I am FEZ...
So I had orientation today. stuck in a little auditorium with 600-some other bodies, i was told about various administrative stuff...most of which, might i add, i have no idea about. soo...good luck to me.
while i am moderately confident about my korean-conversational skills, this brought on a whole new experience - like i was in a foreign country (imagine that...) all these new words whizzed by me at a million miles an hour (in fact the people WERE speaking much quicker than i'm used to). welcome to graduate-school level korean. i guess i need to upgrade my pre-elementary school korean...and fast!
of course i just wanted to run out of that auditorium, but alas, i was sitting in the in the middle of my row and those 600-some people had trapped me in. so i did what my students probably do...i had no choice but to zone out. of course i was fully alert when the presenter introduced important information because he would prompt his audience by saying that the following is very important information, but unfortunately i didn't get much it anyways.
during grad school we had a foreign language requirement so that we could understand what it was like to be a foreign student in one of our own classes. the requirement: taking a foreign language. what bullsh@t. every teacher should have to take classes in another country...or just sit through orientation.
damn deja-vu (a glitch in the matrix?) ...i have had this horrid feeling that i made a mistake before: the moments before boarding the plane to korea wondering how i would survive with my crap korean. but i guess i've been ok so far...well until now at least.
PS: sorry Kim...postponing the game
posted by Joseph Lee @ 1:43 AM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
Wow, that must have been intense, and frustrating at how in your face it was, I mean since you really couldn't just leave the situation. But no worries, you will get through this, it's in your nature, think about it you got through grad school in the states, right?! Of course the language barrier will be an issue at times, although it's like when Kya and I when we were in China, knowing X amount of the language and not being able to carry on a conversation much past that of a toddler.
For some reason I tend to luck out A LOT and have so since I was a wee lad and still do pretty regularly even today. In the beginning it likely came from being the teacher's pet and being a know-it-all in the true sense of that phrase. Plus, because I tend (then and now) to do my research I generally know what I'm talking about when it comes to job and/or school related stuff.
Don't know if this makes all that much sense.
Hope it helps.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Meant to say: "...it's NOT like when Kya and I when we were in China..."
I totally understand bro. when i was in korea and had those business meetings. man, some of the crap they were saying totally flew over my head. But I kept it up and I was able to get the gist of it. It's all good.
Don't be scared. It's always darkest before the dawn. The hardest things are always the most rewarding...yada yada yada.
Good luck out there.
Wow, I can't imagine how overwhelming that must be. And considering that I thought your Korean was pretty damn impressive, that worries me about returning this summer and my Korean skills (or lack thereof).
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