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It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, mainly because there is not much going on. We’ve finished final testing for the semester, so now it’s just the matter, somewhat tedious, of calculating final grades and entering them into the official grade books and onto the university website. In the meantime, I’ve still not received any invitations to interview for jobs here in Korea, nor have I heard from SIT for the Indonesian teaching positions. I continue to hold out hope for something to turn up. In the event that nothing pans out along those lines, I might pursue the possibility of remaining in Andong another year or two. I’ll see how the administration is doing as far as getting enough qualified applicants. Maybe they’ll let me change my mind if they’re having problems hiring the 6 or 7 new teachers they are going to need.
However, vacation begins on June 24th and I’m off to Laos and Thailand. I might pursue job opportunities in those two countries while I’m there, though almost all the positions are very low-paying ones. As a final resort, I can always get some kind of good-paying job in Korea when I return from vacation. Someone is always hiring over here, albeit the institutions don’t offer much in the way of vacation time or they work you to death or the admin is crappy or . . .
Well, things will pan out, one way or the other. But, I’m going to enjoy the trip to Laos and Thailand and put job worries aside for a month. More later.
I heard from SIT about the Burkina Faso position–it has been filled. Too bad. I am a bit disappointed, but I was aware that the competition for this one position would be tough. I’m still waiting to hear about the Indonesian positions, but don’t expect to find out anything until the end of this week, probably. The SIT people also offered to put me on the list of candidates for Tunisia, but by the time I replied, that position had also been taken. Then they offered to put me on the list for Turkmenistan, but I declined–too cold in the winter. I gotta get to the tropics!
It’s been tropical here lately–beautiful, clear, sunny days and temperatures in the 70s and 80s, great weather for hiking, bicycling, etc. During the recent time off for the university festival, I played tennis three days in a row with some other teachers, the first time I had played tennis in over 30 years! Great fun, especially since I didn’t hurt any body parts. :laugh:
We have a three-day vacation, of sorts. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week is the university festival, so there are no classes. Why they scheduled it so close to the end of the semester is beyond my comprehension. The last day of the semester is June 14, then 10 days of teaching adult classes and I’m off to Laos and Thailand!
In addition to being excited about vacation time, I’m also on pins and needles waiting to hear if I got the SIT job in Africa or Indonesia. I’m sure I’ll hear nothing until the end of the month, so I’ll try to be patient until then. More later.
I had a phone interview Saturday morning at 5 a.m. from the U.S. I’ve applied for a position as an English Language Fellow, a program funded by the U.S. State Dept. and administered by the School for International Training in Vermont. The interview went ok–not bad, not great, but adequate, I think. The lady who interviewed me said she would get back to me in a couple of weeks. I had applied for a position in Burkina Faso, Africa and for two in Thailand. She mentioned those, but also asked if she could put me on the roster for about half a dozen universities in Indonesia. I agreed, of course. If I’m selected I have a feeling that I’ll be going to Indo. I’m hopeful.
I also recently turned down positions in Hat Yai, Thailand (not enough money) and in Saudi Arabia (the school doesn’t have a good reputation, I’m told by a friend who works in Saudi). I’m still looking at the job in Wonju, Korea and at a potential opening in Laos.
We’ve had beautiful weather here lately and I spent the weekend hiking in the surrounding hills. There are hundreds of trees with clusters of white flowers hanging off their branches, and walking through them is an aromatic experience. I’ll have to ask one of the other teachers, who was a biology teacher, what their name is. More later.
I thought I’d put up a comparison photo of a clear day so you can see just how hazy it gets around here sometime. These were not taken at exactly the same time of day, but it’s only a few hours difference between the two. Lately we’ve been getting some very nice weather, clear skies, and temperatures in the 80s. Quite nice. Unfortunately, my cold has returned. More later.
Clear skies on May 2, hazy on Apr. 29
It was very hazy a few days ago, looking much like the smoke-enshrouded skies of Montana during fire season. I don’t know whether it was water vapor, an actual forest fire somewhere else in Korea, or Chinese dust, though there were no dust alerts issued that day. Speaking of forest fires, Montana and other western states can expect more drought, according to this article. In Andong, the forecast is calling for rain today. What better day for a wedding? Two of our former office staff are marrying at noon. I’ll post some photos later.
View from my office on Apr. 29
Now, I’ve been accused of having my head up my butt, but never up someone else’s.
This photo is from last summer’s kids’ camp. They were playing a popular game called, I think, “Horse,” wherein two of them hook up, as above, and the rest of the gang jump on their backs, one by one, to see how many they can hold before the “horse” collapses. I captured this shot from my 5th floor office.
