Student Stories

Education Abroad Blogs & Travel Writing

Posts tagged with: Asia

South Korea: Internship: Pre-Departure by Tara May

Thailand: Teach Abroad: “Sa Wa Dee” Post Grad Teach Abroad by Katie Warner

I am so grateful for moving to Thailand. Feeling my way through its culture and natural beauty has been rewarding beyond what I could have imagined.

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!

[Read more…] about Thailand: Teach Abroad: “Sa Wa Dee” Post Grad Teach Abroad by Katie Warner

Japan: KCP Program “Pre-Departure,” by Simone Hansen

have always been told that the fastest way to get better at using a language is to go to the country of origin, and use the language there during your stay. In order to create a stronger foundation for my ability to use the Japanese language, I will be going to Japan for a study abroad program.

 

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!”  

[Read more…] about Asia: “How I Planned for Travel Outside my Program” by Rachelle Spencer

South Korea: End of Program: “I’m Almost Home” by Allison Ogle

 

 

I’m Almost Home

 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

 

 

Things I Do and Will Miss

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.

[Read more…] about South Korea: End of Program: “Things I Do and Will Miss” Allison Ogle

South Korea: Mid Program: “My Neighborhood and a Day in My Life” by Allison Ogle

My Neighborhood and a Day in My Life

4/11/2017

In Korea, there is a large population and very little space. This means that there are many apartment complexes with many floors. I live in a small apartment complex and I am on the third floor in this walk-up. My apartment building is one of many in the neighborhood that are all sandwiched together. The streets are also quite small. They can fit about one car! I’m also quite close to a subway station. I am probably a 1 minute walk away from the subway! Overall, my neighborhood is pretty quiet and very chill, even though we are very close to a busy main street.

 

[Read more…] about South Korea: Mid Program: “My Neighborhood and a Day in My Life” by Allison Ogle

South Korea: Post Program: “A Year Later” by Taiya Brown

A Year Later

 

I often look at my Facebook feed and can’t believe that it’s been over a year since I first arrived in Seoul. It feels like only yesterday that I took hundreds of pictures with my new and adventurous friends. I often feel like it was a dream because the whole experience was surreal, and the only thing that reminds me that it really happened is the fact that I’m still paying for it a year later (that and all the pictures). Thinking about going back makes me feel nervous all over again for the same things I was nervous for in the first place, but then I have to just laugh at myself because nothing was ever as big of a barrier as I expected it to be. I thought the language barrier would be scary, and if anything it’s nice not knowing what everyone is talking about all the time. I miss the experiences I had in Korea and I miss being able to experience something new every day.

 

[Read more…] about South Korea: Post Program: “A Year Later” by Taiya Brown

South Korea: Arrival: “It’s a New Week!” by Allison Ogle

http://boldnewadventures.weebly.com/

 

It’s a New Week!

3/7/2017

Things here at my school are going really well! I’ve co-taught one English lesson so far and I have taught a lesson about my hometown(s). Because I am in a public Korean elementary school, a lot of the instruction during the day is in Korean. This means that it is really hard for me to be a regular classroom teacher. Instead, I am what the teachers call a “subject teacher” my job is essentially to provide English instruction as a native speaker of English as well as to share lessons about my home culture. I am planning on teaching a 10 week (one lesson per week) unit on America and American culture. The scary thing is I will be teaching these lessons to all of the grades in the school. First grade through sixth grade. That is kind of scary but I’m really excited to take on this role of being a bit of an EFL (English as a foreign language) specialist which is extremely similar to my endorsement that would allow for me to teach ELLs (English language learners) back home. I will essentially be teaching the same lesson to every class but it will be tailored to meet the language and developmental abilities of each grade. I’m supposed to start with some fourth and fifth grade classes on Thursday so I hope it goes well!

Last night, we as a school went out to dinner! It was really great! We ate a lot of traditional Korean foods and we also went out for coffee afterwards. I posted pictures of this in the pictures page here. (Click it, it will take you to the picture page 🙂 ). I had a lovely night and tried several new foods like stingray/skate. It had a good taste but the texture was very different from how it looked.

I had a lovely time after school today with several of the teachers. Every Tuesday, the teachers get together to play badminton and have a good time. I really enjoyed badminton all throughout school but I never really had the opportunity to play it recreationally so it was really nice to be able to go play a fun sport with several of the teachers from the school (even the vice principal!). It was a great time! I really enjoyed how we could all play a sport together and not really need to use our language. We were all simply having fun! I am now glad that I was forced to take some of those PE classes in school 🙂 knowing some of the rules to badminton came in handy!

