| 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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