| Sunday, March 30, 2008 |
| Pay It Forward |
New blogs.
Treespotter.
Life in the Topics.
Check out these other blogs.
Indonesia
Life of a Black Chick in Indonesia
Jakartass
Matambo/Neilson - Family Living in Indonesia
XPat Indonesia
South Korea
The Seoul of Black Folks. (get it?)
The Supa Dupa Fly Seoul Sista
Also: Culture Shock! Jakarta: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette
In other news, I watched "The Hawking Paradox" on The Discovery Channel/BBC Science today. It's basically about how black holes destroy information.
"More precisely, if there is an entangled pure state, and one part of the entangled system is thrown into the black hole while keeping the other part outside, the result is a mixed state after the partial trace is taken over the interior of the black hole. But since everything within the interior of the black hole will hit the singularity within a fixed finite time, the part which is traced over partially might "disappear", never to appear again."
A part of me wishes I was born smart enough to sustain a career in physics. I'm trying not to get sucked into the vortex that is the "see also" section of Wikipedia.
I have too much Bahasa Indonesia and Japanese to study.Labels: communication, cosmos, Indonesia, Jakartass, Medan, pay it forward, seoul, south korea |
posted by Keigh @ 9:15 PM  |
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| Thursday, March 27, 2008 |
| *Interview* |
I just received an email from a school saying they want me to interview on Thursday for a position as a teacher.
*whew*
I wasn't very confident with my lack of a finalized degree, but it seems like it shouldn't be a problem.
I wonder what they'll ask me? :)Labels: CV, degree, Indonesia, job search, Medan, phone interview |
| posted by Keigh @ 3:33 PM |
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| Wednesday, March 26, 2008 |
| Job search |
I might be heading for Medan, degree pending. It seems that I need to have a copy of the degree by June 30, 2008 to be able to accept employment with a potential school.
I will pass my exam in May, so I'm wondering if Ohio University will be able to give me an apostille degree or a degree bearing transcript, and if that would suffice.
Hmm.
I'm applying to another school in Medan that teaches not only English but Chinese and Japanese. Hopefully, I'll be able to spark some interest because of my Japanese language skills, but who knows?
My lovely doggie Fritz might or might not be able to travel to Indonesia. The United States is not a rabies-free zone, but Indonesia is, presenting some potential customs issues.
I hear a lot of bad things about dogs (and other animals) in Indonesia, specifically that they're unclean and not as good as humans. While, if I had to chose between saving the life of a good human, or saving the life of Fritz, I would always choose the human, it always hurts to hear of people who dislike animals, or a specific type of animal. Dogs are curious, intelligent, fun and one of the best companions Man has. I don't see what the big deal is. Then again, I didn't grow up Indonesia.
PS: I may or may not have a phone interview next Thursday. *crosses fingers*Labels: dogs, ESL, Fritz, Indonesia, Medan, phone interview, restriction, teaching, travel |
| posted by Keigh @ 8:41 PM |
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| Tuesday, March 25, 2008 |
| So it begins... |
Last night, Maya was told that she would be getting an offer for employment for a National Plus school in Medan, Indonesia. Today, she received her contract, and she's going over the finer details. There is a high probability that she will take their offer.
Look out, Medan...here we come!
Expect updates sooon. I want to learn as much about Medan as possible!Labels: employment, ESL, Indonesia, Medan, phone interview, results |
| posted by Keigh @ 4:12 PM |
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| *Fingers Crossed* |
At this very moment, as I type these letters, Maya is giving a phone interview with a prospective employer over in Indonesia. It's almost 1 o'clock, but in Indonesia, it's almost 12pm. Or something like that.
I wish her the best. I'm sure she'll do fine. :)Labels: ESL, Indonesia, Maya, phone interview |
| posted by Keigh @ 12:33 AM |
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| Sunday, March 23, 2008 |
| Degree, TEFL, and Japanese |
My family has never been stuck in one place. Since high school, my sisters and I have traveled to Europe, South America and Asia, learning about the people and cultures of the places we've lived. Back in the day I was a fresh-faced 19 year old hopping off the airplane at Narita airport in Tokyo, amazed but slightly freaked out as I tried to navigate through one of the busiest airports in the world. Nothing was familiar: not the language, not the people, not even the serious-faced Americans who rushed from terminal to terminal searching for their connecting flight black to Los Angeles.
Man, I miss that feeling, of being fresh, of not knowing anything. Searching. Looking. Trying to figure out my place.
It's four years later, and I'm just as excited at the prospect of working (!) and living (again) in Asia. Indonesia seems like an interesting destination, and I'll admit: I have my fears. Terrorism scares, the Bali Nightclub Bombings, the horrific riots of 1998 that I read about in class...they all cross my mind when I think about living there. There's a huge possibility that Maya will go ahead of me to Indonesia, and I fear for her safety as well.
I suppose it comes with the territory. If I let fear rule my life, I'll never explore anything, and that's not the life I want to lead. Not at all.
I've been studying Japanese like crazy this past couple of days because I need to (finally) pass a LTI exam. The Japanese LTI exam is a national Japanese exam that tests oral proficiency. I took it 6 months ago, and while I didn't "fail" it, I didn't get the required level needed for Ohio University. It's my own fault, really. I should have taken the test the moment I got back from Japan. I'm paying for it, now, because I can't receive my degree until I pass this exam. This is my last thing, and hopefully, come May, I'll be ready for the test.
TEFL is also something that I want to do before I head off to Indonesia. I am volunteering with an ESL group at home so that I can prepare for TEFL training.
Well, that's it for now.
*goes back to looking at pictures of Indonesia*Labels: excitement, exploration, fear, Indonesia, terror, thoughts |
| posted by Keigh @ 9:13 PM |
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| Friday, March 21, 2008 |
| The Search Begins |
Being black isn't something that happened overnight. I didn't wake up one day, look in the mirror and see a black person. For 23 years, I've lived my life with brown skin, curly black hair and a broad nose.
My skin color and hair texture might seem like a strange topic for my first blog entry, but I wanted to make something clear: this blog will talk about being black, living black, and seeing the world through a black woman's eyes. I don't consider myself that different from my non-black friends, family and colleagues, but it wouldn't be fair to me or anyone else to ignore the fact that my experiences have been and will continue to be shaped by my skin color and culture.
With that said:
The search for jobs in Indonesia (and, for safe jobs in S. Korea) has begun! My sister, the lovely Black Girl in Indonesia will be sending her CV out to at least 2 companies today, to judge the response. Some others have asked for a photo, and while many potential ESL teachers wouldn't cringe at the thought of supplying one, for me, there's always a slight hesitation because I know, 95% of the time, the photo along with the application, will go into the trash. C'est la vie, of course. It makes finding that 5% all the more enjoyable.
I've been reading blogs about black American women living and working in Asia, specifically Japan (where I once spent a year as an undergrad) and South Korea. Check out the sidebar for their websites.
Until next time.Labels: American, Black, Indonesia, job search, Korea, race, racism |
| posted by Keigh @ 2:17 PM |
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| Welcome to Wanderlusting |
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the often erratic thoughts of a girl obsessed with countries, cultures and the cosmos. enjoy your stay, however brief, however long. |
| The History of It All |
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