I know this post was a lot of different things smashed together but a lot has happened in just a few days! Please go look at the pictures page if you want to see some of the pictures that I have taken while I’ve been here! It’s a bit more interesting than just reading all of this :).

South Korea: Arrival: “Personal Space” by Allison Ogle

http://boldnewadventures.weebly.com/

 

Personal Space

3/11/2017

So, I’m learning a bit about personal space in Korean public spaces.

I had read online before I came to Korea that because Korea is such a small country and there are so many people, it is common for people to bump into other people and not really worry about it. People wouldn’t say sorry or excuse me because it was so common and normal. I’m really seeing this now. It’s really weird for me!

When I was walking around and shopping in Myeongdong, I was often in a tight spot with a lot of people around me. I was bumped into several times and I even bumped into other people a few times. It really wasn’t a big deal and even when I said “excuse me” to pardon myself, people didn’t really care. It was an interesting feeling. The same thing happened on my subway ride home. On the last leg of my subway journey, there were so many of us in the car that I couldn’t move. People weren’t being rude or pushing and shoving. It was very civilized and everyone was very chill about it. Again, it was weird for me but I think I could get used to it.

South Korea: Arrival: “It’s Been Two Weeks!” by Allison Ogle

http://boldnewadventures.weebly.com/

 

It’s Been Two Weeks!

3/12/2017

It has been two weeks since I arrived in Seoul. Now that I’m here, I’m really enjoying a lot of things about Seoul! Everything is really close and convenient. I have two convenience stores within 1-5 minutes of walking distance. These convenience stores have EVERYTHING! There is packaged and processed food and there is fresh food like eggs, meat, vegetables, and fruit. There are also household items and cleaning supplies among many other things. I’m also very close to the subway station. This means that I can go basically anywhere quickly for quite cheap. I’m also really close to the school where I’m student teaching. It makes my mornings really easy! There are so many things that I really like about Seoul, it’s hard to name them all!

There are a few things that are challenging. Culturally, Korea stays up very late. Though I like staying up late, I think it’s a bit tough for me to stay up late on a school night. I’m also having to learn a lot about speaking Korean. I wish that I would have studied a bit more Korean but I’m getting by. I can say a few things and get my point across as well as understand the point of the person with whom I’m speaking but it’s still a challenge. There’s also a difference in personal space! Overall, Seoul is living up to my expectations and very often exceeding my expectations which is great!

2017 Video Contest Entry: Madison Moore: Mongolia, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRPwsdsu7FU

In the summer of 2016, a group of WWU students and faculty went to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to conduct research on women leaders in the culture. Our days were packed to the brim of different interviews, research, and more, and we rarely got a chance to sleep or explore. However, in those moments where we did have a breath of fresh air and got the chance to drink in the culture, we had a lot of great laughs with the close friends we found there. While the trip was full of positive and negative experiences, we all learned a little more about who we are as leaders, who we are as human beings, and who we are as global citizens. While a lot of time has passed since the trip, I recently found the GoPro I used to capture some of the moments in the Mongolian countryside.I had forgotten about these special moments, and before I even knew there was a contest, I had already made this video to commemorate the times that make me laugh and smile. I included some of the spectacular landscape views, but the people that joined me on this adventure meant just as much to me and bring back happy memories of the adventure. I wanted to not only remember the sunsets and views, but the smiles and laughter of the people I was with. They were just as impactful as the history and customs of the culture. While this experience was a hard and difficult one, I know that because of it I learned so much about myself and others. I walk away with new perspectives and experiences, and while some of those moments may be negative, I know I’ve changed for the better. The song is also of significance to me- we would play that song over and over on the trip, and it slowly became the soundtrack of our adventure. Listening to it, I remember drives through the rugged terrain of the Hustai National Park, I remember climbing rocks and discovering abandoned eagle nests, I remember exploring ancient and uninhabited stone fortresses standing alone in a landscape, I remember marveling at the history of Ghengis Kham. But I also remember laughing in our bunk beds early in the morning, walking through crowded supermarkets trying to find an ice pack, playing card games late into the night because the WiFi was frustratingly spotty, and gripping the seats of taxi cabs as we weave through hectic traffic. These seemingly mundane daily activities were made into lifelong memories thanks to the amazing people I traveled alongside. There were lots of tears, lots of laughter, lots of pain, lots of curiosity, and lots of adventure thanks to this beautiful country.