More yellow dust blowing over from the Gobi Desert (link updated on 5/20/2011) in China and Mongolia is due to descend on us today, possibly worse than the haze we experienced yesterday. Read about it here. If it gets too bad, the government recommends shutting down businesses and schools for the day–I should be so lucky.
It’s 6:12 a.m. on Wednesday morning, and I just felt the apartment building shake for about 5 seconds. That probably means there was another earthquake close by, perhaps in Japan. I’ll have to remember to check the news reports later.
UPDATE Yes, it was a 5.8 magnitude quake, as reported here.
I’ve been sick with a cold for the past week–can’t seem to shake the thing, though I’m feeling a little better this morning, not counting the 15 minutes of coughing that occurs when I first get out of bed. I wanted to get out last Sunday and take some photos of the beautiful cherry tree blossoms, but I stayed home instead.
I did make it to Wonju Saturday, however, to visit Andy, one of our former teachers. He gave me a tour of his campus and told me to put in an application, since a position may be opening up soon. The way it sounds, it’s an ideal university, so I’ll turn in a resume package. I also heard from IPA in Saudi Arabia and they sound pretty positive about at least giving me an interview. I think the Wonju position is now at the top of my list. Second, I’ll go through a Korean recruiter to try to find another job like it, hopefully near Seoul. Next is a State Department funded Masters Graduate Fellowship program, placing candidates in Africa, Indonesia, and elsewhere. Third, I would work a job in Laos or Thailand, no matter that the pay in those countries would be very low. Finally, I’d go with a middle-East job. So many options. More later.
From time to time, I’ll send on the information I have about any new security problems with windows, viruses, etc., to those of you who read this blog and don’t have access to the information. You SHOULD be aware of these issues without my help, but that is not always possible. At any rate, check here for what it’s worth.
Two new ones today: One is about fake Microsoft Security. Don’t click on any links in email that purport to send you to the MS Update website.
The other is that Microsoft will provide a variety of patches, some of them critical, this coming Tuesday.
Again, in my humble opinion, if you are using the Internet Explorer browser, you might be better served by switching to Mozilla’s Firefox, which you can download here. It’s much safer, for now, than IE and it’s fun to use.
It’s another beautiful spring day in Andong, with temperatures forecast to be in the mid 70s. I want to try to get off a few more job apps, but I also want to take another long bicycle ride–after I watch the Yanks-Orioles game on the computer. More later.
Yes, it’s that time of year again–the advent of Chinese Yellow Dust season, when dust blowing from the Gobi desert sweeps across not only China, but South Korea and Japan as well. The Korean Meteorological Administration issued a dust warning for the country, and I, not thinking about the dust until afterward, jogged outside today for about 30 minutes between classes. I probably inhaled 20 pounds of the stuff. You could hardly see the nearby mountains because of the haze; it’s as bad as a Montana forest fire. A former Chinese Prime Minister predicts that the capital city of Beijing will have to be abandoned in a few decades due to the advance of the Gobi desert.
Not much else happening here. The cherry blossoms are very near to blooming, so I’ll post some photos of their beauty as soon as they open up. Baseball’s Opening Day saw the mighty Yanks knock off Boston. Unfortunately, Rivera blew a couple of saves–that’s rather worrisome. Should be a fun season, though. Since I signed up for the MLB.com game feeds, I’ll be able to see most of the games. My brother Randy, with nothing better to do, keeps sending me taunting emails about the Yanks, which I refuse to respond to. I don’t think he has a favorite team–the former Yankee fan, now a screeching turncoat, only seems to root against the Yankees, but not FOR anyone else. He joins the ranks of untold thousands in that futile endeavor.
The big earthquake in Indonesian waters a little bit back brought this email from my friend Palm on Ko Sukorn in Thailand (I edited out some of his fractured English grammar and spelling for clarity):
How are you, Ron? Hope you are good. For me now, I am sick.
Do you know about earthquake. I am afraid very much. And every body
gone to the mountain again. Now, I sleep with my mother every night.
Because, I am afraid tsunami, Ron. And I am thinking tsunami is not come.
And what about you? You saw earthquake or not? In sukorn no have tourists and it’s raining every day.
Geez, I really feel for those people. If you’re going to take a vacation in Thailand this year, go to Ko Sukorn. You’ll love it for its beauty (though there are more beautiful beaches in Thailand), but you’ll want to stay because of its people. More later.
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