester abroad approaches the final curtain call, I look back and reflect on the 97 hours I spent at my internship with great fondness. It was an honor to have been placed in an internship here at the Doi Suthep-Pui National Park Headquarters. Throughout the duration of the semester, this internship opportunity consistently enabled me to grow in personal, professional, and academic respects.
Thailand: “Internship Mid-Term Essay” by Spiridon Pappas
Internship Mid-Term Essay
The First Foreigner
If someone had asked me at the beginning of the USAC semester abroad, “what would be your ideal internship?” “If you could create the perfect internship for yourself, what would it be?” “Try to think of a place you would like to intern at, and picture yourself there. What does it look like?”
It would look like this position.
China: “Reflections of Studying in China” by Matthew Horn
Taiwan: ISEP Exchange: Pre-Departure: “Hey Taiwan” by Molly O’Meara
South Korea: Post Program Reflection: “Now that I’m Home” by Allison Ogle
Asia: “How I Planned for Travel Outside my Program” by Rachelle Spencer
One of the best things my grandfather ever had me do was make a budget sheet for my study abroad program to Japan. I knew when I studied abroad that I definitely wanted to see other parts of the country because at the time I didn’t know when or if I would have the chance to go back. However, I am also a very spontaneous person and I don’t often plan things out beforehand. So when my grandfather first told me about his conditional contribution to my cause, my first reaction was “Ugh, what a pain!”
South Korea: End of Program: “I’m Almost Home” by Allison Ogle
I think that in coming home, I might experience a bit of reverse culture shock. I feel that I have grown a lot as a person and as a teacher. One thing that will be interesting to readjust to will be eating all of my meals with a fork instead chopsticks and a spoon. I’m not overly concerned about reverse culture shock as I have maintained connections with my family and friends back home but I will have to wait and see how or if reverse culture shock will really affect me and to what degree. I’m hoping that this blog as well as the reflections that I kept during my teaching will support me in both sharing my experiences and transitioning back into my home culture. I also took many pictures to document my daily life so that I can share this experience with both my family and my friends.
In order to keep my study abroad experience as a key factor in my life, I hope to continue to foster the relationships that I have developed here both in professional relationships I have made in the school and the more personal relationships that I have maintained with family of my friends in the United States. I also hope that in the next 5-10 years I can return to Korea and teach again. There are many programs to facilitate this within Korea. I think that it would be a great way to continue to grow as both an educator and as a person. I also hope to continue to develop my Korean language skill. I am able to read Hangul (written Korean) and I can understand a small amount of what I read. I can also understand more that is said to me particularly in regards to food but I am not particularly skilled at speaking or writing Korean. My productive skills are lacking but I would hope that by the time that I might return to Korea my skills would improve a bit! I also plan to find ways to incorporate what I have learned particularly about English language learners in my school into my own future classroom and to use that knowledge to better my skill as a teacher.
South Korea: End of Program: “Things I Do and Will Miss” Allison Ogle
Korea and the United states have several things in common but there are a lot of things that are different. There are things I can get and do in the United States that I cannot get or do here as well, there are things I can get and do here that I cannot get or do easily in the United States.